HO Scale Re-Bar??????

TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
It's out of scale for a lot of struff, but I used to sprinkle a little cornstarch onto wet "rust" paint. The stuff puffs up a little bit and looks like real corrosion. (I did this in 1/35th scale military modelling)

Just drybrush them with your favorite shade of "Rust". :thumb:

That sounds like a neat idea, ill have to try it out :mrgreen:
 
Even 1/64" plywood scales out to almost 1 1/2" thick, in HO scale. I'd use .010" sheet styrene: drag a sheet of #150 sandpaper over both sides, then cut into 4'x8' sheets. I'd paint it some shade of grey, as once the sheets have been used once, they get pretty dirty-looking. Seems to me that I've also seen steel forms for concrete, but these are larger than 4'x8'. Evergreen makes structural shapes in styrene, in a variety of sizes, which have a finer cross-section than the ABS ones.

Wayne

They sure do make reusable concrete forms outta' steel - just look at Trucklover's original post, 2nd pic
 
rebar wire

I'd go with the .015" piano wire: it's steel, so any part that doesn't get painted will be a realistic colour, and if you want it rusty, wet it and let it rust. ;):-D I've not be able to find it smaller than .015", which scales out to about 1 1/4" in diameter, not too terribly oversize for heavy-duty construction. You can bend it using pliers, but the best way to cut it is with a cut-off disk in your Dremel tool. If you're going to use brass, try to find half-hard rod or wire. The wire from Detail Associates is too easy to bend because it's overly soft. If you do use soft brass wire, you can cut it by rolling it on a sheet of glass, using an old blade in your X-Acto. Use the "heel" of the blade, so you can apply some pressure without breaking the blade.

Wayne

You guys amaze me sometimes --- can't get piano --music wire smaller than .015 !!
Take a trip to a Music store & look at guitar strings --- I make all my hand rails out of them -- they come as small as .004 , which is the size I used for the braces for the saftey cage ? on the pilot deck of an Allagheny. For hand rails they are much less prone to damage even in .006 or.007 than brass ever can be . They are cheap too, a buck or two for 2 -3 feet . Then look at the wound strings , they make fantastic armoured glad hand air lines or lagged pipe.
I've been using them for years .
Yor are correct about cutting them Dr . wayne --A dremel is the best way, however they won't rust .
 
Ply wood

Okay so here is what I have got so far:
  • Rebar
    1. .015" piano wire
    2. Polly Scale with a little white mixed in for raw rebar color
    3. Model Masters Green Zink Chromate for new rebar
    4. Fine Aluminum Screening for making rebar forms
  • Plywood
    1. Midwest 1/64" plywood sheet
Now I need some I-beams lol

I found some made outta ABS plastic, whats a good size for HO tho? Kit Kraft inc., Model Building Materials, Structural Material, ABS Plastic, I-Beams
there is all the sizes they have, can someone please tell which is best for HO? Im thinking maybe the 3/16 one?



For the Plywood get some Edge banding from a cabinet shop , its very thin & is real wood.
 
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