Resourceful Modeling

[Anonymous]

Definition: Resourceful capable of devising ways and means


I was having a MSN Messenger chat about 6 months ago with another forum member (Stuart, if memory serves me right) who was using Pringles Potato Chip "cans" as grain silos on his layout. I guess he was painting them and linking them together with a catwalk. I am sure we have all seen photos of real engines passing a grain silo as many of them are right next to the tracks.

I thought this was a neat idea and one that could save money too. It also made me wonder about other kitchen items which could also be converted by the resourceful modeler for use on a layout.

The other day I was having Lays Stax Potato Chips. They too come in a canister (can). The canister is an odd shape. This shape reminded me of the conversation with Stuart about the Pringles' can and made me wonder what "use" I might find for it. I quickly thought of . . . water towers. [:D] I have seen some odd shaped water towers and the Lays can would work well for one. Since water towers come in various shapes and sizes I don't think this is too far-fetched an idea.

Then it made me also wonder what other "kitchen" items might be used on a layout. Again, I came up with . . . butter tubs. [;)] Yes, they would make good oil (or in a model railroad--diesel fuel) tanks. [:p] They too come in a variety of sizes and would work as a fuel tank farm.

I bet some of you have been "resourceful" in obtaining structures for your layouts. Would you like to share some of your resourceful ideas. [:)]

I know of one modeler who uses aluminum foil as a mold for "rocks". But if he wants to he can share that here.

[Anonymous]

That sounds like a neat Idea. I'll have to try it. I saw a model of a Oil Refinery at the OKC museum ( Omniplex ) that used soda cans for tanks.

[Anonymous]

I think this kind of modeling is VERY creative. I have seen a number of grain elevators made out of lengths of PVC pipe, but these Pringle's cans (or Quaker Oats "cans" iope larger scales maybe)sure would be an economical way to build one. It might also develope one's modeling skills. I notice in the Allen Keller video on Monroe Stuart's' Hooch Junction layout he does all sorts of clever things like this.

[Anonymous]

Hi All [:)]

Thanks for viewing this thread and for the replies. [;)]

I had computer trouble when I posted this thread and there are two of these threads by the same name. I am sorry this happened. [:(]

I have emailed Wayne and ask if he would copy and paste his very good reply into this thread so I might delete the other thread. I hated to ask but there is no use having two threads of the same thing.

Does anyone else have any ideas from the kitchen to help on the layout?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

Definition: Resourceful capable of devising ways and means

I know of one modeler who uses alunium foil as a mold for "rocks". But if he wants to he can share that here.

Copied from duplicate thread.

It wasn't me that you know of, but I just had my first success with aluminum foil molds and would be happy to share the results. I had heard about using foil and thought I'd give it a try before springing for some costly rubber mold material.

Since weight on my layout is a big factor, I've built the cliffs with strips of rigid foam over which I troweled on Dap Lightweight One-Step Spackling. This proved I'm not much of a sculptor, and painting didn't do much to help it. Last night I took a piece of foil about a foot square, crumpled it up, opened it back up and slowly troweled on about 3/16" to 1/4" thick layer of the spackling. While wet, I pressed it against my former failed attempt and let it sit for about 14 hours. Impatient, I just started to peel it off slowly and found it was still wet though it had held the rough, rocky impressions. I noticed that it could use some vertical crack lines as is typical in the Adirondacks and put the foil back in place and, using a bamboo skewer, lightly drew the crack lines into the foil, mostly vertical with some horizontals too.

I'm extremely happy with the results and don't expect to be making rubber molds for my rock castings any time soon. If I had a digital camera worthy of the name, I'd post some photos. Alas... perhaps another time.

Hints for using this method:
- Have a solid, porous surface to cast against. A spritz of water may help adherance.
- Experiment with foil crumpling to get the texture that you want.
- Don't crumple the foil into a tight ball as it is hard to open it.
- Some type of mold release may help though I didn't use it with the Dap. A little stuck to the foil, though that may have been a result of removing it too soon.
- If your material is thick like the DAP, trowel it slowly on the foil to fill the crevaces.
- If you are using hydrocal or another material, don't make it too soupy.
- The Dap is thick enough to immediately put in place. Other material may need to set up a bit first. (I've no experience there.) Slowly lift the foil/casting material into position and lightly press against the backing surface.
- If possible, do the entire rocky area in one shot. I wish I had, as I now have to blend the second casting needed to finish my cliff area.
- Score the crack lines with a blunt stick or pencil, trying to avoid tearing the foil. If available, use photos as inspiration. Don't go overboard on the cracks or striations.
- Be patient & wait until the material has had time to harden before removing the foil. The foil doesn't breathe so drying will take much longer if you cast in place as I did.
- Experiment with some small pieces to get a feel for the process before tackling the giant cliffs on your layout.

