I decided I needed some buildings as a backdrop to the 1/19th scale (16mm scale) scrapyard, so started on the workshop entrance, inspired by Marcel Ackle (and unashamedly using his techniques). It uses 5mm foamboard, well braced with wood (it still seems to warp a bit so further buildings will use plywood), with Stacey's Miniature Masonry (a UK company) "briquettes" which are to 1/19th scale glued on. Slow and tedious but it keeps me occupied while the wife watches old programmes on TV (Marple, Poirot and the such). These will be weathered with various paints for variety, then sealed, grouted and "chipped" at to make them look old. The door is a copy of one of Marcel's from a few years back, details of it on his website www.feldbahn-modelbau.ch.
Les Tindall
Nice start. Hope the warping can be eliminated.
Yes, looking good so far.
Looks great so far.
Please keep posting progress shots. -- Russ
I think I've cured the warping. I was having a sleepless night thinking about that. Got up early and just did a sample corner of painting the bricks, sealing and adding "mortar" (very fine stone, hydrocal and a bit of brown colouring). Wiped of the surplus and currently waiting for it to dry.
Les
Dried a bit light so added some more colouring. Still needs working on.
Les
Looking good , Les . Shame you have done it in boring stretcher bond .
Nick
I thought it looked rather nice as it is but I suppose Shropshire bond might wake it up a little. -- Russ
Ignore it Les its "Nick the bricks thing" all three houses I have owned have been boring bound - the two apartment buildings either side of us are boring bound - the house at the back of us is boring bound and on and on we go boring never mind keep the good work up Les its looking good - so keep the episode coming
I know you have sorted the issue of the warping but next time try glueing some paper on the rear of the foam board it acts as a balance sheet thats what a lot of the display people do with there photos and drawings
Barney
So bored Im asleep again
Did the paper on the back thing to stop warping - it worked!
p.s what is "stretcher bond", is that something to do with with being carried away to hospital?
Les
Don't go there Les - you will wake all the brick men up (and ladies) and its boring!!!!!
Barney
This is an old wisdom, if you stick something on one side of an area, you have to do it on the other side.
With Shropshire bond you'd have the best of both worlds: Create it by making Nick stand in the corner, then bond him there securely by building a brick wall behind him. To make sure nothing is warped (except for our senses of humor ["humour" in Nicolese], glue paper behind it. -- ssuR
Boring!! Even Tesco"s brick is boring bond
Barney
Nice work. I especially like the old, busted-up doors.
Russ:
Your idea for Nick has been used before By Edgar Allen Poe. If you leave a small hole near the floor to slide take away boxes into the corner, he will never notice the brick wall.
Update on the wall. Apart from adding a possible nameboard above the door the front of the building is finished. The mortar was an absolute "pig" compared with the initial test part. It may have been the matt varnish spray used to seal the bricks before adding the mortar. Anyway it all ended up far too pale. By accident I tried a coat of dilute pva glue (goodness knows why!) and it restored the colour. The white area will probably be covered by the nameboard but represents the lime coming out of the bricks, while alongside is a section of mortarless, cracked wall to give it character (black paint finely applied between the bricks). The shrubs growing on the lefty of the door cover a rather "duff" bit of wall. Might try some bird droppings on the vent!.
Les
Les, The wall looks really good overall, including the shrubs hiding the " 'Duff' bit"
The mortarless, cracked areas look like black mortar to me rather than voids where the mortar is missing. Is there a way to dig out the mortar in those areas instead?
Bill's suggestion might help. The wall still looks quite good. -- Russ
I think its probably the photo, the dark bits are gaps with no mortar. Like weathered walls I also hacked at some of the bricks to remove the outer layer and reveal the lighter inside part - as these are real miniature bricks it works quite well.
Les
Close up photo
Les
You should have showed us that one to begin with! -- Russ
Excellent! The pitted bricks really sell it.
Yes, that angle shows the missing mortar much better. The erroded bricks are great!
Side wall now added, the model will be in "low relief" as a backdrop to derelict locos, wagons, etc. The broken rendered parts are made from plaster (as per Marcel Ackle's tutorial on his website) It is cast onto 10thou plasticard with a depth of just 0.5 mm (it makes it VERY fragile), when dry removed by turning the casting upside down and peeling back the thin plasticard. The broken up parts are then PVA glued onto the brick wall and weathered with water-based paints and powders. The hole in the middle will be for a steam pipe from a boiler (rusty of course!) outside the wall. I tried "cracking" the plaster but it turned out to be too well glued on.
Les
sorry the phot is sideways, you will all suffer neck ache trying to look at it!
Les
Upright or sideways it shows the very adequate quality of your work. -- Russ
looking good - but my neck aches -
Barney
(https://www.finescalerr.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buntbahn.de%2Ffotos%2Fdata%2F8104%2F13Bilddrehen.jpg&hash=0cd5972ba5ca5e0842e8b6962fb25a708b11ca14)
No problem you just have to put the PC or the monitor right.
Ah, thats how to do it!
Les
Looks good!
