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THE 'SEE IT/MAKE IT' CHALLENGE: ROUND FOUR


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THE 'SEE IT/MAKE IT' CHALLENGE: ROUND FOUR
Test your brick stair-making abilities in the fourth round of our See it/Make it challenge. With a Bachmann Class E4 0-6-2T up for grabs, it could be a stairway to heaven?

 

131043077_forupload.jpg.bb0179e0f99fa4762e870ba023a49f26.jpg

Read more here: https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/techniques/the-see-it-make-it-challenge-round-four/

 

Who's good at brickwork, then?

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I'm not sure how far I will get with this but here goes...

 

This is the first piece of brickwork - designated "StairEnd".

image.png.09501b8c7b87e226c01b5e52348a3809.png

Just another brick in the wall!

 

 

Kev.

 

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Hi there,

 

' ... stairway to heaven ... '; ' ... another brick in the wall ... '; what's next?  Green Door, or something from Fiddler on the Roof?

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

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On 07/06/2020 at 18:35, SHMD said:

I'm not sure how far I will get with this but here goes...

 

This is the first piece of brickwork - designated "StairEnd".

 

Just another brick in the wall!

 

 

Kev.

 

 

Interesting variety in the courses there, but hard to tell what you've made it from - is it wood? Looks great either way!

H

 

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Hi Howard, yes it is wood, and here is some progress !

 

I use a high speed "router" to realise the drawings I make in CAD.

20200608_135838.jpg.fb88cea22a93861cb4ebc889a3745ccb.jpg

 

The finish is quite rough - I must use a new cutter next time.

20200608_140426.jpg.eb1d6395b929d95d679a5cf06e3eba31.jpg

 

...but a few seconds with a blow-torch effortlessly cleans things up.

20200608_140800.jpg.a71a3e8da17cbc40e49e63be5dd5d003.jpg

 

A few seconds with some 400 grit paper and it looks as good as new - that's what is wanted right?

20200609_143757.jpg.9fe8ea9e20dc5171a791db21e6f45ee8.jpg

...but don't linger too long (>1second in any one place) or the wood will burn!

 

Four more panels left to CAM and cut. (The CAD is already done.)

 

 

Kev.

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...oh, and it's - Bond, English Bond!

 

 

(But with 5 courses of "stretchers" before each course of "Headers".)

 

 

Kev.

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Mightily impressive stuff, Kev, we can't wait to see the finish article! Anyone going to give Kev a run for his money with styrene sheet, clay or foamboard? It's all about the painting and weathering too, remember!

H

 

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Here are a couple of sets of steps on Foxcote in 2mm scale. Both have plasticard as the basis. I will try and dig out some construction pictures and mail them off to Howard.

 

Jerry 

 

 

 

 

20200611_111308.jpg.4596e5cb8c6d1bff3b6476beaaa94b11.jpg

 

 

 

20200611_111514.jpg.b07590eadec3e21171befb809437153f.jpg

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English bond is alternate stretcher - header courses, Flemish bond is stretcher - header in the same course alternating with header - stretcher in the courses above and below, common bond is 5 courses of stretcher to 1 of header, and, I stand to be corrected, garden wall bond is 3 courses of stretcher to 1 of header. There are many others, of course. The idea is that water does not find an easy path to percolate through the courses.

 

Straying away slightly, if you use bricks with 'frogs' i.e., indented (usually) on one face, the frog should be laid uppermost and then filled with mortar, however, as mortar is relatively expensive, often to cut corners, the frogs are laid bottom-most leaving an air-gap above the mortar within which water collects - not a good idea!

 

Cavity walls were made with two half-brick walls tied with steel ties. A number of years ago, houses built in the 1920s/30s started to suffer from wall-tie rot where the steel rusted and started to separate the courses. Much remedial work had to be (and maybe still) undertaken. Modern ties are stainless or plastic and the cavity infilled with insulation.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

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35 minutes ago, john new said:

Possibly a numpties question; however, I note this is round four, is it a stand alone project or did you have to enter rounds 1 to 3 first? 

 

No, each is separate. 

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51 minutes ago, john new said:

Possibly a numpties question; however, I note this is round four, is it a stand alone project or did you have to enter rounds 1 to 3 first? 