Wayne

[cwclark]

I like to use PVC pipe for tanks and silos and the like...using a PVC endcap in the size smaller than the PVC pipe size that you use, matches perfectly to the pipe and can be glued on top of the pipe...they make nice tanks and grain elevators...Chuck[:D]

[Anonymous]

Here's another kitchen recipe project.

Lumber drying dock for a circa 1919 Adirondack Sawmill. (N Scale)

Ingredients:

Bamboo skewers
Toothpicks - Round
Toothpicks - Flat

The photo (ok, I laid the parts on the scanner) shows, top to bottom:

- Vertical Framing
- Top view of deck
- Bottom view of deck



Simply laid flat toothpicks on smooth countertop, butted them tight together. Note: this brand had a slight taper so picks were arranged so the taper alternated up & down.

Selected straightest skewers, ran a bead of white glue along it and set in place down middle of deck. Repeat for outer skewers, holding them in slightly from the rounded ends of the toothpicks..

While glue is still wet, do your best to square up the deck. Use squares if desired. I used only eyeballs as these structures were crude but utilitarian. When dried, cut the toothpick ends square with the skewer using a sharp knife or rotary tool.

The vertical supports are round toothpicks cut long, with one end square and one pointed end remaining. Short pieces of flat toothpicks form the lateral and angle braces. (The pointed ends go into holes punched in the foam base. You can carefully use the completed though fragile assembly to lightly mark the hole locations.)

When complete, the vertical framing is inserted into the foam, the deck glued to the vertical framing with the bamboo skewers to the outside.

In the prototype, there could be a half-mile or more of these raised docks, with light rail for human or horse-drawn lumber carts laid into the decking. Often high enough off the ground that a boxcar could pass underneath.These deck pieces are roughly a foot long (determined by length of skewer) and there will be a total of 9 sections arranged in 3 parallel rows 3 foot long with cart rails running between them.

In larger scales, the flat toothpicks could be used to make a picket fence or rough shed walls, etc..

Wayne

[Anonymous]

I tried to delete the other thread by this name and it won't let me do so. [:(]

Please use this thread to place post.

We have had some good replies so far.

Thanks all.

[eastcoast]

I use alot of "trash" to do projects.
My Plastics Refinery containers are the plastic"WELCHES" concentrated juice
containers painted and "bashed"
Some of my rolling hills are made from the bumpy foam packaged in
DVD player boxes, covered in plaster and newspaper .
Ever seen a hillside made from real hay? I take the grass clippings
from my 1.5 acres of yard and glue various lengths together and placed
in areas. More later.

[cjcrescent]

Dean Freytag of Davies Steel and South Ridge lines fame has some very good suggestions for "resourceful modeling" in his book on heavy industry modeling. Would you believe teddy bear eyes from a craft store. He gets these and uses them to top off the vents used on a great number of industrial buildings.

[Anonymous]

I worked in a platicizer plant that made the plasticizer from various alcohols and 2000# bags of various acids. I'm modeling a chemical plant on my layout . I use different sized containers for tanks in the process. I used digital calipers to figure the size of the contaner scaled up from HO to full size aand keep everything close to a reasonable size. Wrapping these with aluminum foil makes for an insulated tank or one made out of stainless steel. Straws and skewers make for good transfer piping.

[Jetrock]

My favorite low-cost scenic material: Dirt!

Here's how you turn dirt into scenery:

First, get a nice bucket of clean dirt, preferably dry (it's better to do this in summer months.)

Filter the dirt through a screen--I'd recommend buying a strainer at a thrift store just for this purpose. This will get out big rocks and larger vegetable material. Filter this dirt onto a large cookie sheet or oven-safe pan.

Run a large magnet over the dirt to pick up stray bits of ferrous materials. This will prevent said ferrous stuff from getting attracted to the magnets in your engines' motors.

Bake the dirt at 200 degrees for an hour or two--this will sterilize the dirt, killing off any plant seeds and other critters in the dirt, as well as drying it thoroughly to allow it to be spread more easily.

Some recommend running the dirt through a second fine mesh strainer, made from a nylon stocking--this will give you a batch of very very fine dirt, suitable for roads, and a batch of coarser dirt for rougher terrain.

I normally give the areas I'm going to dirt up a coat of cheap brown paint, to hide any areas that don't get dirted up, on top of whatever scenic material I'm using (personally I prefer Sculptamold and drywall plaster.)

Sprinkle the dirt evenly over the area to be modeled (put some masking tape over nearby trackwork!!) and spray with a mist of "wet water" (water with a little detergent mixed in) or rubbing alcohol. Then add diluted matte medium or Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement with a sprayer or eyedropper. Overspray with your "wet water" mixture in places where the cement doesn't seep into the dirt quickly. Add a second coat of dirt to high areas where the dirt may have slipped off during the last stage and again apply moistener and cement.

Ground foam or other ground cover can be added at this stage, while the ground is still all gluey. Let it dry and presto, you've got dirt!



(An example of real-dirt scenery--I took dirt from the actual area where the yard I'm modeling was located!)

