Making The Moulding Box & Pattern then The Tunnel : a WIP presented by BB

As I determined I eventually needed a change to the Title so I set another in its place.BB

PART  ONE

A BEGINNING

USING  PAPER CARD  AND PEN 

&

P V A GLUE

The marking out having been made every line and brick was scribed out using a pen. Then every brick was raised by applying the glue carefully upon every brick several times. It took me four hours from picking up the pen to finish my brickwork pattern. I could not use styrenne because I need to bend this pattern over to make the inside of my tunnel. Styrenne would break. So it is  back to good reliable paper card which will bend easily.

The Tunnel Entrance,i made way back in the Spring of this year. So i need to make a mould that will produce that inner wall and several more besides because i have a few larger tunnels like this one to complete later.                                                                                                              

This one if all goes to plan will have a roadway re-emerging from it once it is fixed into place on the Canal Diorama currently under construction elsewhere near.                                                                                                                               

 Above is the stone tunnel entrance which is high enough for a Double Decker Bus to come through without any bother of hitting the top.

This shows the box i designed to assemble and disassemble quickly for removal of the newly formed rubber pattern. There are three curved brackets and two end  plates all constructed by gluing styrene sheets and paper card together. Which is fixed in place by using dress makers pins through the end plates.    The lines on the rounded section are where the cuts were made to help form the shape.   This will be more fully explained a little further on.                                      

In the box lays the first brickwork pattern inscribed and this should produce the pattern needed to mould later in another simple to construct box. That pattern will be formed by pressing into place my own rubber mix,that will not be shown extensively here. Other topics of mine have already dealt with that in greater depth.

This is the preformed first impression pattern,and the rigid shape was made by using a blank strip of paper card. The card was scored many times across its width along its entire length with my craft knife. This allowed it to to form the curve required in the box. The plain side had glue brushed onto it and it was placed in the box with this glue showing on top.  The inscribed strip was laid on top and tucked in by hand,and a heavy bag of metal shotgun pellets was placed on top and filled the entire thing up forcing both strips onto the curved brackets and into the shape required. So when the glue had set the middle section was strongly  formed and could be removed as was the designed plan.

Lets see how it come apart shall we?

Out comes the curved section.

Off comes one end plate

With the removal of the other end plate it  is completely dismantled. This means i have no need to destroy the box getting the rubber pattern out. Which is good because i might need to make another without needing to make up another box.

                                I will reinforce the sides later with another sheet of styrene.

I forgot to take a picture before so I`ve simply put everything back into place in order to show how the pressure from the heavy metal shotgun pellets forced the paper card down and into the required shape I need.

I have further reinforced the box by winding sellotape around it. After the pellets have been removed the box is fully ready for the rubber mix. Always pays to have that strong sticky stuff in ones stash!

                                                                     
                                        Applying P V A glue to the inside walls

                                                      Waterproof P V A Glue

                 A couple of coats were applied to make the two sides waterproof.
               This will be added insurance against the rubber sticking to these sides.


                                                                PART TWO
                                                          THE FUN BEGINS

A little Cooking Oil was brush onto the inner walls and the scribed brickwork as a releasing agent.

The box is prepared,and all I need is on show. No baby powder this time.

It is  cooking oil in the bottle.                                                                      

 Off cuts oh paper card for doing the first lot of mixing.

I drank my tea and got started mixing the silicon and cornflour.

 It all emptied out onto the flour

One has to cover it over with the white stuff from the edges.

And from the sides,and work it into the silicon using the card. Adding the oil and eventually one needs to get to grips with it by hand,adding oil and flour onto the hands helps. Do not wear rubber gloves because this rubber will stick fast to them  making work impossible,because rubber sticks to rubber and darn fast too.Using hands the best tools one has work the stuff like one would pastry. Adding oil as needed. Sure some will eventually stick to fingers.  But that is part of the fun.

I gradually added it into the box a third at a time pressing it into place against the Pattern and making sure the air escaped while doing so. Working the bottom first then each side in turn and then filling in the middle and finally smoothing off the top with my oiled up butter Knife.                          

                                                          It was very simple to do.                                                                                                        

                       

The little pieces left over made the Snowman.

