Railroad Camp - Stump Creek Lumber RR Office

SteveF

I realize this has been done here before but I thought I would post my build as it will have a few twists from the standard "as built" kit. The Mack AC build was put on hold these past few months because of a heavy regimen of business travel but I will also be updating that build as well. I'm taking a week of vacation and hope to be contributing on a regular basis. On to the Railroad Camp build.

I started with weathering the office using the standard tools as shown. In this scale, I really like using the fine tooth razor saw. With the correct pressure it doesn't leave as much of the fuzz that I've found with some of the other types. I use just the file card on some boards and the wire brush on others and some combination of all to add variety to the texture.



I used the alcohol and pastel powder method but substituted PanPastels for the coloring.



This is the wood after weathering and staining.



I started with the back wall of the office but haven't yet added the nail holes. I'm also thinking of adding a light wash of a black stain to bring out the wood grain and details.

SteveF

I''ve added the nail holes and a very light wash. Not all the nail holes are visible but I was trying for more of a scale effect. I may have to go over them again.

admin

Great start Steve. Looking forward to this build.

KKarns

Hey Steve, glad to see you posting this build. I think your nail holes look great particularly the two rows to the right of the windows. Not overdone and subtile, just what you want I would think. None of us should be concerned about posting builds that have been done before, as each one is unique and we learn so much from each other. Look forward to following along and Railroad Camp is one of my favorite kits. I haven't built mine yet but it has all the elements that I love to model...

SteveF

I've finished adding the siding to the four office walls. I've cut out a door in the wall that was originally without openings. I'm going to add an outside staircase that leads to this door from the loading platform. I used the piece I cut out to blank the center window on the opposite side wall. The concept is that there are a pair of offices along the front wall and one in the back right corner hence the window configuration. I've left the siding long on the side wall so that I can get a close fit on the corners. I'm going to add internal braces then finish the windows and door.

admin

I love the idea of the added stairway and can't wait to see it. This is the O Scale version and is the first of three kits that when combined will re-create the HO Scale diorama. The Truck Repair and Boiler Shop have not been released yet. Someday...

brownbr

Should be a fun build. Steel wool will remove the fuzzies from your brushed wood.

SteveF

It's been awhile but during my business travels I was able to get the basic second story of the office put together. I want to do more detailing but I thought I would show my progress to date.







I've got some 0000 steel wool now to clean up the fuzzier and I want to fix the gap in the window frame miters. Not to mention needing to clean up some of the weathering and add some wall details. Wow looking at these pictures on a large screen is certainly eye opening. Lots more work here!

I also modified the plain wall to add a door for the aforementioned outside staircase I'll be adding.

SteveF

For a little extra detail I cut the cardboard floor that overhangs the dock and adding individual floor boards. Although you'll probably have to stand on your head to see them.

brownbr

Nice clean construction. The miter cuts are not bad at all. What is your thought about the contrast in colors with the siding and the windows? Color is always a personal preference.

Will you be adding interior lighting? If so, you will want "room blocks" to divide the upstairs into sections. This is easily done with some black construction paper.

This is a good time to think about window coverings also. Do you want blinds/curtains of some type? If so, do it now before the roof goes on.

SteveF

Thanks Bryan for the comments and suggestions.

I like having stories with my structures. My thought on the colors was that this was a new second story office addition after the company had enjoyed a successful first two years of logging. Therefore, the office would have a fresh coat of paint in the company's new colors. It was to be a contrast to the more weathered warehouse and shed. In looking at the pictures though the contrast seems a bit too stark. I need to clean up the fuzzies on the trim. This will give me the chance to tone down that light grey with some darker chalks.

I love to have lighting in structures. I just finished a shed with a detailed interior and open doors that I lit with surface mount LED's in lamp shades. I really liked the effect. For the second story office, I wanted to put a desk and figure behind the open front window with lighting. View blocks are a good idea as I see the second story comprised of three offices and a small storage area. I think the view blocks will have to form a flat interior ceiling as well as a wall because of the peaked roof. Unless you see it differently.

For the Windows, I have some B.I.S. Venetian blinds that I was planning on using along with some tissue paper curtains on some of the back windows and maybe some pull down shades. I've always wanted to add a cord with a pull ring hanging from the bottom of a shade. We'll see. I need to find a small enough ring to make it work.

I took a diversion today and started on the tar paper shed. I'll post some pictures in the morning.
Thanks again
Steve

admin

I really like the story that accompanies the modeling... color combo looks wonderful. Looking forward to seeing this all together.

