This thread was started in June 2011
Bill
June 2011 edited June 2011 in HO Scale Builds
I’m finally underway and making progress on this beauty! Construction on the mill has been well documented by Elliott, Mike, and one of the Karls (can’t remember which) on RR-Line, so I’ll be brief with the initial info. I’m going to experiment a little with this build–mostly construction techniques since the way the buildings are laid out fits perfectly with the area I have available on my benchwork.
The first thing was to color the stripwood (LOTS of it!). The recipe in the manual is almost identical to the recipe from the last build I did (Essentials) so I played around with some different color combinations. I used these acrylics:
1 tsp Folk Art Burnt Umber, 1 tsp Folk Art Barn Wood, 1 tsp Ceramcoat Charcoal and 1 tsp of Anita’s Charcoal (it’s a much lighter gray than the Ceramcoat). Also, 1 tsp of Higgins black India ink in 20 ozs of water. After 24 hours, I got a nice dusty gray-tan color:
Here’s the range of colors:
One thing about using the craft paint rather than Pollyscale is that they settle to the bottom a lot quicker, so the bags had to be shaken up more often.
For swiping, I tried a variation of Mike Chamber’s ink stains. 12 oz 91% alchol + 1 tsp of black ink plus a pre-mixed solution of 4 oz of water + 1 tsp of Bombay Van Dyke Brown + 1 tsp Bombay Sepia. Rather than “swiping” each piece of stripwood, I added the entier bag of stripwood into a pan and covered it with the ink stain. I left the wood in for a short time (maybe a couple minutes) then started pulling them out and wiping them off. By the time I got to the last pieces, they’d be darker than the ones I pulled out first. Here’s a sample of the color range:
Comments
Bill
June 2011 edited June 2011
The walls of the new mill are first. The right wall gets boarded while the left wall does not.
And here’s the completed right wall:
admin
June 2011
great start Bill… looks like you are about 1% complete with the kit!
Karl.A
June 2011
Looking good Bill, wood colouration is very nice and varied. Precise construction as always with your builds.
I’ll be watching and waiting for progress with interest.
Karl.A
Bill
June 2011
Thanks for the nice words and encouragement, guys! Brett–I showed the kit to my dad (not a model builder). His reaction–“Can you imagine how much research went into this?” I told him that it’s all done with Google!
Here are the trusses:
image
image
And here’s how I did the main floor: I’d been reading Kevin’s thread on detailing castings on RR-Line and took note of the chalks he was using to help define wood parts. Using Rembrandt Burnt Sienna 411.3, Gold Ochre231.3, Raw Umber 408.7 and Burnt Umber 409.5 I was able to get a bunch of color combinations for the floorboards.
image
After I had them all in place, I toned the colors down and blended them together with a good rubbing with steel wool and a little A/I.
Jerry
June 2011
Bill,
Looks good so far nice coloring. Looking for more posts from you in the future.
Jerry
Wes
June 2011
I really like what you have done so far Bill. The variation in the wood colouring looks great. Kevins thread on the RR Line is a great help i have found.
Looking forward to more progress.
Bill
June 2011
Thanks Jerry & Wes. More progress to post…
The sub floor is done and I gave it the same treatment as the main floor with the chalk weathering. The colors are nice, but a little too loud. Looked sort of like a gym floor. So again, they got a good brushing with steel wool and a coat of A/I, let it dry and repeat. Here’s before and after pics:
Next, I added the legs to the main floor and the bracing (which I neglected to take a picture of)
Then, I built the sorting platform. Same construction technique as the main floor, but I weathered it differently. By looking at the pictures, it seems the platform is 100% exposed to the weather as opposed to the previous floor which at least had a roof over it. With that in mind…no chalk coloring; just the colors from the stain soaking, textured with a brush folowed by steel wool and ink:
For the legs on this baby (all 60 of them!), I think I came up with a clever way to install them quickly while still keeping them square. I’ll put that in the next post.
But for now, I’m TWO percent of the way done!!
Karl.A
June 2011
And a great looking 2% it is Bill.
You’re moving along swiftly…
Karl.A
Bill
June 2011
Actually Karl, I’ve got more done. Finding time to take, edit and post pictures has been more of an issue.
How are things going with you? Site looks good and I’m looking forward to the HO detail parts.
Bill
JamestownTrains
June 2011
Bill, you’re coming along nicely. In my younger days (just a few years back) I did a lot of picture taking and posting to the web. Now it seems that I’ve gotten more into just building the thing (with a few pictures taken for posting down the road) and using the extra time it takes to make web pages, or posting to a forum to further my progress on the model instead.
You’ll quickly catch up to where I’m at on the mill and pass me soon. I jump from project to project but seeing your success may bring me back around to this one!
-Jim.
admin
June 2011
outstanding job thus far… just what I expected from you!
Bill
June 2011 edited June 2011
Jim-
I know what you mean. Posting pictures and getting shots that are reflective of the build is time consuming and can almost be a hobby within the hobby. But, the feedback I get makes it worth the extra effort. Plus, there’ve been plenty of people before me who went out of their way to post pictures that helped me learn, so it’s kind of “returning the favor” in a small way.
Please jump in and build along with me.
Brett-
Thanks for checking in. I’m working on the walls with the peeling paint and I’m not totally happy with 'em, but I made better progress tonight and I’ll get pics up in the next few days. On another note, the instructions and plans are straight forward and easy to follow…just what I expected from YOU!
Bill
June 2011 edited July 2011
Okay…here’s how I added the legs on the platform. First, I made sure the cuts were as square as possible by using a NWSL Chopper. I cut only halfway through the stripwood, then rotated it 180 degrees and cut through the rest of the way. That helped keep the blade from drifting and shifting.
To keep the legs square while glueing, I used a piece of 1/4" guide and added double stick tape to one side. Using a square, I lined up the guide with the joists and stuck it in place.
You can tell that I didn’t use a guide on the first 2 rows:
I positioned the legs against the guide and steadied it with my index finger and angled tweezers:
See how I’m pinching the tweezers to square up the leg with the joist below?
I was using canopy glue and found that after placing 2 rows of legs, the glue had set enough to where I could remove the first guide and reposition it for the next row of legs.
I sort of pushed down and “rolled” the guide back like this:
Yep, the middle leg in that second row stuck to the guide and got out of square, but a quick nudge and eyeball adjustment and I had it back in line. It’s not 100% foolproof, but it was a big time saver for me. I glued 60 legs in an hour (including taking the pictures)…so actual work time was closer to 30 minutes.
admin
June 2011
nice job… I have been the subject of a few evil and nasty curses over the number of legs on the platform but hey - it looks awsome!
Jerry
June 2011
Hey at 4% its looking dam good!! Thanks for the SBS on the legs.
Jerry
hoN3_rr
June 2011
Great idea on using the larger stripwood as a guide and a great little tutorial. Thanks.
Bill
June 2011
Thanks Jerry & Kris. I’m pretty sure that little trick can be modified and use for any sized platform. But for one like this where they’re so close together, it came in real handy.
Bill
July 2011
It’s been a while since I’ve posted, so here comes a progress report. I began working on the walls of the Old Mill but ran into a snag: I couldn’t get the white peeling paint effect to look right. The rear and side walls looked pretty good:
But the front wall wasn’t looking “correct”
With some help from KP and Karl (you can see the thread in the “Working With Wood” category under “Techniques”), I went back and reworked several of the boards and got it a little better. Or at least a little more consistant with the other walls:
More tomorrow…
admin
July 2011
coloration looks a lot better, more subtle - once it is placed on the diorama it blends in nicely with the pond and companion mill structures… Sometimes it is tough to evaluate a component of such a large diorama against a stark white backdrop… Is the coke sign in the rear window distracting or is that just me?
Bill
July 2011
Thanks Brett. I seriously was contemplating doing the entire wall over. But then Karl said the same thing…once it’s in context, it will make sense.
As far as the coke sign, do you think it’s the color or the stark, commercial nature of it that makes it jump out? My thinking was they tried to board up 2 broken panes with whatever material was handy.
elwoodblues
July 2011
Bill, Great build so far I really like what you are doing.
As for the coke sign, I like the idea, the only thing I would do is weather it up a bit as If whatever was hanging around was used, chances are it would have been in a scrap pile and/or outside for awhile.
Bill
July 2011
I just checked on the model and I can’t remember what I did…looks like a little chalk on the sign and that’s about it. I’ll hit it with some A/I and dull it up some more.
More progress…
Here’s the Boiler House
and the drying shed
And a few shots of the structures all together:
Bill
July 2011
One more thing to share…when I built the floor for the drying shed I again used pieces of 1/4" guide wood to keep things square. The thickness of the 10x10’s makes it a little tricky to align the 4x8’s with the template below. I held the 10x10’s to the waxpaper with double sided tape and squared them up with stripwood guides. Then, I used the butt end of 2 other pieces of guide wood to locate the exact placement of the 4x8’s:
Then, it’s just a matter of sliding the 2 guide pieces to the next lines, lay down some drops of glue and tuck the 4x8 against the butt end of the guides:
This worked pretty good…better than trying to “eyeball” it with the lines below. To lay the decking, I used popsicle sticks to elevate the guides a little. That made them just tall enough so that the decking could butt right up to them:
And here’s the finished shed floor:
Bill
July 2011
This weekend I got the log pond laid out and the dam built. Pretty straight forward…
Then it was on to the Old Mill Dock and the Flat Car table. Not difficult to build…just more to it than meets the eye. I tried to make the wood look sun-bleached and fairly beat up. The manual even makes reference to a “run away log” taking out one of the timbers on the side of the flat car table.
Here’s the view from the back looking out of the mill:
…and in position on the pond:
Time for a break!!!
admin
July 2011
flat car table looks great…
LSNRwyAl
July 2011
I really like your windows.