[CBQ_Guy]

You can make a radio out of an empty oatmeal box. [%-)]

[t-whistler]

Another low cost , found daily around our house, item are used coffee grounds.

Don't throw away as usual, dry it out, clean it off, and use for dirt, or mix with other

types of ground cover. There are multiple uses for dried coffee grounds.
t-whistler

[dehusman]

If you use plaster of paris instead of spackle you need to pull the aluminum foil off the rocks in about 15-20 minutes tops (when the plaster gets hot). Much faster than spackle.

I use empty Kraft Parmesean cheese containers (the plastic ones with the screw on lid) for ground foam dispensers.

Foil roasting and bread pans make good mixing bowls for plaster or paints.

I prime scenery with cheap house paint and then after that dries tint it with washes of latex craft paint (in the littel plastic squeeze bottles) that you can get on sale for 50-99 cents at craft stores.

Take a piece of 1/2 drywall and draw a gridwork on it in an overlapping pattern (like bricks). Take a utility knife and score along the lines. Then pick the paper facing off and viola!, a stone wall, tunnel portal or bridge abutment. Glue two piece back to back (might want to use 3/8" for this) and you have a bridge pier. Or you can carve/sand it smooth and make a concrete retaining wall.

Air brush s with Future acrylic floor polish before you decal them to give a gloss finish for the decals.

Take polyester pillow filling from a craft store and stretch it out in a thin mat a couple inches thick and then spray it with green, brown or black spray paint (whatever is on sale). Paint both sides. Tear off wads and give it a second coat and drop the wet fiber fill in a paper bag with ground foam in it, shake it and coat the fiber fill. Trees. Start with red primer or greed painted fiber fill, coat it with yellow or light green foam and then give it a coat of red, yellow or orange spray paint for a fall tree.

Bamboo skewers make good uncoupling tools.

Dave H.

[Anonymous]

ANY ONE GOT TOILET PAPER! iLL WAIT FOR UR ROLL!

i found toilet paper rolls are great for slioghs or cemement factories,
i tried it but being 16 i rly didnt know what i was doing and it came out kidna poor, and i ddint know what to do for a roof to cover it, so i used sand paper which started to warp on the ends, looked bad, and my parents thought it would be best if i took it off the layout, but i guess if u spend some time on it, and get the right materieals its a good idea, also tin foil and plaster cloth goes together well!!
small milk cartons can also make good coal depots, if you have the time and skill to make it look good, once again i did it and as usual not too good!

Pencil Sharpenings make great saw dust for logging scenes

most small soda bottles make some kool buildings also

Okay well thats about all that ive thought of, sand paper makes a good roof as long as theres no over hang!

[TrainFreak409]

You can use coffee cans, the large ones, for oil containers for an O scale layout. A little paint, and scouring with a hobby knife, plus some piping will make it look pretty realistic. You can do the same with yogert cups for smaller scale.

~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~

[Anonymous]

Some electronic components work great for detail items. I use small parts such as capacitors, led's, etc. from burned out electronics. (many led's are still good and can be used for lighting). The very small capacitors can be painted and used as telephone pole transformers, etc. Lots of items from old electronics can be used.

Painted duct tape works great for tarped loads, I also use very thin strips of masking tape to put over the tarped loads to simulated straps.

Sewing thread is great for telephone/power lines. I also use q-tips with the ends cut off to extend the height of telephone poles where needed. Just cut off the base of the pole, sharpen with pencil sharpener and glue with ca into the end of the q-tip. Once dry, a heavy application of acrylic paint to match colors will hide the joint nicely.

Not a household item, but something I use a lot of is different weeds I pick in the fall. I pick some that I think might make a good looking tree, spray it heavily with 3M spray adhesive and sprinkle with ground foam colors or mixtures of colors. Makes fantastic trees and no two are ever alike. (They are very delicate when dry however)

[Anonymous]

Rock face molds/one piece of foam packing material i usually try to find piece inch to two inches thick.determine the size of your rock face example 4in long by 3in wide. I use a large flat screwdriver and dig hunks out of the foam forming different croppings.I then take piece of foil and work it into the depressions made by the screwdriver forming the outside face of the casting.spray with pam non stick cooking spray ,fill with hydrocal.I place it under the light and dry about two hours turn upside down and lift the foam away from the mold .You will amaze your self at the realistic rock walls and outcroppings you can create. Ps just a little note for those of you using real dirt /I use alot of it myself i allways screen my dirt thru old window or door screen and then run a magnet over top of it to make sure there is not alot of iorn in the dirt.i heard along time ago when using real dirt with high iorn content can ruin the magnets in the motor.

[jhoff310]

I used pillow stuffing for smoke on my old layout. Had a building on fire and the smoke looked great. My wife didnt want me to use a smoke generator. I used an old cardboard box and carefully peeled off one side to expose the "ridges" to make a farm field Looked pretty cool. Used a velveeta cheese box for a transfer facility. They also work great for carrying a loco or car to a club meeting