Giles Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 I've fitted both boards with 1/4" jack sockets for DCC supply - fed from a single twin cable, split at the end with two jack plugs - one for each board. Point motors will be controlled from a Switch 8 (2) on one board, so there will need to be a fly- lead with Din plug from one board to 'tother. Holes are cut underneath for Tortoise point motors. I've been careful to make sure there is 4mm ply where I want it over-head! All (standard gauge) track is sprayed black, cleaned off, and ready for rusting and sleeper painting 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Not ballasting the track Giles? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 (edited) Oh yes Chris, but I'll do that after rusting rails and painting sleepers! This was how I got the track below ( although it won't be all like this!) Edited April 3, 2015 by Giles 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 (edited) All the track is finally painted and cleaned off, ready for ballasting - and sett-laying..... So I made a start. I decided to do the setts at the baseboard join in Milliput to make them resilient, and the others are in air-drying clay. The clay works better for embossing. Although it doesn't look it, I did carve the flange ways out before embossing, and I shall do so again when the clay is nearly dry. The clay is bedded onto PVA brushed onto the track bed. The embossing was extremely quick (relatively) with the tool I made Edited April 25, 2015 by Giles 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 All the track is finally painted and cleaned off, ready for ballasting - and sett-laying..... So I made a start. I decided to do the setts at the baseboard join in Milliput to make them resilient, and the others are in air-drying clay. The clay works better for embossing. Although it doesn't look it, I did carve the flange ways out before embossing, and I shall do so again when the clay is nearly dry. The clay is bedded onto PVA brushed onto the track bed. The embossing was extremely quick (relatively) with the tool I made Nice work Giles. May we have a photo of the embissong tool? Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Hi Chris, it's a simple brass fabrication of etch off cuts between sheet, all silver soldered - the shorter side sized for the four-foot. The sett dividers are off set, so you just spin it through 180 degrees for each row. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 I've done the artwork for a triple-sided embossing tool, to give 9" x 4 1/2" setts, in 7mm scale. This gives a run of 50mm, 28mm (for the 'four-foot' in standard guage, and a couple of stones worth on the last face for odds and sods...... Each face has the breaks off-set, so you spin the tool round to get the next staggered row. To give an indication, All the embossing shown in the main layout picture, AFTER laying the clay, took under ten minutes to emboss. As soon as I get a moment I'll get a sheet etched. Let me know if you might be interested in buying a tool (no commitment, as I don't yet have a price!!!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I've done the artwork for a triple-sided embossing tool, to give 9" x 4 1/2" setts, in 7mm scale. This gives a run of 50mm, 28mm (for the 'four-foot' in standard guage, and a couple of stones worth on the last face for odds and sods...... Each face has the breaks off-set, so you spin the tool round to get the next staggered row. To give an indication, All the embossing shown in the main layout picture, AFTER laying the clay, took under ten minutes to emboss. As soon as I get a moment I'll get a sheet etched. Let me know if you might be interested in buying a tool (no commitment, as I don't yet have a price!!!) I'm interested Giles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 Right you are, Chris! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Ditto, I have quite a large area to do, it would beat hand scribing! Many thanks, Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheekypaul Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I'll be interested in this tool too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 I need to cast bits for supporting walls for the crane road - but my old latex mould is well past its best - so I'm making a new one. The embossed plasticard master is taped down to a tray, and a wall of tape built around it. Latex has been poured on, tapped to clear bubbles out, left a few minutes and poured back off. This will then dry before another layer is poured on ( then poured off again). Several coats will be given. Mnultiple thin coats will dry a lot faster than one thick one, without the risk of finding a wet patch that ruins the job. I will give it a liberal talc before separating, so it doesn't get the chance to stick to itself. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted May 7, 2015 Author Share Posted May 7, 2015 The embossing tool for Setts will of course emboss different materials. It seems to make a good clean job on very dense foams like Celotex (and presumably Kingspan). I've just done a quick sample to show, just dusted over with black and then grey primer, for the photo - NOT properly painted! 