Congratulations on your excellent modeling.
Bill
July 2011
Thanks Brett. I’ve got the ramp and deck done, but didn’t have time to take any pictures yet.
Alan–thanks for the kind words. The windows are dull coated on both sides and on some I gave them a dusting of brown chalk (usually on the lower levels where it seemed like there was more dust flying around. Some of the darker panels are pieces of rusted corrugated aluminum. (a little hard to tell from this picture):
Bill
July 2011 edited July 2011
The Flat Car Ramp has probably been the most challenging part of the build so far. The legs all need to be cut at an angle and to the correct length to match the depth of the pond. Gluing them in place was also a little tricky because of how the ramp needs to stand on edge and a square won’t help line the legs up. One thing that was helpful from Mike E’s build (runner) was to make a mirror image of the ramp template. After the legs for the first side were glued, you flip it over and line it up on the mirror image template to do the legs for the opposite side.
Next up was the Dry Rollway. The huge logs would get dumped off the flat car and onto this structure. Obviously, it would take a lot of abuse. To model that, I heavily grained/distressed the 16x16 timbers and rather than just round off the corners, I beat 'em good! I tried to crush them in a way that would compact the grain of the timbers–much like it would look if a huge tree fell on it. I banged up the corners with the edge of a hammer and polished up the wood with steel wool. In some spots, I gouged the timbers with the handle of an exacto knife. This left a good sized dent and a cool looking black scuff mark (not sure if it’s from the steel wool particles getting rubbed by the aluminum knife handle, or what).
For the legs, I wanted to simulate the water-logged look you sometimes see on boat piers. After giving them a deep scribing with an awl and attaching them to bottom, I flipped the whole thing over and dripped A/I onto the bottoms of the legs. Then dabbed on a paste of black chalk and alcohol:
Once again I dripped on more A/I so that the black chalk would “wick” up the legs. I learned that you don’t want the let chalk and alcohol paste dry at all or it leaves a straight line (in the time it took to take the picture above, enough alcohol evaporated leaving an unnatural black line). Fortunately, it’ll be hidden by the pond water. Anyway, here’s what it looks like all together:
The dock for the log pond came next:
And here’s how all this “stuff” looks on the dio:
And that’s a wrap! What am I up to…8%? 10%? There’s only about 80 more pages!!
ETinBH
July 2011
I my humble opinion you are progressing quite nicely on your build - I would suggest you not sweat the things that are not going to be seen, like the legs under something - that stuff disappears later when you assemble the thing - just a hint. . .
Karl.A
July 2011
Fantastic work on the weathering and the distressing of the timbers, I also really REALLY like that colouration you are achieving throughout.
Keep sweating the ‘unseen’ things, thats what makes the difference between a ‘good’ model and a ‘great’ one.
You may think that it will end up unseen… but, someone, some where will get that camera angle that shows it… and even if they dont, sometimes the supposedly unseen is what adds that little bit extra depth to a model, even in the subconcious.
On a project such as this, cutting a few corners to save a little time is not worth it due to the detrimental effect on the whole.
You’re really making rapid and impressive progress on this kit, kinda inspirtional to follow along with.
Karl.A
(When I grow up I wanna build a sawmill)
Wes
July 2011
WOW Bill
The pace that you are building at is fantastic mate. And the quality is top notch too.
Always a pleasure to come back and admire your work.
ETinBH
July 2011
Karl may have mis-read my note - I did not suggest you disregard them, just keep the whole thing in perspective - as you are doing. Hope you understand me.
Bill
July 2011
Guys-
Thanks for all the responses and encouragement.
When it comes to details, I sometimes don’t know when to stop. I’ll look at my work and think, “it’s good from far, but far from good.”
In the case of the legs on the rollway, my intent was to see if I could get this type of look:
It seemed like a good place to experiment since a lot of it will be hidden. I probably could have gotten the same effect with repeated coats of A/I.
Next up…back to the fun stuff: The Dynamite shack!
Mike Engler
July 2011
Bill- You are getting closer to joining a relatively exclusive club- those who have built ‘Twin Mills’ and lived to tell the tale. A really nice job on all of the elements so far!
Mike Engler
Bill
July 2011 edited July 2011
Thanks Mike! “Lived to tell” is the key phrase there. I’m working on the Dynamite shack and saw that there are still some bags that I haven’t even opened yet! All in all it’s been a fun, challenging project. I’ve looked back at the thread of yours’ and Elliott’s build many times and have borrowed a few ideas from each of you.
Good to see you here on the forum. I was in Dubuque for the Thousand Lakes NMRA convention and was hoping to meet you. Maybe next time…
Bill
Bill
July 2011
Here’s the little dynamite shack. It’s a lot more to it than I expected. I’m not wild about how the roof turned out–I don’t think I blended the colors together enough. I also tried adding some texture to the shingles with an exacto, but that revealed the orange-ish paper material in some spots. Looks like I’m in for a re-roof! The 2 support posts haven’t been added and the shack hasn’t been glued to the platform yet–I’ll do that after I get the door installed.
Karl.A
July 2011
Everything really looks good Bill, the platform colour, wall colour and texture looks fantastic. the boards across the window are superb, everything looks great… except for the roof, which is crap, definately a ‘do-over’ is needed up there.
Karl.A
admin
July 2011
yep… gotta agree with Karl… try indivudual shingles ole buddy!
Ted
July 2011
Hi all. I’ve had completed the boat and dynamite shack in late April and wondered if my shingles were up to snuff. I painted with the suggested colors but left the orange color rather than cover it up. Your thoughts…?
Thanks, Ted
MikeM
July 2011
I suspect wood shingles rust only rarely. There are some mosses that take on an orange coloration but definitely not to this degree.
admin
July 2011
yep… agree with mike - too much variation and orange. try evening the color out with some light drybrushing of brown/tan/grey or individual shingles…
Bill
August 2011
I re-did the roof using individual shingles cut from sheets of cedar. They are colored using raw umber and gold ochre chalks and alcohol. Then dry brushed with flat flesh and a couple shades of gray. Here’s the new & improved, less “crap-tacular” roof 2.0!
Karl.A
August 2011 edited August 2011
Wow ! Yeah ! Awesome !
ummmm, I actually meant to say…
“OK now they look quite ‘nice’…”
Perfect job!
Karl.A
JM
(jealous minion)
admin
August 2011
there ya go…
Bill
August 2011 edited August 2011
It was a chore, but worth the effort, I think. Gonna try the same look on the next building. Thanks, dude!
SUK minion
(student under Karl) minion
Wes
August 2011
Nice save Bill. Looks so much better.
hoN3_rr
August 2011
I think you made a wise decision in the roof re-do. The shack looks really, really good now and better fits with the overall ‘feeling’ you are creating… IMO.
Great work and please, keep it coming on all of the ‘enhancement’ and building techniques you are using. They will come in handy for those of us who are going to be following in your footsteps.
Bill
August 2011
Thanks Guys, glad you agree.
KP–I was working on something tonight that you may want to try when you get to the boathouse. I wanted to create the look of rotten, mildew and mold covered wood at the bottoms of the walls. It’s a boathouse and there’d probably be water in that area all the time. Here’s what I came up with:
Hopefully, you can see the greenish colors at the very bottom. The first thing I did was hit the bottom with a few coats of light dilution A/I and let it dry. That gave me a dark base color. Then added a slurry of alcohol and different chalks (working pretty much in order of darkest to lightest) raw umber, olive green and some Bragdon “green sludge”–that’s the sea foam color. There’s also a touch of some yellow ochre, too. After dabbing on the paste of chalk, I touched it with a little more A/I and let it wick higher up the boards. I just played around like that and built up the colors-- almost like you would when you rust up a barrel or tank.
I’m heading out of town for the next week, but I’ll be checking in to see what you think.
Daryl
August 2011
i like the look,I’m doing much the same on my tractor repair shed ,being as it is in the very wet climate of vancouver island. what I’m using is Dr Bens pond scum on mine.
Wes
August 2011
Bill
I think youve done it perfectly. The whole look of that wall is fantastic. Thanks for explaining your method.
admin
August 2011
looks good - subtle enough to be convincing… did you add the rotting/mildew on the inside of the boards as well?
Bill
August 2011
gulp I, er, umm…
Crap! No, I didn’t but I will now. It’s a really open structure so that makes sense.
Actually…that was a test to who would spot it first! Congratulations to young Brett from Plano, TX, our winner this morning!!!
Karl.A
August 2011 edited August 2011
Looks great Bill, the green mildew is a nice touch I’ve seen only rarely… ;~) … but it really makes a difference and you generally kept it subtle enough that its realistic and very effective.
Karl.A
Jerry
August 2011
Bill
Great effect with the green mildew. It’s looking better with each post.
Glad to hear Brett won something, he is so fragile!!!
Jerry
Bill
August 2011 edited August 2011
For the roof on the Boathouse, I stuck with cedar shingles but I wanted it to look a little more worse for wear than the Dynamite shack. So, I planned for a couple areas where the wood was going to peak through because shingles had fallen off. I carved out the cardstock in 2 squares to a depth that would hold some weathered 2x8’s flush.
The rest of the carboard was painted Roof Brown so I could leave a few bigger gaps in between the cedar shakes.
I wasn’t happy with the way my ridgecap turned out on the Dynamite shack, so on the Boathouse I assembled the cap on the glass to get a nice straight line:
After the glue dried, I scored a centerline, clamped it down with some guidewood and bent the shingles over gently to give them a curve:
Then, I glued and clamped the cap on one side, waited for the glue to dry and repeated the process on the other side.
