I’m looking to make an HO scale retaining wall. Cinder block/concrete block style.
Is the common approach to make a wall out of styrene (maybe 1/8" thick) and cover it with Plastruct concrete block sheets?
Is there another product out there that might work?
Looking for a wall like this:
Legos? David B
Scenic Express sells a variety of peel and stick 1/8 inch thick flexible stone walls that mght be what you need. See page 97 of the catalog: http://www.scenicexpress.com/Cat-16_PDF/Catalog%2016%20Web%20PDF.pdf
EDIT: More flavors shown on pages 99 and 102.
Legos [(-D] They’re too big for HO scale.
But I sure do have lots of Legos. Here’s my Lego Pirates collection:
Thanks for the Scenic Express link maxman.
Didn’t know about their “stone” products. Looks like just what I need. Of course I recently placed a Scenic Express order. Figures [:S]
Matt.
Monster Model works just may have what you are looking for.
http://monstermodelworks.com/HO-Scale/HO-Concrete-Block-Sheets/
It is scribed plywood so no backing is required.
Pete
Sorry my mistake. They are basswood and not plywood.
Pete
You can try, Evergreen scale models,they have sheet styrene,in different thickness’s with embossed shapes,like tile etc…
Cheers, [D]
Frank
Chooch also has some stick on HO block wall stuff in several block sizes; small, medium, large, random or cut stone, etc.
I needed to make a long stone wall with a gentle curve in it, rather like your photo. I had a supply of plastic sheets with a stone pattern in them, perhaps Vollmer or Noch or Faller. I created a support for the curve, found a piece of cork roadbed meant for O scale, and glued the sheet of stone pattern to the cork to the curve.
Dave Nelson
Curious, what about foam? The article in Novembers issue of Model Railroader (page 64-67 by Horst Meier) he discusses using rigid foam to easily cut/carve stone/rock structures. It got me thinking of other uses for rigid foam products, such as retaining walls that you cut/carve to shape and then scribe the block details in. I wonder if florist foam would work (green color found in craft stores in blocks and sheets of various sizes)? Cheap, easy to shape/cut/scribe and very light. Labor intensive? I imagine moreso then ready made retaining walls. But probably cheaper for larger areas. Hey…just throwing that idea out there in the mix. Food for thought.
Good luck and happy modeling!
Don.
If you have a considerable area to do and/ or will be needed much more for other areas of the layout, pour a casting from Hydrocal. Build a mold and fit a piece of the sheet packing foam w/ a desirable texture to simulate the cobbling of the block. Use dabs of hot glue to secure the frame/ dams to the base, Pour to about 1/4" once dry remove the frame and peel off the foam. Score the coarse lines as desired. If you are so inclined. you can use one of the castings to pour an RTV rubber mold, this will allow hundreds of castings w/ all those scores to show and save considerable time.
This technique used on the tapered pier only cut into strips as placed
cobbled retaining wall to closely match the WS portals and wing walls
Wow so many great ideas and tips. Thanks all for the help.
The retaining wall at the back of this coal dump bin is a Hydrocal casting.
This is a curved wall also made with Hydrocal, with a different mold.
I bought these molds from Dave Frary. He has since gotten out of the business. I think Sterling Models carries them now.
Where is going to be your wall. In relation to the viewer, that is. LION not having any money to buy stuff, usually prints the walls on a color laser printer. Below the stones are too big, and too repetitive, but I could not tell that while making the wall, it only became obvious when I installed the wall.
I used Serif PagePlus X6 to create the wall from a stock bitmap in the program. I could have decreased the size of the stones indefinitely on the computer. I have also created my own bitmaps for use as fills like this.
Him uses a heavyweight 11 x 17 page and affixes it with silicone caulk which will not damage the paper stock. Since it is a laser print it will not run if it gets wet. If you have not a laser printer, the local quick print firm will be happy to do it for you for just a few dollars.
While this abutment looks like it is in the foreground, the whole table at this point is only 16 inches wide, and it really is in a corner, and the road now ramps up past this abutment so that the train will enter a tunnel with the road above it.
It is supposed to be 122nd Street in Manhattan.
ROAR
I made some bridge piers out of foam and I think they turned out really well. I used an I-beam to make the brick shape and painted and weathered away. The cost was to low to calculate.[tup]
I don’t see why a wall couldn’t be made the same way.
Not good pics but you get the idea.
The pier on the right is foam.
Hey [:)]
I’m probably late to the game, but here is a wall I made. I bought a rubber mold and poured several wall sections. then cut off the column off one side and installed them in a curve to fit the scene.
Just one way.
Lee
You want Chooch Enterprises, Flexible Stone Walls.
http://www.choochenterprises.com/
I used this product for retaining walls on my bridge abutments.
The stuff is fantastic, flexible, self sticking, and easy to cut and trim,
Rich
Lots of great and creative suggestions here. One product I’ve used that’s economical is JTT Architectural Model Parts #97427 Dressed Stone. Technically, it’s a 1:100 scale item, but works fine in HO, too. At a list price of $6.99, you get two sheets of 7.5"x12" of cut stone, nicely embossed in styrene. Here’s a couple of pics of it I cut and painted, although this scene hasn’t yet really been detailed.
