Eternal Flame

Tramcar Trev said:
Hmmmmm Good to bounce ideas off you Greg...... So maybe this would work, if I carved a flame shape out of soap or wax or some such and made a rubber mold then I could mix up some resin with some of that gold glitter stuff (inspired by the alfoil idea) you can get in craft shops then "fill" it with the flickrering leds that would both insulate the leads and hold them in place leaving the leads sticking out so that they can be soldered to the power supply. Mount that on some sort of "burner base" and I think I have it....
Safer than a real flame too I guess and wont go out if it rains.....
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Sounds like it's worth a try. If it works, you'll have achieved something for all of us to use in the future.
But I'd suggest just mocking up a few leds in the vague flame shape you want, to play with different coloured leds in configurations. Maybe just use some sticky tape to hold them together.
Don't forget to rough up the led lenses with sandpaper to diffuse the light.
 
OK..... I have made up a prototype and it shows great promise - as a camp fire....
I have a 5mm flickering red led in the centre and 5 flickering 3mm yellow leds around it. I'll have to make a video to demonstrate it... Set this flush on a base with a ring of stones around it and a few bits of twig skillfully aranged around and it, as I say, makes a great campfire and can be seen in daylight. A smoke generator underneath would have people looking for a fire extinguisher.
Next step ( I shall start tomorrow) is to get some 3mm flickering red leds along with the 3mm yellow leds and form them into a "flame" shape. It gives quite a reasonable representation of a flame. I have found the leds need to be on for a few minutes to really flicker.
A 50/50 blend of colours looks really convincing, for a gas flame I think maybe a flickering blue led would work well, alas cant find any and not sure that they would be visible in daylight...

For reference I used these leds ( have to get more 3mm red);

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/50-x-3mm-Yellow-Candle-Light-Flicker-Ultra-Bright-Flickering-LED-Leds-/221414749058?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item338d58f382

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/50pcs-3mm-Red-Candle-Flicker-Ultra-Bright-Flickering-LED-Flash-Leds-Light-Lamp-/321527314811?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4adc85797b
 
Like moths to a flame...
Work on the eternal flame for the WWI memorial cracks on.

What I have tried to create is a “fake” flame using red & yellow 3mm flickering leds, the type you see in battery powered candles.
Version 1 seemed ok but when I viewed the final result I had used too many red leds. Version 2 used only 2 red the rest yellow.

I had two choices (three actually – if I did nothing to disguise the shape of the leds) 1) dip the led “flame” into resin and heat it with a heat gun to get it to gel then keep re-dipping it (candle fashion) until a flame shape is formed or 2) the hard way, I carved a little flame (inspired by an Art Deco light fitting) and made a rubber mould of it.........

Once I have the leds soldered into a “bunch of grapes” and made sure that there are no leads shorted I pour resin into the mould then slip in the leds and allow to cure.

If Version 2 looks ok I will then move on to making the granite plinths to support “Simpson and his donkey” and the flame at the base....


DSCF1402.JPG the bunch of leds, wooden carved flame and the mould
DSCF1410.JPG the bunch of leds
DSCF1406.JPG The eternal flame
DSCF1413.JPG Flame reflections...
 
Here it is, almost ready for dedication.  I would have preferred a bronze digger but this one looks a lot like the digger on the Carcoar Memorial, as the paintwork fades he can be “bronzed”...

I think the whole looks quite neat, befitting a village of the era. I can imagine disputes as to who/m paid for the gas though...

Now I am calling for nominations for the “Rolls of Honour” that will go on the sides. There is one for WWI and one for WWII, I have a few names already but a few more will add to the scene. Only Australian Veterans though...

The 3 plaques will be etched as soon as I can spare the time.



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Tramcar Trev said:
Here it is, almost ready for dedication. I would have preferred a bronze digger but this one looks a lot like the digger on the Carcoar Memorial, as the paintwork fades he can be “bronzed”...
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Nice one Trev! A very fitting tribute.

I must say I prefer a bronze effect too - the Carcoar Memorial appeared to me to be a bit strange in "glorious technicolor".

Your post prompted me to look at pictures of more Australian Memorials, and I was surprised to find that the Double Bay memorial in Woollahra not only had the names of two of my relatives on it (despite the fact that they survived the war), but that my (distant) family were also part of the organising committee for its erection - more info for my family history file.

War Memorials in England tend to only name people who were killed in action or died during active service. Is it common for all combatants to be listed on Australian memorials, or is Double Bay an exception?

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To answer the question; It depended to a large dregree on where the man came from. Smaller towns eg Carcoar have a "Roll of Honour" which lists all those who volluntered as well as a list of thse who did not return, likewise Sofala where my grandfathers name is on the "Roll of Valour" and he certainly survived the Great War and went on to have a distinguished career mining tin in Siam then rose to the dizzying height of Locomotive Superintendant at Wellington... So rembember Double Bay, Rose Bay, Bondi, Dover heights, Watsons Bay et al out to La Perouse were nothing like what they are today, they were really very distinct suburbs with tracts of bushland between them so may have picked up on the rural habits of putting all the names on the list. As a child I used to pick wild flowers with my Grandmother in the "scrub" near Coogee and that would have been in the 1950's... Certainly the major war memorials only list the names of the "Glorious Dead".
This has been a very emotive task, as a Veteran myself I just can't imagine what the WWI chaps went through not to mention the havoc caused to the country leaving very few males behind to do the "real work".
 
