OK, so I need some excuse to take this new forum for a test drive but I don’t have a new dio completed and ready for posting. What to do? Well, I do have a new dio in progress on the bench so maybe a few pix are eligible for learning how things work. I had several SWSM items that I’d completed that were looking for a home: Blacksmith shop, Backwoods Work Train, Donkey Repair, a bulldozer and arch, a drag saw, a tow truck, and a truck with tank treads. I’ve got the Tie Mill still in its box on the bench and that will get started pretty soon. But here’s a progress report. The first pic gives an overall look at what’s happening.
In the lower left corner, there’s a shed that contains the Blacksmith Shop. The roof is held on with magnets so the interior will be viewable. The Shay engine is being scavanged for spare parts. Next to that is the Backwoods Work Train. I had to use a double track that appears to merge just down the way. I must say that the BWT was a really fun kit to build. Lots of detailing opportunities. You can see a bulldozer and part of the arch just beyond the caboose. Next up is the Donkey Repair. I installed the hoist just after this pic was taken. The single track will have an old rotary snowplow that’s been stored there until the snow flies. I’ve had that thing for ages. I took it apart because I’ve learned a lot since it was built. Not sure whether I’ll repaint it in MOW grey or Boxcar Red. Beyond the track will be the Tie Mill, Linn (?) truck and the tow truck.
Since this is a backwoods logging theme, there has to be some trees! In this picture, you can see the trees and stumps temporarily placed to get a feel for how many trees, etc. I snuck in 3 dead trees.
The pic above shows the start of the ground clutter and the dead trees. The pic below is a close up of the clutter and a good look at the level of detail on the tree trunks.
Wow Alan! What an awesome logging diorama. You have done an amazing job integrating all the components into a busy scene and driven home the logging theme so effectively with the scenery, ground clutter, and trees.
I really enjoy seeing older kits residing near the new 3D Printed one’s. Very cool and they look amazing together.
I especially love the placement of the track behind the Donkey Repair Yard scene. Frames it very well.
Great job. Thank you for sharing this with us and I look forward to more updates, especially the addition of the Backwoods Tie Mill.
I’ve been working on the Tie Mill and have planted the machinery/equipment. Eventually some roofs might obscure the equipment so now is a good time to record them for posterity. I’ll show the engine, feed table, saw table, and outfeed table. Here goes.
This is great. Love the closeups of the machinery. I know how small those machines are and you’ve done a very believable job of them. This is going to be a very nice dio. Great job.
Outstanding Al! What a treat to see everything coming together. The Linn Stakebed is a great addition. The weathering on the machinery is excellent and feels right for machinery that is hard at work in the elements. Thanks for sharing your modeling with us!
Great work Al. I agree the roofs do not let you see all the detail inside. I’m working on having my roofs removable to be able to see inside. Your machinery turned out really nice.
Tie Mill is about to get roof installed over the next week or so. This is the last chance to take some pix of the build-up of this part of the dio. I’ll show an overview, end-to-end, of the Tie Mill, then some close-ups, and finish up with a status shot of the roof sections of the Saw Shed. Here we go!
Roof sections have a “slimy dark green” paint at the bottom of boards and battens. Need a touchup on one of the corrugated pieces (below). To the naked eye, both roof sections have the same coloring but the photo’s not picking that up…trust me!
Wow, what an awesome job as you near the finish line! Ground cover is excellent and love the look of your logs. I know I have said it before but what a great location choice at the rear of the Donkey Repair Yard. The flow is wonderful. Really appreciate you sharing your work with us. Pretty obvious how much you have enjoyed this kit and that makes me really happy.
Well, since I live on 40 acres of pine trees, I had my pick! I walked around the lot, looking for young pines (shorter than I am tall) with suitably sized branches. I cut off the branch and cut 1” - 3” straight pieces. But you really wanted to know that they’re Ponderosa pines.
