I have been sent by Louise at Diorama Direct a photo of a section of concrete block wall made from a new mould being developed by them and she is asking for any comments . Good or bad .
At the moment the main issue is trying to make the blocks "idiot proof " so that they can be laid with all the mortar joints being the same . The obvious solution would be to have spacers incorporated , similar to their 1/35th scale Flemmish brick strips , but this might prove to be tricky owing to the thinness of the block walls . She asked if they should do away with the holes in the blocks and have them all being solid , to which I replied " no way , Jose " that is the main appeal , to me , of the blocks in the first place . My best suggestion is to have the majority of the blocks being cast solid with spacer lugs and a proportion being cast hollow without the spacers . This would mean that anyone who wants to show the top of the wall can just lay one course of hollow blocks on top of the rest which are solid .
The blocks were cast with a very dry plaster mixture . To rather good effect . Well , I think so .
Does anyone have a better suggestion , or other comments ? The blocks will be 1/35th scale .
Nick
Those castings are quite wonderful ...
Holy moly, those look terrific! Sure wish they were 1/24th scale.
Hi Nick,
Great looking castings, especially with the dry plaster mix gives that a fairly authentic looking rough concrete cast appearance. Solid blocks for the majority of the mould would make sense in terms of improving casting results (ie of one of the moulds for about 100 bricks, 70 could be solid, the rest with the hollowed detail). For spacing to make them idiot proof, they tend to suggest building their brick walls against a former (such as the lego), which should keep walls straight, so if spacing is the challenge, a simple suggestion of a common spacer piece should be the easy solution. When laying bricks, provide space with a styrene/timber/card spacer, depending on what the modeller wants the gap to be, and just slide it out between each laying of the bricks. The fancy answer would be some style of ladder spacer (with one long rail missing), to lay out a wall, and then remove the spacer jig.
Great to see them continuing with new product development.
Cheers,
Dan
That's a very nice and (I may be wrong) totally unseen so far?
I've been looking for that!
The casting look great, lovely texture and color.
I think you're totally right with the holes, that's the main interest, I fully support your suggestion of both solid and hollow cast.
Hope they'll do them in various scale, as with their bricks.
Splendid! Hollow 1/35 please......and hollow 1/24 (to put the car up on blocks).
Put me down for a set of molds in each scale.
Now,.....when will they be bringing out molds for the large hollow terracotta blocks, and perforated bricks? :)
Quote from: marc_reusser on April 28, 2013, 02:02:47 AM
Now,.....when will they be bringing out molds for the large hollow terracotta blocks, and perforated bricks? :)
When everyone has bought lots of their other moulds to support the limited demand for such specialist requests . Actually , they have been looking into producing a mould for three holed engineering bricks . Is that what you are thinking of ?
1/24th scale is a possibility ( and probably easier to produce than 1/35th scale moulds) if there is enough demand for a mould in that scale . Register your requests with them and see what happens ,
Nick
Nick
I believe I have met my quot of "lots of their other molds".....so unless there is something new...or in a different scale, I would soon need to start buying duplicates....or items in a scale I do not work in. ;D
No it was not the three hole small or long terracotta that I was thinking of (but those would be usefull as well), but rather the large ...don't know the size at the moment,...but roughly the cinder block size or larger, with the vertically raked sides, and I think 12 or so holes.
Quote from: marc_reusser on April 28, 2013, 03:43:26 PM
I believe I have met my quot of "lots of their other molds".....so unless there is something new...or in a different scale, I would soon need to start buying duplicates....or items in a scale I do not work in. ;D
No it was not the three hole small or long terracotta that I was thinking of (but those would be usefull as well), but rather the large ...don't know the size at the moment,...but roughly the cinder block size or larger, with the vertically raked sides, and I think 12 or so holes.
I wasn't thinking of you in particular in buying " lots of their moulds" , as I know you have purchased a significant number , however , I would imaging the numbers of moulds of the product you are talking about that would be sold could be counted on one hand . I'm not sure that they would consider it financially viable . It would also be an extremely tricky mould to make , if it were possible to do so in that scale .
I know that these "blocks" have been used for some time in Europe in floor construction but I can't imaging too many modellers would have the knowledge or inclination to start incorporating them into their models .
Is this the sort of thing you are talking about ?
Nick
Nick -
I'm unfamiliar with Diorama Direct, and can't seem to find anything on the web. What other interesting products do they provide? Any contact info?
These blocks are outstanding. I can think of numerous projects that would benefit!
Mark
I would like to see them do these in 1/24 and 1/48 scale ;D
Nick's typo...DIORAMA DEBRIS, not diorama direct.
http://www.dioramadebris.co.uk/
Cheers,
Dan
Quote from: danpickard on April 30, 2013, 08:52:37 PM
Nick's typo...DIORAMA DEBRIS, not diorama direct.
http://www.dioramadebris.co.uk/
Cheers,
Dan
Sorry about that . I seem to have had a bit of a mental block , it happen every so often ,I'm down to just a couple of times a day now .
