I am scratch building an HO scale steam plant using a Walthers Car Shop kit as the building, but I am having some trouble.
My goal is to have the entire 2nd floor simulate a see through metal grate like metal walkways. Etched metal walkway kits would be way too expensive given how narrow the walkways are. I have found etched walkway sheets from NJ International that would work but they are discontinued or something, never in stock anywhere.
I’m now looking into alternative options. My first idea was the wedding tule we use for chain link fencing but I feel like it would be too big and not stiff enough not to sag.
I would really appreciate any cost effective ideas you have for what I could use to simulate the metal grated floor.
Wow quick response! I didn’t expect that! Thank you guys! I will look into the options you have given.
Kevin, being able to see through the floor through windows and doors is definitely a high priority. My layout is day and night capable and I have a ton of led lights…this building will be no different.
I will figure out how to post pictures when I’m done. I have already scratch built a boiler, 2 chillers, and several 250 hp distribution pumps.
Depending on the age of your boiler house you might want to incorporate some of the handy steel lattice work that is offered by Central Valley. Here’s an example where I used it to support a walkway in a brewery:
I didn’t know the real name of it but yes bar grating is exactly what I’m going for. The entire 2nd and 3rd floor of the steam/chiller plant I work in is bar grating supported by steel I-beams and a mix of square and round steel posts.
You learn real quick to carry spares because dropping your pen or tools means down and back up 3 floors lol.
After working most of my life in the sand and gravel industry. I learned to hate that grating. I learned early in my career to save up cardboard. The first thing I carried up or rope hauled was hunks of cardboard. Most of the time you’re working on an inclined catwalk and not standing. What was worse was the stamped non slip grating. Having a bucket on the rope and a ground guy was really helpful for dropped things and fetching parts and tools.
I assume you’re HO scale. I picked up some Piko fence kits and the fence material is metal and really easy to work with. They were cheap. While I didn’t make fences with them. I did make screen panels for the gravel plant with styrene angle sides.
With this much specialized area, why not etch it yourself from sheet?
I believe you could draw up the ‘floor plan’ of bars at full model size on a computer, print it on a laser printer, then do the ‘iron-on transfer’ trick to melt toner onto the sheet for resist. The etching would then be straightforward. At least in theory you could model some of the reinforcement by etching from the bottom halfway through the sheet, then reversing and etching the ‘rest of the bars’ from the front.
When I was a kid, my model aircraft friends used model aircraft “dope” to tense up silk or thin material or paper wings. Would dope potentially work with tulle if you make a frame for your walkways of styrene or brass and use ACC to hold it taut while it set?
To allay the cost of any form of open grating you could also use some diamond deck. I’ve seen sheets of it availabe from various model supply manufacturers, at modest cost.
It would be realistic, particularly in a steam plant where just about all components are likely to be heavy. Nobody in their right mind would use something like chain link in such environments because it will never carry sustained weight. Even open steel grating in such environments would need to be substantial in construction. My familiarity with such things comes from having been a Navy Machinist’s Mate, whch is, aomng other things, basically a seagoing steam plant engineer-operator.
Most of our engineroom flooring was diamond deck. We used open steel flooring for things like hinged deck grates, etc. to move between levels. A main reason why solid flooring is used is because none of us wanted to wear the occasional crescent wrench or nuts & bolts the size of one’s fist dropped from the deck above. Since steam plants, by their nature, require constant attention all levels are likely to be frequently occupied. I would be very antsy working all day in an open grating area, and I would always have a hardhat.
Open grating used to separate spaces as walls do, is quite likely to be insufficiently substantial to serve as flooring. Deck grating often has a tread-like profile along the rib tops.
Another advantage to using solid decking was in containing leaks and spills. Steam plants all use a good deal of lubricants. Fittings and valves especially, leak, sometimes by design. Preventing leakage dropping to other levels is a sign of good operations and maintenance.
Of course, all steel decking of any type will require appropriate support. On solid decking you can sort of cheat on the details for the supports, keeping it realistic insofar as it’s visible from the undersde.
