Robert started this thread in May, 2018
Robert.G
November 2017 in O Scale Builds
Ok guys, as I can’t install the dueling shacks for now, (the layout is in France, I am in Belgium for a few more weeks,) I thought, well lets move on to the next build. ( I know Brett is anxious to see his kits come together…) A step higher on the difficulty ladder 
..
So, I decided to start with the Woodcutters Shack. Already some time ago , but only now a little bit presentable. As always, I like to put in my personal touch, variations on a theme so to speak.
The construction of the edifices is done, but no final patination yet. So, still a lot of work in that department… Same for the marvelous details. With each kit I am overwhelmed by their beauty.
Here we go…
More later.
Robert
Comments
nextceo
November 2017
Shingles look really good. Did you just paint them Gray and then dry brush with some lighter grays and off whites?
Alan
CarlLaskey
November 2017
Robert. It looks wonderful almost like a painting nice work. …Carl
Joel
November 2017
Great colour and texture. Really stunning.
Joel
Robert.G
November 2017
Yes Alan, there are no powders used here. But I will do so later when I add moss and more dirt particles. I did paint them almost one by one to get the difference betweem them. In between layers, some brushing with wire brush and light sanding to get structure and taking off color on the edges. But like I said, more patination will follow.
brownbr
November 2017
Very nice.
admin
November 2017
Love your work RG, most notably the natural variations in the coloring/weathering of the various components. Really like the ladder rungs too!
KKarns
November 2017
Amazing attention to the wood finishes, and your distinct style is wonderful. Love the weathered tar paper roof.
sdrees
November 2017
Robert,
Very nice, I like your coloring and texture as it is not to dark.
Robert.G
December 2017
The Woodcutters workbench and sledge.
More separate details will be added of course.
OK, back to the euh…bench… 
admin
December 2017
Have no idea where resin casting ends and wood begins… Outstanding. Love the b/w pics too! Oh yeah, pitted old rust is fantastic as well.
Bill
December 2017
Perfectly executed!
I hope you’ll post a brief tutorial on how you achieved that corrosion effect. It’s so well done, Mark!
Joel
December 2017
More amazing detail work. Thanks for posting. Something to try and emulate.
Robert.G
December 2017
Ok Bill, this is what I do.
For the rust, two things are important. Color and structure. For the colors, I used the Rembrandt chalks numbers; 411,5 Burnt Sienna, 236,5 Light Orange, 236,3, another light Orange, 409,3 Burnt Umber, and 700,5, Black.
As always I primed the castings, resin or white metal, with my black cellulose thinner metal primer. This is a strong primer which can take any patination. Soft or aggressive . ( I use it to prime my brass build rolling stock )
Can handle and resist any solvent except cellulose thinner of course.
Now any primer will do, just bare in mind what solvent it is made of.
The structure is build up by mixing these chalks with a mat varnish as a binder. Applied in several layers.
With this thickness, the alcohol won’t hold the chalk together.
For the rest it is just a matter of playing around with the colors. Just pay attention that the rust on cast iron is different than rust on steel plates of which the reservoir is made of. The latter will result more in layers of rust.
The black chalk is used very thrifty . Just to give some accents here and there.
Now sometimes when I don’t like the result, I just wash everything back off with thinner and start all over again…
I hope this is of some use. But when I look at all the forum members’ results, I wonder if I can show you anything you didn’t already know.
Robert
CarlLaskey
December 2017
Robert. Great work and thank you for the wonderful info. …Carl
KKarns
December 2017
Nicely done casting work Robert.
nextceo
December 2017
Looks fantastic…and thank you for the details on how you accomplished your results. Can’t wait to see more.
Dave_S
December 2017
Robert,
Stunning and real are the two adjectives that come to mind when I look at this build. But the two components that really jump out at me are the tar paper roof and the rusted castings. If I didn’t know that this was posted on a modeling forum and I had not seen some of your previous postings I would be hard pressed to say with certainty that these weren’t just photos of real life examples.
Can you explain how you make your " black cellulose thinner metal primer"? Is it a home brew or a commercially available product?
Thanks, Joyeux Noel , Dave S. Tucson, AZ
Robert.G
December 2017
Dave, it is just a commercially available product I get from my restoration products supplier. Should be available in the US aswel. But any primer will do you know. It is just that I have that one on hand.
TedH
December 2017
Nice. The tar paper roof sections are great and the way you raised a texture on the rust–I like that.
Bill
December 2017
Robert.G said:
I hope this is of some use. But when I look at all the forum members’ results, I wonder if I can show you anything you didn’t already know.
Robert
You’re far too modest, Robert!!
We’re all here to learn and improve. I ain’t ashamed to admit it: You’re showing me stuff!
kebmo
December 2017
indeed…
Geezerbill
January 2018
Robert, I am just catching up on all the build threads. Your work is outstanding!! Wow, I can’t say anything that hasn’t been said. Just wonderful modeling. I really love the roof. It looks just right. Thank you for providing the “how to”.
Geezerbill
Robert.G
May 2018 edited May 2018
The wall and hangar took a while but now we continue with the Woodcutters Shack. The tank. I made a hinge on the lid so it could tilt. I wasn’t sure about the chain.
And now that I see the photo’s so much enlarged, I wonder what the tiny holes all around are. They don’t really show when you see the tank from a normal point of view. Oh, and I put the ladder upside down…oops
Soon more..
Joel
May 2018
What great weathering. Love the caked on rust and the repaired rung on the ladder. Amazing
MuddyCreekRR
May 2018
Nice…
KKarns
May 2018
Wonderful layered rust effect. Wood appears old a “grungy” just the way I like it as well…Ken
Robert.G
May 2018
Hi Robert. I was looking over your tank on the woodcutters shack. I looks great. How did you get the rust texture?