Bill
August 2011 edited August 2011
To stain/weather the roof I again used only chalk and alcohol but more colors this time. I made no attempt to apply them evenly. Instead I just worked in a bunch of earthy tones going from darkest to lightest.
If you’re interested, I used raw umber 408.5 & 408.7, a little gold ochre 231.3 and a couple spots of burnt umber 409.5, yellow ochre 227.5 and a little gray 704.7. Blend it with a little alcohol and here’s how it turned out:
Oh yeah…I also drybrushed the shingles with some Reefer Gray, Aged Concrete and a light gray craft paint. That helped blend eveything a little more and make it look a little less dusty.
I finished the dock today, but nothing is attached yet. The deck boards still need to be gray-ed up to match the decay/mildew at the base of the structure.
admin
August 2011
very, very nice…
hoN3_rr
August 2011
Your roof turned out really nice.
I also wanted to comment on the moss around the base of the building and the subtle moss on some of the boards higher up on the structure. I’m not sure which catches my eye more, the roof or moss. Overall, outstanding.
LSNRwyAl
August 2011
I can smell the fish from here. Well done !!!
Bill
August 2011 edited August 2011
Thanks guys! Before we leave the boathouse, take a look at this (it has nothing to do with modeling…just boating):
Now, comes the sawdust conveyor. It’s a fragile little structure, but very cool looking. You construct 9 bents, chute rails, floor and side walls. I used the template and 2 sided tape to line up the bents
Then attached the chute rails and started the bracing
The floor and sides were next followed by the belt and wall bracing. The converyor belt is made from strips of Tyvek (the moisture barrier matierial they wrap the exterior of houses with). When painted with thinned down Floquil Roof Brown, it really does look like leather. The roller at the top is a piece of rust colored styrene rod with 2 small pieces of brass wire. Did I mention small and fragile? That last little bent is crooked, but will be burried by sawdust.
Jerry
August 2011
Great job on the roof Bill. Conveyor looks good.
Jerry
Wes
August 2011
Bill
As always your work is just fantastic. The roof on the boathouse looks perfect.
Im really keen to see it glued to the deck and the deck weathered. Keep up the good work.
LSNRwyAl
August 2011
Very inspiring ! I like the look you model of used and still very servicable.
Ted
August 2011
Very realistic with the cedar shakes. Are these available commercially?
Thanks, Ted
Bill
August 2011
Ted-
Those are hand cut from thin sheets of cedar that I bought from Sierra Scale Models.
(not affiliated with Sierra West)
Bill
August 2011 edited August 2011
The Slab Bin is a really cool structure–fun to build, too. I laid out all the stripwood on double-sided tape (it’s 100% board on board with no cardstock) butted up against a piece of guide wood. To cut the angles for the bottoms of the sides, I found it easiest to make a copy of the template, cut it out, then lay it directly on top of the side(s). That insured a perfect cut and that the angles would be correct. To get the spacing right on the braces, I found a piece of 3/16" square stock was darn near the right distance between each brace.
The slab conveyor for the bin was real easy to assemble. It’s just stripwood wraped around a specific piece of square stock (which already has the correct roof angle pre-cut, too.) After getting the stripwood on, I scribed light pencil marks to help locate the 2x4 braces. All four sides need to line up and I didn’t trust myself to “eyeball” it.
The biggest challenge was getting the little operator’s platform in place on the front underneath the chute:
With a little finagling, everything came together–and it’s square! Woo hoo!
admin
August 2011
yeah - i love the slab bin too and am eager to build it in o scale… the sawdust conveyor as well… your conveyor and bin are both top notch… superbly modeled and executed.
LSNRwyAl
August 2011
I echo Brett !!!
Bill
August 2011 edited August 2011
Thanks very much you guys! Here’s a quick recap…
Everything that I’ve built so far on the 3’x3’ diorama:
Pretty good, huh? Looks like I’m making a lot of progress and there’s light at the end of the tunnel, right? Now, take a look at the pile of stripwood left:
And I’m probably gonna be short!!! I’m on page 49…there’s still 72 pages MORE. I haven’t even gotten to the section in the manual where Brett says “So, you’ve made it this far…” Cripes, I feel like I’ve given birth and I’m not up to the machinery part yet!
/whine
(make no mistake, I’m havin a blast!)
Karl.A
August 2011
Outstanding work on the bin and conveyor Bill, thanks for the spacing tip also.
Yep, when we see it all there together you really have come a long way… and it seems like in such a short time. You really are powering through this kit and doing an excedingly remarkable job of it.
This build is definately gonna stand out at the pinacle of modeling.
Really looking forward to the next update…
Karl.A
Karl.A
August 2011
yeah - i love the slab bin too and am eager to build it in o scale… the sawdust conveyor as well… .
Awesome!!! Something else to look forward to…
Karl.A
LSNRwyAl
August 2011
Your triplets are devine 
Congratulations on the fine modeling Bill.
Daryl
August 2011
awesome build !!!
shay987
August 2011
Looks Great !!!
Bill
August 2011 edited August 2011
Let’s build the Log Brow! That’s the huge wooden structure that helped absorb the fall of the logs off the railroad cars before they hit the log pond. The idea was this thing would help minimize the splash and reduce the wake in the log pond. I tried to find some prototypical pictures of one, but they’re pretty tough to come by. As best I could tell, the loggers constructed them out of large logs and timbers so my goal was to model the logs as if they still had most of their bark still on them–like they’d been drug straight from the forest and dropped into position.
So…to create the bark texture I took the dowels and roughed them up using a nail board. This puts really deep, rough texture into the wood.
Then, using 150 grit sandpaper, I knocked down most of the fuzz and other loose stuff leaving just the deep grooves. Next, I applied a stain of thinned Floquil Grimy Black with a very tiny amount of Roof Brown. I don’t know the exact proportions, but it was mostly Dio-sol and about a brush load of Grimy Black; then just the tip with some Roof Brown. REALLY thin stain. I kept dabbing it on until it got close to the edges.
See how little paint I used? The color remains mostly on the outer surface of the dowel:
That was key for the next step; tappering the edges of the logs. This is where I wanted to see that noticable color change from bark to sapwood (I think it’s actually called the Cambium layer). I used a Stanley knife to whittle away that outer, dark layer exposing the lighter sapwood:
(BTW–that reddish spot in the middle log…that’s my blood. Careful using the nailboard!) All of these little logs needed grooves so that they’d interlock with the longer logs (just like Lincoln Logs). I used one of those sandpaper tube things that come in a Dremel set. I don’t know what the heck they’re called…drum sander? Colonel Sander? Sander friggin thing?–this deal:
Anyway…chucked it into the drill press and it worked great. The short timbers that go on top of the brow were textured the same way that I textured the dry rollway–beat up, used and abused. Here’s how it all came together:
Wes
August 2011
You continue to impress with your great work Bill. I love the colouration and graining you achieved with the dowels.
At the speed you are working im starting to wonder what you will build next.
Bill
August 2011
Thanks much, Wes. I use the same method to scratchbuild my trees…works great.
My next build? Let’s see…here’s the stack:
I’ve also got a Foss kit someplace, 2 more Sierra West kits on order and a Hunterline bridge all screaming to be built. Oh yeah, and a layout that’s supposed to be coming together. Other than that, my plate is wide open!
tnt5963
August 2011
Great build Bill,
Can you tell me the size of the shingles that you cut, and if they are the .011 or the .018 thick cedar shingles sheets.
Terry
Bill
August 2011
Hi Terry-
I cut the shingles to about the same dimensions as the paper shingles in the kit–about a foot wide and 2 feet long (HO). But, I varried the widths up to as wide as 18" and down to 6" in spots where I needed to fill in. I used the standard thickness sheets (.018) and those seemed to work fine.
Thanks for checking in…post some pictures of your build when you’re ready!
Bill
hoN3_rr
August 2011
Really looking nice. You keep coming up with some interesting techniques to produce some really fine finishes on the components. I get the feeling that you are discovering that it’s easy to spend as much or more time creating the finish on the model parts then the amount of time spent in construction. This is going to be a showpiece once you complete it.
Bill
September 2011
I’m skipping around a little bit. The sorting table and transfer table are next in the manual, but I need to order a few pieces of stripwood. So, I jumped ahead to the log haul. It’s very similar to the sawdust conveyor and flat car ramp, but not as complex. You build 7 bents, connect them with bracing and the walkway. The addition of some castings is the last step.
Bill
September 2011
Now I’m up to the machinery build! Exciting stuff since I’ve never made any of these. All of the metal parts get dunked in Blacken-It. I’ve had mixed results with this stuff. First, it really doesn’t “blacken” the parts. Brass rods and rail get pretty black, but the white metal castings take a little more time and effort. I’m not sure if oils from my fingers slows the process down or what. If you don’t scrub the castings with a stiff brush, you get white splotches where the chemical reaction doesn’t take place. By repeating the dunking, scrubbing and drying process a few times I got the machinery parts to look fairly black. Between rubbing them with a cloth or between my fingers or by polishing the parts with a buffing wheel I was able to get a nice “aged metal” look.
Here’s the Log Deck & Haul Drive. I weathered it in spots where grease may have spun off the rotating parts and areas where the chain would have rubbed against the wood supports.
The Log Carriage was next. I’ll be honest…I had a tough time putting this together. Getting everything to line up correctly and keeping it square posed the biggest challenge. I’ll share some of the things I did along the way. First you build the wooden deck and add the wheels and axles underneath.
The knee guides and brass rod are added on top, then it’s time to add the cut log and knees. To help locate the kness, I cut a log in half on a scroll saw. I held the cut log in position with a square like this:
With the log in place temporarily, I butted the knee up against the log and glued it in place with super glue. I also kept a cup with some accelerator on hand and dripped a tiny amount onto the glue joint.
