#301 Logging and Tractor Repair Shed (O Scale). Karl.A

Pappy

Dave,thanks for posting these brushes to others.
I also use the pipe cleaner first on my wood followed by the steel file card brush ( the flat one second to right).
Works fantastic for texturing wood

kebmo

i ordered a set of scratch brushes from harbor freight. don't bother. don't ask why i say that either. suffice it to say i no longer have them.

kebmo

brownbr said:

Everyone has a favorite brush technique. I found that controlling the plumber and wheel brush to be awkward for me and never tried using a power tool. I found a very stiff steel brush (Hobart 770108) and a softer steel brush shaped like a toothbrush to be more comfortable.

i went to order one at amazon. list price is $2.99, but they only have one from an outside source and that one is $7.99 plus $8.99 shipping. i'll pass for now.

a good stiff brush is hard to find these days. i have all the brushes dave has, and the wheel that karl has (although i[ve never thought to use it on stripwood until i saw karl's post), and even that goofy curved one that brett has. i'd still to find a smaller stiff brush like the one bryan uses.

Pappy

The card file works great...you may want to try it. Makes wood texture look more real before adding ac/chalk.
Been using it for a few years now

Karl.A

OK, here we go... y'all made me dig out my toy's from 10 or so years ago when I used to play much more and model much more, glad to be back !!



1) my current awesome wall that will hopefully get even better... lol

2) a grill cleaning brush, produces wide grooves/grains after preliminary graining. (Best for O scale)

3) a 2" very stiff wire wheel, great for initial graining, quick and destructive, also pokes your fingers if you hold it wrong, but a great first step (heavy use O scale, light use HO)

4) two different sizes of plumbers/pipe cleaning brushes, the 3/4" brush is good for deeper wider grain, mostly O scale, the 1/2" brush is good for tighter finer grain, in HO and O scale. I like to use these after the more severe brushes for finer detail.

5) A card file, awesome for super deep heavy grain in thicker siding (I think used on my BlueSky builds, but so long ago not quite sure) and dock legs, pier supports , trestle bents etc, usually too pronounced for HO but a great tool to use for extreme situations... also great for producing end deterioration on joists etc as described in the O scale sawmill manual.

6 ) Sewing needles in their plastic carrier as bought from the dollar store. You can slide the needles up and down in the plastic strip to increase or decrease the severity of the graining.

7) 6 or 7 old, dull exacto blades stuffed into the end of a pen, you can also slip a piece of stripwood between a bade or two to vary the spacing of the grains. Use the back of the blades for wider grain or switch to the sharp side for thinner grain.

8) A simple cheap wire brush, but, everyone complains the bristles are too flexible and don't impart any grain... simply trim the bristles down with nail clippers or whatever to make them shorter and stiffer, awesome for HO graining, tight, defined and varied. Also great for smaller O scale lumber such as door/window frames.

Karl.A

Pappy, it is indeed a great tool, at the right time/situation.

brownbr

Kevin, I found those brushes at Northern Tool one day and bought several. They are as stiff as the card file in Karl's picture and give me a better feel in my hand.

kebmo

exactly what i'm looking for....

Karl.A

Decided to jump over to work on some of the details while I think about for the walls for a while.

The resin was sprayed black many years ago, luckily I kept the metal parts safely in their box for all these years, so pulled them out and blackened the parts for the engine.
Also pulled the awesome 'out of order' lathe casting out of the pile to work on that at the same time.



Threw a quick bit of paint and chalk onto one of the tread castings to get a feel for what I was working on, I'll strip it back off tomorrow when I get to work on it properly. Gotta love the details that start showing up in Bretts castings when you throw a little paint at them and a quick dry brushing.


Going to go look at some research photos tonight, there are several great ones in the other threads here and plenty online, I'll start epoxying it together tomorrow and get to painting and finishing.

Karl.A

Karl.A

Looks like someone went a little crazy with the yellow rattle can on this one, but, atleast they did mask off the black seat...


I think I'm gonna go with 1,3, & 4 instead... ha

brownbr

I'm sure it will look great.

Karl.A

Thanks for the confidence Bryan, I decided to paint all the parts tonight prior to epoxying them all together, I figured I could get better coverage that way. Assembly tomorrow.

sdrees

You now Karl, you can go to ACE hardware and get a rattle can of Caterpillar yellow.

Karl.A

Thanks Steve, indeed you're right.
Two things... by the time I'm finished it wouldn't make any difference anyway... lol
I imagine the rattle can is solvent based therefore weathering/chipping effects wouldn't work the same, also its probably gloss.

EmeryJ

Karl. Yes on both assumptions. I use the John Deere yellow all the time in my shop, and that is the case with it. Too bad too, it was an excellent idea.

SteveCuster

That first shot of just the tread casting painted and weathered looks great. Looking forward to the rest of the tractor Karl.

Karl.A

Thanks much for the confirmation Emery. Thanks Steve, I was playing/trying things out at that point.

Did some work on the engine this afternoon. Stripped the insulation off some electrical wires to get some thin strands for the wiring and blackened the various sizes.




