Fine ballast or sand would work nicely as underlayment for cobbles with a layer of coarser ballast underneath & around utilities?
Pushing Back .......
- Thread starter toto
- Start date
Back up in dounreay until friday so nothing on the diorama build until then. This weekend will be a bit of a mixed bag as I've ran out of my standard grey cobbles sk will need to move the dioramaout the way to make room for cobble mould productions. 
also I hope to be setting up my small spray booth to get some priming done to my Simca and a Pak 40.
I intend to glue the plaster cast buildings togrther and prime them as well.
When I do get production moving again on the diorama ...... probably thefollowing weekend .... it will be more cobbles and stsrting to get the blast crator pushed on a bit.
In my mind at the moment will be an initial covering of the crator surfaces with plaster bandage just to start a basic form and then possibly build up the detail layer with DAS clay as that should adhere to the plster bandage well before a final finer layer of various ballasts, scatters and blast debri.
Thats the theory but it could change between now and then.
Oncethe plaster cast buildings have been primed ( at least ) that will open up some of the balsa wood detailing .... floors , ceilings, roofs etc.
Never a dull moment.
Cheers
Toto
also I hope to be setting up my small spray booth to get some priming done to my Simca and a Pak 40.I intend to glue the plaster cast buildings togrther and prime them as well.
When I do get production moving again on the diorama ...... probably thefollowing weekend .... it will be more cobbles and stsrting to get the blast crator pushed on a bit.
In my mind at the moment will be an initial covering of the crator surfaces with plaster bandage just to start a basic form and then possibly build up the detail layer with DAS clay as that should adhere to the plster bandage well before a final finer layer of various ballasts, scatters and blast debri.
Thats the theory but it could change between now and then.
Oncethe plaster cast buildings have been primed ( at least ) that will open up some of the balsa wood detailing .... floors , ceilings, roofs etc.
Never a dull moment.
Cheers
Toto
Back in the saddle and the mancave has been repurposed into cobble production mode again .....
The first three moulds have been cast ..... for a Grey cobble production ....
second load of moulds in the mould bath awaiting their turn .....
with another couple of moulds in the que .....
The above is what I was down too after the recent cobble street build. I reckon I will need at least another couple of thousand ....... best get going with it then.
more later on a couple of brick wall moulds that I cast earlier ..... with mixed results.
cheers
toto
The first three moulds have been cast ..... for a Grey cobble production ....
second load of moulds in the mould bath awaiting their turn .....
with another couple of moulds in the que .....
The above is what I was down too after the recent cobble street build. I reckon I will need at least another couple of thousand ....... best get going with it then.
more later on a couple of brick wall moulds that I cast earlier ..... with mixed results.
cheers
toto
OK ..... I have been merrily boosting production of my grey cobbles ...... but earlier on ..... I was reintroducing myself to my brickwork wall moulds.
here are some results ....
it took a couple of casts to get back into them and get the plaster water ratio correct ..... but I got there.
Above are the full sections of brick walls ......
with a bit of a zoom in .....
and then some part sections that let you build peers, quions and close of end sections ( far right )
The moulds at the far right are notoriously difficult to cast and break free from the maoulds ..... they are known as slim jims.
The success rate is about two for every dozen ...... or less. ..... not good , so there are a few failures which end up going here ........
The rubble collection binto be used as ..... well ..... rubble and debri ...... so all is not lost .....
More on what I intend to do with the brick wall sections later and how i intend to paint, weather and create the mortar courses.
Meanwhile ..... back to casting cobbles ....
cheers for now
toto
here are some results ....
it took a couple of casts to get back into them and get the plaster water ratio correct ..... but I got there.
Above are the full sections of brick walls ......
with a bit of a zoom in .....
and then some part sections that let you build peers, quions and close of end sections ( far right )
The moulds at the far right are notoriously difficult to cast and break free from the maoulds ..... they are known as slim jims.
The success rate is about two for every dozen ...... or less. ..... not good , so there are a few failures which end up going here ........
The rubble collection binto be used as ..... well ..... rubble and debri ...... so all is not lost .....
More on what I intend to do with the brick wall sections later and how i intend to paint, weather and create the mortar courses.
