Curt, the wood in the pile is pine from branches I cut a few years ago to act as logs for a logging scene. I cut the logs in shorter lengths and split them. As for the tower I will talk about that later. Randy
I’d love to…trying
Well you only have six months left until St. Paul.
Curt asked what the purpose of the tower is. Well I need a way for the energy from the steam engine to be transferred to the mill it is connected to. The drive wheel on the engine turns another big wheel attached to a drive shaft. The drive shaft goes through the wall of the engine house and ends with another smaller wheel. That wheel has a belt around it. The belt goes up and over rollers and the down to the mill. The tower left side
The tower front
Tower from above and back.
This keeps the belt above the walkway through the door remember this is before OSHA. The boiler keeps the belt from going in the other direction. And a longer shift could work, however I thought a longer shaft would be prone to wobble so I stuck with the shorter shaft. So that is my reasoning and I am sticking to it. Randy
Randy that is very cool.
Thanks Curt.
Randy, I love the diorama and want to support the way you have modeled the belt/power tower. It is prototypical and was considered an option when I was putting the kit together so great job!
Thanks your kind words Brett. It is always great to have the master say nice words about something that I have done. Randy
Belt detail is outstanding!
Thanks Travis, just painted Tyvek. I used an old bottle of Floquil brown. The solvent in the paint causes the Tyvek to show texture.
I also did a thin wash of AK red to give the “leather” belt a slight reddish color. Thanks for your comment. Randy
Remarkable, Randy. This is truly exquisite. I was unaware that such a material as Tyvek even existed. Continue along this path!
That looks good Randy.
Curt and Jen, thanks for your nice comments. Jen, Tyvek is used as vapor barrier on the outside of new homes. Also those white envelopes that don’t tear. Randy
Thank you, Randy. I found it; it seems like we use it as a groundsheet for tents.
I have included tyvek in my kits as the belt material for 25+ years. If you search for “tyvek shipping envelopes” you will find many inexpensive products that are made from this material.
Thanks for the comments Jen and Brett. My last post before the tower was of the back fence. The next thing is the back of the boiler with the engineer, the chopping block, and the water tank.
I decided to add a little more detail to the above scene. After all what is a boiler without some ashes?
I had a scrape piece of strip wood that I buried in an ashtray. Broke it up a scattered the ashes in front of the boiler ash pan.
Another great scene Randy. Great effects with the tank and boiler.
Thanks again Curt. I keep trying to add little things to add interest to the scene. Randy
Thanks again Curt. I believe I did the tank with AK dark rust and then blotted on AK medium rust to add depth. Randy
Another great scene!