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Scratch building scale accessories, + weathering 2 years 10 months ago #66631

Seems like a long time since I did anything for this topic ... the following only just applies ...

A while back I bought two photographic backdrops that came folded & vacuum packed, so were heavily & permanently creased. That doesn't matter on the "graffiti wall" cloth, but it ruins the look of the "beach" one. Recently, I duct taped that to a cardboard box & it was almost useable (at least until the tape failed), so a more permanent solution was in order. 

I've also been wanting to make a generic "street" baseboard to take photos on - it'd be better than the green A1 cutting mat I think. A flat "sand" board (for use with the "beach" backdrop would add flexibility. Due to storage considerations, I ordered sheets of 600mm x 900mm, 6mm thick plywood. 9mm thick boards arrived, with cat paw prints already installed :D

I've got fed up of buying sanding sealer at great expense in small quantities - this time I bought a 4.5L tub for 45 GBP :blink: which sounds horrific (or maybe I'm just getting old) but represents really good unit cost compared to little tins. 

Before applying that, I glued on a plank - it's not quite long or wide enough, and a bit too tall for scale - but having failed to plan ahead that far, I used what I had. Two coats of sealer on the three boards (with sanding before & between) was followed with a can of grey primer on the "road" board. This was not my usual favourite Hycote Plastic, but "Auto Extreme" :whistle: brand - it stinks far worse, but for a shorter time - and I know it's compatible (or at least not reactive with) the sanding sealer or the PVA glue & paints I want to use later.      













 
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Scratch building scale accessories, + weathering 2 years 10 months ago #66632

Should have added that I also dremelled the edge to the "path" to look like kerb stones, and also angled a short area behind the edge, so when I "surface" it, the edges should be flush :)
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Scratch building scale accessories, + weathering 2 years 10 months ago #66635

I used spray contact adhesive to fix the beach backdrop to one of the boards - totally not the way to go, it really needed something with a longer "wet" time ... or possibly nothing, just stretching it over & holding with staples (which I also did for added security) would have been better :(

I used Milliput Silver Grey to fill the worst of the issues with the "path" - a knothole I'd foolishly put visible side out, a shake that wasn't visible before the primer went on, and a couple of places where the Dremel followed the grain rather than the line I wanted :whistle:

I also made  two rain drain covers and a pair of inspection hole covers from styrene sheet - the plan is to chisel away a layer of the plywood so they sit just above the surface, and will hopefully be flush when I surface the road :) 







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Scratch building scale accessories, + weathering 2 years 10 months ago #66640

Looking forward to see the result 
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Scratch building scale accessories, + weathering 2 years 10 months ago #66650

Hole marked, edge cut with a scalpel, then the top layer (and a half) chiselled out for one of the round inspection covers:




Hole tidied with an end mill bit in a Dremel:






Similar process for one of the rectangular drain covers:




Views of all the parts fixed in with 5-minute epoxy:




:)
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Last edit: by Jonny Retro.

Scratch building scale accessories, + weathering 2 years 10 months ago #66652

I love that.
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Scratch building scale accessories, + weathering 2 years 10 months ago #66654

Looks great. Looking forward to seeing some models on it with the background. 
Regards

Lee
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Scratch building scale accessories, + weathering 2 years 10 months ago #66662

Progress from yesterday afternoon - the 1kg of kiln dried "coarse basing sand" that I'd planned to use on both baseboards (and paint for the "road") turned out to be a 50:50 mix of coarse sand & fine gravel, and by the time I'd sifted it, not enough to cover even the "beach" board - hence having to use some of the gravel to finish.

The "road" board got the 2 bags of "grey" road flock (which I know rapidly turns brown) and a bag of "black" grit (that was too dark for me to want to use) left over from the railway.  

Once I've shaken off the excess, and assuming the PVA has cured/dried, the next step will be to seal the surfaces with hair spray (for the beach) and grey primer (on the road).

:) 





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Scratch building scale accessories, + weathering 2 years 10 months ago #66665

I used real sand or sand paper for my dioramas.
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Scratch building scale accessories, + weathering 2 years 10 months ago #66722

I was sure I'd taken a photo after I'd shaken the excess off the "road", but apparently not :( 

TBH it looked pretty much as seen the last photo, but a bit flatter. The edges of where I'd used the two different types of scatter to suggest patching really wasn't any better defined though.

I used another whole 400ml can of grey primer on it, not trying to make it too even, and really laying on thick where vehicle wheel tracks would have compressed/worn the surface more.

the second pic here shows a typical area of surface, including the ghost of a "patch". Frankly this is unrealistic for any road other than for say 48 hours after it's been "top dressed" (token attempt to make you believe that some of you road taxes are being spent on roads by spraying a microns thick layer of tar over the existing cracks/chequerboard of patches/smaller potholes & scattering a layer of chippings, which does nothing to improve the road but does ensure extra work for the local recovery trucks, paint shops & glass replacement specialists.

5 minutes of work with a small  bit of 240 grit wet & dry paper has knocked back the "grain" considerably & revealed some of the patches :) 

Next step is to try & make the kerb stones look more concrete like, repair the area where the grit didn't stick, and fill the bottom of holes in the drains with paint to make them look like deep(er) holes :)






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