Remember this is having fun?

                                                                      PART THREE
                                                             THE BOX COMES APART

It soon sets hard. If the Snowman is hard so is the other Stuff.

Removing the sellotape then the pins mean it falls apart easily.

The Result was soaked in soapy hot water to get rid of the oil.

There is the Pattern. They are ink marks on the rubber and nothing to worry about . After all I used a pen to scribe every little brick.                                                                                                                   

PART FOUR

SETTING UP THE PATTERN

          

                                    It is not Rocket Science unless you are making one.

The two rounded end plates were cut out the same using the first as a template,and the outside edge on each was ticked.   Turned over and place flat down on the table I lined it up with the Pattern and made two ink marks. Then the other end plate was butted up against the first one,so both tick`s were to the table top,and marked out the same.  Theses marks are simple guides that line up perfectly with the rubber Pattern.

So each having this mark was lined up and pinned into place by angling the pins and pushing them into the rubber through each end plate.

My craft blade was a bit blunt. Silly me I`d run out of them at this time,but the edges will server their designed purpose OK!      One uses what one has at the time.                                                                                                                      

Both end plates being equal are placed the same with the tick on the outside.

The Plaster of Paris was made up creamy-like and brushed onto the Pattern all over it with a cheap brush this made sure no air bubbles would be trapped. Two styrene off cuts  were pinned in place upright to the sides,then the plaster from the same mix was poured into the cavity formed and using a smaller brush  stuck into it the plaster was worked and well settled into place,by an up and down action of agitation. With both sides done quickly then the top was creamed over with the same mix  using the large brush and the smoothed over with the butter knife.  An Ace Cool Tool!

The job completely done in 5 or 6 minutes before the creamy Plaster of Parish went hard.   It takes practice working with this stuff,but one learns the roadway to success by doing it. Do not use the builders plaster they put on walls. Use Plaster of Paris,used by Master Masons even today. Long ago I worked with one Old Boy who taught me well  before he retired in 1964. Fresh from school I was 15 years old at that time and very wet with ignorance behind each ear.

Old Jack Sewell,taught me well and gave me a darn good grounding which eventually took me into the world of Engineering skills,developing steel Patterns in a very big way. That perhaps is another story for another time.


                                                  UPDATED PICTURES

Working on my own I was unable to photo shoot these action photo`s because I needed two hands to remove the Pattern. On the second casting from the same Pattern Mrs B,was kind enough to snap these pictures that clearly show easy it was to remove both parts from each other.This was very kind of her and as always I was  extreamly greatful .   So sit back and scroll down. BB                                                                                           

                                                                         PART FIVE
                                                          RELEASING THE PATTERN

This was explained after the removal.

I left the plaster to harden for 4 or so hours.  Then released the Pattern from the casting not the casting from the Pattern. Pulling it off would or could break the casting.

So before the Pattern could be released I cut a wedge out so the rubber will flex in towards the middle. As  the rubber was pushed  away from the edges of the casting by my thumbs, the seal was broken the air enters,and working slowly un-rushed both sides of the Pattern.  Once both sides were worked in this way, i started again pushing a little more away from the casting again.   One must remember these are deeply inscribed layers of bricks and so are not smooth sided or topped.                                                                                                                                                 

 Having two thumbs certainly helps . Ones hands are very specialised tools most take for granted that is for sure.                                                                                                                                               

Eventually the Pattern falls away with a little Jiffle of encouragement using ones hands.

One might well ask ,"Why not cut the wedge out while the rubber is soft?" That is a good question to ask. Well this stuff is rather on the sticky side of softness and trying to cut the wedge shape out could pull the rubber away from the impression one is trying to copy. This could spoil the work. So it was my choice to cut it out. If i had a wooden wedge I could have pushed it into the rubber creating the shape required but working with limitations i had no such thing to hand.                                                     

The very first casting is a very exciting thing to be made because  the results are not yet known.

 The outcome here is a very clean result considering this is a scratch build using tools most have in their homes.

A little trimming or none at all makes for easiness  that is for sure.

