new to this part of the forum so advice on papers etc

[simon hudson]

Sorry if I'm asking the obvious!! I have over the years built Superquick and other make card kits.Being fed up trying to get embossed plastic to look like brickwork I have been looking at this section of the forum and decided to give it a try.

I have downloaded one of the free kits to play with(low relief warehouse).

1) do I use matt photographic paper or just good quality paper

2) advice on the type of card to use

I feel a bit thick asking probably the obvious but it is new to me so treat me gentle any other advice will be taken on board gratefully thanks Simon

[traction]

I use decent quality normal inkjet paper, I ran out so just bought some from Sainsburys, a tad expensive but as it was the only place open and I needed some really didnt have a choice!

 

It's HP home & Office paper 80gsm. 500 sheets for £4 I think thats expensive, they did have some of the really cheap stuff, but thats like tissue paper and not that good.

 

One thing though, I always use original manufacturers inks!!

It's expensive but well worth it, I've had a lot of issues with colours not matching, inks drying up and fading once printed

 

I have used matt photo paper and I did notice a difference in the colours, but to be honest if you weather the finished model it's not worth the extra expense.

 

All of the thicknesses of cardboard required are on the kit instructions, but here you go

 

For OO:-

 

thick card = 2mm

Medium = 1mm

Thin = 200gsm

 

For N:-

 

Thick card = 1mm

Medium = 200gsm

Thin = 80gsm( you can normally print out the component and there is usually enough room to just fold the paper over on itself and glue it together.)

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[simon hudson]

Thanks for the information I shall get cracking in the next few days,.I did delve further into the form and as usual there is info there if you look in the riight place.- Simon

[Metalhip]

A4 self adhesive labels are handy to print on,helps to stop the card curving when glue is applied. Sometimes PVA is better when you need to fold round a corner because it softens the paper.

I can highly recommend the fine tip glue applicators that have a link on the Scalescenes site,I've got one with PVA in and one with Rocket card glue in.

 

Allan

[Job's Modelling]

I use drawing paper for printing the kits.

Drawingpaper has on other structure. Helps me by painting and wheatering to get a good result.

I also use sometimes coloured paper, for instance grey for roof tiles.

 

A lot of technical information about card modelling can be found here: www.cardfaq.org

On the card modelling forum you can find also a lot of good advice and suggestions.

 

Job

[Chubber]

Hullo Simon,

 

I don't think you'll go far wrong if you open up John's site and go through the 'Tips' at the top left of the home page, and before starting a bigger model have a try at one of the freebies!

 

Good luck,

 

 

Doug

[RedgateModels]

I just use the "free" office printer paper (and their lovely colour laser)

 

I'm building in O at the moment, enlarging the prints by 175% on the printer. So 3mm corrugated for heavy card, sometimes substituted for three layers of 1mm if the edge is important. Two layers of 1mm card for medium and 1mm for light card. I use cereal packet card for the usual "print only" signs etc.

 

Most of John's kits don't really need precise thickness, they are very well designed in this aspect. The oly thing to be careful of is when you are doing steps, you really have to double check the thickness of the treads to make sure the total height is correct. For instance, the side wall of my goods shed was done in heavy card, wheras the instructions say medium - the only thing I had to do was reduce the width of the platform to suit, easy!

 

The 1mm card came from when we used to buy British Standards in hard copy - each one came with an a4 sheet of 1mm grey card. I've about exhausted that stock now though

 

I use two types of glue:

 

UHU All Purpose for sticking the completed elements together and cheapie gluesticks from ebay for sticking the prints to the card and laminating the card. These are the ones I use and they work out really cheap if you buy lots. They are also nice and "wet" and seem to provide a better bond than the branded types.

 

here's a quick pic of the Goods Shed enlarged to O gauge for my forthcoming layout Fourgig East

 

[simon hudson]

Thanks for the replies, as usual rmwebbers come up trumps!! .I think one of the reasons I've only started looking at card models is, well Superquick I last built 45 years ago and well they always looked just cardboard to me.I did try the metcalf terraced houses a few years ago and added drainpipes etc but I thought the supplied printed roofes looked awfull. My latest attempts using embossed platic well I struggled to get the right effect.

After looking at some of the models here they look the part so I'll give it a go.Hopefully over the holidays I'm in the middle of ballasting and I want to get that out of the way-Simon

[Nigelcliffe]

Amongst the "best models you'll find" is Pendon museum. Most of the buildings are made from card, so reading the various books published on how its done might give some ideas; I know Wild Swan published some.

In 4mm scale, I would recommend the handful of models by Howard Scenics, which can be bought from Freestone Model Railways (who appear at lots of shows selling card kits). Probably not the easiest to build, but if done carefully the results can be superb. There have been Model Railway Journal articles on how to construct these.

 

Roofs are a difficult area, and need to be right as they are what most people looking at a model will see - this is very different to real life where a roof isn't usually the most obvious part of a building. Try the various tile/slate strips which are available; the self-adhesive laser cut slates from York Model Masters look quite good if applied carefully. Or cut them yourself from sheet paper. Note that slates are very thin in real life, so should be almost flat on a model.

 

If using embossed plastic, start by measuring the brick courses on the plastic sheet. Quite a lot of it is hopeless; the bricks can be twice the size of a real brick and the mortar is 2 inches wide. There is some good stuff around, and sometimes using a "smaller" scale will end up with appropriately sized bricks. Again, like slates, the depth is fairly minimal; measure the pointing on a few real buildings !