After all 4 knees were in place, I added CA to the log at the points where it made contact with the knees and the knee guides and let everything dry. The tiny dog heads and dogs were added next. Again, tiny parts that took some finesse and patience to get into the correct position and keep straight. They attach to the sides of the knees.
Bill
September 2011
So here’s how these two pieces turned out.
admin
September 2011
simply stunning as we would expect from you buddy…
LSNRwyAl
September 2011
Just WOW !
Bill
September 2011
Thanks Brett! Thanks Alan! I’m really pleased with the way it’s turning out. It’s been about three months since I started and I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I’m working on the big husk saw and the live rolls…then I tackle the castings. LOTS of them. Time to go back and re-read the Old Minion’s thread on detailing castings!
One other thing…When you go to Petsmart to buy the bird perchs that are used for the logs, be prepared for when they ask you “What kind of bird are these for?” “Eagle” is not the correct answer.
Karl.A
September 2011
Simply awesome work Bill !!
Karl.A
( Pterodactyl )
Bill
September 2011 edited September 2011
Thanks Karl! (BTW, Pterodactyl perchs are in the reptile isle but are grossly out of scale!)
Here’s the husk saw…another cool detail in this kit. Assembly is pretty simple but adding the belts takes some patience and steady hands.
For the saw blades, I felt that they needed to be weathered somehow. I wanted them to look used, but not old and rusty. I took a look at my table saw blade and saw that it’s got scuff marks and what looks like burn marks from where the wood got bound up. Blaken-it was out of the question because I believe the blades are aluminum and using echant seemed too risky. What I ended up doing was chucking the baldes into my Dremel and adding a coat of flat finish and chalk while they spun. I went back and forth trying to thin down the mixture with Dio-Sol, then adding more chalk (grays and a touch of black) and reapplying, etc. (this blade is part of the cutoff saw rather than the husk saw):
I got a nice “used” look in a steel color but found it impossible to repeat the pattern on the other blades (and the other sides). I couldn’t find any prototype pictures for a double saw, but my guess is that they wouldn’t bind or wear in the exact same way on the top and bottom. Here’s how it turned out:
Wes
September 2011
Damn! That is impressiveand tidy work for such small pieces. I love it.
I read about the dremmel trick in thread By Kevin O Neal sometime ago. It really does work a treat. Your blades are a perfect testament to that.
Bill
September 2011
Thanks Wes, and yes…I should have mentioned that. It came directly from Kevin’s Blacksmith Car build. About the only thing I did differently was using the dull coat (to keep the blade looking new, yet in service).
And if anyone missed it…Kevin’s thread on detailing castings is another “must read”:
Bill
September 2011
The last pieces of machinery are the live rolls and dead rolls. Real simple construction with no surprises. The rollers are white metal castings that you age with Blacken-It. I found this little Dremel polishing wheel at the hardware store:
I bought it thinking I could texture stripwood with it, but it’s way too soft. However, I found it works great for smoothing out castings. It does a nice job getting rid of part lines and shining up the metal. That in turn helps the casting accept the Blacken-It better and faster. I used an old shop brush to dab on the Blacken-It and the chemical reaction was immediate in the areas that I polished. After drying, I buffed them a little directly on the roller areas using a regular felt buffing wheel.
Next on the “to do” list: castings! Lots of 'em! I’ve been anxious to try Kevin’s techniques that I read about on RRL. I did a test with a couple benchs. First, I primed 'em with a light coat of Floquil Earth, then added chalk powders. I think this was the first time I truly understood “creating depth”. It was like a light bulb went on. NOW I get it! These are 2 different castings but they make the point. The first is straight out of the box with only the flash removed and some grain scribed in. The second has the Earth and raw umber chalk applied, then A/I gently wicked into the cracks and depressions:
Using the less paint and more subtle colors for the rest of the areas, here’s what one of the benchtops looks like:
And here’s another that goes inside the boat house:
Karl.A
September 2011
I have a ‘bunch’ of dead rolls to do for another project Bill and I have been looking for a way to get that exact effect, looks fantastic to me.
But what I really have to compliment you on is the work bench, it really looks amazing… then I reminded myself that it was HO.
WOW!! that is some fantastic work and it shows so perfectly the effects that are acheivable, regardless of scale.
Very nice work indeed and I look forward to the rest…
Karl.A
Wes
September 2011
I have to agree with Karl.
I cant believe they HO castings. Kevins technique works well.
You really continue to impress Bill.
LSNRwyAl
September 2011
I echo, well done Bill. Your work is subdued and accurate to my mind’s eye very close to what one would see in nature. Good job Bill.
Bill
September 2011
Thanks for all the comments and encouragement, guys! Castings aren’t my favorite part of the hobby, but you’ve given me a nice shot in the arm! It’s a lot more fun when things work they way they should!
Karl–have you gotten back to your stonework on the Railroad Camp? If you haven’t already, I bet Kevin’s chalk method would work for your grout lines. Use that # 408.5 and wick some A/I throughout and it’d probably hold the chalk while remaining separate from the stone colors.
Karl.A
September 2011
Hey Bill, I just popped in here to see what you were up to, lo and behold we seem to be on the same wavelength.
As you know I got back to RRC this morning, before reading this thread!! The stone walls have actually been completed for some time so no chance to try out the chalk method, but it’s a great idea I’ll try out in the future. I did something similar on another build recently.
Considering castings arent your favorite you are doing them extremely well!!! Keep it up. Thanks for the idea!
Karl.
Bill
September 2011
Just saw you updated RRline…
Working with the castings takes a toll on my eyes in a hurry. I can only focus on something that small for a brief time before I have to get up and walk away. Plus, there’s a ton of them.
Thanks again for checking in on this one. It won’t be too much longer and I’ll have it wrapped up.
Bill
September 2011
Say hello to my little friends…
Woody:
Rusty:
Bill
September 2011 edited September 2011
I continued to work on castings this weekend and hit on an easy chipped paint technique by accident. I was trying to replicate Kevin’s barrels and wasn’t getting the same result. As I wiped off the paint…that’s when I saw a pretty cool effect. Here’s what I did. Following Kevin’s example, I primed the barrel and painted with acrylics.
Added random splotches of Windsor Newton water soluable oil (raw umber) and dusted on chalks with a light stabbing motion (in this case I used Gold Ochre).
Now comes the accident…err umm, magic! I thought I had too much chalk on at one point so I went to wipe it off. I licked my index finger and pinched the barrel causing the chalk and paint to blend together. Just a little spit on my finger, squeezee and release:
Same thing for the top of the barrel…add a light splotch of oil paint, dust on a light layer of chalk, spit on your finger and press:
By varrying the amount and color of chalks, the amount of saliva, and the way I pulled my wet finger away from the barrel, I found I could get a nice range of chip/rust effects and runs.
I can hardly wait to see what I screw up next!
MikeM
September 2011
How do you avoid (or minimize) taking your own fingerprints?
Bill
September 2011
Mike-
So far that hasn’t happened. I imagine if my finger wasn’t wet enough or if there was too much chalk, fingerprints would show up more. With enough moisture, the chalk and paint will flow just a bit.
Perhaps the oil paint has an effect on it, too. I’m not 100% sure, but like I said I haven’t had a problem on the 15 or 20 I’ve done so far.
Daryl
September 2011 edited September 2011
I’ll have to try that myself,but I will have to get some water soluable oils first
Karl.A
September 2011
Awesome !!! Great discovery Bill… quick simple and looks fantastic.
Thanks indeed for sharing, now I just need to find some HO barrels to ‘play’ with.
Karl.A
Wes
September 2011
Nicely done Bill. Very realistic looking.
Interesting way to discover a new method.
Chris53
September 2011
Hi Bill,
I’m new to the forum but have been following with great interest your ‘Twin Mills’ build along with a number of others, truly inspiring and I hope that one day I can produce models of similarly high standard.
There has been one thing niggling at me since seeing it on your post and I just wanted to share my observations and thoughts.
It relates to the images of a half sawn log on the headsaw carriage, and the technical correctness of this arrangement. If you consider this arrangement you will see that whilst the log is restrained on the top by dogs, only a very small area of the log is bearing on the headblock with no restraint; restraint can also include frictional force.
As the headsaw passes through the log, it (the log) could slip and bind against the sawblade. In fact, given the small bearing surface of the log on the headblock, that is a very probable outcome.
Lumber could be quarter-sawn from logs that had been quartered lengthwise, which your arrangement might suggest. However, more commonly cants were bastard-sawn (also referred to as flat-sawn), by the following process:
The headsaw carriage with a fresh log onboard would make a pass and a slab would be removed from the side of the log. Thereafter the log was rotated 90 degrees so it rested on the freshly sawn flat surface, and again the headsaw carriage made a pass and a second slab was removed.
As previously, the log was then rotated again 90 degrees so that the first cut face rested flat against the headblock knee while the second cut face rested flat against the headblock. Naturally the log was dogged during each one of the above cutting operations.
(Griffiths, 1998)
The headsaw carriage then made successive passes each time producing a cant of desired thickness, which subsequently went to the gang saw where it was ripped into boards.
Even if the mill was producing quarter-sawn lumber, an initial slab would have been removed from the log, and the log rotated 90 degrees so the flat cut surface rested on the headblock. This would provide a greater bearing surface and increased friction force to restrain the log during sawing.
I hope you don’t mind me sharing these observations, and I look forward to watching the build proceed.
Regards,
Chris
Ps. I also wanted to compliment you on those great saw blades, they look very realistic.
Bill
September 2011
Hi Chris-
Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing this with me. I see what you’re saying…the log would have a tendancy to roll off the carriage in the position I have it currently. The process sounds similar to the way a carpenter squares up a piece of rough stock.
