As we have seen on many layouts various everyday objects can often be used and/or adapted to enhance models and scenery. Gormo's use of umbrella parts for guttering on buildings and his use of rivets are good examples. In the same vein I was doing some electrical cabling the other day and using cable ties to keep things tidy. Suddenly ... a thought about cable ties as a scenery component occurred to me (ding!) . As you can see in the following group photo many industrial (and other) buildings have large collection troughs at the top of the downpipes. I found many shapes and I am sure that there are lot's of others. To me, many of them look a lot like cable ties. So ... would it work? I haven't got any buildings here at the moment so I found a typical factory picture online and printed it out at roughly HO scale. Cable ties come in a lot of different sizes so I had a few to select from. I chose 2, trimmed them to length and placed them on the photo. I think they look pretty good 'as is' but could be improved with a bit of fettling and painting. The hole in the top needs to be filled and the thickness of the head can be sanded down a bit. It also would not be hard to add some extra material to make the tops more triangular (or file the bottom corners). So ... good idea ... or dumb idea? Another question ... could cable ties be used it other ways as scenery enhancers? Chris
Interesting idea Chris, the only problem I see is that the material is generally tough and shiny, filing may just give a rough 'fluffy' surface although cutting with a sharp knife blade would give a clean finish. Also the nature of the plastic, similar to nylon may make it difficult for glues, fillers and paint to adhere to, some experimentation is required there. Something else for my todo or 'try todo' list, Jim
Good idea Chris...... You are starting to look at things in a different way and assessing whether they would be useful for modelling. This is a good thing and very useful but it does become addictive........ I reckon Superglue would probably hold the ties in place. I also think if they are pulled through a wad of Steel Wool, that would probably key the surface for painting without fluffing it up or making it rough. The hole in the top could be filled with something as simple as BluTac or filler. Gormo