The tunnel entrance also designed and made entirely by myself is just placed in order for you to get the more fuller picture. There are those who make models and would have simply left the inner walls blank and painted black and quite void of detail,but not i, because i have learnt  that if one makes a hole in something someone is bound to look into it. So the camera is your eye so to speak,and each one looking must decide for themselves on the question of was all the work worth it? As far as i am concerned it was,and now another three can be made later for three double sided tunnels on my railway layout. Each one taking a few minutes to make.

I will leave this casting to dry out over a couple of weeks and it will go white,and will become much lighter but it will remain very strong indeed as a tunnel design is one of proven strength time and time again throughout history.  Eventually it will be dipped in a homemade colour wash to bring out the detail even more.

I am often asked if I sell,and my, reply is always no,but I show how to do it, so others can do simalar things unique to themselves. My Masters  are always destroyed along with the Rubber Moulds.So I am the only one in the entire world that have the results of them. This is not a point of vanity on my part it is to stop Pirates and other Recaster ripping my stuff off. This is my way for I have no great need for money at this time in my life,and at 67 i am content with what I have,and in doing my hobby and tutorials.
                                               
                                                   THE HONEY WELL CANAL

This tunnel will be placed where the bus is,and a roadway will be eventually put into place on the Canal  Diorama, which is ongoing at this time with landscaping to do.I intend to squeeze in somewhere Beano Boys Cafe,made many years ago. A place for plastic tourists to tumble from the bus and visit because everything started with that first tiny scratch build.

This Topic is  now Ended

Thank you for taking time out to look and perhaps learn a little from eccentric me,
 a simple Scratch-Builder.   Stay Safe BB

BB`s Water Effect Scratch-Built Canal and Tunnels

Simplicity is The Key

My own paper card boats

After having good results on my water samples i decided to bite the bullet and get started upon the real diorama of which i started three hot summers ago,and now quite well relieved that no expensive pours need doing.    Since that time i formulated the cheapest way that i found to produced good looking toy boats of various descriptions, A mid way stage in the process seen above making a Mule that was towed on behind another narrow boat in front. 

After the base bent up after construction it was weighted down with heavy books,and so it had been in flat bed storage actually under a bed, and this action which stemmed from good reason upon the matter of not wishing to waste work already done and dusted was taken.                                                                                                                          

 In the light of day it could be seen and avoided,but during the dead of night                                        one cannot have large lumps of  my four foot by two foot oddities loaded up with piles of books laying about the place for fear of stubbing a toe perhaps already still on the sore side  from doing it before. Or perhaps tripping tip over tail over  the darn thing  while doing a somersault and flat pack back landing upon the floor as if a dashed defeated failure at half asleep Gymnastics.                           

So here we see it below                                                     

                                           

                                                                                                                                                       

i painted what is going to be the wettest part ,                                                                                      
that was of course then the deepest driest part  on the board.                                                                                                                                              

Soon it  was hoped that this desert scene will eventually vanish,and the void  left will be looking  like  it has been  rather filled up with water effects that need not cascade from each exposed end as if  an integral part of Niagara  Falls!  No hopefully not that.                                                                       

It is a simple affair   as seen set out below showing a long right angles canal section with openings in the top which are needed for good reason that will be made more clear in understanding later.

The paint having been found and then brushed on  was perfect for this odd job.

It was while the paint was still wet that dry kiln dried sand was well heaped up upon it leaving it looking like a filled in section of the Suez Canal that had crafty-like blown in during the night from the surrounding desert.  Why?    There was a join that i did not wish to show up on the canal bottom that`s why i decided to sand the base. A flat base  without any joins only needs painting.                                                                                                

 The sand was levelled off to stop to much running to the floor. We have stone floors here in the lower part of the house,and  dry Silica Sand is very slippery!  Be warned it`s like trying to skate without the proper kit on ones feet.   So sweep it up.                                                                                                                                                          

Most sand was now brushed away and back in the tub for a while.On that overcast bleak day i was  also working on making the supportive sides to this canal.                                                                                                                                               

Which was and is a simple task  of sharp cutting strips of cardboard off and then stripping one side off, as seen in the picture above___ and it was done as fast as me mitts could handle it.