Meanwhile ..... back to casting cobbles ....
cheers for now
toto
So ....... the missus just came out to the mancave to remind me of the time ..... and ohhhh how it flies when you are enjoying yourself ..... ahem .....
My last casts for tonight are being aided by my wee 2 kW electric heater .....
my used moulds are having an early bath ......
in their favourite washing up liquid mix .....
and the cobble stone coffers have been bolstered a bit ..... but nowhere near enough ......
so ...... guess where I will be starting off tomorrow ...... yes ..... cobblers to you all..
Tomorrow is another casting day with the intention of using maybe half a day on Sunday ( as I have some domestics to do and get ready to return to Dounreay on Monday ) setting up my spray booth , compressor and airbrush to prime some of my partially assembled kits that I have worked on to date. ..... As I said ..... a very mixed weekend.
Now ..... the following weekend .... time to catch up on some of the tasks I never got to this weekend ..... gluing the plaster cast buildings together and possibly priming them ..... start the last stretch of cobbling and work on the explosion zone.
to many work fronts but I have to keep them all going at the one time in order to try and blend them all together as they are needed. Its also one of the reasons that I started to cast the brick wall sections as I need them as well.
My brain is chaos but it still just about manageable.
Once I get the main infra structure pieces together ..... I will need to slow down further for the land mass and detailing as I honestly don't have a clue where to go with that.
What a brain dump that was ....
hope its still interesting enough to follow. ..... This is a major challenge for me and I am flying by the seat of my pants ...... and enjoying every moment ..... so far.
cheers
toto
My last casts for tonight are being aided by my wee 2 kW electric heater .....
my used moulds are having an early bath ......
in their favourite washing up liquid mix .....
and the cobble stone coffers have been bolstered a bit ..... but nowhere near enough ......
so ...... guess where I will be starting off tomorrow ...... yes ..... cobblers to you all..
Tomorrow is another casting day with the intention of using maybe half a day on Sunday ( as I have some domestics to do and get ready to return to Dounreay on Monday ) setting up my spray booth , compressor and airbrush to prime some of my partially assembled kits that I have worked on to date. ..... As I said ..... a very mixed weekend.
Now ..... the following weekend .... time to catch up on some of the tasks I never got to this weekend ..... gluing the plaster cast buildings together and possibly priming them ..... start the last stretch of cobbling and work on the explosion zone.
to many work fronts but I have to keep them all going at the one time in order to try and blend them all together as they are needed. Its also one of the reasons that I started to cast the brick wall sections as I need them as well.
My brain is chaos but it still just about manageable.
Once I get the main infra structure pieces together ..... I will need to slow down further for the land mass and detailing as I honestly don't have a clue where to go with that.
What a brain dump that was ....
hope its still interesting enough to follow. ..... This is a major challenge for me and I am flying by the seat of my pants ...... and enjoying every moment ..... so far.
cheers
toto
one last post ....... at least one with photo's .......
I mentioned brick walls earlier ....... and further back lathe plaster ceilings in the buildings ....... well here is my secret weapon ..... If I can get it to work ...... it has two purposes ....
This is a mould meant as a plaster board sheet ...... 2440mm x 1220 mm in size ..... the industry standard ....
1st ...... I will cover my brick walls with this and break away sections as desired to give a stukka plaster / mortar effect bossing from the wall where munitions have hit. 2nd .... it will be used in a similar fashion to create a destroyed ceiling leaving behind a glimps of the lathe and plaster underneath ...... you will understand better when the build comes around.
These moulds are absolutely murder to cast as they are only about 1mm thick but I have watch Utube videos where they have been successfully cast.
talk about setting yourself up for a fall .........
loads of fresh challanges coming up ...... stay tuned to watch my pain. .....
cheers and ....... good night ........
toto
I mentioned brick walls earlier ....... and further back lathe plaster ceilings in the buildings ....... well here is my secret weapon ..... If I can get it to work ...... it has two purposes ....
This is a mould meant as a plaster board sheet ...... 2440mm x 1220 mm in size ..... the industry standard ....
1st ...... I will cover my brick walls with this and break away sections as desired to give a stukka plaster / mortar effect bossing from the wall where munitions have hit. 2nd .... it will be used in a similar fashion to create a destroyed ceiling leaving behind a glimps of the lathe and plaster underneath ...... you will understand better when the build comes around.
