This thread was started in February, 2016
kebmo
February 2016 edited February 2016 in O Scale Builds
i started building this kit a few weeks ago and have been posting elsewhere,
that said, it was suggested to me that i post my build thread here on brett’s forum.
here goes…
i have been modeling in n scale for many years, so you can imagine my glee when i saw the castings. wow. we n scalers have never seen anything like this. awesome castings.
anyway, to cut to the chase, the first step was to weather some 8" strip wood using brett’s technique (and i’ll never use another one. this rocks!)
i’ve suspected all along that this kit was brett’s insidious way of converting n scalers to the bigger scales…i think i was right. my n scale equipment is all for sale now…
grain applied to the stripwood
brett’s method to color the stripwood is to scrape some color off of the rembrandt soft pastels directly on to the stripwood, and then wash it into the wood with rubbing alcohol.
i did a final wash with a burnt umber pastel. the stripwood was looking pretty good to me by that point so i went ahead and applied it to the subwalls.
once all the walls had the boards applied, i felt that they were a little too ‘brownish’ so i did another light wash of a light grey and then i was happy with the look.
the coolest thing about brett’s system is you really can’t screw it up. if you following his instructions you’ll build a beautiful model.
on to the roof…
i got a wild bug up my butt and decided to try an alternative roof. (i got scolded) i had some very thin sheets of red cedar from cigar boxes so i cut my own shake shingles and thought i’d give it a go..
they turned out really nice, but …
i decided to go with brett’s original design instead.
so i had to do some corrections on the roof and glue it to the shack. once that was done…it was TIME TO MOVE ON TO THE CASTINGS!
first one, the cabinet.
i took a night and did all of the castings representing wood items. i haven’t touched the metal castings yet.
so i started on the base, and here’s a couple of shots of the shack and wood castings on the dio base. nothing is glued down at this point, this was just to see the relationship between the shack and the castings. i have a long way to go…
this kit is very cool, and IT IS THE REASON MY N SCALE STUFF IS FOR SALE!
i can’t wait to get to the metal castings and then on to the corrugated shack after that.
Kevin.
Comments
Karl.A
February 2016
Great looking start to this wonderful kit Kevin.
Thanks for taking the time to post your progress here for us all to enjoy and follow along with.
There are a lot of these gems out there, I’m looking forward to seeing them built.
Thanks again, we’ll be following your updates with pleasure.
Karl.A
Bill
February 2016
Glad to have you on the forum with us, Kevin!
I see that you mentioned switching over from N scale. Is this your first build?
The gray color of your vertical siding looks really nice and I also like the contrast you have on the 6 panel door (the darker frame and the lighter panels.
Have fun finishing out the details and scenery! My guess is you’re gonna add a “buy it now” to your N scale auctions on eBay!
Thanks for posting.
Bill
admin
February 2016
Excellent work Kevin! Wood looks superb. Casting right on target. Pay careful attention to the edge of the red tarpaper, along the fold lines. Touch up any exposed paper and crease the paper smoothly so there are no visible undulations. The lighting can catch these “waves” and they stand out to my eye. Keep at it!
kebmo
February 2016
did my best to correct the roof, started blackening the metal castings and planting the castings on the diorama.
next up, start applying some greenery and then painting and placing the remaining castings.
i’m afraid i don’t know why the pics didn’t post. trying again:
KCSTrains
February 2016
They posted the first time. I find that the first time you post pictures, you may get a little blue box instead of the picture, but it is there. To check, try logging onto the site with a different computer or smart phone and you will see the pictures. You have a good eye for color and I like what you are doing. Keep up the good work. Phil
brownbr
February 2016
Your details are looking good. A couple of tricks for you to try: coloring the edges of the signs on the wall gets rid of the white outline. An enamel or oil paint some nice rust streaks going down the white band on the oil drum.
kebmo
February 2016
i’ve done a bit more scenery work and added a few more details.
still working on it, but i do hope to be able to finish it up this coming week and move on to the corrugated shack.