Steve Custer asked me this, but it can be of use to everyone who was wondering, so here some explanation.
Hey Steve, it’s very simple. I used the chalks but instead of applying them with alcohol, I used diluted turpentine based mat varnish. This will hold the ‘thicker’ layers better when dry than the alcohol.
Also, when dry another layer on top won’t dissolve the previous one like with alcohol. Using a rather stiff bristle brush gives the texture. Several thin layers of different rust tones are applied. Then with diluted oils I did the darker parts.
So no rocket science here…
Robert.G
May 2018 edited May 2018
Working on the details, I thought, well let’s detail the details… As I wanted to light up the scene, there 's a hanging lamp coming under the shed, but for the shack itself, I had this surreal, but illuminating idea.
For those who have build it, they know, a small, no, a tiny lantern in white metal is included. So , says I, why don’t we make this little fellow functional, than it can stand on a workbench or so ,in front of the shack, and lighten up the scene…
Well this is what I did. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves..
One thing, either you have eagle eyes, which I don’t have , or serious magnifying spectacles … 
I used an smd led and soldered two thin wires to it.
soon more
SteveCuster
May 2018
As usual really great work Robert. Very clever. I can’t wait to see it in the scene
Robert.G
May 2018
May I present you, dear fellow SW builders, my version of The Woodcutters Shack. Except for one item, it is finished. And this one item is the woodcutting figure. I am not quiet sure what to do with this little guy. As is, I don’t think he’s good enough to use. He, as Brett mentioned on the little green paper, doesn’t stands up to the usual SW quality standards.
And I totally agree. So, ether I will do a lot of work on him, try to find a better version or sculpt one myself. We’ll see.
I enjoyed the ride and hope you as well. When you get tired of the photos, I made a lot, just scroll down…
And I leave you with this one. Thanks Brett and you all for taking the time to watch.
Robert
vietnamseabee
May 2018 edited May 2018
The green mold/moss on the roof shingles is great…perhaps this was covered in an earlier post but it really sets off the shingles
What’s the next project of your workbench…looking forward to following it as well
Terry
vinceg
May 2018
As usual, Robert, your work is impeccable. Some, no…most of those pictures defy recognition as a model rather than a photo of a real 1:1 structure.
What do you use to take the pictures, by the way? I assume it is not an old iPhone 4S…
Vince
Robert.G
May 2018 edited May 2018
Just an old , small Nikon Coolpix , nothing fancy..
KKarns
May 2018
Beautiful work Robert. Too much to comment on individually! Superb modeling in all respects.
Joel
May 2018
I agree with Ken. Beautiful colour and texture. It all works together as one amazing diorama. Thanks for inspiring.
sdrees
May 2018
Like I have said before, I thought these were pictures of a 1 to 1 scale woodcutters shack. Absolutely marvelous
brownbr
May 2018
An excellent diorama. Great work.
nextceo
May 2018
Excellent work..all the color tones look so natural.
Well Done.
Alan
Karl.A
May 2018 edited May 2018
Fantastic Robert, a beautiful diorama with your unmistakable eye (and execution) on the colours, textures and finish of absolutely everything.
A couple of things I really like about it (but there is more I like about it).
I love the light, airy, spacious feel you convey and have achievied, although it looks like you used the original placements.
The flow and your rearrangement of the details works very well.
The “SierraWest” logo as a sign is also something I try to subtly do on each build, your placement of it and ‘slight’ but well thought out obscurement of it is perfect.
I love the corrugated sheet over the chopped wood, it’s something I’ve been meaning to do for quite a while on a dio, (I have one in real life and thought it would be cool to model), however, you beat me to it and it looks fantastic.
Great modelling all around.
Karl.A
Robert.G
May 2018
Thanks Karl and everybody, glad you like my version of this kit.
Yes I’ve tried to make the ensemble more dynamic by placing the different structures not in line.
There is a little more space between the shack and the six pole shed, the tank on its platform is placed slightly backwards and a little further away from the shack. I added shutters to the windows, so they have to be opened, otherwise there is no point in doing so.
Because the woodcutter decided to put the old chest of drawers with al his ‘well organized’ stuff in it , where it stands now, the right hand shutter wasn’t of any use anymore, so he just took it down and dumped it under the window, behind the stacked boxes and cans.
Although it is on a base with the original dimensions, it gives , like you’ve noticed so well, a more airy feel to the diorama. The same with the shack itself. It is placed on a concrete slab to elevate it a bit. Make it a little more important than the other artifacts .
One doesn’t see much of that, but it justifies the two steps up to the porch made of old sleepers. Again , a nice detail.
At first , I thought, where am I gonna put all these castings. There are so much of them. But finally, except a few, there almost all there…
On the other hand, I didn’t place all the signs. As for the SW logo, I thought it would be an interesting cameo..but not to obvious. That’s why it is placed more or less behind other stuff. Just for the attentive observer to discover.
I also have a piece of corrugated sheet over chopped wood in my garden and it’s a simple yet nice detail to imitate on a diorama. Goes to show that you’ve just have to keep your eyes open and see what goes on around you.
I don’t know if anyone noticed the swallow’s nest, under the tarpaper roof of the shed ? And the inevitable poo drippings on the wood beneath it …
For the arrangement of things, just try to be the woodcutter and think logic. Use the little grey cells..
AlexR
May 2020
Robert,
What is this?
I’ve called around asking for styrene tube. i’ve also thought of using fishing line, and building it up with the below product?
JayNSmith
May 2020
Amazing. The photo composition adds to the stunning beauty of the model
kebmo
May 2020
a sparrow’s nest? seriously?