Brief introduction: Hi, Randy Hawkins is my name and this is my first posing here. I am working on a Freelance N Scale 3’ x 6’ (approx. size) layout. I have been a lurker here for quite a while and have been impressed with the discussions, ideas, sharing, and genuine politeness - I decided I would try participating (so go easy on me…).
Topic description: I decided that I would run a small road behind my car repair building. This road is in between the building and a nearby valley drop-off. The desired road is marked off with black lines.
The problem was the slope of the land was too much for a road to be there. So I decided I’d build a ‘brick retaining wall’ to shore up the area. I took a brick wall latex mold I had made recently and cast several sections.
These sections would be attached to each other, end to end, to form the wall.
I know how hard getting those walls to line up is. On one of our club member’s layout, he is planning a section of street running. He needs over five feet of cut stone retaining wall to go along the edge of the road that faces another track. Getting those plaster or plastic castings lined up so the stones match and are flush is a lot of work.
I had a similar need recently and built a concrete retaining wall. I used styrene pieces and 1/8" hardboard. The entire wall is 63" long. Here’s a couple of shots of the finished product. I painted it concrete color but you could also use brick and a metal color to look like a steel reinforced brick wall. I am still working on the landscaping.
ft-fan - You asked about how I made my mold. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of that. I will try to give a verbal description…I had a HO styrene brick wall, approx 2" by 3" in size. (Since I was building a retaining wall, I decided I could use a HO size brick instead of a N one…). I glued some wood strips around the back perimeter so that my mold would have some depth. Using liquid latex (Mold Builder from Hobby Lobby) I covered the plastic with several layers. When dry, I had a mold and was ready to pour plaster. Specifically, for this wall purpose, I divided the center of the mold with a strip of wood and poured. This resulted in the 2 sections…another pour gave me 4 sections (the 4 pieces you see in the top photos). I needed 3 so I now had a spare. For making the mold, I used the same process I did when making rock molds. There is a page on my web site which gives more details. But, be warned…the rest of the site, and specifically that regarding my N Scale layout, is way out-of-date…this page is complete but some of the links are dead ends while others are valid (so please, please, please don’t be shocked if something does not work or works backwards.). The page is - http://justtrains.railfan.net/Model_Layouts_CVRR_RockMolds_pg1.html.
cudaken - You mentioned about making the pictures larger. Well, in the preview they were big (the origs are 640x480). But, after posting my article, they were made smaller. You can, however, cli
soumodeler - Your signature says Macon, GA. I live in Austell (west of Atlanta near Six Flags). I don’t now how involved you have been in the model RR community there in Macon but I am wondering if you knew Gene Ellis. He was career law enforcement and was police chief when he retired. He was heavily involved in model RR. Just wondering if you knew him…
Wow, deja vu. I had just about exactly the same situation - I wanted the road to go around the building, and I had a slope that I just needed to build up a bit. The road, the building, the slope, and even the angle-bend in the retaining wall. The only difference is that I used timbers for mine:
The culvert is from a package of detail parts I bought 40 years ago for my previous layout. It’s just styrene, and could be made from two different diameter pieces of tubing.
The wall is 1/8-inch square balsa strip. I first scored it every inch-and-an-eighth, about 8 scale feet, with a Dremel. Then I stained it with a light gray wood stain, darkened up with India Ink for the “old creosote” look. Here’s another shot of what it looked like after some scenery went on:
Hi Randy, Welcome to the forums ! Nice job on the wall. It can can take a lot of experimenting sometimes, but the end result can be quite good . I do the same as well, casting my own retaining walls , bridge abutments, etc., ( I work in HO scale). Even though some of the results have come out less than stellar, I kept on trying, so don’t give up.
Never heard of him. Some members of our club probably do though. Would you happen to know Karl Warden? He does some great stuff. Check out his pitcures of his layout, specifically the water page. http://prof.smugmug.com
I too can’t wait to see my finished project but don’t hold your breath!!! It is amazing how little time can be budgeted and how fast it is taken up with a single/simple task!!! It is fun though and isn’t that the point (…well, that is what I keep telling myself…).
I really like that waterfall. Please tell how you made it.
The waterfall itself is a piece of .10 clear styrene. I used epoxy to secure it to the dam and the creek bed. I then streaked it with white paint.
Next, I piled up some talus at the base the waterfall. After then glue set hard, I coated the talus and creek bed with a product called Lexel, a clear, glossy and very sticky sealent.
After the Lexel cured, I streaked some more white paint over the rocks at the waterfall base. Then, after the paint dried, coated the waterfall and rock area with several coats of acyrlic gloss medium.
The water behind the dam is simple drywall mud that I painted with craft paints to simulate depth, and covered with several coats of acyrlic gloss medium.