SteveF

I decided with the number of changes I have in mind for the Stump Creek Lumber office that I need to build from the ground up and attach each structure to the diorama base when they are completed. This will allow me to ensure accurate measurements for the extended dock area and other changes I'm contemplating. I'm also a visualizer and this allows me to make any necessary tweaks along the way.

I epoxied the four stone walls together that will comprise the original office structure. I reinforced the corners with 1/4" square stock which were also epoxied in place. I painted the inside a flat black and painted the outside with an inexpensive grey primer. A lighter grey or even a white might have been a better choice. I then painted most of the individual stones with acrylic paint from Michael's. I used the following colors diluted similar to the method used by Karl in his earlier build on the forum. I realize there is not much new here, just sharing my progress.



This gave me the following results.





My second step is to tone everything down with a blend of brown and black leather dyes diluted in 99% alcohol. While I'm applying the alcohol, I scrub fairly aggressively on any of the stones that appear to be too bright. I do this one wall at a time utilizing a hair dryer to move the process along.





While the alcohol stain blends everything together, it tends to leave the walls a little too muddy for my taste and the raw sienna is still too bright in a few places. What has worked for me on a previous stone structure is to use Pan Pastels after the acrylics to bring the walls back to life. That will be the next step.

SteveF

I'm back at the bench again and I've picked back up with a modified build of the storage shed. I wanted to personalize my Stump Creek Lumber Co. Office especially since there have already been a few builds of the O scale railroad camp kit on the forum. I decided to reverse the storage shed with the warehouse. I would space the warehouse away from the main office to allow for an outside stairway to the new second story office building. On the other side, I could space the storage shed back slightly and expose the boarded up window in the stone building. To make this work I shortened the storage shed 1 1/2" in length and reversed the walls. I put in a floor of individual boards so that with the door open and interior lighting I could place some of those excellent SWSM castings inside the left wall. Here is the preliminary build of that version.






Part way through the build tonight, I thought it might be even more interesting if I moved the storage shed to the back of the stone building. This would allow me to build an open frame work shed to the right of the office building.

SteveF

I've modified the shed to move it to the back wall. I shortened the two end walls from the kit by a scale foot. I then cut out new longer side walls. I cut out a freight door for the long wall overhang in the passage between the office and the warehouse. I cut out two windows in the back wall. The double window opening will house a vent fan and a window. I plan on trimming the walls, adding windows, doors and a floor tomorrow.





I found this fabric textured paper in my supplies and used it to cover the walls. I'm not sure where I got it. I hope the texture with the chalk weathering will show the storage shed along with the stone building as the oldest structures in the group.



That's all for tonight.
SteveF

admin

I like the idea so far of moving the tarpaper shed and opening it up - will be interesting to see how this affects the composition on the scene.

SteveF

I thought I would post an update of the storage shed. With the side door and two warehouse doors open, I needed to build a wood floor and line the inside of the walls with individual boards as well. I plan on lighting the interior and placing details in all the visible areas and I didn't want the card stock showing.



I also needed to build and weather the warehouse and side doors. I Finished the side door tonight adding hinges and and door handle that goes through both sides of the door. I haven't got the warehouse doors installed yet but have included a picture. They need more weathering, hinges and door pulls.





I've included one last picture to illustrate the view to the interior with the door open. You can also see the vent I included next to the window. I made this with individual boards and painted it this evening with my new SWSM paint set which just arrived today. Thank you Brett!



I continue to be in awe of the quality of modeling shown on this forum. The latest discussion builds of O'Neil's and the Loco and Service shops are clinics on to themselves. I can only hope to get to that level of modeling some day. Thanks Brett for including me in this incredible group of modelers.
SteveF

brownbr

That's a nifty looking door pull

SteveF

Thanks Bryan. I used a piece of .016 wire bent into a "U" with a flat bottom to space the handles away from the backing plate which is made of card stock with a hole drilled to allow the wire to pass through. I am going to use the same card stock on the door edge and the door frame to complete the latch assembly.

SteveF

I used the same wire to form the handles for the warehouse doors. I used a bit larger wire to form the lock bolt and put it on a piece of card stock for a backing plate. The ring for the latch on the opposite door was a loop cut from an old white metal shovel handle that I filed to shape. There's still more clean up work on the boards and the tar paper siding but I wanted to update my progress.