Below.
Two hoses out the front are main coolant lines which would attach to the removed radiator. Made from wire with the wire removed from the insulation leaving a tube/hose, as per the instructions in the manual.
The six yellow lines are metal fuel lines running from the injectors.
The two red lines are the power lines for the water pumps.
The other two black lines hiden behind everythin else are just secondary coolant hoses.


Below.
The two red lines are sparkplug leads for the starter motor.
The yellow line is a rod for some sort of valve operation, I think.
I made the exhaust for the starter motor from some brass rod and bent it to shape following one of the proto pics from above and tied it into the main exhaust manifold.
Exhaust stack made from brass tube.


I'll prob add some more detail but I'm gonna let this cure first, bad pics but good enough for progress.

The weathering on the engine did look better, but, I had the assembly balanced on my coffee cup while I was adding the water pump power lines and knocked it into my coffee... dangit... so now it has coffee(which was black) weathering, which dulled/blurred some of the effects... oh well.... haha

Karl.A

I was gonna leave it semi clean, because as anyone knows who works on cars, machinery or any kind of mechanical equipment the VERY first thing you do is hose/wash that thing thing down before you start working on it... but ...

I decided to try out making things a little dirty this time around, just to see the effects, easy enough to reverse if I dont like it.

The original story was it had just been washed off ready to be worked on, but ideas evolve... so, I tried the dirty look out on one of the tracks to check out my options.





I was trying to get that 'clumpy' 'lumpy' muddy look, with plenty of texture, depth and definition, not just the 'dirty', look.

brownbr

It's a good look.

Karl.A

Thanks Bryan, I'm still playing around with it...
I messed up the seat but hopefully the tarp and details will hide the flaws.

Keep it Rusty

This looks very cool, Karl! Love the caked mud. This thing has had some serious use!
If you are covering your seat and feel like experimenting, there is an effect I've always liked when moderated: a highlight stroke to one edge of paint chips. It makes them appear 3D, as if flaking or layered.

KCSTrains

Karl, sorry I've been absent. I'm catching up. Thanks for the tutorial on brushes. It's a bit easier for HO. I love what you are doing with the bulldozer. How did you get the black marks? Did you just rub off some of the paint with a toothpick? Thanks. Phil

kebmo

dozer looks really good karl. i especially like the steering levers. they turned out awesome. the paint job looks just like a 1903 galion road grader i was lucky enough to operate as a 17 yr old laborer. seriously good.

Karl.A

Thanks Craig, I brushed off alot of the caked on dirt from the first side and left it on the second, which is why each side is different, I wanted to see the different looks before a final decision... now I can either add more dirt to the first side or remove some from the heavier second, when I decide... still not sure..

anyone have any opinions/preferences ????

I'll update you on the seat in a minute, but yes , the highlights on chips are something I've done previously, another good 'trick' to get a 3d depth effect on chips is to do a first 'top' coat with a much lighter shade, then your final 'top coat' color coat, then chip it off (remember you heard it here first!!!) Your chips will then have a two tone 'highlight' edge in some areas due to the layering, and difference of the top coats.
Chalk weathering can often obliterate this subtle effect in most situations, such as rusting, which is why I stopped doing it.

Thanks Phil, glad you're catching up. Hmmm the black marks... sore point... I'm not used to modeling with glasses on yet, so, I forget to wear them and do something thinking it looks good, then put them on and think, damn!, that aint so good as I thought.
Primed black, yellow top coat, I chipped the yellow with a fingernail instead of a tooth pick, looked great till I put my glasses on and took the pictures and saw them, not good at all.

Thanks Kev, always great to have a first hand confirmation, the levers were so easy following the manual, the footplate around them is actually steel/bare metal color, but doesn't show up in the previous pics.

Well, I couldn't live with the seat, or the rear panel, I cant make excuses, so I just went ahead and repainted it. I'll re-chip it and rust it shortly...

kebmo

after the seat mods....perfect!

Karl.A

Thanks Kev, lets hope so...
if not, we'll just go at it again... ha

Karl.A

Dang it Kev, I think I chipped off too much again... lol
Oh well, third times a charm...


Well, actually, the paint dried way too 'clumpy' after I repainted it straight over the already chalked area, So, I just stripped it completely. Here we go again.

(Kevin, in that pic you can see a little bit of that subtle metal shine I added along the side edge of the foot plate, where the operator would get on and off)

Karl.A

Six re-do's and I can live with this version, I'm fairly happy with the result, not perfect and not finished, but, I am happier with the overall 'chip'.
Obviously gas cap, fuel drip, rust streaks, grab handles on the fuel tank and further things to follow. I also need to add the snorkle to the air intake, but that will absolutely be the last thing.



Here's a pic of the foot plate Kevin, it doesnt really show the metal/silver color but you can notice how I made the foot plate cleaner/shinier where the driver would sit as opposed to the occasional passenger side,
ie: paint worn off on both sides but more worn on the driver side, after all... there's always a driver but not always a passenger, therefor the drivers side is more worn/polished.
Sometimes it's the little things...

kebmo

i've never seen a passenger on a bulldozer so it's all good. that steel plate sure looks like the real deal.