MisterBeasley I've used the Proto87 street-running track and their brick sheets as well. These are cobblestones. The original color is the light tan. I painted and weathered the gray ones, first with gray primer and then with a wash of darker gray acrylic, finally sanding lightly to give me the mottled look I was after. The tracks are girder rail. The sections are only a few inches long, and this is essentially hand-laying. I like the way it turned out, but it was a lot of work and took many tries to get it right. The brick material is very thin. I used a metal straightedge or a RibbonRail gauge and a utility knife for the cuts, buy a heavy pair of scissors would do the job if you find that easier.
I've used the Proto87 street-running track and their brick sheets as well.
These are cobblestones. The original color is the light tan. I painted and weathered the gray ones, first with gray primer and then with a wash of darker gray acrylic, finally sanding lightly to give me the mottled look I was after.
The tracks are girder rail. The sections are only a few inches long, and this is essentially hand-laying. I like the way it turned out, but it was a lot of work and took many tries to get it right.
The brick material is very thin. I used a metal straightedge or a RibbonRail gauge and a utility knife for the cuts, buy a heavy pair of scissors would do the job if you find that easier.
I really like the look of this. Now I have to decide if I want to go for the brick or cobblestone streets. Originally I was thinking brick because that is what I've seen in the places I have lived but I like that cobblestone too.
Should I even ask what the young ladies in the right of the picture are up to?
tgindyConsult the (two) "Paving Street" lessons under "Room 6: Modeling Tips" at the Trolleyville School House.
Jecorbett, Informative thread.
Tgindy, Great link! Applied Charles and George's method of painting plastic brick streets to a styrene structure kit. Though not very evident in the attached photo the light fogging on of a couple colors over the tannish base color added some nice layering effects and some texture to the brick.
Thanks and Regards, Peter
For this scene, I used Walthers brick sheet and painted it ..... yellow.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Phoebe Vet I have had success cutting Evergreen Styrene sheets with a paper cutter or even sissors.
I have had success cutting Evergreen Styrene sheets with a paper cutter or even sissors.
I have too but it depends on the thickness of course. The styrene in the Wather's street system is much too thick to do that with.
jecorbett I'm leaning toward the styrene brick sheets although cutting styrene is not one of my favorite things to do.
I'm leaning toward the styrene brick sheets although cutting styrene is not one of my favorite things to do.
Consult the (two) "Paving Street" lessons under "Room 6: Modeling Tips" at the Trolleyville School House. The styrofoam tip for curved trackage, and brick cutting tips are sure to be helpful.
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Beach Bill I am not sure what is meant by "just isn't flexible enough for my needs". Yes, the Walther's street system is hard styrene, but the various brick sheets of other makers isn't going to bend around corners, either
I am not sure what is meant by "just isn't flexible enough for my needs". Yes, the Walther's street system is hard styrene, but the various brick sheets of other makers isn't going to bend around corners, either
No, they aren't going to bend around corners but the products I have looked at which others have suggested are much thinner and much easier to custom cut to fit with either a scissors or a good sharp hobby knife. Plus the other products offer choices of brick or cobblestone including distressed looks. They look like a much better option.
I am not sure what is meant by "just isn't flexible enough for my needs". Yes, the Walther's street system is hard styrene, but the various brick sheets of other makers isn't going to bend around corners, either.
As was mentioned in an earlier post, the bricks laid in a street will appear differently than those layed up into a wall. On the wall, one sees the edge of the brick with mortar in between the bricks. On a street application, one sees the "flat" or top of a brick without mortar, so the appearance is quite different. Visitors to your layout might not identify the difference, but the "look" of applying wall sheets to a street use will be quite different.
Yes, fitting the Walther's brick street pieces around corners and such can be difficult. Quite a bit of shaping and fitting may be required. Those pieces are tough, and they dulled my bandsaw blade, but they can be cut and filed to fit specific areas... and then the appearance of the brick itself is proper.
Bill
I have used Plastruck brick sheeting as well. Most brick sheeting is "finished" looking, but with a litle weathering one can make it look somewhat worse for the wear, if they so desire. I was pleased with the Plastruct product and I will use it again on my future scratch builds that use brick siding, or for brick streets/walkways.
http://www.proto87.com/easy-street-track-system.html
I made the link clickable
OOPs, all of a sudden the original link is clickable! The post must not have been fully downloaded before I replied.
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Proto87 has some brick sheets made for streets. They also have a system for street running that seems quite interesting if you are including any on your layout. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page to see the brick sheets.
Long live the J!
I know this probably doesn't apply to this project but the reason I asked my question earlier was because I always wondered why you would see different sized bricks on roads around the city. When horses pulled wagons way back when, the size of the brick was determined by how much traction was required by the horse. An example would be, in front of a loading dock where the horse(s) would require extra traction just to get rolling with a heavy load, the size of the brick would be much smaller. That would make it easier for the horses hooves to lock in to the ground.
Also you often see the size of the bricks go from large blocks to much smaller bricks on the same street when a hill is encountered or at intersections. I always wondered about the different sizes of bricks and blocks used for streets around the city in the older parts and when I looked at old photo's or was passing through that area. I had to do a lot of digging before I finally got my answer.
So lay your bricks accordingly and when someone ask..... No you weren't just using up old styrene stock, it really was that way.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I believe that Peter's suggestion of the Monstermodelworks cobblestone sheets is more realistic because they don't have mortor lines. Paving bricks are laid loose - no mortor, so if you use a brick sheet intended for a wall I don't think it would look quite right.
HO-Velo Monstermodelworks makes some nifty cobblestone sheet. The material is laserboard, approx. .025 thick, flexible and has an interlock that helps hide seams. Used some recently for a wharf scene and like the results. Regards, Peter
Monstermodelworks makes some nifty cobblestone sheet. The material is laserboard, approx. .025 thick, flexible and has an interlock that helps hide seams. Used some recently for a wharf scene and like the results.
Regards, Peter
Thanks, Peter, that's just the sort of thing I was looking for. I'll look into it and if it's not too expensive I might do all the streets in the town with it.
BATMAN Is the brickwork suppose to represent a new installation such as you would see in a revitalization project or is it left over from the days of horse drawn wagons.
Is the brickwork suppose to represent a new installation such as you would see in a revitalization project or is it left over from the days of horse drawn wagons.
I am a transition era modeler and my layout is set in 1956.
Mt. Vernon, Oh is the county seat and it still has a number of brick streets leading into downtown althought the town square and the highways leading to it have been paved. I thought the brick streets would be an interesting element to include.
While preparing for a scratch build this afternoon I came upon a left over partial sheet of Plastruct plastic patterned sheet. This material is about .020 thick, comes in various patterns, very flexible and cuts easily, but doesn't have a distressed irregular look like the Monster stuff. I used a small piece of the Plastruct for the wall in the photo.
I would like to put in brick streets around the town square on the new section of the layout I am building. I've looked at the Walthers brick street system and it just isn't flexible enough for my needs. I see two other possibilities. One is use styrene brick sheets and the other is the heavy paper type as sold by MicroMark. The heavy paper sheets would probably be easier to work with but I have my doubts about how realistic they would look in this application. I'm leaning toward the styrene brick sheets although cutting styrene is not one of my favorite things to do. It seems I never get it cut as clean and precise as I would like. I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on this as well as any useful tips or if there are options I am overlooking.