I hadn’t considered the things you mentioned and, truthfully, was thinking more about asthetics than prototype when I was putting it together. What you described above would probably make assembly easier too, since the log would snug up to the headblock and the knees.
At this point, it’s such a fragile structure I’m tempted to leave it as constructed. BUT…it may be one of those things that continues to jump out at me and bug me to the point of re-doing it!
I’m curious how you figured this out…you must have some logging experience or something, right?
Thanks again for the info!
Bill
Bill
October 2011
I got some work done on the Sorting & Transfer Tables. It’s the same basic construction as the other platforms. I kept the joists in line by using a couple of 1/4" square stripwood guides and then added the decking material.
And for the transfer table, all the pieces were cut to length, then butted up against a guide and glued to each other:
In it’s final location, the transfer table will sit below grade. It seemed to me that it would experience a lot more standing water and washout from the area around it, so I made it a darker color than the other decking material which sits on a platform. The base hasn’t been cut away yet, but here’s what the two look like:
For the places that the transfer car wheels come in contact with the transfer table, I took a wooden popsicle stick and ran it back and forth along the wooden rails. That gave me a small indentation and, when combined with the chalks, made some fairly convincing metal-on-wood wear marks:
In scanning over these pictures, it looks like I may need to add some chalk(s) to the outside of the rails, too. Probably a bit too clean.
Karl.A
October 2011
Excellent idea with the indentations for where the wheels would run, high class modelling and an ever inceasing standard.
I was going to mention rust outside the rails but you already have it in hand.
The darker coloured boards really will enhance the scene I think and tell the story.
Karl.A
LSNRwyAl
October 2011
I echo Karl A.'s comments
Well done Bill.
Bill
October 2011
Thanks guys. Take a look now.
I went pretty subtle and used a raw umber color rather than full-on rust on the outside. My fear was losing the “path of travel” look which helps define 6 separate stations.
Bill
October 2011
Nope. Still not quite right. There’s going to be at least some rust on the outside of the rails! A little Burnt Sienna and a light touch with a micro brush and I’m can obsess about something else.
Karl.A
October 2011
Much better Bill, still defined as six tracks but, much more natural looking, at least to me.
Karl.A
Wes
October 2011
I wouldnt say obsessive Bill. Perfectionist is the better word.
Looks stunning
Bill
October 2011
Thanks Karl…that was the main goal.
Wes…“obsessive” was my wife’s word! (she doesn’t get our hobby at all!)
Wes
October 2011
Im yet to find a woman who gets our hobby Bill.
Although my girlfriend has started to join me in building model cars. I guesss thats a good start. She refuses to touch the Structure building part though.
Bill
October 2011
Time for another update and it’s another “casting call.” There are LOTS of 'em and lots of really cool ones. To color and weather these, I followed a mix of Brett’s directions and Kevin’s along with some other things I wanted to try. I primed all the castings with either Floquil earth or Rust-Oleum Camouflage (I think Khaki was the color). I tried all kinds of Floquil and Polly Scale colors (the ones Brett recommends) and dulled them down with chalks. One thing I realized is how versitile the gold ochre 231.3 is! It’s great for warming up wood castings, but also is a great rust color when used sparingly on top of the darker browns. First the wood stuff…(the trunk on the right gets most of it’s lighter color from the gold ochre):
Here’s one of my favorite castings in the kit. It’s a cluster of leaky, corroded barrels and drums:
For the stack of split wood, I used Kevin’s raw umber 485.5 with A/I idea and let everything dry. Then, I went back and dry brushed on some raw umber oil paint (water soluable). I also stabbed in some of the oil color here and there (full strength) and got a pretty believable bark look on the wood:
So here’s the whole batch of castings:
Next, I put together the steam donkey. Including the support wires, there are about a dozen little parts that make up this unit. The boiler gets painted with a dark rust color. Then while still wet, you stab in dark rust colored chalk. You can see where I used a little of the gold ochre on the top funnel to get that lighter rust effect. I wasn’t sure if the protype used rope or cable, so I went ahead and modeled it to look like metal cable. The string got an A/I staining, then I dusted on black chalk and “polished” it with a real soft brush. That removed some of the black chalk giving the thread a shiny steel look. I’m really pleased with the way this thing turned out:
UncleJT
October 2011
Very nice update Bill, great work!
Karl.A
October 2011
Some of the best detail work I’ve seen !! Outstanding Bill.
The corroded barrel pile is a beauty.
Karl.A
Daryl
October 2011
As always excellent work
Jerry
October 2011
Outstanding detail workBill.
Jerry
Kevin
October 2011
Great to talk to you at the show Bill. Hopefully we will get to meet in person in the near future.
Beautiful work on the castings and I’m quite pleased that some of my ideas helped. The gold ochre is definitely one of my go to colors. It is great for a general dusty look on just about anything. Keep it going!
OM
Bill
October 2011
As always, I appreciate the comments, guys!
Karl & Kevin–nice to talk to both of you. I WILL get to a convention at some point, but I’ll expect each of you to host a clinic! (on modeling, not golf OM)
The pile of unfinished castings is getting smaller. Here’s what’s left–mostly metal parts:
I almost forgot…does anyone know what these castings are?
They look like drawers full of gears and cluuter, but they might be something that mounts on a wall someplace (particularly the 2 small ones). Any ideas where they go?
admin
October 2011 edited October 2011
great job… castings look as good as the rest of the components - can’t wait to see the finished dio
those are just boxes of spare parts for the floor of the mill…
UncleJT
October 2011
but I’ll expect each of you to host a clinic! (on modeling, not golf OM)
A modelling clinic at a golf course sounds like a nice idea to me. =D
Chris53
October 2011
Hi Bill,
I concur with other comments posted above, really great work and I look forward to all the pieces coming together in the final model…I think it will be outstanding.
Great work.
Regards from downunder,
Chris
Bill
October 2011 edited October 2011
Thanks for following along and the nice comments, guys.
JT, we can’t do a clinic at a golf course. It’d be just like taking an alcoholic to a tavern! (Kevin has quit golf cold turkey so he can focus on improving his modeling.)
Couple things I’ve been working on. Here’s the boiler:
And the little mill engine. I made a couple mistakes on this. One, I drilled the hole for the axle too low so now the drive wheel and flywheel touch the ground. I think if I glue a few pieces of thin strip wood on the bottom I’ll have just a little bit of clearance (like the prototype in the manual) when I add the belts. The other screw up…I drilled a hole for a toothpick in one of the resin pieces so I could hold it while I paint. Then I realized it’s in an area that would be seen. Grrr. I plugged it up with a small piece of toothpick and it looks like part of the machine (I hope). Can you spot it?
I also put together the flat car. There were some discussions in a couple other threads about color & texture and board edges so I took some pics as I put the wood deck on this car and thought I’ d post 'em here. First, I added some grain to a couple pieces of 2x10’s with a steel bristle brush then cut them to length and glued them onto the metal casting:
If you look close at this next picture, you can see the fresh cuts from the razor blade (most of them are upside down–picture the blade cutting from the bottom up, and then breaking through the wood):
The manual says that these buggies spent a lot of time in and out of the water as the haul giant logs. So the wheels need to be rusted and the wood needs to be weathered and beat up. First, I scribed in deeper grain on the surface with a dull exacto blade and an awl. Then, I used the exacto to split and cut the edges of the boards.
Next, I gently touched the top and bottom of the edges with a wire wheel in my Dremel to further wear down the “fresh cut” look.
Then I scraped some raw umber chalk onto the deck and worked it into the grain with a stiff brush. I also polished the wood a bit with some fine steel wool (to help get rid of any fuzzies).
All that’s left is adding alcohol & india ink by dabbing it to the edges and letting it “wick” toward the center. I went back and forth adding a little chalk, a little A/I, a little brushing, steel wool, etc. until I had a look I liked. Here’s how it turned out:
Kevin
October 2011
Hey Bill
I have to confess that I played golf yesterday and Sunday (83 & 84). I did do some modeling (working on the Woodcutters shack) today however so don’t yell at me, ha ha.
You are really doing some nice work on Twin Mills!! I have a few suggestions if you don’t mind.
If a white metal casting is something that is metal in 1:1 then Blacken-it rather then priming it with paint and work from there. Paint tire castings with flat black, dust insides with a little burnt sienna (represents a little rust from old rims), dust with a little yellow ochre and lightly dry brush tread with some off white. The mill engine looks great. I would like to see the bricks on the boiler more orange to start out with (you can tone them down from there). I think the contrast would really make the boiler casting stand out a bit more.
OM
Bill
October 2011 edited October 2011
OM-
I’m glad to see you’re down to 2 rounds per week! This is a good sign and I’m proud oif your progress!! Ha Ha
Thanks for the suggestions. Yep…like a nit wit, I went and primed ALL the metal castings that I had left. Then, I read the part about “go ahead and blacken the blah blah blah part.” That’s when the hot flash hit me!
It comes off fairly easy with that little nylon buffing wheel, but it’s one more thing to do.
I’ll go back and hit the bricks with some orange, then work down in color. I started with boxcar red and worked down by adding browns and a little black chalk to the paint, but the contrast obviously isn’t there.
Or, do you think I’d be better off to start over coloring the bricks, then add mortar in between (with a little wet water, thinned acrylic gray of some kind, then blot off the excess that gets on the brick)? I went mortar first, then drybrushed the brick color (with pretty thick paint so it wouldn’t run into the grout lines). I think if I try to spot paint a few here and there, it’s gonna look sloppy.
This is enough to make me wanna golf!!
miniM
Mike Engler
October 2011
Great photos of some really great detail work!