These moulds are absolutely murder to cast as they are only about 1mm thick but I have watch Utube videos where they have been successfully cast.
talk about setting yourself up for a fall .........
loads of fresh challanges coming up ...... stay tuned to watch my pain. .....
cheers and ....... good night ........
toto
Just found this thread..spectacular work going on here..
Can't sleep .... boooooo .....so doing the worst thing possible ....... sitting up drinking coffee ....
Never mind ... gives me time to think.
A very busy time later today as I intend to make the most of my time back home this weekend. Domestic duties have been pushed into tomorrow to give me maximum mancave time today.
Mainly further casting duties today. I dont want to jump between tasks as you lose time cleaning up after casting and moving on to other stuff. So I will consentrate mainly on cobble production and maybe some more wall sections as I will need a few of these as well for the various lengths of walls required.
I need to cast quite a quantity of the " plasterboard " type wall boards for the stucco coating for the walls and these are notoriously difficult to cast so I envisage a frustrating time there. The success rate is not good. I will try it but if it eats too much into my time, I may need to try another technique. Maybe some thin card would work ....... we'll see.
Sunday will be a clear up day and a switch to air brushing the primer coats onto my part completed models .... namely the Simca 5 and the Pak 40. At least thats the plan for now ..... things constantly change depending on events.
I'll try to post up as much of the events as possible without holding things up too much so I hope to have you along for the journey.
Cheers for now ....... time to see if I can nod off again.
Toto
Never mind ... gives me time to think.
A very busy time later today as I intend to make the most of my time back home this weekend. Domestic duties have been pushed into tomorrow to give me maximum mancave time today.
Mainly further casting duties today. I dont want to jump between tasks as you lose time cleaning up after casting and moving on to other stuff. So I will consentrate mainly on cobble production and maybe some more wall sections as I will need a few of these as well for the various lengths of walls required.
I need to cast quite a quantity of the " plasterboard " type wall boards for the stucco coating for the walls and these are notoriously difficult to cast so I envisage a frustrating time there. The success rate is not good. I will try it but if it eats too much into my time, I may need to try another technique. Maybe some thin card would work ....... we'll see.
Sunday will be a clear up day and a switch to air brushing the primer coats onto my part completed models .... namely the Simca 5 and the Pak 40. At least thats the plan for now ..... things constantly change depending on events.
I'll try to post up as much of the events as possible without holding things up too much so I hope to have you along for the journey.
Cheers for now ....... time to see if I can nod off again.
Toto
Casting going well. Justfinished offthe last of the cobble casts for now. I will be going on to do more brick wall casts shortly.
Tried casting some of the very small and fragile road drains ....... no chance ...... absolute disaster and personally I think, possibly, a waste of money. I will tryand find a video on this as there must be a knack to it or another product to be added to the mould in order to succeed. Moreon that later if I find a solution.
Meanwhile ...... back to the mancave for phase two .....
Cheers for now
Toto
Tried casting some of the very small and fragile road drains ....... no chance ...... absolute disaster and personally I think, possibly, a waste of money. I will tryand find a video on this as there must be a knack to it or another product to be added to the mould in order to succeed. Moreon that later if I find a solution.
Meanwhile ...... back to the mancave for phase two .....
Cheers for now
Toto
all set up ......
ready to go .....
first pour .......
numbers are starting to creep up again .....
two rain storm drain frames that made it ...... but the covers never .....
two manhole covers and frames that made the grade .....
and I am back on brick walls as we speak.
I may try the plasterboard sheets later .... don't expect much success there though ..... lets wait and see.
cheers
toto
ready to go .....
first pour .......
numbers are starting to creep up again .....
two rain storm drain frames that made it ...... but the covers never .....
two manhole covers and frames that made the grade .....
and I am back on brick walls as we speak.
I may try the plasterboard sheets later .... don't expect much success there though ..... lets wait and see.
cheers
toto
Thanks,
I'll have a look online as they would be a good thing to have at the ready. Must admit though ..... I don't like to be beaten on these things .... I am assuming that they are actually castable. If they are ..... I'd like to pull it off. honestly though ..... you ought to see these things ..... god knows how its achieved.
it could be that I maybe have to reduce the amount of water in the mix ..... or / and leave them to set overnight.