I also decided that the large hinges used on the warehouse doors were oversized for the side door and I decided it would also be more practical for that door to open in not out. So I removed the hinges and remounted the door to the other side of the door frame. I cut small pieces of .025" wire to represent the pivots on the door hinge. Again, there is more cleanup to do on the boards and the tarpaper. I may replace the sign as well because it looks a bit too weathered.



Next, I'm going to paint and detail the castings for inside the shed so I can get the lighting and the roof in place. I'm also thinking of mounting the shed on a board walk that extends past the side door and wraps around in front of the warehouse doors that would then step up to the front loading dock tying everything together.

The warehouse will contain all of the supplies for the lumber company so I may use this shed as a storage location for oil, lubes and paint but I'm not sure. I need to decide the purpose of the building so I can paint and add the castings that fit the location.
SteveF

brownbr

OK I'm 100% sure I am stealing the door handle and latch idea when I eventually get around to another build.

Karl.A

I love the way Bretts kits inspire us modelers building them to just keep pushing themselves further and further.
The door latches and hinges are some superb modeling, and definitely inspiring to replicate.
The boarded interior, the door hardware, the louvred window, just great all around.

Karl.A

Bill

Love it!
Very innovative work executed flawlessly! Little details like this I think are what draws a viewer in for a closer look.

Jerry

Some fine work there Steve. And some nice details for the doors.

Jerry

KKarns

Steve, Just catching up here and your door treatment is wonderfully done. Great details and I love the look of the floor just inside the open door in the last picture. Great stuff and really nice having you on the forum...Ken

SteveF

Thank you Karl, Bill, Jerry and Ken! I really appreciate the comments coming from such fine modelers as yourselves. I've really missed posting these past two weeks but I've been traveling quite a bit with business and it's difficult to balance the modeling time. But believe me, I certainly miss it. I'm traveling again this week but didn't want to miss anymore time on this project, so I switched to the warehouse. I figured once all the boards were weathered I could use my hotel room to get them mounted to the walls.

I started by weathering the boards as described by Brett in his instructions and the excellent videos in the Craftsman University. This is the first time I've ever done applied knot holes and was amazed at how much detail they added.



I then decided to try the technique in Brett's latest video, "wet brushing". I still need to work on the technique and could probably use a better brush but here are the results.



It's great to be back and thanks to everyone posting here especially the O'Neil's discussions. This is truly a great place to learn and a great escape from the rigors of everyday life.
Steve F

Wes

Hi Steve

Those are some wonderful results. The knot holes are perfect and the tonal variation in the paint is pretty spot on.

SteveF

Thanks Wes for the kind remarks. I continue to find a great community of modelers on this forum.

Well, the business travels continue and I didn't get as much accomplished as I had hoped but I wanted to get something posted to keep the momentum going. I'm really looking forward to the long weekend next week. I've got the siding on the walls and will get them trimmed next. I've also primed all of the castings including the doors. So, I hope to have a completed warehouse next weekend. It looks a little darker in the photographs than it actually is especially the dock side wall and the knotholes.





SteveF

KKarns

Steve, nice peeling paint effect, such an excellent variation in coverage, well done. Knot holes look good and not overdone. I noticed two pairs of butted board ends that I like real well and would have done all the others in a similar fashion...The picture directly above and the butted boards to the left of the large opening is the first. Second one, next picture up and the third butted pair from the right. Those two fit the wear of the building and if you added just a faint couple of subtile nail holes and just a hint of darker weathering with just a sprits of AI. Do you plan to "dirty" up the white siding at all? This of course is just my taste. I would love to see what just a little 408.3 or 408.5 lightly rubbed on with my finger would look like. Remember Steve, I'm the aged, weathered, grimy, oily type...not for everyone! Looking good...Ken

SteveF

Thanks Ken. I really appreciate the comments. That is exactly the reason I've enjoyed this forum so much. It's a great exchange of excellent tips and creative ideas. Now that I look at the pictures, the weathered ends fit the overall look so much better than the straight cuts. When I get home this weekend, I'm going to remove and weather several of those straight cut ends. I was also going to add some nail holes but hadn't got to it yet.
I'm really happy to hear your suggestion about "dirtying up" the siding. I was debating whether the white needed a little more aging. I like the idea of using some pastel rubbed on with my finger. I'm going to try that as well this weekend. I'll post the pictures this weekend and look forward to everyone's comments.
SteveF

KKarns

Steve, hate to see you remove any of that siding as it does look great. Just mentioned it for future reference and again, that aged look is not for everyone or every structure. I do think you'll like "dirtying" up the white paint just a little. Very subtile on the nail holes...less is more here...Ken