LNR wrote: ↑Sat Dec 02, 2017 10:03 am
Another suggestion David, neoprene rubber as in wetsuits. I wonder if that can be purchased thin enough,
Most railway upholstery I've seen has had sewn corners, not folded ones, so glueing the corners would be reasonable.
You can buy neoprene in sheet form down to 1/32"(0.8mm), which is a bit thick to form folded corners, but probably OK if the corners are cut and glued. One issue is colour, as it usually comes in a choice of black, black, or black..... Balloon rubber is suitably thin, but is usually natural rubber and rots fairly quickly, unlike synthetic rubbers like neoprene. Nitrile gloves are a source of very thin durable rubber, but the colours are a problem.
Another possibility might be thin PVC upholstery material, as the corners could be welded with a hot soldering iron.
If you have a good craft shop locally, have a browse to see what materials are available. There may also be something suitable for miniature upholstery from the dollhouse and miniature furniture hobby suppliers, as they use similar scales.
Not too sure what foam would be suitable for modelling deep button upholstery, as ordinary upholstery foam would be too soft relative to the cover material in this size. You might need to use a dense packaging foam and drill holes where the buttons will go, so it will form the right shape around the buttons.
The TVT doesn't use buttoned upholstery, but I did contemplate moulding it from Fimo PVC modelling clay and forming the divots for the buttons with a small Philips screwdriver. Once the Fimo has hardened, a hole can be drilled and a pin pushed in to simulate the button. I think Rik has used Fimo in a model and I've seen some very convincing model upholstery done in Fimo by Neil Ramsay.
I can see some experimentation in your future.........
Graeme