church bell tower

[blockhaus]

here you can see how start the work, a plywood structure that  must be covered with cork bits

late is time to apply the peebles, talcum powder  and cork dust saw




  and this can be the result

[OSHIROmodels]

Time consuming but a most worthwhile effort 

cheers

James

[Mitch K]

And I thought I was addicted to doing things the hard way!

The results speak for themselves though

Can I ask how you cut the blocks - do you have a method that allows you to make the blocks quickly and uniformly?

M

[blockhaus]

Hi guys, thanks for your attention
 
 Mitch, I cut strips from a 5mm thick  cork. this give a strip that can be cut with a chopper machine from a company named Amati ( that solds wooden ships and all tools that you need for make them)
 this you can cut a lot of cork bits in few minutes.
 

[dampfpanzerwagon]

Thank you for posting this tutorial.  I have read about cork bricks before but have never tried this system.  I will have to give it a go on one of my buildings this year.

Tony
http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.co.uk/

[Sangennaru]

Very interesting piece you've done! impressive and long work indeed!

[Mitch K]

Hi guys, thanks for your attention
 
 Mitch, I cut strips from a 5mm thick  cork. this give a strip that can be cut with a chopper machine from a company named Amati ( that solds wooden ships and all tools that you need for make them)
 this you can cut a lot of cork bits in few minutes.
 

Cheers Blockhaus - I know Amati well. Their parts are like buckets, barrels, ladders etc are really useful for nearly all periods, and I've used their period weaponry a few times for ECW. Thanks for the heads-up.

I'm very sorely tempted to try this method! I just have to decide on a stone structure. I keep toying with the idea of a Pictish Broch, but somehow I think a curved, tapering shape might not be the easiest thing to start with...

[blockhaus]

Hello,
 hope that  soon we have here a interest group about  cork construction 
 people that are in an "adventure" forum  not will have fear to adventure in new terrains and new materials 
  about cork, not all cork is suitable for make these models, he must have very fine grain, not composed with chunks. this permit sand this  and make effects .

 Mitch,  A pictish brosch is good  for start. Fine grain cork is very flexible and with UHU transparent glue you can work well. The problem will  be (if any) make the structure.

I will be glad to rspond all questions about this c¡matter
 cheers
 Carlos

[Mitch K]

Hello,
 hope that  soon we have here a interest group about  cork construction 
 people that are in an "adventure" forum  not will have fear to adventure in new terrains and new materials 
  about cork, not all cork is suitable for make these models, he must have very fine grain, not composed with chunks. this permit sand this  and make effects .

 Mitch,  A pictish brosch is good  for start. Fine grain cork is very flexible and with UHU transparent glue you can work well. The problem will  be (if any) make the structure.

I will be glad to rspond all questions about this c¡matter
 cheers
 Carlos

Carlos,

I'm on the lookout for a suitable plastic flowerpot to use as a base structure for my broch. This will give me the curve and taper I need on a (reasonably) sturdy but not over-heavy object.

I had given quite a lot of thought as to how to add the stonework. I have considered embossed plastic card, but this doesn't easily capture the effect of the taper, and the one long seam up one side would be a bit obvious... I thought about adding a layer of extruded polystyrene and embossing, bot the stonework needs to be quite fine, or marking it into a layer of milliput / ceramic filler (the way be used to do zimmerit on model tanks back in the Stone Age) but even I baulked at the sheer amount of work this would involve.

The cork approach is worthy of a lot of consideration. Is the cork you use the sort of slabs of cork used as flooring tiles, or the thinner, more flexible reconstituted material sold in sheets and used on things like noticeboards?

Cheers,

Mitch

[blockhaus]

Hi Mitch, I use the reconstitued material used for notice boards... and Ikea safeglasses also...remember that must be reconstitued with very very fine particles, not all cork is ussable for make the stones.
... but if the building that I think that is a pict brush (that is very similar to a  Galician "palloza" )must be constructed I can suggest the best metod is with little peebles, that is the material that ist not cork in the well tower, these part of the building is done with white glue,peebles and cork dust. peebles are from acuarium.
 hope that this helps
 CArlos