Bill
October 2011 edited October 2011
Here’s a quick attempt at fixing the bricks. I used a make-up sponge to blot on some other “brick” colors. Even still, it’s tough to keep the color on just the brick and not the grout lines. It’s far from perfect, but I think it’s a little better than before.
Before:
After:
JamestownTrains
October 2011
I like how it looks “after”. The first thing that came to mind when seeing the two shots together is how much the mortar lines stood out before. So it’s not just the brick color you’ve fixed but now the whole thing looks like it’s been there awhile with the soot and dirt darkening up the mortar as well. Good things to remember for when I finally get to the castings. Keep up the great work!
Bill
November 2011
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. I’ve been hung up on getting everything to come together. Not just the diorama, but how the diorama will fit into my layout. The first thing I did was extend the diorama about 10". That bought me about 2 or 3 inches more space in the pond and allowed room for a main line to fit in front of the spur which heads to the log brow. This new outer edge conforms to the edge of the benchwork.
My next hang up was trying to insure the track positioning will correctly align with the future trackwork on the layout. After a bunch of trial and error, I think I’ve got the main and the spur to converge to a #7 curved turnout just off the left side of the diorama. I laid the track (code 70 for the spur; code 83 for the main) and secured it to the foam. After that, I had to come up with some sort of bridge for the two lines to cross the stream:
Yikes, what a mess I created! I did some research and looked at a bunch of pictures and came up with a plan: 2 “bridges” simply made of stringers and ties supported by log beams and wooden step terraces to support the beams. First I removed the foam and roughed in the terrace steps. I made sure to leave enough space for the logs plus the stringers that will go on top:
Since the tracks curve, the ties had to be angled on the stringers:
I cut the ties off the flex track in the locations where the bridge would go:
Then, I glued the bridge with ties to the rails and fitted the logs underneath. I used pieces of scrap wood or foam to shim the logs so they were flush to the foam base. The retaining walls were made from scrap stipwood and square stock.
I did some scenery work with Sculptamold, loose dirt and gravel. Nothing’s been secured yet and I haven’t added vegetation, but here’s how this little area looks so far:
Bill
November 2011 edited February 2012
Some close ups:
LSNRwyAl
November 2011
Just wow. I really like your model work.
Wes
November 2011
Stunning work Bill. The way that you have incorporated the dio into the layout has worked out perfectly. I look forward to more.
brownbr
November 2011
Great looking sawmill. I really like the close ups of the retaining walls. What are you using for dirt? Or did I miss that?
Bill
November 2011 edited December 2011
Bryan-
The dirt is from a rock cut I spotted on the side of the road in southern Wisconsin (near Boscobel). Nothing special…I just liked how it looked and the way the rocks fragmented.
Got lots done over Thanksgiving. I cut in the area for the creek leading into the log pond and lined it with some stones, twigs and debris. It’s all held together with Sculptamold…
I thought it looked pretty good, until I got a glimpse from this angle:
The areas where the rocks overhang prevented the dirt from getting up and into the Sculptamold. So, I’ve got spots with white poking through that I’ll have go go back and hit again with dirt.
To avoid that problem on the next sections, I added some powedered pigments to the Sculptamold. One spoon of brown and one spoon of black turned it into more of an earthy tone. It looks awful here:
But with more rocks and dirt added, it turns out pretty natural looking and eliminates any white spots. (I purposely went light on the dirt in a few areas in the next picture).
There’s an area next to the log brow where an optional retaining wall can be built. I carved a few logs out of balsa, put 'em together and backfilled it with some ruble and tallus.
At this point, all of the shoreline has been roughed in with Sculptamold & dirt. I did a little detail work in a few areas, too!
It’s all starting to come together!!
brownbr
November 2011
Most impressive. What stands out the most to me is the attention to the small details. Such as the natural debris that has collected at the bottom of the rock face and the rust on the barrels and the trackside ropes/wires/ties and split wood pile. My favorite may be the rope hanging on the tree. Easy stuff to overlook but all of the things that art tying your scene together. Thanks for the update.
admin
November 2011
very well done… love the details as bryan pointed out
Bill
November 2011 edited November 2011
Thanks guys. I’m glad you picked up on those little things. Something I meant to point out about the ropes and cables…there are 3 different types that I used. That coil of cable is real thin stranded wire (for hanging picture frames) that I found in the Dollar store. I gave it a quick blast of rust colored primer and dusted on a little chalk. The thicker rope is thread that people use for needle point. And there are a couple other pieces of rope/cable made out of this stuff called “Hemp cord”. I found it in the jewelry making section at a craft store. It’s pretty versatile stuff. As it comes from the store, it’s stiff almost like wire. Dust it with dark chalk and you’ve got a piece of cable. It’s a natural fiber so it takes color well. When you wet it with A/I, it swells a little and gets more flexible and rope-like. That was an exciting find last week!
Wes
November 2011
Thats sweet Bill. The details are perfect. The whole thing is going to look stunning when you pour the water.
LSNRwyAl
November 2011
I echo the congrats’. I enjoy the excellent quality of your work. Well done.
At present I am working on a diorama for my brother for Christmas.
Karl.A
November 2011 edited November 2011
I’m really pleased that you are building this into your layout Bill, that way I can be sure I’ll never meet it in a contest room!!
Fantastic detailing on, and within the scenery, the whole area is turning out stunning thanks to your work.
Great tips on the ropes and wire details, I’ll be using them on future projects to be sure, so’s you know..
Karl.A
Bill
December 2011 edited December 2011
I’ve got the rest of the track laid beyond the log brow. Because of how the diorama will be positioned once it’s permanently attached to the layout, the trestle portion has to be located on the benchwork. So the tracks end on the south-east corner rather than running along the edge and over the creek as shown in the kit.
The sorting and transfer tables are now in their final position with the first layer of dirt added. The secions of track still need to be added where you see the stripwood on the left.
I recently got a copy of the Pino Grande book. It features great pictures of the prototype which Twin Mills is based on. That helped give me a better idea how to finish detailing the area around the log brow. It was really a messy dirty area with bark and wood scraps everywhere from the logs being unloaded off the cars. So, I tried to model it that way using mostly mulch from my front yard. I sifted it down to 3 or 4 grades and built up the debris along the track and the log brow similar to what was in the pictures.
I also played around with some more detail stuff–weeds, grasses, and bushes.
The burn area is next to be roughed in, then it’s time to start fastening down the buildings.
brownbr
December 2011
I love the variety in the plant material. It makes the scenes look very natural.
LSNRwyAl
December 2011
I really enjoy your pics. You are a great “all fits together” modeler. Congrats’
Bill
December 2011
Before I can glue down all the structures, I needed to get the base of the pond ready. Dave Frary talks about this technique in his book, but I’d never done it until now. I began by painting the lake bottom near the shore with an acrylic paint similar to the color of the dirt (Apple Barrel Country Tan was what I used).
Using plain water, blend the paint right into the dirt, dragging upwards.
For the deeper areas of the pond, I used Ceramcoat Black Green:
Blend the two colors together while both are still wet (again using plain water). Then, immediately panic and blurt out a string of expletives when your pond bottom looks like this:
Actually, by blending from the lighter color into the dark and adding a little more paint and a little more water, followed by some trial and error, it’ll form a pretty convincing transition from shallow to deep:
Since the Envirotex in the log pond is going to be 7/8" thick and tinted a brownish color, most of the pond bottom will never show. However, on the slight chance that it does or, in the areas closer to the shoreline where the resin is thinner, I’ll be able to sleep at night knowing I’ve got a seamless transition.
admin
December 2011
great pics… perfect transition!
Karl.A
December 2011 edited December 2011
Nice blending Bill, came out great.
Never really any need to panic or be intimidated by a step like this. After all, the worst that can happen is you have to paint it all brown again and try it over, no big deal.
Your scenery looks better and better everytime I look at it !! Are you changing the pictures?? ;~)
Karl.A
LSNRwyAl
December 2011
I like it Bill.
Wes
December 2011
What are the plants with the little purple flowers Bill? They look really good.
Bill
December 2011 edited December 2011
Wes-
Those are weed tufts from Scenic Express.
I need an opinion from you guys…I started working on the sawdust conveyor and wanted to try something. I saw a picture from a sawmill and it had a pile of sawdust with two distinct shades. My thought was, they’d cut up pine one day and oak on another or maybe a bunch of heartwood was run through the planers; then a bunch of sapwood. I tried to model that by using two different types of sawdust: the dark is from masonite and the light is regular pine. As you probably can guess, I’m starting to rethink my decision. The picture quality is sh*t 'cause I’m using my phone.
Do you think viewers would make the above assumption, or would they assume that I ran out of dark sawdust and filled in with something else?
admin
December 2011 edited December 2011
logical thinking, great execution of concept… but just doesn’t look right
Bill
December 2011
Okay, so Brett’s on the fence. Anybody else? lol
LSNRwyAl
December 2011
See attached pics i found on web this AM. I think the sawdust needs to be same or closer in colour.
Bill
December 2011
I think you’re right, Alan. That top picture is close to what I saw with the dark and light colors. Even though it appears like that in the real world, it doesn’t look correct when modeled. As I look at it in the pictures again, it looks more like 2 flavors of ice cream.
Oh well…I tried. Simple fix: I hit it with a little alcohol and diluted white glue, then topped the dark side with pine sawdust and she’s good to go!
LSNRwyAl
December 2011 edited December 2011
…and sure appreciate how kind to our feelings Brett is. He does want us to do justice to his kits, doesn’t he.
I like what you are doing on this kit Bill.
Bill
December 2011
Alan-
Don’t read too much into what Brett wrote. Brett, Karl and I have gotten to be friends, so he’s being especially blunt with me. Early on in this build, I posted some lousy work and asked for brutally honest opinions and Karl gave me what I asked for: “Everything looks good except for the roof, which is crap.” They nudge me (bluntly!) when they know I can do better.