 

 

All separate, John - looking forward to seeing what you've been up to.

H

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More done. Just the stairs and the stone wall to do.

 

I've been looking forward to doing the arch!  :) 

20200611_175715.jpg.afd3f19bfb2e94017c39604a60520264.jpg

 

..a pile of boards that need keying together!

20200613_215527.jpg.ae49576efded0f19c801fb620a1e9803.jpg

 

Tomorrow I want need to start "ageing" the bricks. I fear this will be a distressing time for both of us!

 

 

Kev.

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Wow, fantastic modelling! Great to see the different mixture of techniques and media being used. Can't wait to see them weathered - looking at the state of the bricks in the prototype photograph, I'd say you've certainly accepted a challenge!

Has anyone been tempted to scribe brick steps in DAS clay, or foamboard, yet?

H

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On 11/06/2020 at 14:18, Philou said:

English bond is alternate stretcher - header courses, Flemish bond is stretcher - header in the same course alternating with header - stretcher in the courses above and below, common bond is 5 courses of stretcher to 1 of header, and, I stand to be corrected, garden wall bond is 3 courses of stretcher to 1 of header. There are many others, of course. The idea is that water does not find an easy path to percolate through the courses.

 

Straying away slightly, if you use bricks with 'frogs' i.e., indented (usually) on one face, the frog should be laid uppermost and then filled with mortar, however, as mortar is relatively expensive, often to cut corners, the frogs are laid bottom-most leaving an air-gap above the mortar within which water collects - not a good idea!

 

Cavity walls were made with two half-brick walls tied with steel ties. A number of years ago, houses built in the 1920s/30s started to suffer from wall-tie rot where the steel rusted and started to separate the courses. Much remedial work had to be (and maybe still) undertaken. Modern ties are stainless or plastic and the cavity infilled with insulation.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

And don't forget the Queen Closers which have to be used to disrupt the mortar position between header and stretcher courses.   And which are an absolute b*gger to cut in engineering bricks (don't ask how I know but I'm definitely not going to post a photo).   I see  SHMD has cut some very neat small scale ones in exactly the right places - top notch job there.

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I didn't want to go into detail, but not forgetting half, quarter and three-quarter bats and your quoins. IIRC, were there were also King closures? I did the theory in the late 70s but we were never allowed to do any practical work - which I loved when I did my own building work/extensions at home. I especially like leadwork and roofing in slate oh and I can plaster reasonably well - can't do it over here as they have 'soft' white plaster instead of browning and thistle types and you just can't get a fine polished finish - booh!

 

I also had an excellent illustrated construction theory handbook used in my ONC/HNC coursework that was titled something like 'Building Papers' that after a number of house moves I no longer seem to have :(. Showed everything you needed - dragon's tooth anyone?

 

Cheers and do take care - we're officially finished confinement here and schools restart next Monday with minimal safeguards - Not A Good Thing (T) in my book.

 

Philip

 

Edited by Philou
gran'ma again!
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On 12/06/2020 at 13:17, john new said:

Possibly a numpties question; however, I note this is round four, is it a stand alone project or did you have to enter rounds 1 to 3 first? 

 

And a follow up as I am hoping to get some modelling done this week - does it have to be a model of those specific steps or can it be any substantial flight of brick steps? The notes  on World of Railways suggests it can be a different set as does the post from queensquare above.

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4 minutes ago, john new said:

And a follow up as I am hoping to get some modelling done this week - does it have to be a model of those specific steps or can it be any substantial flight of brick steps? The notes  on World of Railways suggests it can be a different set as does the post from queensquare above.

 

Any steps John, so long as they're mostly brick. Feel free to throw the odd bit of stonework or ironwork in if you fancy, too. Hope it's challenging, but not too challenging... :banghead:

H

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14 minutes ago, Howard Smith said:

 

Any steps John, so long as they're mostly brick. Feel free to throw the odd bit of stonework or ironwork in if you fancy, too. Hope it's challenging, but not too challenging... :banghead:

H

Thanks. I have a few ideas which will kick start the scenic aspects on my very slow build, despite being  only a micro-layout, but I couldn't think how to get that specific set  to fit in. 

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