yet another o scale railroad camp build

kebmo

thanks rick. got it. now i'm just waiting for my order to get here. i ordered more leds and 25 ft of red and 25 ft of black wire (so i have it in stock) and some shrink tube because i want the switch to be outside the building so i can hide it and still be able to get to it; then i'll attach the power, test it, and glue the front and end wall on and start on the roofs. i'm still waiting for 3 more packs of shingles from bis.

MuddyCreekRR

Was going to ask that...what voltage are you working with.....I'm trying to stay with the 3 volt lights....on a 9 volt system with resistors.....

KKarns

I'm not adept at the wiring either Kevin but I must say...I love the slang "nitwit" !!! my Dad used to say that a lot and I absolutely love it...get this beast done!...oh...no hurry.

kebmo

art, i'm powering the lights with a 9 volt battery
ken, i can't help being a nitwit......
once i manage to finish up with the lighting i'm going to start on the roofs.
ah hell, i must just start shingling.

Karl.A

Got so many builds sitting at 75% - 90% done, but cant finish them 'cos I'm too scared to learn about the lighting BS and I want them lit before I close them up.
So, its good for me to get this information from as many great theads as I can.
Loving the build.

Mountaingoat

Karl, you can do it. Kevin has figured it out, so can you.

Rick

Karl.A

Over thinking is my problem Rick, not figuring it out... ha ha ha

kebmo

karl, evans designs seems to make it pretty simple, but that said, i'm not finished with tbhe lighting yet, so i should keep my piehole shut until i am.

sdrees

I was the same way about lighting. I would procrastinate over and over again about how to do it. There are many different ways you can do it, such as Kebmo has done is one way. I finally made up my mind several projects ago about how I wanted to do it and have settled on a system for my buildings and layout. Now I have to go back after my sawmill has been done for several years and add lights. And it is not as easy as if I had done it when I built the project.

So a very simple explanation on how I am doing my lighting in my buildings. I am using 3 volt LED's of course, wiring them parallel vs series which a lot of people have told me you can't do that , I do not use resistors, bridge rectifiers etc, but I use a 3 volt power supply which might be a 3 volt coin battery. But for a permanent installation on my layout, I am going to install a a separate 12 volt AC bus wires around the layout and where I have a cluster of buildings, I am going to install an AC/DC to DC Adjustable Voltage Converter with a terminal block and wire the buildings in that area to it. I will drop the voltage to 3 volts with the converter.

So Karl A, you told me I over think things or was that Brett. So get off you butt and do it.

Before I modeled water, I use to procrastinate over that and read various articles on it. So again, once I did it, no big deal.

kebmo

i went back a half dozen pages of this thread, and i don't think i ever posted the pics of the finished outhouse, so ladies and gentlemen, here it is.






if i did actually post the pix, ignore this entry.

Karl.A

Im sorry to say, it looks like shit,
but in a good way.
Oh, and the way you've done those shingles... that roofs gonna leak (private joke).

Love the wood distressing and color, love the moss, overgrown shrubbery is superb ( lots of natural deviation/variety in color and texture). The door hanging off is a nice touch and looks at a great natural angle. Nice work indeed.

kebmo

thanks karl, and glad to see you back on the forum. you've been missed.

vietnamseabee

Going back to a comment by Karl about “not finishing projects “. Am I missing something by thinking it’s okay to spot the lights and string the wire thru the base and figure out voltage, resistors, etc sometime in the future....that way a build can be completed except for the lighting?
Terry

kebmo

makes sense....

KKarns

Nice Kev...

kebmo

thanks ken. it was a fun diversion.

