Steel reinforcing rod - how to model it?

[jhockuk]

I am thinking about building making a BDA bolster wagon fro PRMRP, I want to load it with steel reinforcing rod.

How would you go about modelling it in 7mm scale?

The obvious solution is brass rod but reinforcing rod has the spiral pattern around it, not sure how to model that?

 

[Osgood]

Rebar diameter ranges from 6mm to 50mm in UK, so biggest size would be 1.1mm in 7mm scale.

What about using lead or solder wire - soft so it can very easily be drawn or rolled into shape (you could make a couple of rolling wheels from gears with a groove turned to take the round wire)? Plastic rod would be more difficult to mark.

 

[iploffy]

Would plastering Scrim do

 

[jhockuk]

Would plastering Scrim do

What' that?

I will just ask the all powerful google...

 

[Ressaldar]

Rebar diameter ranges from 6mm to 50mm in UK, so biggest size would be 1.1mm in 7mm scale.

What about using lead or solder wire - soft so it can very easily be drawn or rolled into shape (you could make a couple of rolling wheels from gears with a groove turned to take the round wire)? Plastic rod would be more difficult to mark.
View attachment 17309

the rod shown in Osgood's picture is 'high tensile' - the 'ribs' you could save yourself a lot of trouble and go for 'mild steel' which was just plain round - using solder wire as Osgood suggests to give it the 'saggy' look the 40' rods had when laying on a bolster or trailer bed.

Best of luck with the model

regards

Mike

 

[mickoo]

Your best bet would probably be copper wire, something like domestic lighting cable which is 1.5mmsq, not sure on dia (can check later at work if required or find what you wish if you have amore specific size), but there will be a cable that will have that dia or pretty much what ever you wish within reason, its more pliable than brass and easier to mark and easier to bend/sag if you wished, look for single core cable, not multi strand.

To mark it you could run it through some rollers, say a ball race on one side and a....don't know the name, its early and I need more coffee ...but the gear that sits on the axle of a worm drive, they have diagonal cut teeth, the alternative is to chemically blacken and then paint a rust/steel colour and then paint the highlight ridges on with a small roller suitably modified to either give raised edges or troughs, IE light painted ridges on a dark back ground or dark troughs on a light back ground.

Rebar is often wrapped in bundles and then covered in a plastic material, you could model that by covering your bundles in heat shrink, it comes in many colours but blue or yellow would look good and stand out well, then you'd only have to worry about the few inches that stick out of the end. If your modelling modern day, say 1990 onward I'd go with the covered stuff, earlier then I'd guess it was shipped raw and exposed to the elements.

The BDA has caught my eye too so I'll follow yours closely, there are many loads you can use and I think I'd have steel I beams, or billets, maybe even flat sheet, so many choices for rusty or clean steel materials to choose from

HTH