Handrail Tutorial (or how I do it anyway)
Thanks for all the great comments guys. Barry and Dan, here's a bit of a demonstration on how I do handrails at this scale (1/100). I think it could be applied to as small as 1/250 possibly, but not much smaller than that.
1. The first shot here shows all the materials and tools required. I use .02" or 0.5 mm styrene round. I use Evergreen brand that I get at my local Hobbytown, but there are other suppliers as well. In the case of this model, the upper platforms come with printed handrails, so I use those as templates in this situation. I cut them out as you can see here. If you didn't have these, you could use the grids on the cutting mat to lay them out. I've made some rails around stair opening in the deck this way. Just measure and cut. Back to the tools... You'll see super glue, a hobby knife, paper glue, tweezers, an paint (I use Tamiya acrylics - neutral gray). The super glue is for attaching post and rail members, while the paper glue is for attaching the whole assembly to the deck.
2. As you can see from this shot, I've cut the posts and rails needed to the proper lengths using the specific set of paper rail as a template. I use the grids in the cutting mat to help keep things square as I cut.
3. The third picture is a bit blurry, so I appologize, but it shows the first two posts and top rail glued in place. I keep the paper rail just above my work to help me lay it out, and I also use the grids to keep things square. You might have difficulty seeing the posts since they are sitting directly atop the grid lines. I tend to keep the posts on the "inside" of the rail section I'm building, so I have to remember the orientation (which side) that I'm looking at.
4. Now here's where things get a little tricky to keep up with. Again I apologize for the blurry shot. I flip the two posts and top rail over so that the rail is now resting on the cutting mat and the posts are on top. Realizing that my assembly is now facing me from the inside, I flip my template upside down so that I've got my interior posts lined up in the right locations. Then I start to use tweezers to glue and place my interior posts matching my template.
5. From this photo you can see the completed assembly. I've placed it on gray paper to give it some clarity. I've flipped the assembly back over onto the posts and flipped the paper template back right side up so we're looking at the outside face of the rail section. Notice all the interior posts line up with the paper template posts. This will be crucial to our bend locations in the rail set.
6. This shot shows the painting process. I use tweezers to hold one corner of the assembly and then I use the Tamiya acrylic to coat. One coat usually does the trick, but a little touch up is required after sitting it on the cutting mat to dry. Dry time is about 45 minutes to an hour before you can pick it up and start working with it.
7. Here is where the work begins to form the handrail section along the deck. I use a straight blade razor for a straight bending edge. I place the handrail down and visually measure where the bend needs to occur. In the case of this model, all bends are on interior posts, so that makes it easy to line up. I form each bend one at a time and then tweak each bend until I'm satisfied with the allignment.
8. This shot is a bit fuzzy, but it shows the complete section in place. there were three bends in this particular piece. Use the paper glue along the bottom member to attach to the lip of the deck where it meets your side member. The bottom rail tends to blend in with the deck when viewing from normal distance.