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted May 7, 2015 Author Share Posted May 7, 2015 (edited) New latex mould finished (with original master underneath). Trimmed and with talc brushed into both sides, it's now ready for casting with Hydrocal, or use for embossing into Das or clay if one wanted. No release agent was necessary when making this, and none will be required using it. Edited May 7, 2015 by Giles 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 (edited) Another sample of embossing straight onto foam. (With a bit of paint on) Edited May 8, 2015 by Giles 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 Anyway..... Back to the layout..... I've put some paint on the Crane road tramway - there's a layer of ash etc. to work into the gaps, but I'll wait until I've done the rest of the tramwaying before I do that, so it all ends up looking the same. That will tone it all down considerably. The painting really didn't take too long. It was a base coat of aerosol matt black, followed by a heavy dry brush (if that isn't a contradiction of terms) of Humbrol 133, followed by a very light dry brush of Humbrol 128. It may be too dark, in which case I'll work into it a bit more... We'll see...... 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
51235 Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Hello Giles The cobbles look superb, they look as if they have just been rained on. Is that the look you are trying to create? Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 Thanks Andy! I wasn't specifically after the 'wet' look - only after the polished look they get....... However, it will all matt down a bit after the gaps at infilled with ash or whatever (although I think I will have to fix it with Johnsons Lear, or similar -which of course is gloss! - as I need something really thin to penetrate, that won't float the stuff out of the cracks). Non-the-less, I'm very pleased with the results so far, and with their versatility of the embossing. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted May 9, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 9, 2015 (edited) Johnsons Lear, like Klear but delivered via a Jet ?????? Edited May 9, 2015 by colin penfold Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 (edited) ..... Don't you just love auto-correct...... (Of course it probably dries faster, and looks much more impressive...) Edited May 9, 2015 by Giles 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 I've tackled the (difficult part of) the top point, and the crossing - although not the bit behind, as I need to sort out the narrow gauge to get the levels right.... It all looks very nice at the moment, but the air drying clay has a massive shrink percentage, and it will crack like anything. This happened all along Crane Road. The answer was (and will be) to infill the cracks with more clay, and to emboss these new infills. It doesn't look too bad. If one was going for immaculate, one would lay Slaters sheet, or some such. I believe Das has a very much lower shrinkage, but I don't want to change materials half way through. The point still works (I checked!) and the section with the tie-bar will be covered with steel plate (it was either that or timbers) 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlejumper Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I've done the artwork for a triple-sided embossing tool, to give 9" x 4 1/2" setts, in 7mm scale. This gives a run of 50mm, 28mm (for the 'four-foot' in standard guage, and a couple of stones worth on the last face for odds and sods...... Each face has the breaks off-set, so you spin the tool round to get the next staggered row. To give an indication, All the embossing shown in the main layout picture, AFTER laying the clay, took under ten minutes to emboss. As soon as I get a moment I'll get a sheet etched. Let me know if you might be interested in buying a tool (no commitment, as I don't yet have a price!!!) I would be very interested in one of those Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 No problem - the artwork is at the etches at the moment...! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 (edited) Here's a made-up embossing tool. There are two problems - one, the very kind etchers haven't given me the bill yet, and second, the fabrication time to silver-solder these together is significant (I choose to silver solder as it's cleaner with less excess...). This will put the price above £20 for a built up tool. I'm perfectly happy to sell the etches if anyone wants them that way (just as soon as I get a confirmed price from the etchers, which should only be a few days away...... Edited May 29, 2015 by Giles 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 Nothing finished, but starting to look like it's supposed to...... the two retaining walls are cast, one being about two foot long, and the other four foot long. Cast from my latex mould using Hydrocal, about 12mm thick, and then sawn into strips with a cross-cut saw when completely dry. 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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