KKarns
February 2016
Coming along very nicely Kevin. I see you re-worked the rust detail on the one drum, very nice. Bryan’s suggest on the sign edges is a good one. May want to “dirty” up that tank cap in the above picture to blend it in. Your detail arrangement looks nice and well placed. Your window treatment is very good, shame to cover up the one window with that tall tank…a little to the left maybe?
Anxious to see what you do with the corrugated shack…Ken
Karl.A
February 2016 edited February 2016
Coming along nicely Kevin, as Ken suggests, maybe some dirty chalking on that white gas tank cap to dull it down and blend it in a little more. Talking of dulling and blending, if you have some fine yellow turf / dead grass in your scenery collection try sprinkling a few pinches around on the green grass to break up the uniformity a little. or even a few pinches of the dirt.
Details are looking very nicely done and positioning looks good.
Take a look at the “dirt, details and dioramas” thread, maybe some ideas in there for you. Also take a look at Kens HO loco shop scenery, some great stuff there.
Keep up the good work and thanks for posting !!
Karl.A
kebmo
February 2016
followed some advise, added another layer of scenery and details. i’m getting close on this one. i still have some more work to do on the details and scenery, but as i said, i’m getting close.
this has been a real blast so far…
Karl,
I followed Ken’s thread at the other site. his work is nothing short of awesome. i love the way he worked the wood on the interior of his shop. it was almost an exact replica of a shop i worked in 40 years ago. the tone of the wood was identical. i’ve also followed most of your work over there too. thanks for introducing me to this forum. i’ve been a member here for a few years but honestly never thought of doing a build thread here. (i joined to harass brett into producing n scale kits, to no avail) i figured i’d be outclassed and too embarrassed. brett’s techniques changed all that though. i think i have a buyer for all of my nscale stuff and if it works out, i’ll be taking a drive to fort wayne indiana next saturday to deliver it all. if that happens like i’m hoping it will, i’ll be moving up in scale. i still haven’t decided if i’m going to do h.o. or o. both have big upsides compared to n. there’s a good chance i’ll do both scales. i really am enjoying working in o, but there’s so much more available in h.o. what a quandry…
admin
February 2016
Kevin, it truly brings me great joy to see your modeling and confidence improve with every post. Geez, if this is your first build… what can we expect from your fifth? The scenery and castings blend so nicely with the wood siding. I really like what you are doing here.
kebmo
February 2016
i can’t tell you how much i appreciate that brett. i also can’t tell you how much i appreciate this kit. i’ve built almost 100 n scale structures and never had the enjoyment i’m having with this one. next weekend the wife is going to champaign to see our grandson, and if i play my cards right i’ll have all the corrugated cut and ready to be baked while she’s out of town.
February 2016
with the exception of what’s probably the most difficult part of this build, putting labels on paint cans, i think i’m ready to call this shack finished. i’ll populate it with a couple of little guys working when i can find figures that fit the bill.
comments and critiques welcome and encouraged…
i ground up some leaves and used them to camouflage some glue spots on the roof that can really only be seen by the camera.
brownbr
February 2016
Overall a build you should be proud of.
Karl.A
February 2016 edited February 2016
A great looking build Kevin, wood, details, finish, construction, everything looks really good. Nothing else to add except as Bryan says, this is one you should be proud of, nicely done. Looking forward to the corrugated shed next..
Karl.A
kebmo
February 2016
bryan and karl, thanks very much. this kit really does have a way of building one’s confidence. does anyone have any tips for the paint can labels?
Karl.A
February 2016 edited February 2016
The way I do it is… Drill a hole in the bottom of the can and stick a blunt toothpick in the hole to hold it. cut out the label exactly and colour the edges with a felt tip. ie if its a red label use a red pen etc to get rid of the white edge.
put a dab of wood glue on a finger tip and holding the toothpick smear the glue around the can thinly. put the label face up on the bench and press it with a clean fingertip, it should stick to your finger. Put it lightly against the lightly glued tacky can, make sure its the right way up and adjust, once happy press all the way around one side, then the other. if there is too much over hang on the final side trim as necessary (don’t forget to colour the edge where you trim) leaving a small overlap, put a tiny amount of glue to hold end in place and press down. leave to dry. weather to taste and add handle, paint drips, etc.