Seems an Australian writer has won this year's Man Booker prize for his book on the Burma Railway - Richard Flanagan. A well deserved award - his father was forced to work on the line. Ironically, his father died the same day his book was published.
 
trammayo said:
Seems an Australian writer has won this year's Man Booker prize for his book on the Burma Railway - Richard Flanagan. A well deserved award - his father was forced to work on the line. Ironically, his father died the same day his book was published.
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A mate I went to school with Father was at Changi. I got the impression that it was a lot worse than the "Bridge on the River Kwai" made it out to be....
 
Man's inhumanity to man.
 
Another trap for the mug punter. I had run the eternal flame via my "laboratory power supply" with (immodest as it may sound) results beyond my expectations ( hey it even impressed a rivet counter from the local society of model engineers).... So I connected it up to the Tramway auxilliary lighting circuit which is a simple bridge rectified garden light transformer and guess what NO FLICKER!!!! Anyway I put the billy on to boil and thought about it, sung Road to Gundagai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwpO7JpO3co and hummed the Blue Hills Theme http://aso.gov.au/titles/radio/theme-from-blue-hills/clip1/.....
Then it dawned on me the DC was not really DC, it was only half wave DC with lots of ripple in it and of course the flickering leds were being turned on and off by the ripple in the supply contradicting the internal flickering mechanism of the LED's.... Solution was to put one of the 100000uF "slow stop" capacitors that I installed on my trams (with abysmal results) across the supply. Now all the LED lights are shining more brightly than before and we have a flickering flame, of course its under a veil of secrecy till its dedication on Remembrance Day.....
 
A total fizzer, after only 1 month outdoors the “granite” plinth my War Memorial stands on is showing signs of being destroyed beyond repair by the weather. Its split, cracked and the pseudo granite is falling off it.... Billy is still looking good though. Very disappointing after the rigmarole I went through to get the “Granite” look I wanted. The villagers won`t be happy after donating the funds to build the edifice in the first place.

Ok so how to repair it? I had originally (way back in the planning stage) thought to use real granite cut to size but a) cutting it myself proved to be beyond my skills as a monumental mason and b) the cost of getting some real granite cut to size was astounding, I thought the chap who could do it was going to supply and install granite bench-tops; that leaves c) make some fake stone cast to shape....

This has possibilities, a chap I know (who knows about my collection of different coloured sands) gave me a bag of sand from Anzac Cove (I asked no questions, I know nooooooothing) and I`m thinking that some of this could be mixed with either polyester or epoxy resin and cast in a silicone rubber mould.... The sand looks like any other beach sand with a slightly reddish hue and has small pebbles through it.... I think the polyester resin has greater UV resistance but it has a greenish tint to it, the epoxy is crystal clear but I`m not sure of its UV resistance... Maybe I should grit blast the finished castings to minimise the surface area subject to UV.... But if I have a mould I could make as required except I would run out of Anzac Cove Sand....

The etched brass plates of course are in perfect condition....

Another annoying thing has happened, my "lone pine" has decided to sprout "adult sized" needles which I deftly nip in the bud, so to speak....


More as the "project" develops.

DSCF1494.JPG​
 
I have a few "real stone" tiles the problem is finishing the edges/corners. I have a diamond saw but the finish is not that flash.... Plus of course the scale of the pattern in real stone gives the game away.... I could foam on for hours....
 
The plinth has taken a beating, which is a shame. A possible option would be to create a well-primed surface to seal it and then use a coating of Decoart Sandstones, to represent granite? I've used this on a test section of roofing (I used a terracotta shade) and it was still looking fine after 7 years of English weather. http://decoart.com/cgi-bin/Products.cgi?Sandstones The effect is matt but if you wanted to represent polished granite, some coats of varnish could probably do the trick. One of my 'one day' models is to be a small statue of a squirrel for the patch of grass next to the station (which is the emblem of my fictitious town) and I had been considering using the Decoart paint for the plinth. I have the whitemetal squirrel stashed away already!
 
I have used the Sandstone paint before. It has lasted 3 years outdoors here without obvious deterioration over hardiplank sheet. Over sealed timber it has crumbled...The problem with timber is it expands and contracts considerably which is why Acrylic outdoor paint works so well....
Aldax supply a UV resistant casting resin which I shall try.... Its used to make garden ornaments mixed with quartz dust...
 
Cockington Green used beach sand and resin, worked a treat
 
simon@mgr said:
Cockington Green used beach sand and resin, worked a treat
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Presumably washed beach sand to get the salt out of it?
 
Crushed marble used to be a standard mix with the old style polyester resins to stabilize it and minimize risks of shrinkage on larger moldings. It is possible to mix pigments with modern polyurethane resins to get a base colour and the possibly get the required "texture" by adding another medium. Max. Perhaps an e-mail to the UK firm Sylmaster might get you in the right direction for what you want. Max.
 
When you're lying awake with a dismal headache.... I have decided to go with the resin and sand caper. Fortunatley I have managed to get all of Hyacinths "Work Requests" finalised so stole 45m making up some sand/resin test coupons. Only 3 so far, granite chips, Anzac cove sand and Kalbarri sand. Traps for young players? Only 2 so far; you have to get the resin filler ratio reasonably spot on as the heavy fillers like sand will sink to the bottom as the resin cures leaving a band of clear resin at the top of the moulding yet the mix has to be pourable.... This job is good as the bottom 10mm or so will be hidden in the "grass" and 2 the colour intensifies greatly when mixed with the resin.... Vibrating the mould does help, might have to buy a vibrator ( of some description) via eBay to do this....... PIDC....
 
And here are the PIDC...
DSCF1495.JPG​
Left to right Granite, Kalbarri, Anzac
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DSCF1510.JPG
I think I like the granite in a "natural" finish.... Hard to get a decent photographic representation
 
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