 

 

Nigel

[ohanlonmartin]

This is my first post here and am at the stage of biuilding and surfacing platforms on my loft layout, I have a good relationship with a local print shop and am organising to purchase the Scalescenes paving sheets for platform finishes.

 

The idea being that I can buy and download but get the print shop with their commercial printing abilities to run off the prints on whatever card/paper is best, from other advice here I think A4 self adhesive sheets might work best and either stick those directly on to the plywood top or on to card and then on to the plywood.

 

Hopng to also use the same adhesive sheets chopped to the required strip width for the white line at the platform edge, how do I get the download from my PC to the printer?

 

I have completed many Metcalfe and Superquick structures but so far none from Scalescenes but judging by the quality and detail of the freebie inspection pit they look terrific

 

The gauge is oo and hopefully when a bit more progress is achieved the chance will arise to post the layout and track plan on RM will arise and seek suggestions on scenic finishing etc.

[Chubber]

If you want to get a print shop to do your printing for you, simply download the Scalescenes files to your 'pooter, open the PDF files and then save the print part [not the instructions] to a memory stick and take that to the printers. That way you can build the model referring to the instuctions on your 'pooter and just pay for the printed building papers.

 

I can see that if you are just wanting lots of the same texture [perhaps for a big carpark?] it may be more economical than using a home printer and ink-jet ink, but I feel it's important to vary texture sheets as you build, for example, when scratchbuilding in red brick I mix up red, dark red and even brown in the same model.

 

In the example above, a whole carpark covered in identical swathes of the same texture sheet would not be very realistic at all [iMHO]

 

Doug

[Coombe Barton]

If you have a look at some other of Chubber's posts on some more topics (Welsh Warehouse which is featured on the front page by Andy, Harbour Office, and http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/51367-scalescenes-stone-papers-watercolour-paper/) you'll find that he's been experimenting with textured papers. And his buildings turn out superbly.

[theoldmansminion]

i've been using a matt photographic paper, takes the ink well, and wont fade,

swiss company called folex "matt duo double sided 200 gsm" A4 100 sheets is about £8

 

plenty of other papers out, permajet do a great matt proofing paper at 160 gsm,

 

i use the thicker papers because they are less likey to bubble when you stick them to the card

 

bot nice heavy papers, and wont let light thru.

 

 

 

 

as for card, hot press, make a fantastic 1000 micron presentation board, i love this stuff, as it dosent warp when you smoother it with pva when you stick the paper onto it, comes in lots of sizes, but it quite expensive, 10 sheets of 16" X 20" is about £9, all available from photographic shops, along with the sealing sprays

 

hope this helps

[ohanlonmartin]

Hullo Simon,

 

I don't think you'll go far wrong if you open up John's site and go through the 'Tips' at the top left of the home page, and before starting a bigger model have a try at one of the freebies!

 

Good luck,

 

 

Doug

 

Just on card thickness, where I am with the platform construction is lenghts of 13mm thick chipboard which I intend to overlay with a 2mm top, that top will hopefully have the paving/tarmacadam finish on it by way of self adhesive sheets.

 

Looking at an earlier reply here I see a mention of card at 2mm thick, is that readily available as it would be the ideal answer to my platform tops finish with the self adhesive sheets or I could maybe get my commercial printer friend to print directly onto the 2mm card with the paving etc finish and forget about the self adhesive sheets.

 

The thick card option would mean having to cut strips of the correct width for the finish but may be worth a punt, even as a sample/test piece.

 

My initial idea as a finish for the 2mm top are strips of 2mm melamine - think of the finish on the shelves or carcasses of your kitchen presses - and then the printed self adhesive labels on that.

 

Thanks to Chubber for the reply.

[Chubber]

"My initial idea as a finish for the 2mm top are strips of 2mm melamine - think of the finish on the shelves or carcasses of your kitchen presses - and then the printed self adhesive labels on that."

 

Hhm, both chipboard and melamine are hard to cut, I'd go for the 2mm grey pasteboard as a top surface. I wouldn't try to lay ita ll in one piece, either. Most platform tops are made in several materials, in different ersa and are often dug up for repairs and replaced in subtly different colours or materials. I might cut out a piece exactly the size and shape to fit the top of my platform under-strata, but I'd cut it in logical shapes before gluing it down.

 

I don't know your era, but don't forget platforms frequently sloped inwards away from the track, long islands sloped intowards a central drain etc, I'd do anything to avoid a great flat are of paltform looking uniformly smooth. Some of my favourite layouts, even with flat platforms are broken up enough to avoid the 'mega-slab-from-outerspace-look'

 

Also, in the ares which will be asphalt or cinder, you can subtly depress areas of grey pasteboard by rubbing firmly with something smooth like the ball of a ball peine hammer, and easily cut out grooves for long cast iron surface drains, little circles can be impressed to make man-hole covers, little rectangles of card can be held down and drawn around with a biro to indent services covers etc etc.

 

An overhang of 2mm card can be very simply and effectively cut into with a sharp knife to give the appearance of edge stones and so on.

 

Go for card!

 

[This post was sponsored by the Acme Cardboard Company....]

 

Doug