Easy as that.
boy that was a lot to type.
Karl.A
kebmo
February 2016
thanks, that’s exactly how i did it, and now, with the exception of still wanting to find lp’s to be working on the pump out front and the workbench in the back, i’m officially calling this one finished.
and the next part of my adventure is on the bench (well, sort of)
dick52
February 2016
Looks great , the idea of covering up the glue bobo,s with leaf clutter was a nice touch, adds more to the scene .
Richard
kebmo
February 2016 edited February 2016
thanks richard,
something that’s bugging me, and it’s been brought up here but i couldn’t figure a safe way of fixing, is the white edges on the two signs on the side walls. i’m just not real comfortable with trying to pry them off to redo them. do any of you experienced swsm builders know of a foolproof technique for removing the signs so i can fix them without screwing up the diorama?
Karl.A
February 2016 edited February 2016
what glue did you use and how much ? Do you have a replacement sign of the same size.. just incase..
The “danger gasoline” sign would have a white border. Just try dirtying up that edge with some dry 408.5 on a tiny brush, just along the edges.
Karl.A
kebmo
February 2016
i stuck it with ailene’s. i have the graphics card so if i were to ruin the sign i have more. i was mostly concerned with the wall. my hand isn’t steady enough to fix it in place; my hands shake a bit. my concern is: if i were to use water to loosen the glue what effect would it have on the 3 or 4 boards the sign is glued to?
Karl.A
February 2016 edited February 2016
If it were me… I would tilt and support the diorama on a 45 and using a damp clean brush dab just the sign, do not get it wet enough that water runs off, just damp it a little. Keep doing this every minute or two keeping the sign damp and allowing the moisture to work through to the glue. Bretts signs are printed on a colour laser so the ink shouldn’t run, but, you shouldn’t be getting it that wet any way.
This could take 30-45mins, but, slower is better. With the tip of an exacto just test a corner of the sign gently periodically to see if the glue has softened and work it off slowly keeping it damp.
This can be quite tricky and potentially have a negative effect if things go awry, so be very sure you want to do this.
I would still use some of the wall coloured chalk first, small amout dry on a detail brush and just dull down the edges to blend them into the wall more. much easier/safer. Remember to use a tiny amount of chalk DRY on the brush, you don’t want to create a ‘smudge’ around the sign, just barely touch and colour the edges, blow off any excess chalk each time.
Karl.A
kebmo
February 2016
thanks karl. both are excellent ideas that’ll solve the problem and i just learned something else.
kebmo
February 2016
i began work on the corrugated shack last night (can’t really consider this work. it’s more like therapy than work)
the first step is to remove the wall framing from the carrier sheet and scrape three colors of pastel powder onto the framing:
then you take a soft brush loaded with alcohol and brush it into the wood. after i did that i took a short bristled brush and “buffed” the wood to remove excess powder and work the color into the wood. this produced a really nice dark reddish hue to the wood. it looks much nicer in person than in this picture:
then you set the framing aside and tape down a template for cutting the corrugated pieces:
weapons of choice: a new #11 blade and a steel straight edge:
that’s it for now. this weekend i need to pick up a finer point brush. once i have it i’ll fix the signs on the tar paper shack.
Karl.A
February 2016 edited February 2016
Really nice colour on the framing, warm aged wood. Love the lasercut frames by Brett. Looking forward to the corrugated process.
Also noticed the bands on the barrel in the background, looking good..
A relatively inexpensive 5-0 should do the trick, pick up a 10-0 too if they have one, relatively inexpensive because chalk kills brushes pretty quickly, esp the small ones.
