Bits, Pieces, & Clutter

[Gordon Ferguson]

Dallas, sorry should have got back to you earlier, and apologies no photographs but don't think it will make much difference.

Step 1
Coat your base with the PVA glue and leave to dry ............ if you are using thin MDF or plywood suggest you coat both sides to avoid it warping.

Step 2
Roll out your clay on to the base, the dampness in the clay will reactivate the glue and help it adhere to the base.

Step 3
If you want your cobbles level then just roll it with a rolling pin or large piece of dowen till its level , if you are looking for an uneven undulating type surface then I have found a large glass marble or some form of hard ball is good just press in hard at certain points to produce the highs and lows.

Step 4
Take your square/rectangular plastic tubing .... taper the edges at one end  and then push into the clay. Don't make individual blocks but place one edge of the tubing into the grove you have previously made  ...work your way across the clay following the design you wish to produce ..... use different sized tubing to take up any discrepancies.

Step 5
Place your base into the Microwave ..... I gave mine a blast of full power for 30 seconds, keep an eye on it you will see the clay start to lighten in colour as it drys . You have a couple of options at this stage if you want the cobbles/ setts  to look well worn then before the clay is fully dry and hard brush it with  soft brush .... this will soften the edges and round over the cobbles slightly. If you want a sharp edge then dry the clay completely and then use a hard brush to clean off any the raised edges you got when you were doing the impressing.

Finishing
I used acrylics to colour my setts, the clay is porous so you just tint it with colour ..... I used a mixture of very fine sand and MIG pigments(European dust) to fill in between the cobble and then wicked in some well watered down PVA glue to hold everything in place .

Hope this is of help any bits that are not clear let me know and I will get some pics sorted out.

Gordon 

[Mr Potato Head]

What about SBS pictures ?
thanks
MPH

[Malachi Constant]

Gordon -- THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  Certainly sounds "simple" enough ... the technique is very straightforward ... looking at your photos, there's obviously a bit of artistic touch to getting a proper feel with the undulations in the surface, missing stones, etc.  Will start with some practice bits and see how it goes.





MPH -- I suspect that would require having Gordon go back and do a-whole-nother piece of road ... meanwhile, here are some of the earlier photos he posted of the cobblestones in question ... you should be able to see the undulations in the surface, embossing and the selective omission of stones.

Thanks again!
Dallas

[Mr Potato Head]

I am just confused about a few things, but I love this and I want to build something similar for a project.

I got steps one and two, three and four are a little sketchy: spread the air clay, make the undulations, OK then start stamping the material?
(Don't make individual blocks but place one edge of the tubing into the grove you have previously made  ...work your way across the clay following the design you wish to produce ..... use different sized tubing to take up any discrepancies.)

This part is confusing, they look like individual stones and nowhere are they touching?
Can you expand on this part please? thanks
MPH

[Malachi Constant]

Hey Gordon --

While we have your attention ... what did you schmeer over top for the tarmac?  Plaster?  Spackle?  More clay?

Thanks!
Dallas

[Gordon Ferguson]

Morning,

hey you guys are interrupting my attempts to make printed brick look good ......
Love a challenge , even from the paternal dictator ...... no corner for me just a wall, blindfold and a last cigarette  

Anyway

Dallas .......... the tarmac was made by rolling out the clay very thinly and then placing on top of the hardened cobbles, then artistically playing around with it until it like sort of right. By the way you may find as I did that as you do the stamping some of the individual cobbles will come out/loose ..... you then have the choice of puting them back or leaving some selectively missing.

MPH

Hopefully you will get some SBS pics by the end of the day which may make my Scottish words a bit clearer ............ remember English is my second tongue, and there are a few on this side of the pond who would dispute that I have even come close to mastering it

[shropshire lad]

............ remember English is my second tongue, and there are a few on this side of the pond who would dispute that I have even come close to mastering it

  You'll get no argument on that statement

[Gordon Ferguson]

OK a bit of a quick and dirty SBS, but hopefully it will make my previous explanation a bit clearer.

Step 1 & 2



Didn't have any MDF so just used a piece of scrap wood, coated with PVA which was left to dry. When dry modelling clay was pressed onto the surface - the clay will reactivate the glue and help it stick to the wood.

Step 3




I rolled out the clay basically level, however as I was trying to show a cobbled road I made the clay thicker at the crown of the road  ......... and where the gutter was planed to be I hollowed out the clay with the back of a spoon. You may just be able to see these effects on the r/hand picture above.

Step 4



These are the tools I use for impressing the cobbles/setts ... hopefully you can see I have tapered /sharpened the edges.



MPH ... this was what I was trying to explain, the left hand picture is what not to do  each cobble pressed in individually and apart! Right hand picture shows what mean , the tool is over laid into the previous  impression.

Step 5



All the impressing done , you can see where some of the individual setts have lifted and also where I have not been accurate enough in placing the tool ... as per Step 4!



After a minute in the Microwave, hopefully you can see where the clay  has started to dry out  ....... it also shows I was rushing. Should have let the clay dry out for an hour or so naturally and then used shorter burst in the Microwave. Because I have overheated it there is some rippling of the cobbles due to steam being produced under the clay, this overheating has also led to some unnatural shrinkage leading to some cracking along the joint lines



Gives a sense of scale, also shows some of the shrinking mentioned above. I have started to brush the clay with a stiff brush to clean any debris and to round some of the cobble edges.

A bit more care with the clean up,then some painting and finally infilling of the joint lines .... but you all know how to do that so will shut-up now, hope it helps. ( took about 90 minutes to do .. including glue drying time)

EDIT

After a couple of hours, I have given them another brush ,cleaned up some of the joint lines and although not coloured yet I have brushed in some fine sand (chinchilla dust) just to give an impression of what it could look like.




In real life it was usual to fill in the joint with a pitch/bitumen mix .......... anybody got any bright ideas how I should do that  .... I was wondering about black tile grout after the setts have been painted and sealed


 

[Gordon Ferguson]

Nick,

rearrange & complete the following ............... black, kettle, pot  

[Carlo]

Gordon -
Nice setts (also called cobblestones here in the US).
You mention "modeling clay". I assume this is a water-based, air-drying clay like "DAS" or "Paper-Clay"?
Again, over here "modeling clay" is an oil-based, non-hardening clay (see discussion about Sulfur in this type of clay).
Carlo

[Gordon Ferguson]

Hi Carlo,

I used just a cheap ordinary modelling clay available from most art shops
http://www.tiranti.co.uk/subdivision_product_list.asp?Content=Grey+Clay+%2D+Clay+Modelling+Materials+%2D+Modelling+Materials&Subcategory=41&Subdivision=129

Cost me about £5 for 5 kg about 6/7 years ago still tons of left and as long as its plastic bag is sealed never goes off.

See no reason why any water based product like DAS would not work this way   

[finescalerr]

I understood your description from the text alone, Gordon, but have really enjoyed looking at the illustrations with your comments. Your technique seems simple and produces beautiful results. I would imagine it would work just as well for vertical brick walls. Thanks for an excellent tutorial. -- Russ

[DaKra]

Tops!  Method filed away for future reference, thanks!

Dave

[Gordon Ferguson]

I I would imagine it would work just as well for vertical brick walls.
Russ

............ you mean the one I have to stand against   

[shropshire lad]

Nick,

rearrange & complete the following ............... black, kettle, pot  

 Er ,wot yus goin on abit ,  my bliddy Inglish is perficklie understundible ?