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N SCale Retaining Wall

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  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
  • 21,481 posts
Posted by MisterBeasley on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 11:50 AM
 tgindy wrote:

Curving the mold...

It amazes me how you can pick up little ideas like this one at the forum. 

These things can take extreme abuse, too.  The tile pieces used to surround the 1x2 wood supports which hold up the roof of this subway station were made using the same "bend the casting around a shape" technique.  Each support casting is a single piece, bent not, once, but twice around a piece of 1x2 (with curved edges) to get it into this shape.

(click on the picture for a better view.)

This picture is basically taken at the same angle from the layout, but the roof piece for the subway was removed.  The same ramp retaining wall is visible here and in the picture with the trolley in the earlier post.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
    August 2004
  • From: Amish country Tenn.
  • 10,027 posts
Posted by loathar on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 12:57 AM

http://www.sceneryexpress.com/products.asp?dept=1066

Here's a bunch of choices. For as long a wall as your doing, I agree to buy one set and some RTV silicon from a place like Micro Mark and make copies with plaster. You can cut them to the height you need as you go. You'll save a bunch of money that way.(and learn a new modeling skill!Tongue [:P])

  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: Westcentral Pennsylvania (Johnstown)
  • 1,496 posts
Posted by tgindy on Monday, December 24, 2007 8:58 PM
 MisterBeasley wrote:

I've bought several molds for retaining walls from Dave Frary's http://www.mrscenery.com/ site.  These are really nice molds, and produce great results with hydrocal.  Another source is Bragdon, at http://www.bragdonent.com/.  If you wait about 10 minutes after pouring, the hydrocal will set up enough that you can flex the mold and bend it around a form, so that it will follow your tracks around a curve.

Curving the mold...

It amazes me how you can pick up little ideas like this one at the fourm. 

Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956

  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
  • 21,481 posts
Posted by MisterBeasley on Monday, December 24, 2007 5:08 PM

I've bought several molds for retaining walls from Dave Frary's http://www.mrscenery.com/ site.  These are really nice molds, and produce great results with hydrocal.  Another source is Bragdon, at http://www.bragdonent.com/.  If you wait about 10 minutes after pouring, the hydrocal will set up enough that you can flex the mold and bend it around a form, so that it will follow your tracks around a curve.

This is a shot with a long retaining wall (different casting) supporting a ramp down into the subway tunnel:

 

 

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Weymouth, Ma.
  • 5,199 posts
Posted by bogp40 on Monday, December 24, 2007 1:27 PM

Find a suitable mold and cast as many sections you need for the project. I find that hydrocal works the best for me, especially if there's a lot of fine detail in the mold.

The concrete wall is only a series of individual castings

Modeling B&O- Chessie  Bob K.  www.ssmrc.org

  • Member since
    October 2007
  • 36 posts
N SCale Retaining Wall
Posted by NKP68 on Monday, December 24, 2007 12:48 PM
 I am in the proces of building my n-scale layout and have a 3% grade for my mainelines A&B that run behind my staginging yard. I was thinking of making most of the grade a stone or cement retaining wall and am looknig for suggestions. I did not know if there are any modular retaining wall kits that could be used or I need to construct from scratch. The length is 100" and I am thinking approx 2/3 of it will be some kind of wall.

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