Karl.A
kebmo
February 2016
thanks karl. i’ve noticed that the chalks tend to “gum up” the brushes a bit. i will pick the brushes you recommended on saturday and see about fixing those signs.
i’ve been looking for suitable O scale figures to populate these dioramas and really haven’t been able to find anything that fits the bill. any recommendations would be appreciated.
i cut the corrugated pieces and they’re ready to be primed. I probably won’t get to it for a few days though.
kebmo
February 2016
i’m more than thrilled to announce that the sale of all of my n scale equipment went through. the funds hit my paypal account this morning. on to bigger things…(pun intended)
kebmo
February 2016 edited February 2016
well, i almost had a disaster baking the primer onto the corrugated panels. i taped the panels to what i thought was a paper like product (poster board) and put in the oven for 3.5 minutes. the timer goes off and i open the oven to see that the poster board curled up all around the panels, and was extremely difficult to uncurl. that said, i did manage to uncurl it and remove all the panels without damage. i had to repaint about a half dozen of them because of shiny spots, and i baked them again, removed them from the tape (which had also curled up and turned brittle). applied tape to cardboard (this time…) and taped them back down to paint the other side, baked them and now its all good. on to weathering…
February 2016
after all that, managed to get the panels to this stage:
after letting that sit for a couple of hours, i took a piece of terry cloth, dipped it into glob of americana white wash, dabbed most of the paint off on a towel and stippled it on. the top row are the roof panels so no paint was applied:
i’ll dust the panels up some and then i’m gonna do some brush maintenance and workbench cleaning. it needs it.
Karl.A
February 2016 edited February 2016
Panels look great Kevin. I love the effect with the white paint.
Karl.A
and congrats on the sale of the n scale stuff, looking forward to following your ‘larger’ adventures.
kebmo
February 2016 edited February 2016
thanks karl. i am looking forward to tackling the woodcutter’s shack next.
kebmo
March 2016
the front wall has been detailed:
the side wall has been detailed and glued to the front wall:
i’ll let that glue cure for a day (i’m busy tonight) and tomorrow hopefully I’ll have time to glue the rear wall and the other side wall together.
I’ve already cut the base, painted it flat black and epoxied several boards to it where the oil drum scene will be.
mayhaw9999
March 2016
Kevin,
I’m a little late to the party, but want to echo everyone’s opinions that you have done an really impressive build on the first shack. Obviously, your building of over 100 N scale kits helped to hone your skills and then with Brett’s techniques added, the outcome is super.
Looks like the second shack is coming along well.
David
admin
March 2016
Looks fantastic!
kebmo
March 2016
thanks david and brett…
glued the walls together and installled the ridge beam.
i’ll glue the rafters in tonight and weather the roof panels and hopefully get them installed tonight too. then it’s on to the base.
kebmo
March 2016
since posting my last picture, i installed the rest of the rafters on one side. after a while i picked up the structure and looked closely at the rafters and found that approximately half of them were installed incorrectly. by that i mean, the rafter ends glued to the ridge beam extended slightly above the ridge. to combat this, i spot glued a scrap board to the top of the ridge to prevent that from happening again.
explanation: almost 20 years ago i was diagnosed with a case of relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis. my first clue was playing on stage in a blues band and i kept dropping my guitar pick. i couldn’t feel it between my thumb and forefinger (i’ve since taken to gluing the picks to my thumb and that helps alot). by the next morning my right arm and leg were both numb so i went to the doctor. several tests and a spinal tap later, the doctors concluded that it was ms. the result of the first exacerbation was loss of about 30% of the dexterity in my right hand and leg. fortunately for me, i’ve only had three exacerbations since then and all three were double vision. anyway, my point is, i felt the need to “cheat” a little on the rafter installation.
admin
March 2016
Great recovery and certainly not cheating!
Karl.A
March 2016
Looking fantastic Kevin. coming together so well.
There are a couple of “modeling phrases” that I’ve heard/read, that always stick with me. One of them is…
“Great modelers don’t do everything perfectly, they just learned how to hide things better”
The corrugated siding came out superbly.
