Q: Making cloth "sacks"

[mmagliaro]

I am aware that Fine N Scale, Ratio, and several other companies make some castings for N Scale cloth sacks (the idea being for them to look like a bunch of sacks full of flour other granular material piled up on a pallet by an industry).  But to be honest, none of them thrill me.

Has anyone out there ever actually *made* tiny sacks out of little bits of cloth?  Or using some other clever method?

If so, can you show me how you did them?  I want bunches of them on pallets outside an industry I'm building.

Thanks.

[Chris333]

I remember reading to make them from thin metal tubing that was cut with side cutting pliers. This would turn the tube from round to flat and the ends would be pinched off. I have no idea if it would look good down to N scale. I say the fabric part would be mostly paint.

[peteski]

Has anyone out there ever actually *made* tiny sacks out of little bits of cloth?  Or using some other clever method?

Another way would be to form the sacks from epoxy putty (shaped like little pillows), and sculpt the ends to look like the 1:1 sacks.

IMO, any 1:1 fabric's texture would look way exaggerated in N scale.  Paint is the way to go.

[Jim Starbuck]

An idea I had would be to roll out strands of Sculpey clay then cut them off like Chris suggested making the ends “sewn” together.
They could be squished flatter between two pieces of glass covered in wax paper. Block the glass apart with strips of wood to create consistent thickness. Being soft may let them stack naturally too.
The clay can be baked until hard after they were stacked and ready for paint.
I have no clue if this would work but might be worth an experiment.

Jim

[Chris333]

Preiser 79566 has sacks that look tied shut at one end, but to me they look like trash bags and they are pricey. I'm guessing you need flour sacks?

I needed a bunch in HO, but found one mill that sold it in wood barrels. Guess I need both.

[peteski]

. . . and of course, there is 3D printing, and the Photon printer. 

[Chris333]

Just for fun I tried it with some aluminium tubing:

[Mark W]

. . . and of course, there is 3D printing, and the Photon printer. 

3D printing?  Did you say 3D printing?

[narrowminded]

Just for fun I tried it with some aluminium tubing:

Those look good to me!   I wonder if a similar result could be obtained with plumbing solder.   Maybe mash it a little first for the oval you're after and then cut with wire cutters for the end seam.

[mmagliaro]

Ha!  I really like the pinched metal tubing idea.  I think those look darn good!  What diameter tubing is that?

And by the way, these aren't so much for flour.   It's a paint and art supply factory.   Looking at photos
of paint factories, of course there are scads and scads of drums and barrels on the loading docks.   But some items still have to
come in crates and sacks.   So I want a small contingent of those items in the storage area and on the loading dock.
 
I'm just guessing, but I would think some things like maybe powdered pigments could be in sacks.  This is the 1940s to the early 50s I'm targeting.

Just for fun I tried it with some aluminium tubing:

[wazzou]

I think the tubing is a little too bulbous. 
If these were stacked horizontally, they'd be much flatter.

[mmagliaro]

True, but I bet a gentle squeeze of those metal "sacks" in a jewelers vise would do the trick.
You are right that they need to be flatter.

Here's a photo inside the Manders paint and ink factory, in England.  (My factory may as well expand into the ink
business!)

 The text says:
"The all important colour pigments came from Britain’s coal mines. They were derived from the distillation of coal tar, with the careful addition of controlled quantities of rare metals such as tungsten and molybdenum. Other important raw materials were carbon black, a product of petroleum, and titanium, zinc and lead which were used to produce white ink."

So that's some of what's in all those sacks in the photo.

[nkalanaga]

I've also seen the clay method, many years ago, in a model magazine.  Never tried it, because I haven't needed any sacks.

[peteski]

3D printing?  Did you say 3D printing?

Why yes Mark!

If 3D printed, the entire stack of sacs could be printed as a single item.  The could even be stacked unevenly, and drooping, just like in that photo. Right Mark? 

[Chris333]

The tube I used was 1/8" OD, you could use whatever though. If you wanted them flatter you could flatten the whole tube first between some rollers and then pinch it off