filled up with a few helpful water effect samples still fresh and alert in my mind my confidence was and still is high. One sample  of  which to push a boat out upon is shown below. It shows the reinforced  right hand side designed at the deep side where narrow boats can tie up at these mooring points to deliver goods,and take them away too. To the left of the canal a gradual sloping side descends into the water and this is where mingled marginal plants blot their feet in the mud and water.                                                                                              

It shows a 5" wide stretch of water that is 11" long. The depth is 1mm deep. i found two lines of spaced out drops of Mod Podge  an inch or so off centre ,is enough to spread out over the entire board using my cheap brush.   It goes on white ,pongs a bit of boiled Beetroot,as my memory serves to describe it and it dries well clear overnight with one thin coat.  Now it seems that still lakes and rivers are quite popular  in the hobby for reflective mirror like qualities,but the slightest defect in the pour sticks out like a sore thumb. Whereas moving water is less prone to show up any tiny niggling spots of blemished endeavour.                                                                                                                         

My little canal being only 6 foot long including the bend is the self same width of this sample board so i am well looking forward to creating the long a waited for water effects.                                                                                                                                                  

An amazing very affordable product.    £7.75 Free Post on E Bay UK    

                         i guess i used 20 p`s worth on the sample above.                                                                                                                               

Another Messy Stage of The Work

Looms in Sight

                           
                               Now i need to paint these strips with enamel  paint to toughen them up.

                     

                                                   Soon After Paint Had Dried

             A good sanded bed was created and the join in the board is not visible at all.

With 16 dry strips all cut peeled and painted,i began the little task of sticking them into place. i used plenty of glue brushed on thickly on both the flat side of the card,and also a spread upon the area on this section of canal to be faced.

i left the glue to dry tacky,and then applied a thin brush of glue again over the top of the tacky stuff. Why? You might ask?
 i have long used this system using p v a glue, because as it`s put on and pushed onto its fixing point two things happen. One, the tacky stuff sticks like contact glue, and two the wet glue is squeezed out and seals the edges tidy like. The handle of a small paint brush is a perfect tool for pressing home the corrugated supportive sides of this stretch of water way. A tidy up with ones finger on the top is all that was required at this point of contact.

It took a while longer this way but i know each and every piece is stuck fast and will not come loose and Swan Off down river. The supportive edges holding back the banks will be lightly dry brushed in seconds later,and then the canal well flushed out in  the cool waters of this long hot summer of 2016.

Where i have stuff made up of untidy needful things i will be cutting out lift off bases that in themselves will have models buildings stuck into place on them.So these are actually going to be lift off landscaped lids that will hold a few surprises held in store.
                                                         
 The riverside edges were soon sanded by applying paint,
and while still wet the sand was spread out onto it,via a yogurt pot. Which is very enjoyable,because ones gets to eat the yogurt first and then play in the sand. Magic!

The first patterns of the railway service hatch covers are cut and placed out.
These will be reinforced ,and landscaped later.

 The canal is a sea of sand at present again because work is still ongoing._____________So no need to clear it up as yet.
i can imagine a few hundred Riff gathering in this stretch of desert sand, to prepare an attack on some lone outpost in North Africa.

An overlap  of boards are planed which will work well in tidying the edges of a small granite sett out  access lane that will lead down to the tow path, and will hopefully look fine and dandy,and in the cheapest possible way.
i soon realised after playing with odds and ends about the place that various  landscaped covers for this simplified area could, and will be made and landscaped,giving me the ability to change the look of the canal without any major changes taking place. A simple system of Lift Off,________Lift On.
So a factory,a wood yard,a coal merchant can be spaced out evenly and be as large as i like on theses sections of lift on surprise. Then various houses can be displayed on full or half view upon others intermingled with trees.Which is presently a picture only tapped out in emotive language.

Below a few Narrow Boats Nearing The Painting Stage & Dressing Up Stage

Below

Trees from my Toy Collection.

Playing with toy tree`s is a good pastime and in doing so helps me formulate fresh ideas,and using the camera is a must tool to use.    Odd numbers work well in design patterns,and are more pleasing to eye, like in three`s,fives and seven`s.    So is a good tip to pass along.                                                                                                                                            

                                        Those above will not be in place on the finished work.