Karl.A
kebmo
March 2016
thanks karl.
the corrugated shack is finished.
i put the shack on the base to test detail locations:
and testing detail locations:
the large, rusted pipe is an N scale detail from model tech. see what i mean about their details being way out of scale?
i still have a few more details to paint and weather, and i hope to wrap this up this week. just in time for the woodcutter’s shack!!
kebmo
March 2016 edited March 2016
dirt and some details added:
i purchased a tube of winsor and newton water mixable burnt sienna, but honestly…i don’t know what to do with it. brett mentions it in the manual, but my attempts at using it have been lame. any suggestions for using it would be appreciated.
i have a board meeting tuesday night and band rehearsal thursday, but i’m hoping to have this project completed before the weekend. hopefully next week i’ll be starting on the woodcutter’s shack…
[fingers crossed]
admin
March 2016 edited March 2016
Kevin O’Neill was a master with the WN Oils. They are an intermediate/advanced technique. That means you should try them and practice to get the hang of it. Glad to see you are going to work with them here since the results are well worth the effort. Follow the link here to the very bottom of the page to see one way Kevin O’Neill used the WN’s on oil drums. They make fabulous rust streaks especially when used with powdered chalk.
kebmo
March 2016
thanks brett. i saved it to my favorites so i can refer to it when i need to.
kebmo
March 2016 edited March 2016
i’m calling this project complete:
and a final pic of both shacks:
KCSTrains
March 2016
Nice job. You are really progressing at a pretty fast pace. I like your bushes. Are those super trees? or something else? I’m in need of bushier material. Phil
kebmo
March 2016 edited March 2016
thanks phil. the bushes are woodland scenics fine leaf foliage.
Karl.A
March 2016 edited March 2016
Looks great Kevin, structure weathering looks great, love the painted/rusted corrugated walls, and a great contrast between the walls and roof. The details are finished very well. Also the scenery is nice and patchy and not so evenly coloured. Well placed bushes.
You could try using dry chalk (408.3?) on a dry brush to dust the scenery and create shadows around some of those details, its a nice effect, also remember to rewet the dirt and sink those crates/details down to make them part of the scene.
Really nice finish on another good build, the WCS you are gonna love.. looking forward to your work on that one.
Karl.A
kebmo
March 2016 edited March 2016
karl,
thanks! using chalk for shadowing the details sounds like a really good idea but i’ve never done it before (shadows in n scale??) so i’m not really sure how to go about it. i’ll give it a try sunday (gig tomorrow night) and see what i can come up. and yes…i realize i need to ‘plant’ the details in the dirt a bit better. the dirt is pretty hard because i used alot of glue putting it down so i’ll probably need to add more. fortunately i’ve got quite a bit of it left. i took it from a local pitcher’s mound a couple of years ago and gladly, i hung on to it. i’ll post final pictures after i (try) to add shadows and plant the details a little better.
i’m really looking forward to the wcs as well. i keep going to the swsm site and ogling the pictures. i think i’m even getting my wife excited about it…
nah…
kebmo
March 2016
karl suggested that i try to add some shadows to the diorama using rembrandt chalk, and here’s my first attempt at adding shadows:
Karl.A
March 2016 edited March 2016
Looks good Kevin, your work breaks up the colours of the dirt nicely, it adds more depth to the already well toned scene. Following Bretts incredible manuals creates so much depth, texture and realism on his details and structures, but, it doesn’t stop there. The scenery instructions/guides are also important to make the diorama/scene whole. After all, with SWSM you’re not just buying a structure with a handful of details, you’re paying for a complete modeling experience that will lead you completely through every step till you reach an award winning, or at least, incredibly well finished diorama. Nicely done.
Only thing I’d suggest (and of course it may look different in person) is maybe try blending some of those slightly harsh shadow/tone lines a little more with a clean dry brush, ie: brushing (lightly) back and forth from the darker to the lighter dirt to merge the two areas, resulting in a softer transition, but the scene now has great depth throughout. Aside from that very minor point, terrific job.
Great results on the structure and the weathering, the details look top notch and the scenery is pulling everything together nicely. Great diorama.
Karl.A
Pappy
April 2019
Beautiful Job Kevin!!!