Certainly model railroaders will find our
Corrugated Aluminum indispensable for countless uses such as roofing, siding or even perfect for metal-wrapped water tanks or pipes formed by rolling the metal around a dowel. The Aluminum is two thousands (.002) of an inch thick and is corrugated by a machine designed especially for that purpose. The width and depth of the ripples in the metal are as close to HO scale as possible and practical without weakening the material excessively and rendering it impossible to work with.
Included in each package is complete instructions that explain how to paint, cut, glue and apply the material to your own basic structure. It can be use in large sheets or cut into smaller irregular width panels and overlapped as on most prototype metal on aluminum buildings. The panels may be painted to represent weathered aluminum or simulate corrugated iron (see below). A lot of imagination can be used when adding the finishing touches. The uses for Corrugated Aluminum are almost limitless.
Corrugated Aluminum: Our Corrugated Aluminum is available in 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 HO foot scale lengths. It is easy to work with and will have a clean edge if cut with a sharp knife. Use several light strokes as opposed to one firm stroke to cut through the material. We do not recommend cutting with scissors. For more detail cut the strips into panels of various widths then overlap them for greater realism. Cut walls or roofs from cardstock or build wooden framework. Work on a flat surface and glue the panels to your basic frames before any major assembly of parts. Completely cover all cut-out openings then when the panels are all in place and the glue is dry, the openings may be re-cut from the back. For bonding the aluminum to a cardboard shell or wood frame use Walther's "Goo" or Wilhold's "Decorators Glue." Commercial white glues such as Elmer's or Blue Bird are not satisfactory.
Painting/Cutting Corrugated Aluminum:
Tape the sheets to a piece of scrape cardboard or heavy paper using removable double-sided tape (i.e. 3M tape) and spray the corrugation strips with a self etching primer such as "Rust-Oleum Self Etching Primer." This will give paint the "tack" needed to adhere to the aluminum. The use a light to mid-color gray...this is close to what Galvanized Steel Sheets Sheets look like after they age. When dry, cut the corrugated strips into the prototypical 26" width (i.e. 26"/87 = 5/16") panels using a straight edge and a very sharp Xacto knife. Use smooth, even, and repeated strokes to cut the material.
Gluing Corrugated Aluminum:
Walther's "Goo" works fine, but "Five Minute Epoxy works best. Spread the glue one row high across the entire roof. Work fast enough before the epoxy starts to set. Don't try to get the panels perfectly aligned (this does not look realistic). The roof has been marked to show where the top of each row should go. This gives each succeeding row an appropriate overlap of the row below as per the prototype. Once all the rows have been installed you are done if you want to simulate a "New Roof" but most modelers don't. Don't forget to touch up any edges that "Shine Through" with a small brush and more of the Southern Pacific Lettering Gray.
Weathering Corrugated Aluminum:
Most modelers want a slight to heavily "Rusted Roof." Do this using a "Dry Brush" technique. Dip a soft moderately wide (1/4") brush in "Rust" color paint and then wipe it on paper towel until the brush is almost dry. Then sweep the brush upwardly lightly over the roof starting at the bottom until you get the desired distribution and weight. Now repeat this process using other colors on the red pallet to simulate where the Galvanize has disappeared to rust the underlying metal. Finish up with a very light Dry Brush of flat Black to simulate the dirt that accumulates along the bottom edges of the panels. In the past we recommended using Floquil paints but they are no longer available. Testors replaced Floquil with a new paint formula which we now successfully use. Check with your local hobby shore on the what they recommend.
Additional Info: Go to our Facebook pages to see additional information on our Corrugated Aluminum Sheets.