So i could do with making a few more tree`s. i have a few fresh ideas upon the subject.

To Be Continued

BB

UPDATE

Not to much to be excited about but i wish to show the process because i feel it could and would aid others wishing to do simple deep water effects.                                                                                     

Painting the canal base

                                Emulsion Paint  Brown and Black being blended in.

The base actually used as my paint palette for mixing the paint and in doing so this will aid reflection later. A wash of dull green then a much brighter green was added marking the high water mark to all sidings,but also for adding green to the bottom itself in the hope it would look like plant life and alga  beneath  the  surface of the water.

  So above looks uninspiring true, so lets get the sluice gates open and give this thing a good wetting.

                                                               Hodge Podge Time

The long awaited for beginning of the deep looking water effect .It will cost about £2.00 UK Stirling!
It will only be between 1 and 2 mm thick when dry.

    It had a good squirt down the middle then it was spread out with a little cheap brush.

It was so easy and this first layer is simply brushed toward each side sealing the base perfectly as i worked my way along it. When completely covered i gave it a duck stipple with the same brush all over  then i left it to dry clear and hard.

The next day i added another thin layer,and duck stippled that,and left it to dry clear and hard.

                The day after this i added another thin layer and did everything as before.

         The forth layer i wanted thicker as you can see and so it was given a good covering.

It was brushed out all over very quickly,but there was no need to hurry because there`s lots of time to work with this stuff,i have gotten used to working with it.
A little experience gained by doing sample work,and my raised canal will hopefully pay off.

Once spread out thick and globby it was duck stippled with the same brush.  i named it duck stippling because as the brush is pushed into the white of this stuff it forms the look of a Duck Foot.
Bellow is my Hodge Podge and using this stuff is as easy as opening the tub. i kid you not. This thicker layer will take two or three days to fully clear. Why so thick? Well i am building up a lens that will further define the look of deep water,and the thicker agitated white will certainly help me achieve this.

             The Lion & Unicorn are for another project and are just cheap plastic toys.

Below the canal looks to be in full flow,a look i want in order to have dark shadows and deep reflections skipping  across the sparkle of this working waterway. It is not yet completely ready for its final touch of duck stippling but i am most pleased with the look of it.

         The water is clearing and it is hard enough for a narrow boat to chug along at this stage.

Not a good quality photo i will do better later with proper daylight and natural shadows.

Tunnel Update

Enjoy

i designed my patterns and created rubber moulds then cast them up saving myself a fortune by not having to buy them off the peg from the high street shelves of over priced simple things. The object was to also create the inner brick work way inside of each hand made tunnel after the stone front and backs were stuck into place onto them.                                                                                                                                             

The old tow path ways are now well defined as they indeed should be.

So two more homemade puzzled  pieces were slipped eye wise into place. 

Simple Support Brackets

                   These are strong fixing points for a back board to be firmly fixed into place.
                       

This is a bridge where a roadway  will run down to the canal it will be in place where the bus can be seen in the second picture above.                                                                                                       

With the Back Board well fixed into place it was time for a Dry Run.

Like most in the hobby of railroading,                                                                                                 

space is at a premium and so my canal section was placed  in the corner of the room where it was designed to go. It will eventually sit over the top of the three Honey Well Railway Lines entering and leaving by way of tunnels beneath it.                                                                                                        

                                                                      

                                                                                             

This was a dry run so to speak of just seeing if the box would fit into place without hitting the brackets that support the shelving system above it. A something needed to store my model figure collection and my scratch-built buildings as well as some of my homemade tree`s.                                                              

With the Napoleonic Toy Soldier Collection stored under the five tables that the layout rests upon,I have used all the available space in this room. Well I also have several other toy collections too stored in plastic storage boxes too. Yes I`m a hoarder of toys and eccentrically quite proud of it too.                     

After work is finished on casting up tunnel entrances,I will fetch this downstairs to the large  table, and finish scratch-building the entire  canal with buildings and boats with the backdrop fully landscaped.                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                

Thank you for popping in for a look see.    BB