I am using Crystacal R plaster of Paris which is meant to be harder than the Herculite version that I also have.
cheers
toto
I'll have a look online as they would be a good thing to have at the ready. Must admit though ..... I don't like to be beaten on these things .... I am assuming that they are actually castable. If they are ..... I'd like to pull it off. honestly though ..... you ought to see these things ..... god knows how its achieved.
it could be that I maybe have to reduce the amount of water in the mix ..... or / and leave them to set overnight.
I am using Crystacal R plaster of Paris which is meant to be harder than the Herculite version that I also have.
cheers
toto
Great work and so interesting.
I have the man hole and drain mould use the Stonecast Life Casting one. Man hole covers come out well but anything with a small bar, as in the drain covers easy to snap just getting them out of the mould. Worth it though as once you have got the knack its not bad.
I have the man hole and drain mould use the Stonecast Life Casting one. Man hole covers come out well but anything with a small bar, as in the drain covers easy to snap just getting them out of the mould. Worth it though as once you have got the knack its not bad.
I shall perceivere for now. Another option would be to make one in balsa wood. possible I would think.
Anyway .... here is where I am at for the minute.
some brick wall sections complete. There are two that are broken but when put together ..... its impossible to see the join ..... so they are keepers ....
Also some joiners and end section for the wall returns .....
I even managed to cast some slim jims without breaking them .... impressed ....
and a shot of a couple of sections of wall inserted together .....
you can see the join but by the time they have been painted and weathered including the mortar grout, it should be a lot less obvious. I do intend to install a stucco type wall finish to the wall so you will hardly see the brickwork never mind the joints.
I will break some stucco off in areas and where shell damage has occurred which will expose the brick and mortar etc.
another shot of a slim jim.
the debri / scrap tub is also gathering pace .... It will all get used.
tidied up and work bench back to a blank canvas after being cleaned up. ..... Now we prepare for some model priming .....
a compressor and a little spray booth. I have not got around to venting the booth off to the outside as yet but that will come. I am spraying in water based paints etc , not enamels or cellulose and the booth for now is just to catch any overspray.
Another image of some contraptions and gadgets ..... clamps, turntable etc ....
and one last shot of some magnetic clamps for those small fidely pieces .
I'm not sure how much more I will get through tonight as the casting has been a long day and has taken it out of me a bit. We'll see. But if not back on ...... then its see you tomorrow.
cheers
toto
Anyway .... here is where I am at for the minute.
some brick wall sections complete. There are two that are broken but when put together ..... its impossible to see the join ..... so they are keepers ....
Also some joiners and end section for the wall returns .....
I even managed to cast some slim jims without breaking them .... impressed ....
and a shot of a couple of sections of wall inserted together .....
you can see the join but by the time they have been painted and weathered including the mortar grout, it should be a lot less obvious. I do intend to install a stucco type wall finish to the wall so you will hardly see the brickwork never mind the joints.
I will break some stucco off in areas and where shell damage has occurred which will expose the brick and mortar etc.
another shot of a slim jim.
the debri / scrap tub is also gathering pace ....
It will all get used.tidied up and work bench back to a blank canvas after being cleaned up. ..... Now we prepare for some model priming .....
a compressor and a little spray booth. I have not got around to venting the booth off to the outside as yet but that will come. I am spraying in water based paints etc , not enamels or cellulose and the booth for now is just to catch any overspray.
Another image of some contraptions and gadgets ..... clamps, turntable etc ....
and one last shot of some magnetic clamps for those small fidely pieces .
I'm not sure how much more I will get through tonight as the casting has been a long day and has taken it out of me a bit. We'll see. But if not back on ...... then its see you tomorrow.
cheers
toto
Legal Notice
scalemodelling.co.uk is a privately operated online discussion forum. All content posted by members reflects their own views and opinions and does not necessarily represent those of the forum owners or administrators. While reasonable efforts are made to moderate content, no responsibility is accepted for user-generated material. By using this site, you agree to comply with UK law and the forum rules.