Model Railway Forum

I have unashamedly pinched this method from t’internet.
I found a scrap piece of aluminium carpet edging strip with convenient grooves in it. Now I’m experimenting with tin foil from a food container and moulding corrugations with a blunt cocktail stick.
Works well although I think this foil may be a bit thin - I’ll try again later with a drinks can as it may be a little more robust.

20190128_133957 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

Steve M wrote: ↑Mon Jan 28, 2019 1:58 pm I have unashamedly pinched this method from t’internet.
I found a scrap piece of aluminium carpet edging strip with convenient grooves in it.

A very interesting idea. I like it.

Glencairn

glencairn wrote: ↑Mon Jan 28, 2019 3:32 pm

Steve M wrote: ↑Mon Jan 28, 2019 1:58 pm I have unashamedly pinched this method from t’internet.
I found a scrap piece of aluminium carpet edging strip with convenient grooves in it.

A very interesting idea. I like it.

Glencairn

Looks very effective.

Going back to post 10 Steve I am about to work on an area that needs to look cluttered and I too find this difficult. Being a neat and tidy sort of person has even made it hard for me to weather and 'mucky up'. I've had to really concentrate to even do this. Any tips for cluttering would be greatly appreciated. Do I start with the largest building and work from there?

I think the thing I am slowly learning is not to exaggerate the distances between buildings and fixtures in a yard area. Looking at real yards shows that some quite large structures seem shoehorned in to some spaces.

May I suggest, Steve model it as you are looking at the scene.

This is my view from the control area. The road behind the buildings is 'neglible' but serves (to me) the purpose of enclosure. Here I have a water tower on the left and Hudson Ward (Flour Millers) on the right. Both are tall structures -- the trackwork snakes through. Glencairn

Experiments continue. A soft drinks can yields plenty of material that is easily worked but is strong enough to withstand a bit of handling.
I did find the cocktail stick wasn’t up to the job but a copper nail from the bits box was just right for shaping the grooves. The sheets have been cut to size and can be straightened out without damaging them. A bit more straightening needed before they get painted tomorrow.

20190128_201016 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

20190128_203939 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

Excellent. A thought. If you have two bits of just the corrugated part of the carpet edging, would one piece fit inside the other bit so you could squeeze a section of metal between them to make an instant corrugated sheet?

I did think of making a press but I don’t think you’d get enough pressure as the profile is very slightly convex. It’s so quick to tape a section of can to the ‘mould’ and scribe the grooves then cut to size.

The only real drawback is that the action of scribing puts a curve in the material - awkward but not impossible to straighten.

For the coal tower ‘rock shields’ I think a bent and rundown appearance is needed so my small individual sheets should give that. If I were doing a larger roof area I’d make the sheets larger and more uniform.

Just a thought. You might have to put it in a vice.