I took no offense by either comment. It sounds like it bothered you, so I wanted to explain. Brett & Karl are both exceptional modelers and extremely helpful. I’m sure the last thing they’d want is to intimidate or offend forum members and customers.
Wes
December 2011
I dont think Brett could have said it any better or any funnier Bill. Somethings just dont work well when we model them. To me the sawdust pile looks alot better now.
Thanks for the silflor link by the way. Ive ordered a whole bunch.
LSNRwyAl
December 2011
Thanks Bill.
Sometimes I do not have the context.
Friends have extra latitude.
I do like your sawmill.
Karl.A
December 2011 edited December 2011
Bill is 100% correct, a little banter between friends is good for a smile. The forum is here so that we can all learn from and help each other to improve. As well as sharing our work.
Rest assured that any intimidating or offensive remarks towards another member will be removed immediately.
Karl.A
Karl.A
December 2011
Oh, an the sawdust pile looks much better now.
I do like the looks of that conveyor also, a great looking scene in the making.
Karl.A
admin
December 2011 edited December 2011
Right on buddy! nailed the scene…
Jerry
December 2011
Bill,
Really looking good. Love the conveyor. And the sawdust pile much better with the light pile. It’s like Brett said it may look perfect in real life but on a model it just doesn’t make it.
Jerry
Bill
January 2012 edited January 2012
Time to catch up a little. First, here are a couple better pictures of the sawdust pile and scrap lumber pile.
I also got the pile of cants done–those are the scrap pieces of logs they’d get rid of. I cut them on a band saw from lengths of the bird perch Douglas Fir and tried to rip them as thin as possible. I got a nice “rough sawn” look and a bunch of variety depending on which part of the log I was cutting. I separated them into different sizes and textures, then added them to the diorama in a random heap.
I also made sure to save the sawdust and little scraps from the band saw. That made for great debris on the mill floor.
The walls of the new mill were installed and I also finished the saw filers’ loft with the staircase leading up to it. The set of stairs is another really cool detail that gives the kit that signature SW “wow” factor. It looks terribly difficult to build, but was actually pretty simple: it consists of a landing, two sets of stairs and the railings. During the test fit, everything lined up perfectly. (The second pic makes it look really out of square due to the angle that I had to shoot from)
All the main structures are glued in place. Next, it’s on to the belt system and cutoff saw, then I move up to the roof. We’ll be open for business before long!
brownbr
January 2012
That is really starting to come together. It is an impressive site to see the whole thing sprawling out around the pond. Nice job dirtying up the floor. And who knew that those left over things had a name.
Bill
January 2012
Thanks Brian…sprawling is an accurate desciption of this diorama. I had no idea they were called “cants” either. Brett includes in the manual a lot of “how” and “why” they did stuff back then. He told me there’s about 5 years worth of research and development in this kit.
Karl.A
January 2012
It is looking absolutely sensational Bill, your construction and finish on all the componants is superb making this a really inspirational build to follow for me, as I am sure others.
I also greatly admire your comitment in staying with such a large project. I’m sure breaking it down into smaller sections has helped but WOW, all of those smaller sections are really adding up into something “greater than the sum of its parts”.
Stairway looks awesome, and the debris is a great starting point, looking forward to your next updates.
Thanks for taking the time to bring us along with you on the build.
Karl.A
Bill
January 2012
You’re too kind, Karl!
It’s easy to get overwhelmed, however the manual is written in a way that makes it manageable. The Christmas break did me good, too. The tough part now is resisting the urge to hurry up and get it done, know what I mean? Getting anxious=getting sloppy.
LSNRwyAl
January 2012
Bill sloppy… I do not think that could happen.
As usual nice work.
I gots to get back to my build now that Juletide season done and decorations are away.
Karl.A
January 2012 edited January 2012
Definately not too kind…just my honest opinion.
I know exactly what you mean Bill, thats why the first 28.35% of my builds look great and the rest is …hmmmm.
Brett says I have the attention span of a mosquitto with A.D.D… buzzing around from one thing to the next.
Well, actually, he didnt really say that, but, I’m sure he would if he had thought of it. Ha
All I can say Bill is RESIST gosh darn it, this is coming together beautifully, keep up this excellence till the end and a regional NMRA award is well within your sights. ;~)
I’m really looking forward to the next componants of this build, keep each one as important as the others and give it as much attention and you wont go wrong.
Besides it will be terrible for the journey to end too soon as we are definately enjoying the ride!!!
Karl.A
Did I mention DONT RUSH ANYTHING !!
Bill
January 2012
Just turned off the lights for the night after knocking off one of the blades on the Husk saw. 45 minutes later, I got it back on, got a drive shaft back where it should be and caught my breath. Clearly a sign that it’s time for a break. Resist is right…get some rest, refocus and try again tomorrow.
Karl O. has a little sign on his bench that I love: “Think first. Do nothing fast.” Now, all I need to do is follow that advice.
Time for one of those Coronas, dude!
Karl.A
January 2012 edited January 2012
Cheers!..
“clink”
Bill
January 2012 edited January 2012
A small accomplishment today and hopefully I can explain how I did this so others can try it. After installing the wheels, shafts and braces, I wanted to insure that there wasn’t any slack in the belts. The manual says the belt drive is a great way to “increase detail and realism.” But if the belts are loose and sloppy, it seems like an easy way to shatter the illusion. Since the areas are small and hard to get at, I made sure to make the belts really long (about 9"). There’s plenty of material in the kit so why not give myself enough to hold on to? The example here is the front drive for the log haul. I threaded a belt under the large wheel on the bottom and ran almost all of the material through and into the structure. I glued the opposite end of the belt to the top wheel with a drop of CA and let it dry. Once dry, I positioned and glued the top wheel to the shaft so it lined up with the bottom wheel and again let it dry. Now, I could put tension on the opposite end of the belt and the small wheel would stay in position:
With a little slack back in the belt, I added a drop of CA to the top of the large wheel then rotated it downward and pulled the belt taught. Next, I fed the rest of the belt up and over the trusses and clipped a small clamp to the end to keep the tension in it while the CA dried. At the same time, I CA’d the large wheel to its drive shaft and let everything dry.
Now, the wheels are both locked in position and the top half of the belt is perfectly tight. I trimmed the first end as close to the small wheel as possible:
added a drop of CA near the cut, pulled the rest of the belt material tight and over the small wheel, then across to the truss and attached the weight (clamp) to keep the tension.
After the CA dried, I trimmed the excess at about the 12 o’clock position on the top wheel and used a drop of regular white glue to hold down the edge. That’s it! A nice tight belt and a nearly invisible seam!
LSNRwyAl
January 2012
Nicely explained as I will need this when doing the drive belts for the shop at the back of the roundhouse project. Also a pat on the back for the details on the dock seen in some of the pics.
Bill
January 2012
Thanks Alan. Hope it helps. For me what was important was to let the glue dry completely at each step. Another thing I should have mentioned is I removed the 2 trusses on the opposite end while putting in those belts. That bought me 4 more inches to get my hands into the area–especially helpful while installing the live roll belt and the cut off saw belts. I’ll post some pics later.
Bill
January 2012
Belts are done:
brownbr
January 2012
That’s just museum quality work there.
Bill, it looks like one of your belts caught a big yellow fish in that pond.
admin
January 2012
simply outstanding… brings a tear to my eye
LSNRwyAl
January 2012
beautiful and the offcuts sure do add character.
Wes
January 2012
Well done Bill. Youve gone and made Brett cry.
Hope my modelling skills get to that point someday.
Bill
January 2012
Well, Wes, he didn’t say if they were tears of joy. Maybe it was a cry of “Oh my God, NOOOOOOO!”
You might be on to something…“Kits to Cry For”
admin
January 2012
joy…
Bill
January 2012
I just finished up the cut lumber for the drying shed. Nothing difficult about it, but you need to plan ahead so that you have enough wood. You should be able to get 8 boards out of each 12" strip of 2x10. You may want to make the boards a little smaller than the recommended 1 1/2". I found that it took 15 pieces of stripwood to make the taller stacks (about 1 1/4" tall). That’ll give you 20 rows of 6 boards (requiring 40 2x2 spacers). I varied the height of all 5 stacks leaving the smaller ones to look as if they were still being completed. Using Aileen’s Tacky Glue worked better than regular Elmer’s. With plain white glue, the boards slid all over the place as I tried to build the stacks.
I also wanted to get a little color variety in the stacks of lumber like you see in this picture. It’s all fresh cut wood, but there’s a big range of colors:
To do that, I just colored a few ends and edges of the boards with some Gold Ochre 231.3 chalk. I think it helps break up the uniform look of the raw stripwood. Just a few here and there in no particular order or pattern.
All the stacks and loose boards are glued down, so I’ll be heading up to the roof next.
PaulSmulders
January 2012
Bill, the Twin Mills build is fantastic and your attention to details is fantastic…inspiring.
Paul
LSNRwyAl
January 2012
If I had three thumbs I would give you that… only have two so “two thumbs up” !!!
Wonderful and the extra effort your put in makes this look outstanding.
Karl.A
January 2012
Fantastic touch varying the board end colours!! It really elevates the scene, small things like this separate the few from the many.
Very nice work again Bill, even on something as simple as a stack of wood you are showing that taking it an extra step makes all the difference.
Karl.A
Wes
January 2012
Just brilliant Bill. I love the variation you have achieved just like the real thing.
admin
January 2012
Attention to fine detail… I think this might be your specialty Bill. The subtle color variation of the wood stacks is a fine detail that would never “stand out” in a huge diorama like the Twin Mills However… it is the cumulative affect of these fine details that makes for one awesome model!
