Here's just a few pics of a small diorama built out of fire cement and a homemade stone press.

If room permits (Admin please advise) I can put up pictures covering the making of the press through to various stages of build but, be warned, there's quite a number of pictures !

Cheers.

Allan.




 




 




 

Hi  Allan,at this moment in time there is no restriction on photos,i am still waiting to hear about webspace improvements but if you could use the most relevent ones it would help a great deal.

[user=1033]spurno[/user] wrote:

Hi  Allan,at this moment in time there is no restriction on photos,i am still waiting to hear about webspace improvements but if you could use the most relevent ones it would help a great deal.

 

Ok Alan, will do - but it's egg 'n' chips first, just arrived !

Cheers. Allan

BTW Alan, would it be better if I split it into say three posts - stone press mould - construction - finish ?

Up to you my friend.Remember it's the Oscars soon.

 

Why, did Oscar build one too ?!

With all the excellent building aids available today, there's really no need to go to such extremes  such as this in order to produce stonework for models and the only reason that I did so here was to see if I could build a small diorama employing all my old methods and materials which required a home made stonewall press that was pressed into a 2mm layer of fire cement spread on a 2mm card backing
.

.So first then, the stone press.

This is made out of plsticine where the stonework is indented into the plasticene with an electricians screw driver, surrounded by a plasticene wall ( pretty colours optional !) then the casting resin mixed as per the instructions, poured into the mould and left for 24 hours to cure.




 




 




 




 




 




More to follow.

Allan.

 

 

Smashing building Allan.
That mold/press looks very handy.
Fire cement do you add anything to it.
It does seem to harden very quickly ?
regards and thanks,
Derek.

[user=477]shunter1[/user] wrote:

Smashing building Allan.
That mold/press looks very handy.
Fire cement do you add anything to it.
It does seem to harden very quickly ?
regards and thanks,
Derek.

Hi Derek.


Left to air dry it will take quite some time but never go as hard as , a repair compound for fire places should do, where it is subjected to very high temperatures and therefore sets absolutely rock hard.

However, I prepare a wall then put it in the microwave on a low setting for two minutes and it comes out rock hard.

I would suggest, that once you have the stone press made is to cover a 2mm thick ( or 1mm if you prefer)  piece of card with the fire cement, sprinkle it over with talc then roll it out even to a constant depth of 2mm.

To do this run two 4mm strips down iether side of the wall then run the roller across these slowly where it will roll out the fire cement to exactly 2mm thick and the talc will stop the fire cement from sticking to the roller.

Next, sprinkle on more powder then press the mould into the soft compound moving it up or along as necessary - it you want even finer stonework still, rubble for example, just keep offsetting the pressings until you are satified with the rersuilts - no two walls need look the same.

Cement pointing.

First colour the stonework with either wood dyes or paint, seal it with a clear coat of sealant, then mix up a very runny mix of water and fire cement and slowly feed it in between the stone joints from one end with a small brush chasing out the air bubbles before it then leave for a good hour to dry right out - but, experimant first and familiarise yourself with the materials and methods.

Any more questions, just fire away.

Cheers.

Allan.

That diorama looks superb Allan. Certainly an interesting stone wall building technique and definitely one to remember for future reference.
Regards
David

Showing a few possibilities with the stone press then later, construction begins.

Cheers.

Allan




 




 




 




 

Thanks for the press and material information Allan.
Those latest photo,s are excellent. The stone work is as good as the real thing.

regards,
Derek.

Good ideas!
Must think of something similar in N!
Regards, Peter.

With the stone press made, and a tub of fire cement to hand, this is kinda where we're a headin' fer - the mill but without the photoshoped back drop courtesey of Peter Kern

So, more on construction tomorrow.

Cheers.

Allan.




 

 Showing the mill walls stoned out and ready for boxing up and how the waterwheel was made.

Since the wheel wouldn't be turning, I gave it a false bottom so as to locate it firmly at the bottom of the Mill race which would be hidden from view when finished.




 




 




 




 

Cotswold style stone tiles

Here is an attempt at producing stone tiles although  I haven't stuck true to the prototypical practice of laying them in diminishing rows.

So, here I cut out larger tiles than usual - 7mmx7mm - from postcard then laid them individualy.

After, I heaped up a generous ammount of pollyfila powder over the tiles then stippled the powder with an old one inch paint brush loaded with Colron English Light Oak Wood Dye until I had achieved a rough texture that was sealed in with a watery mix of PVA and when dry, dustcoated with aerosol Matt Black up and under the tile edges - just one or two light passes will do.

Anyway, below are the results, see what you think.

Cheers.

Allan.

 




 

I think the photos speak for themselves Alan.an absolutely beautiful building.

Amazing

Toto

Paving stones.

Two kinds of material here, first  "RUST-OLEUM" TEXTURED STONE PAINT from B&Q

This spurts three different colours out of the can all at once - how!!!! - and the first picture shows it scribed to look like pavers, while the second shows it 'as is 'straight out of the can.

However, I settled for the fire cement slabs instead  - bottom two pics - where a 2mm layer was spread evenly over a sheet of thin card, a piece of broken concrete pressed randomly into the surface to give some kind of relief and texture, then baked i in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

Cheers

Allan




 




 




 





 

Certainly beats the heck out of those plasticard offerings Allan.
I can see fire cement sales on the increase.
Plus the stuff does not cost much.

Derek.

Hi Alan,

The slabs look very convincing. Like old flag stone. Another winner.

Cheers

Toto

Love the rain gully Allan,that really looks the part.