What can i use to mobel rebar

[CAS]

Ok, im going with n-scale.

In 1 of my scenes, i will be modeling a new home development, with a new constructed street. It will have partially built homes. And a partially built cement street, leading to the new homes being built. I thought for the streets is to have some of the street finished, while the other portion, using something for the rebar laying in the wood formed street, and sand as the base. Also having the wood planks on the side of the street, and for the sidewalks, to form them. The construction company that won the bid to build the streets does'nt have the newer machinery to lay the concrete like they have now. So they have to do it the old way.

Can someone please tell me what i can use to make the rebar? I had a suggestion from my nephew, he said maybe a thin copper wire of some sort.

Thanks for your help.
CAS

 

[TruckLover]

This scence sounds pretty cool.

As for the re-bar, the copper wire works just fine. Just paint it a rust color and you will be set. I have used copper wire for my HO Scale construction and it works great.

Can you post some pics on the-gauge when you are finished?? I would like to see this scene, it sounds like it will be fun to build and ever cooler to look at!!

 

[MilesWestern]

What about indoor screening for the tightly meshed rebar, the really thick kind should work for N scale. Also paper clips with the little nicks on them would make ideal rebar, not to mention it's pretty cost effective too!

 

[who_dat73]

What about spagetie "Sorry about the spelling To all our Italian friends" you can cook it and set it to dry in alll kinda of shapes the paint grey??
Just my two cents worth

 

[TruckLover]

Thats a great idea. Im going to have to try that one out. It sounds like it would work really well!!

 

[Doc Holliday]

In my neck of the woods, rebar isn't used in sidewalks. If you use it, don't over do the rust as inspectors won't allow it if it is too bad. You sometimes find a wire mesh, typically with 6" spacing. The suggested window screen might work for this.
Doc

 

[ezdays]

Thats a great idea. Im going to have to try that one out. It sounds like it would work really well!!

Which idea, the copper wire, paper clip or spaghetti?

 

[TruckLover]

I thinks that they world all work good, but since who_dat73 came up with the idea of spagetti, I think that this one would probably work the best cause you can shape it easly.

 

[who_dat73]

Since you like my idea I was thinking a lil harder on it and to model differant sizes you can use the angel hair and reg size to make differant grades of rebar:thumb:

 

[CalFlash]

A friend used florest wire for a rebar load in HO scale. Not sure if you can get it small enough diameter for N-scale use but worth checking out.

 

[sputnik]

I'm sorry, but spaghetti would be way too big for rebar, even in HO scale. Something like .010" thick copper or phosphor bronze wire would be better. Paint it, or dip it in vinegar to discolor it, and you've got it.

---jps

 

[Wabash Banks]

Good rebar material in N scale can be found in a dead mouse.
The kind for your PC, not the kind your cat plays with....
Find a discarded mouse or buy a new, ultra cheap one. You should be able to get this for about $5 new. Cut the cord off. Inside the cord are 3 wires and a ground cable. The ground cable is good to go for very heavy industrial cable. Weather it and use it. The individual wires are wrapped in insultation. Figure out how long you need and strip the insulataion. Once you have it stripped you will find the wire is actualy 3-5 strands of VERY fine copper wire twisted together. Untwist it and you have something that will be the perfect size for rebar. It is VERY fine, and a bit tricky to work with because it bends VERY easily. Once you get the hang of it though you can make lots of things from it. I took two peices and twisted them together very tightly and made a light duty cable for a jib crane.
From one mouse cord you will have a lot of wire at about 43 or 46 GA. Very tiny, fragile, and a bit tricky to learn, but so much of it that you have lots to spare for the learning process. I haven't found any other wire in that small of a gauge at that cost effective of a price.
I plan to use individual strands for power and phone lines...

 

[ezdays]

...From one mouse cord you will have a lot of wire at about 43 or 46 GA. Very tiny, fragile, and a bit tricky to learn, but so much of it that you have lots to spare for the learning process. I haven't found any other wire in that small of a gauge at that cost effective of a price.
I plan to use individual strands for power and phone lines...

That's a great idea, #40 wire equates to about 1/2" in N scale, probably the thinnest rebar one would find. But boy, that has to take a lot of care. That gauge wire is not only fragile, but almost invisible a few feet away. Of course with my eyes, it would be tought to see if it was hanging from my nose. #22 would be easier to work with but comes in at four scale inches. That works well for chain link fence posts.

Speghetti on the other hand would make a good water main at maybe 10". Just to answer who_dat73 on a serious note, I wouldn't use anything like that on a layout. Think of the full-scale mice and insects that would attract as well as what would happen if it got a bit wet, so I hope you didn't really mean that.

 

[Meiriongwril]

I'm fascinated by the variant spellings of spaghetti in these messages: maybe a case of folks using that little check spelling icon at the top right of the message box.....!!

 

[Wabash Banks]

Glad you liked it Don. I wouldn't go through the mental anguish of putting it anywhere it woudln't be easily visable. Too much work and stress!
I think the material has a lot of possible uses. I just am not at the stage for experimenting with it yet.

 

[ezdays]

I'm fascinated by the variant spellings of spaghetti in these messages: maybe a case of folks using that little check spelling icon at the top right of the message box.....!!

Yeah, thanks for reminding everyone, but I hope you are aware that the spell checker is only present if you're using IE for a browser. It does not appear if you use any other browser and therefore won't pick up misspelled words or typos. I use Firefox and sometimes resort to an off-line spell checker if I have a particular word to check, or even compose in Word if the post is a lengthy or technical one. I obviously did neither in my second post. ops:

But, posting is suppose to be fun, not a test of one's spelling or typing ability so even the worse of spelling tends to be ignored as long as it's understandable. If that wasn't the case, me and Mikey both would be in deep you know what, and we wouldn't have such words as "eoad" or "LPB's" or other classics to use that were created right here on the Gauge.

 

[wortchillergoal]

Actually, years ago there was an article in MR about using spaghetti. It said that spaghetti acted like steel and would work for a variety of modeling efforts.

 

[ezdays]

Actually, years ago there was an article in MR about using spaghetti. It said that spaghetti acted like steel and would work for a variety of modeling efforts.

Kids and other crafters use dried macaroni (another tough one to spell) for decorating things. I think they varnish the stuff to seal it. If they can, why not modelers? They can, but I still think it's too fragile and too suseptable to attracting critters and insects. That's just my opinion. One thing I do have in my train room is some of that flower wire and some wire used to hold up those false ceilings; both are stiff but bendable.

 

[johnny b]

They all sound like great ideas but in average residential streets I don't think rebar is used. Highways / interstates yes , but residential streets , housing plans I don't ever remember ever seeing rebar used. Just gravel base and asphault on top. Sidewalks at best would get wire mesh. The big stuff which is about a quarter inch thick in about 6inch squares. Now rebar could be used in concrete foundations and basement walls. It would stand up straight and be seen sticking out of the top of the walls anywhere from a foot to three feet. Of coarse your neck of the woods could be different.

 

[CAS]

Thanks for all your replys, really appreciate them all.

I would think the spaghetti would be a little large for n scale. I might think of using the wire from a old mouse.

Here to, they use rebar on highways and interstates, but i thought i would add some to my streets for a little more detail. Besides, it's what the construction co. on my layout will be using . And for the sidewalks, i like the idea of the mesh screen.

Thanks again.
CAS