PaperBrick

[mrboyjrs]

I have also had success engraving the brick onto .030 chipboard...

[finescalerr]

Paper is good modeling material but not necessarily better than wood, styrene, plaster/clay, or even metal (depending on the application). I think its strongest asset is that you can print a photograph on it; that is what sets it apart.

Using bits of chipboard in place of individual plaster bricks, for example, still results in a wall you must paint. Few people can paint a brick (wall) to look as realistic as a photo of a brick (wall).

So how do we print photos of actual bricks on paper and then cut out the bricks so they have the imperfect and chipped edges you an create with plaster or clay? How could we use use laser engraving to achieve that effect on a printed paper sheet without scorching the mortar?

If somebody solves that problem, it might be possible to replace painted bricks with printed bricks. But until that day, the brick-by-brick approach (by Nick, Marc, Marcel Ackel, and others) is probably the best I've seen

Russ

[shropshire lad]

Paper is good modeling material but not necessarily better than wood, styrene, plaster/clay, or even metal (depending on the application). I think its strongest asset is that you can print a photograph on it; that is what sets it apart.

Using bits of chipboard in place of individual plaster bricks, for example, still results in a wall you must paint. Few people can paint a brick (wall) to look as realistic as a photo of a brick (wall).

So how do we print photos of actual bricks on paper and then cut out the bricks so they have the imperfect and chipped edges you an create with plaster or clay? How could we use use laser engraving to achieve that effect on a printed paper sheet without scorching the mortar?

If somebody solves that problem, it might be possible to replace painted bricks with printed bricks. But until that day, the brick-by-brick approach (by Nick, Marc, Marcel Ackel, and others) is probably the best I've seen

Russ

  All this talk of printing pictures of brickwork onto card and paper suddenly reminded me that this sort of thing  has been done to an unsupassed standard for decades at the Pendon Museum in Oxfordshire , England out of card .I haven't managed to get there yet , but if Jacq is reading this he will confirm what I'm saying .Check out their website http://www.pendonmuseum.com/index.php

  There is a book called " Cottage Modelling for Pendon" by Chris Pilton , published by Wild Swan , that goes into great detail how they go about making their buildings . Bearing in mind that it is all modelled in OO scale the level of detail they achieve is greater than most people can do in O scale .The biggest shame about the book is that it is mostly in black and white so you can't get the full effect that they manage to achieve . Worth tracking down a copy if you are interested in this sort of modelling .

  Incidentally , trying to use the brick-by-brick approach on anything smaller than 1/48th scale is shere madness and demands that person be carted off by men in white coats .

  Nick

[Junior]

The buildings at the Pendon Museum are truly outstanding and so is the scenery - have been there. Remember the buildings are small and I´m not sure their techniques would work for larger scales. Anyone visiting the U.K. should try and visit Pendon - about an hour from London by train plus a short cab ride from the train station. Their web site is really weak....too bad!

Anders

[finescalerr]

Yes, their website is really disappointing despite the magnificence of the modeling. And, even in 1:48, brick by brick requires a special kind of insanity; it is mind numbing enough just to scribe a couple of square inches let alone to place individual bricks.

But, more importantly, so far nobody has come up with answers to my questions. Could it be that there is no satisfactory answer?

Russ

[marc_reusser]

...... brick by brick requires a special kind of insanity; it is mind numbing enough just to scribe a couple of square inches let alone to place individual bricks.

Russ

Speak for yourself there.... I for one find at a kind of and enjoyable stressful zen.


"Well, the real reason that you've been sent over here is because they wanted you to be evaluated... to determine whether or not you are mentally ill.  Why do you think they might think that?"



M

[DaKra]

Right...  well, I was eyeing the doughnut, as Russ likes to say, and tried embossing brick onto paper, by hand, from laser cut wall.  Which was easy enough and gives fairly pleasing results.    

Here is a quick test on a 2x2" square of some printer paper.  This is embossed paper, no laser engraving involved.    

 

So that is one step further to good paper brick.  Next step would be cutting an embossing tool to match a good brick wall graphic.  

Dave

[Ray Dunakin]

What did you use to emboss that?

[DaKra]

This high tech tool 

[BKLN]

So that's what you have been doing all day!!!

[finescalerr]

Do I detect some surface variation among the brick faces? Is it standard 20 lb printer paper? Can you figure out a way to register an embossing tool precisely to an inkjet print?

Nice donut!

Russ

[DaKra]

@ Russ, yes there is surface variation.  Package says 22lb paper. Registering the embossing tool to the the graphic is not really a problem since its done by hand.   Ideally the graphic would  have regular spaced bricks, so that a small embossing tool could be repeated over the surface to make a larger sheet.   Tool would fit into the grooves left by a previous row and self-align.

@ BKLN, yeah, between naps.     

[finescalerr]

Actually, Dave, I was thinking about taking an inkjet printed photo of a real brick wall and embossing it with some kind of tooling to produce multiple copies, for mass production.

But an idea just popped into my thick head having nothing to do with printing: What if you made a wall, such as the one you created with a laser. Then you make a female version of the same wall with resin or whatever. Register the two. The result is a press. You put a sheet of paper between them, push down, and the result is 3D bricks. You could create a thousand copies if necessary.

Now how do you do the same thing with an inkjet photo?

Russ

[marc_reusser]

What use is making an embossing press for just one wall configuration?  What happens if I want a different configuration. What if I want different door and window sizes, or different headers. Same goes for the whole "photo of a wall" idea.

I'm sorry...and maybe it's just me...but I think this trolly has gone off the track, and we have beaten the same horse a couple of times in this thread.

Wasn't the whole intent of this thread to explore ways that EACH INDIVIDUAL MODELER could create the walls they wanted or needed from paper?

Whenever you create a mold, a press, or a photo to emboss, you are making one wall type...so unless you are planning to make a kit with specific walls, these processes are pretty worthless, because you are absolutely limiting creativity, design and diversity.  ......so pretty much useless for scratchbuilding, unless the builder wants that specific design/layout.

[mad gerald]

I'm sorry...and maybe it's just me...

... nope, me too ...

... but I think this trolly has gone off the track, and we have beaten the same horse a couple of times in this thread...

... FULL ACK ...

What use is making an embossing press for just one wall configuration?  What happens if I want a different configuration. What if I want different door and window sizes, or different headers. Same goes for the whole "photo of a wall" idea.

.. I think every mentioned method or attempt has it's value, but not in general use ... IMHO wall building brick-by-brick (regardless if REAL miniature bricks, chip board or paper bricks) seems to be the most time consuming ... as well as the best way ...

Cheers