C. C. Crow Stone Church - First Annual Raymo Build Challenge 2016

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I was working at my other workbench just after I poured this mold. I actually heard this casting crack. I have been making molds for many years and I never had something like this happen. This casting actually failed in compression.  The white you see in the mold is dust. I used the vacuum cleaner to remove it. There will be no gluing this one back together - large sections just turned to dust. I assume because of the stress that was applied to it during the cursing process. Yes, I know there is a typo in the last sentence but every time I type cursing my computer changes it to cursing so I'm going with it. It is probably the best word for this process anyway.
The mold material was the "new to me" Star 30.  I  made 6 molds with it all at once. 5 of the 6 molds turned out great.  The one that didn't I will explain on my S&S RR layout build thread because that is where I have been posting the molding process discussion. This mold actually turned out great.



I bought this kit  approximately 15 years ago and who knows how long it had been on the shelf.  I don't think there was anything wrong with the casting other than being old and brittle. There was just enough pressure that it cracked - classic brittle failure for the Engineers out there. It was in dozens of pieces. It turned to dust along some of the crack lines. Not just a couple like you would expect if you bent the casting while removing it from the mold.


So - the casting gave it's life for this mold.  I have 3 replacement hydrocal castings already made. I also have a resin casting going as I'm typing this.  So the build will go on.  By the way, I made molds from one of the end walls and one of the side walls without a problem.  This whole thing started with wanting castings to practice on. And, I also have a plan for the two castings for another project.

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The resin casting in the mold.

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One of the hydrocal castings that I will use for practice.

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John,

I'll be following along also.

Tom

Thanks Tom

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Hi John,

Very cool looking kit!  It'll be fun to follow along with this one.

Thanks Bob


I hope we have all the drama out of the way for this build.

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Good idea to make a mold so you can try different coloring/weathering techniques before building the kit.

Jeff

Thanks for following along - there was a time this afternoon when I wasn't to sure it was a good idea.

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I'll be watching, John.

I've often looked at these kits and considered buying one.  Did CC Crow buy this mold from RDA?  The tower and peaked roof look identical to the ones on my Hermanson's mill.  Could you do me a favour and measure the height of those entry stairs - just one of the rises?  Looking forward to watching this one come together.

Cheers, Mark.

Hi Mark


Thanks for following along.  Yes  - I will get you a measurement as soon as I go back into the train room to check on my resin castings.


I think C. C. Crow makes all his own castings and molds. Take a look at his we site cccrow.com


I don't know if there is a connection between him and RDA?


He does have Builder's in Scale listed on his website.

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I agree , great kit from a manufacturer I haven't seen anything from yet, and a material we don't see often either.

Jan


Thanks for following along.  This is my first C.C. Crow build although I have a couple more kits in the cue to build. The castings look great.

[deemery]

Geez, I go away for a couple days and this goes from concept to excellent start to catastrophe to recovery! 


(Speaking of shingle roof castings, Sylvan Scale Models did some really nice resin shingle roof pieces, if I remember right.)


dave

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Geez, I go away for a couple days and this goes from concept to excellent start to catastrophe to recovery! 


(Speaking of shingle roof castings, Sylvan Scale Models did some really nice resin shingle roof pieces, if I remember right.)


dave

Thanks for stopping by Dave.  I thought about those Sylvan roof pieces during my what is my recover plan time this afternoon.  The mold is working great the castings look just like the original from the other side.  I really like the resign castings - if I were to have to choose tonight that is what I would use for the build. 


Every time I build one of the hydrocal kits I'm thinking what happens if I drop one - I never thought I would loose a casting like this. 

[martin.ojaste]

John. A compression failure is not that common. I suspect the sillycone shrunk while curing. Glad you are getting good castings. What do you think of the Star 30?

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Here is a picture of the hydrocal casting from the other side that came with the kit.  A resin casting and the hydrocal duplicates that I made standing up.

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John. A compression failure is not that common. I suspect the sillycone shrunk while curing. Glad you are getting good castings. What do you think of the Star 30?

Marty


The Star 30 material makes a great mold. I did run into another issue with it though.  I will post a few pictures and explain on my S&S RR thread so everything on the mold materials is in one place.


I'm sure it was the shrinkage - and it does get warm during the curing process which could have expanded the hydrocal casting at the same time the mold was shrinking. Who knows but we have a recovery plan.

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Mark


Here are your measurements.  I did it in both metric and English - I wasn't sure what which you would prefer.


I gave you an overall measurement of all four steps and then one individual step.  Let  me know if this is what you needed.

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I ran the numbers and it's a 12.9 inch step in HO.