Dave_S

Terry,
Sounds like a very acceptable and workable lighting plan to me. I test all my strategically placed structure lights then add the structure to a diorama with nice long leads, as Kevin has mentioned, to be illuminated at a later time.
Later, Dave S. Tucson, AZ

kebmo

i cut out two roof panels for the gable roof and scribed lines for shingling. i have 11 packages of bis cedar shake shingles (ed sent me 5 of them) and i hit them all with homemade silverwood stain. when that dried i hit exposes on the sheet with another dose of silverwood. and when that dried i scraped ocher (234.3) on the upper portions of the shingles where it wouldn't exposed so much and washed that in with a 1" brush and alot of i/a across the sheet so as not to pull the ochre into the exposed area of the shingle, and let that dry,



i gotta say, these shingles look nice, but i will never buy self adhesive shingles again. these are a downright bitch to work with.

TomMich

Coloring looks great! You have your work cut out for you!

KCSTrains

That's the trouble with large structures - large roofs!! I'm sure you are up for the task. I do like the coloring. Phil

kebmo

thanks tom and phil,
i have 9 more sheets to color but i wrote down the formula and steps so it shouldn't be a problem to duplicate the colors.
those 17 inch runs on the big roof with these shingles is really gonna be a lot work. i started on the gable roof last night and got one course of shingles down and had to stop, but my good buddy ed gave me some good advise today (he loves these shingles), ed says i need to cut the shingle strips into 3-4" pieces and it should go alot easier. i'm gonna give it a try tonight.

Karl.A

I'm liking the colouring you achieved on those shingles Kevin, very nice.
Ed gave you some good advice. Smaller pieces will be easier to manage and apply to your roof, sounds crazy but adding more, smaller pieces should also go quicker.

As for my advice, (after doing many large roofs), color all of your shingles before you get started, even if you do way too many. Cut them up as Ed says then mix them all up.
I know you say the process should be easy to repeat, but trust me, one block of a slightly darker batch will show out. I know you're anxious to get goin and roofing, but my advice is step back, color the rest and then get after it.

Looking great so far and I know it will be superb when complete, blended and weathered, remember, the roof is the first thing you see on a structure and I know you are gonna do it well.

KKarns

I'm with Karl...color looks great!

kebmo

thanks karl and ken. coming from you guys especially, that means something.
i've already sort of started the gable roof (9" x 4 1/8th" on one side, 9"x 3 3/4" on the other side where the roofs meet), but only a starter row and the first course of shingles. i think i'll take your advise and color the rest of the sheets.
and i'll get the angles for the rafter tails and draw me a cutting guide.

kebmo

i want to add....i went through 4 ounces of silverwood staining all the sheets of shingles. actually i probably have a few teaspoons left. my plan when i mix the next batch is to add a couple drops of bone paint in it and then apply it randomly to the exposed parts of the shingles. i think it'll be tedius but worth it.

Karl.A

Thanks for the faith in, and acknowledgement of my opinion. I've done way too many 'do-overs' due to rushing ahead, that I've learned, a little extra time in the beginning saves a lot of time in the end.

kebmo

i just spent two hours applying chalk aand washing it in, and i still have five sheets to go.
made up a new batch of silverwood with a couple drops of white paint in it. i'll experiment with it tomorrow and add more white if need be.
i'm also cutting the shingle strips into 1 1/2" -2" pieces and tossing them into a container, had to call it a night cuz my neck started killing me. time for a beer and a cbd gummie, and maybe a movie with the mrs.

Robert.G

It does !!

kebmo

ed, i'm cutting the shingle strips into 2" sections. that made it a lot easier. i've installed 3 courses of shingles on the gable roof, and they went on really easy and they look fantastic. i'll finish coloring the shingles tonight and i'll be roofing tomorrow.

kebmo

i've learned a few things:
for the bigger roof, i will cut the strips in 5" pieces instead of 2" pieces.
i really do like these shingles once the strips are cut into smaller pieces. using full sized strips is simply too unwielding.
i shingled the left side of the gable roof this morning and i think i turned out pretty good. here's a pic, but it hasn't been weathered yet. it will be weathered when all the roofs are shingled.


thoughts and/or suggestions?