Corrugated tin

I had this same problem several years ago.  Went to AC Moore (out of business now) and found Metallic Crepe Streamer.  Use it on a stamp mill I was building at that time.  Have photos of item and two other photos showing roof panels on an off the model   I am very happy with this and am using it on another model right now..  Can send photos if needed.

On the 2 mil stainless steel foil

I have used the HVAC

I have used the HVAC Foil/Metal duct tape used for sealing vents etc,  You can buy the Stuff at Home Depot.  It comes with a a super sticky back on it with a paper protector.   

tin roofing

Why not just use the Evergreen plastic sheets? They are cheap enough for HO or O scale use.

For G scale, I have used oven liner aluminum with a Crimper with good success. Also a cheap form of aluminum for modelling using embossing methods. If you have an older Metal (Sydham) building kit in HO, it has long lasting roofing and siding sheets...

Evergreen styrene sheets

First of all, they're 40 thousands thick, which does not bend worth a darn for curved structures like Quonset huts or curved lumber mill roofs. Second, you can't make good corrugated pipe from the Evergreen sheets.

Finally, there are no realistic joint lines or siding dents/bends/holes on the plastic siding. You need to scribe the plastic sheets to get joint lines but then they only work if the structure is in good condition and the sheets all line up perfectly.

Try getting this look with the styrene sheets:

I use disposable cookie

I use disposable cookie sheets for the aluminum.  

Joe, a great article. With

Joe, a great article. With lots of steel mill structures to build for my near future layout this will be a huge time and cost saving way to put the buildings together. Most of the structures are just massive boxes with vents and big sliding doors.

Foam core, wood, or plastic shells can represent the big boxes and covering them with this home made siding will add lots of realism without a huge amount of effort. I am wondering if this could be adapted to a press in my work shop where an entire sheet or a pair could be set up and used to rapidly press out this siding. Imagine creating a full sheet of this stuff about every minute.

For representations of these massive mill buildings the structures could be anywhere from 2 feet to 8 feet long and up to 2 feet tall, that would be lots of siding to buy. This looks like a very cost effective way to make your own.

Rob, good idea!

I think your biggest challenge would be either making the dies, or having them made to press out the material.

I was thinking the dies could

I was thinking the dies could be a couple of sheets of the material with the aluminum in between them. The material to back them could be some Baltic Birch plywood. Not sure yet if it will work but when the time comes I will give it a try. If it does it will sure save lots of time over rubbing all the groves with a stick.

Rob

Hey Rob, a number of years ago (maybe 20?) I made a "press" by gluing some Northeastern (I think) corrugated siding onto two pieces of wood blocks, and pressed them together with pieces of cooking foil in between.  I used the "pressed" pieces of foil to construct a fence around a junk yard.  Worked fine, but the cooking foil is very fragile and easily bent (which doesn't matter for a junk yard fence).  It was also harder to paint, vs say Campbell's already corrugated metal.  

BTW, I found recently some "Grillin'" foil (for BBQ-ing) which is heftier than even the "heavy duty" cooking foil, so that might work better for this home made "pressed" foil.

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA

a press?

could be a problem pressing wide sheets as the thin metal might rip instead of deform into the grooves( it would need to be free to stretch across the whole width of the press plate to spread out the deformation). I've found using a pet flea comb and scribing a few inches at a time works pretty well. I have a test building with scribed self adhesive foil HVAC tape and it is okay after about 4 or 5 years. It's a little tricky to apply it where you want it as the adhesive grabs the first thing it touches but once you figure it out you can do a building pretty fast....DaveB

Duct tape backed with foil

3M Aluminum duct tape , backed with regular Al foil . Tape cut into thin strips to make the ridge caps.

Or then there’s this

Brunel Hobbies in Melbourne, sell a corrugated iron tool. They come in a number of scales. Check it out at 

Corrugated iron tool

Luke Towan's video using this tool