Nick
Quote from: danpickard on April 30, 2013, 08:52:37 PM
Nick's typo...DIORAMA DEBRIS, not diorama direct.
http://www.dioramadebris.co.uk/
Cheers,
Dan
Boy, remind me not to hire him for my marketing guru. ;D ;D
You see? That's what happens when you let Nick out of the corner. He is so much better off remaining there and building those exquisite models .... -- Russ
Yep...seems the boy is thick as a brick....and sometimes a few short of a full palette.
Bloody hell , I only made one small typing error and they are jumping all over me . Gawd help me if I make a proper mistake .
Well, wherever they come from, those cement blocks look good.
I ordered some molds from Diorama Debris; does anyone in the States know where I can get Iron Powder? They won't ship it into the states
Thanks
MPH
I could send you several pounds of swarf from my brake lathe.
Wonder if that would work???
Its all cast iron......
Mj
I guess I could get my file out? What about the liquid stuff you paint on as a base coat for painted on rust you think that would work, if i added it to th plaster? Or what about fine steel wool?
thanks
Gil
Are these new moulds available already ?
I can't seem to find them om their site. ::)
Thanks
Marc
Gil,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atomized-Steel-Powder-95-Pure-Iron-By-The-Ounce-/321079581251?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac1d59a43
Or look under casting & mould suppliers sure most of them stock it as its a pretty common product used in casting
Quote from: Mr Potato Head on May 04, 2013, 09:00:43 AM
I ordered some molds from Diorama Debris; does anyone in the States know where I can get Iron Powder? They won't ship it into the states
Thanks
MPH
Everything but Iron here:
http://www.smooth-on.com/Urethane-Plastic-a/c5_1119_1211/index.html (http://www.smooth-on.com/Urethane-Plastic-a/c5_1119_1211/index.html)
and doesn't look good here either:
http://www.alumilite.com/ProdDetail.cfm?Category=Support%20Products&Name=Alumilite%20Metallic%20Powder (http://www.alumilite.com/ProdDetail.cfm?Category=Support%20Products&Name=Alumilite%20Metallic%20Powder)
Quote from: Marc988 on May 04, 2013, 12:41:03 PM
Are these new moulds available already ?
I can't seem to find them om their site. ::)
Thanks
Marc
No , they are not available yet . As I said , they are still in the development stage at the moment . They will appear on the front page of their website when they are ready to buy . Normally they send me a sample or two to try out . I have not received one yet .
I will keep you posted .
Nick
Two test moulds for concrete blocks arrived in the post today , so I shall be experimenting with them later this evening .
DO NOT expect them on the market in the short term as they aren't happy with them yet and need to keep trialling them .
1/16th scale concrete paving slabs , anyone ? Complete with anti-slip dimples . See photos .
Nick
Thanks for the update, Nick. As I look at their product line (and I must admit it's pretty cool) I wonder how the heck they can make any money! -- Russ
Quote from: shropshire lad on June 18, 2013, 09:59:59 AM
1/16th scale concrete paving slabs , anyone ? Complete with anti-slip dimples . See photos .
... REALLY nice ... and matching scale too ... increasing interest over here ... 8)
Is there any development of 1/16th scale brick moulds already going on or intended in future ... ?
EDIT: Just had a look at their website ... slab mould and brick mould seem already available ..?
http://www.dioramadebris.co.uk/116-scale-moulds-2-c.asp (http://www.dioramadebris.co.uk/116-scale-moulds-2-c.asp)
Cheers
Quote from: shropshire lad on April 27, 2013, 05:03:09 PM
I have been sent by Louise at Diorama Direct a photo of a section of concrete block wall made from a new mould being developed by them and she is asking for any comments . Good or bad .
At the moment the main issue is trying to make the blocks "idiot proof " so that they can be laid with all the mortar joints being the same . The obvious solution would be to have spacers incorporated , similar to their 1/35th scale Flemmish brick strips , but this might prove to be tricky owing to the thinness of the block walls . She asked if they should do away with the holes in the blocks and have them all being solid , to which I replied " no way , Jose " that is the main appeal , to me , of the blocks in the first place . My best suggestion is to have the majority of the blocks being cast solid with spacer lugs and a proportion being cast hollow without the spacers . This would mean that anyone who wants to show the top of the wall can just lay one course of hollow blocks on top of the rest which are solid .
The blocks were cast with a very dry plaster mixture . To rather good effect . Well , I think so .
Does anyone have a better suggestion , or other comments ? The blocks will be 1/35th scale .
Nick
If you think about it they actually look like an upside down Lego brick. Could they not have lugs on the underside to lock them together?
Just a thought.
Jim