Hi Les.
ys the cracked plaster there are a few variations around, are your bricks hand layed? One way is to plaster up the bricks on paper in the chosen pattern spread a bit of plaster around then use a bit of thin wood as a buffer then hit it all with a hammer. A lot of it will shatter this is what you want but don't break the paper, pick up the paper with the shattered wall and then glue it on to you shape in this case the house.
cheers Kim
Or, simply manipulate the finished paper walls by hand to crack the wall in a controlled manner.
The bricks are hand laid onto foamboard, glued down with PVA. Perhaps a little unevenness would have helped to give some "air" under parts of the plaster enabling the cracking with thumb pressure. (Hope that makes sense!)
Les
Some progress shots of the 1/19th diorama. Three building "flats" completed, wagon turntable and some track down, currently laying cobbles (these from Diorama Debris who supply excellent moulds to cast the cobbles, these are actually 1/24th but seem to be OK in 1/19th). One of he shots show the Ruston diesel under repair alongside the main building.
Les
Wow !! Excellent - speechless !
Barney
Most satisfactory. -- Russ
Beautiful work!
Hi Les ,
Progress on your project looks great and the buildings are looking just right . Well , almost , but we're not allowed to talk about brick bonds as , apparently , it is a boring subject . Looking forward to seeing more progress .
On a slightly different note . I went to the Stafford Model Railway Exhibition yesterday and I managed to take a wrong turning on my way there and ended up heading north on the A34 towards Stone . As I approached one roundabout with a pub on the corner and it occurred to me that it looked familiar and I am guessing that I went passed your old house . Am I correct in my thinking ?
Nick
As we all know, Nick actually stopped at the pub for an hour or two before getting lost on the A34.
But he's wrong about modelers on this forum thinking brick bonds are boring and, since he's an expert, we welcome any information or corrections he might offer. As long as he offers help before stopping at the pub. -- ssuR
Hi Nick
yes it probably was my old house, I can guess which road you took. I presume you called in at the pub for a cup of tea - Brooke Bond rather than brick bond. Anyway thanks for the comments on the diorama - I know you are the "guru" of model buildings.
Les
Nice work. I'm sure it takes incredible patience to lay all these bricks one by one. I love the gray window trim.
Bernhard
Hi Bernhard
It took around a week or so to lay the bricks. They come from Stacey's Miniature Masonry, he also does the blue/gray bricks used for the window surrounds. Laying the cobbles need even more patience as there are around 1500 to do, cast in a mould of 100 at a time. The "brackets" on the wall of the main building will be supports for an overhead crane.
Les
In any case, the result justifies the effort.
Bernhard
Progress so far:
Sorry forgot the photo. the system is "playing up"
Progress so far:
Still having problems posting photos, trying again
It will only take one photo at a time. Here's another
It represents an old workshop/scrapyard on a board 3ft x 18". The Ruston sits outside the main building awaiting repairs, the Kerr Stuart "Wren" class rots away in the bushes (rubberised horsehair placed around the model, dilute white glue added and sprinkled with "ivy" (birch seed pods). The work trolley is based on a photo I saw with a compressor and oxy-acetylene equipment on an old skip frame. All this takes up about half the board, the rest will contain such things as a winch, boiler, stationary engine, tractor bits, etc (whatever I fancy). All good fun!
Les
We already know it looks terrific. Now you've told us it's pretty big. Where will you display it when it is complete? Will you cover it to minimize dust? Do you have other dioramas of about that size? (If you have a lot of room, then I'm jealous.) -- Russ
As we live in a 2-bed apartment space is at a premium. The 2nd bedroom (or "den") is where I do the modelling shared with my wife's dolls house.
When completed I guess it will just go to the tip (its the building of the models I enjoy most). There's probably another years worth of working on it then I'll move onto something else. The 1/19th scale locos I've built (the Garratt, an Alco and Byers geared engine) are small enough to fit onto shelves. This is the biggest thing I have made so far - still enjoying it.
Les
Quote from: Les Tindall on April 28, 2020, 12:55:59 PM
As we live in a 2-bed apartment space is at a premium. The 2nd bedroom (or "den") is where I do the modelling shared with my wife's dolls house.
When completed I guess it will just go to the tip (its the building of the models I enjoy most). There's probably another years worth of working on it then I'll move onto something else. The 1/19th scale locos I've built (the Garratt, an Alco and Byers geared engine) are small enough to fit onto shelves. This is the biggest thing I have made so far - still enjoying it.
Les
Don't be bloody silly , you can't dump it when you have finished it . Someone somewhere will have it . If necessary I will look after it !
Nick
Is the track 32mm 2ft gauge or is it wider or is it the way its photographed but it looks fantastic in many ways - just keep it coming
Barney
let me know when its going to the tip because so it can be hi-jacked and redirected
Barney, the track is 32mm, it must be the w/a lens on the camera or angle it was taken.
Right, back to the "den" for modelling s its an overcast day so won't do the regulation "exercise" time outside, stocked at the supermarket so have the essentials in (wine, etc).
Les
Nick
my philosophy is "life is not what you possess, it's what you do with it". That's why I have chucked stuff in the past (I also hate clutter - except on model dioramas). However I'll keep you informed when its completed.
Les