Bill
January 2012
Wow…thanks for all the comments, guys! I agree, Brett. Unless somebody told you, you’d never notice it. But “new lumber” always puzzled me when I’d see it modeled in the magazines. Something wasn’t right about the way it looked, and I think this helps a lot. It’ll show a little better when I get the stacks placed out on the platform.
Bill
January 2012
I need to borrow your eyes again. The first roof is done (the one over the drying shed). It’s a tarpaper roof probably kept functional, but not in great shape since it’s part of the old mill. I had no luck finding prototype pictures of this type of roof. Too many colors? Too many loose ends? Or leave it as is?
Wes
January 2012
Bill, I found this picture for you.
Your colours seem bang on. My only concern is that tar paper roofing is fairly heavy stuff, and in my opinion wouldnt stand up so much. However Im no expert and im sure someone will find a picture of it.
Kevin
January 2012
Hey Bill
I agree with Wes as the coloring is great, just glue down the overly raised areas and it’s perfect.
As Brett says your attention to detail that probably will not be seen is what makes a good dio a superior one. This is why to me the so called “1 foot rule” is an unacceptable way to model. Your point about how a lot of guys model fresh cut stacks of lumber is so right on. Although a lot of modelers don’t use Floquil anymore a good way to slightly color new lumber was to use the dirty Diosol that we all cleaned our brushes in. Anyway, fantastic work Bill!
Kevin
LSNRwyAl
January 2012
So I went into the internet and found these pics. Maybe we overdue the “worn look”.
Just a thought.
Bill
January 2012
Wes & Kevin–you guys were right on. Just for fun, I measured with an HO figure and one piece was sticking up almost knee high! Yep–not realistic!
Kevin-thanks for the idea about the diry Diosol. I’m also doing to try getting all the of the Rembrandt Gold Ocher shades and make a few light washes with a few of them. If I divide my pile up into thirds or fourths and use a different wash on each, I should get rid of that “model” look on the fresh cut wood.
Alan-thanks for those pictures. That top one reminded me that I wanted to try Brian Nolan’s toilet paper method! Maybe I can do that on the roof over the donkey engine and the tool shed.
Here’s the “non-knee high” tarpaper roof:
Bill
January 2012 edited January 2012
One other thing that caught my eye was the transition from the wood walls to the tar paper. It seemed too clean, especially since the roof is almost flat. So, using a light dusting of raw umber, I pulled the chalk up with a make up brush. Now it looks like it’s got some rain back splash. Again…very subtle, but I think it makes a difference.
Wes
January 2012
That looks so much better Bill.
I keep going back and looking at that first picture of the 2 and I cant believe how realistic that scene looks.
Bill
February 2012
I got a lot done on the board and batton roof of the Old Mill. The fire barrel walkway isn’t completed yet, so I’ve got the roof in place just for a test fit and photo opp. The first thing I noticed was my relatively crummy drybrushing job on the right roof panel (pics 4 & 5 with the larger opening). The colors look a little streaky, too. But, those are minor problems that are easily fixed. Overall, I’m pleased with how it turned out.
One other issue I noticed: What am I doing wrong on this corner with the corrugated panels and how can I fix it?
Here’s a quick shot off of the model for color reference:
Kevin
February 2012
Hey Bill
Going back a few pics you did a great job with the chalk simulating the splash between the wall and tarpaper roof. I love to see the chalks used in this subtly done way.
On the big roof is the larger patch corrugated panels? If so then these panels would not conform to the roof boards as you have them now. If this is tarpaper or a piece of tarp then it would conform to the boards underneath (at least to some extent). Also if the battens are still there what would be getting patched? Hope this is not too nit-picky because everything really looks fantastic.
KO
Bill
February 2012
Not nit-picky at all, Kevin. That’s what I asked for!
The larger patch (all black) is tarpaper only. That’s why it conforms so snugly to the battens. What’s getting patched? Heck if I know…I don’t understand how a roof like this didn’t leak everywhere even when new! As modeled, there’s boards that look rotten here and there and, in one spot several were completely replaced. In others, they slapped on some tar paper.
The manual suggests using wider boards and tar paper patches for added character. But, the pics are b&w so it was tough to tell exactly where the tar paper was located. As I searched for other pictures, I found a board & batten roof Brian Nolan did with patches:
My thought was, the roof leaked at the bottom; they patched it up with a metal panel and tried to seal the top edge with some tar paper. As I think more about it, one structural problem is these battens:
They don’t make sense. How would they have gotten the panels underneath of them? So I could eliminate all or pieces of those two, but still…the color bothers me. Doesn’t look right.
I could tarpaper over the entire thing, but that’s taking the easy way out!
Kevin
February 2012
The one thing about how tarpaper and even cloth tarps are modeled is that we all make them “over conform” to what they are covering up. Even Bri did it on his roof. On your roof I would just not press it down quite as much if you know what I mean. How about making a patch with corrugated that is not so rusted and disintegrated. Maybe do some tar seams around a couple of pieces of corrugated and maybe a scrap of old batten nailed crosswise on top.
Kevin
Bill
February 2012 edited February 2012
I went back and reworked this little problem area. By accident, I discovered that I’d been etching the corrugated material incorrectly. The past few times I’ve worked with this stuff, I’d let it bubble up in the acid, rinse it in fresh water and then dust on some powders. This time I etched and rinsed some panels, but then let them dry on my glass surface overnight. That made a huge difference. As the water evaporates it leaves behind a natural rust and corrosion. Here are some of them…no paint, chalk or extra materail added:
Hopefully the effect shows in the picture. Some got really rusty, others were a weathered black, and others had some nice blueish gray tones. I found that it wasn’t even necessary to let them dry overnight. An hour or two seemed to be plenty.
As for the patch…the more subtle weathering effect looks pretty good. I still need to add some chalks to the tarpaper piece and drag the powders down onto the wood. Not perfect…but a bit more believable:
davej
February 2012
Hi Bill
your build is fantastic and I can’t wait to get started on mine.
With the etched roofing you may want to consider sealing it with dullcote or something similar. I found that if you allow it to air dry it actually continues to rust slowly and eventually gets a very dusty coating before crumbling away. This does take 12 months or so but it is a bit of a pain to go back and redo it. Even worse when you do a whole roof of it.
cheers
Dave
MikeM
February 2012
How have you been cleaning off the etchant afterward?
As an aside, how have folks been disposing of used etchant? I’m reluctant to just dump it down a drain…
Bill
February 2012
Dave-
Thanks for mentioning that. In previous builds when I used the Radio Shack etchant, I just rinsed it with water, dried it and hit it with alcohol and chalks. That’s probably why I never saw this rusting effect. It’s been only a year on the last project and I haven’t noticed the rusting effect continuing, but now you’ve got me a little concerned! I’ll have to keep an eye on it.
Does Dullcote neutralize the echant? Or does it just seal the surface and prevent it from oxidizing?
Mike-
I did a good rinse on the aluminum pieces (rinse twice in 2 separate containers of water). The first rinse is to stop the chemical reaction, the second is to get off any remaining etchant. After the 2 rinses and air drying, that’s when I got the corrosion effect. I’ve read some guys add baking soda to one of the rinses, but they said that tends to leave a white residue and advised against it.
To dispose of it…(and I’m not a chemist) add some baking soda or washing soda to the spent etchant to neutralize. Once neutralized, you can pour it down the drain:
davej
February 2012
the dullcote just seals the surface to prevent further oxidising as far as I can tell. With my previous use of the etchant I didn’t use alcohol or chalks as I found the colour to be just what I wanted. The alcohol and chalk may neutralize the etchant to some extent.
still looks good though.
Bill
February 2012
Cool. Thanks for that info. I’m getting close to roofing the larger section which is covered completely with etched panels (560 of them). The last thing I’d want is to have to re-do the thing 12 months from now!
davej
February 2012 edited February 2012
yes that would be horrible
I found that dullcote darkened the colour of the rust a little and gave a very nice rusty colour without the need for chalks etc so it may be worth a bit of experimenting.
I have attached a photo from my railroad camp diorama to give you an idea of etchant plus dullcote with no other treatment.
cheers
Bill
February 2012
I think for the first time during this build a made a goof–a big one. One of my measurements was off when I was laying out the structure locations putting the old mill a half inch too close to the new mill. Nothing that can’t be fixed, but it was enough to cause some considerable stress. Here’s the issue:
By placing the 2 structures a half inch too close, that left the roof card too long by half an inch. The only two possibilities to fix the problem: pull up the new mill and slide it over half an inch (not an option, really) or trim the roof card by that amount. Because of the location of the openings for the roof trusses, the card had to be trimmed off the angled side:
With the roof card cut to the correct length, I set about building the two peaks that extend out to the left and right. This entire portion of the roof needs to be removable in order to have access to the lights that will be going in and to allow the interior to be viewed. I built these peaks on the workbench in the same manner that Mike E.
I left the boards a little longer at the top where the peak forms and sanded the edges until the fit was correct. After glueing the 4 sections in place (to the roof card only), I completed the cap by filling in with shorter planks all the way to the roof card. Here’s how it turned out:
Removable!
Since the roof can come off, I added some additional purlins between the trusses in order to stabilize them and keep them in position:
The sheet metal panels are all cut and ready for weathering–all 558 of them!
Wes
February 2012
Well done on the roof save Bill. It came out well.
558 roof panels?? rather you than me.
brownbr
March 2012
The roof is really turning out great. The patches give a nice visual break.
ETinBH
March 2012 edited March 2012
Nice save on the roof - you will only need about 550 of them and they go on quickly - I used double sided tape and walthers goo on the caps - your underside looks better than mine lol
Elliott
