I have finally gotten all the modelling projects I’ve assigned myself completed (kit bashing prototype-specific steames, Diesels and cabeese) and am ready to move my layout from the pink foam stage to something more resembling earth.
My first project is to scratchbuilt a trestle located on a rising S-curve. I model NE US where granite field stone bridge abutments were common and I’d like to built two of them, one for each end of the trestle.
I have tried cutting apart commercial plaster castings and Chooch abutments but none of them either look right or are large enough (highth or width) so I’d like to try my hand at building them from HO-scale stone.
I’ve tried casting a few stones from Hydrocal but that will take forever to get enough stones cast for the main wall stones and the wider but thinner cap stones. So, the question is, does anyone manufacture a “kit” of stones that could be used? I’d appreciate any help and guidance.
Most of the stuff made from individual “stones” that I’ve seen doesn’t look convincing because the gaps between the individual stones are too wide. And loose fieldstone doesn’t sound like it would be a very stable choice for the prototype, either. I can’t imagine that the same material set in mortar would be much better, mostly due to the odd shapes. All of the stone bridge piers and abutments around here are made from cut limestone blocks:
Either way, why not cast the parts in plaster, then carve in your own details, and paint or stain to suit?
I stumbled across something called Dr. Bens Building Blocks a while back. They looked pretty good, but I can’t find the site right now. This is the only link I can find. (under Smokey Mountain Products.) http://www.linkandpinhobbies.com/Mrr_part.htm
One way I have read about is to cust plaster “sticks” that have a cross section as big as a stone and a couple inches long. So if you want stone 1/4" high and 1/2" long, set two 1/4" pieces of balsa, 1/2" apart and fill the gap with plaster.
When it hardens, scribe lines (or score with a razor saw) on two or all sides and snap. The broken side becomes the face of the stone. then stack them up.
You mention scale of HO it will not be easy as cement layer is generaly only 10mm thick on real buildings
Individual stone construction doesn’t start to look good untill you get into the scales larger than O scale
You could try cutting the individual stones, from a suitably painted sheet of card and sticking them on a wood fromer that has been painted cement colour using 5 thou plasticard as a spacer for the stone blocks.
No matter how you do the stone work if you do it stone by stone it will be time consuming but if you get it right wow the effect will be stunning and worth the effort.
Once you have your individual blocks made you can make up three or more wall sections that fit together like puzzle pieces, then cast molds of the each of the wall sections. then once you have the wall molds made just cast your wall sections as you need them and assemble the puzzle into a wall of the size and shape needed. That way you do not have to cast or make each individual stone over and over again. You just do it once to make the molds.
I have built New England stone fences and retaining walls stone-by-stone, using Woodland Scenics talus stained to the appropriate color.
As others have said, it’s very time consuming, and subject to several re-dos to get it right. The stone fences stand on their own and are held together with craft glue; the retaining walls I made by sticking stones in Sculptamold while it was wet. You can patch holes later with ballast or smaller talus sizes and craft glue.
After this experience, I think an easier method would be to use wall cards, either commercial or make your own using the a paintshop-type program and the textures available here:
I’ve made a lot of stonework on my layout using Dave Frary’s rock wall molds. You can check them out at http://www.mrscenery.com/. I’m not in any way associated with the products, but I sure do like the results. These molds produce very detailed, high-quality castings. I’ve done a lot of cutting to put them into odd places, too.
The stone retaining wall to the right of the trolley is from the “cut stone wall” mold:
The pit wall of this turntable is made from another of these molds:
To make the curved wall, I waited about 10 minutes after pouring the Hydrocal, so it had set up but not yet hardened, and then I wrapped the mold around a form I made from the cut-out hole from the turntable pit.
So, don’t give up on castings. There are a lot of them available, and you may find one that suits your needs.
FYI, I did check out Dave’s web site, and I don’t see any listing for the molds. You may have to e-mail him and see what’s still available.
The pic includes castings, carved foam and WS plaster cloth as well as the carved wall at the top. The stone wall on top of the castings is made from premixed lightweight drywall seam compound. I put it on over the 3/4 inch subroad bed about 1/8 inch thick. I then carved it. Because the drywall mud takes a couple days to dry, I could carve all the stones at leasure. I then painted each rock with acrylic washes. I was not very careful doing that. I have done several of these walls and they work rather well.
The tunnel portal is carved directly in foam. In both cases I used a dull #11 xacto blade.
One additional suggestion: check out the model stonework available from New England Brownstone at http://www.nebrownstone.com. This firm sells cast stone walls and abutments as well as the individual stone strips from which the masters for these were made. The strips, already groved for individual stones, are all 1/2 inch wide but come from 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick.
Thanks to all who replied. I think I will give NE Stoneworks a try. First I need to confirm the length of both walls and their height. If what I need is not conveniently available from them, I will try to cast something in place and carve it. I don’t have a lot of confidence I can carve realistic looking rocks, though.
I recall an article in MR (last 2-3 years?) where a shoreline granite block wall was built using balsa stripwood (maybe 1/4" square or smaller) cut into short lengths or blocks and stained in several shades of gray. Looked pretty convincing.
Sprayed with a coating, this might be a good way to make a mold master.
I checked out the link to “Linka” and found their web site and the product interesting. Too bad they don’t make a casting for logs, such as for building a log cabin. If they did, you could say that you used Linka Logs for the structure! Sorry, this has been on my mind all last night!
