O scale Woodcutter's Shack build by an N scaler

kebmo

i dry brushed "barn wood" (craft acrylic) on all four walls. the front and back walls have some "splits" built into them. when i was cutting out the window/door openings i realized that you can add me to the list that built the front wall backwards (d'oh!). i'm going to lightly go over the walls with sandpaper and then probably dry brush a little more barnwood and maybe a touch of grime toward the bottom of the walls.
i'm a little concerned about getting the window material to match the siding boards since the siding boards are showing so much graining, but i'll just keep at it until i'm happy with it. that's up next.

kebmo

two end walls boarded....

Karl.A

Looking good Kevin, great variety in the tones of colour and the construction is tight and precise as always. Looking forward to the next two walls. (and some more of your great details)

Karl.A

kebmo

built the wheelbarrow today. it still needs some weathering, but for all intents and purposes it's finished. i snapped a drill bit drilling out the hole for axle wire and the hole turned out to be too small anyway, so i drilled it out with a #76 bit and it worked perfectly. i also installed the front and rear windows and tomorrow i'll detail the walls and hopefully glue them up.
the sled is also complete except for the water tank. i'm waiting for some paint to dry and then i'll get that one finished too.

Karl.A

Wheel barrow looks great Kevin, I love that casting/mini kit from Brett.
I've built several of them in various SWSM kits and they always amaze me.

Looking forward to seeing the sled and the rest of your work.
Shovel looks great, nicely worn/polished from shoveling all that sawdust, perfect.

Karl.A

kebmo

i spent an hour and a half after work today building the oil tank base and weathering the tank. i still have a couple more layers of weathering to do to the tank, add the valve, the tank braces, the grab iron at the top of the spout and the pump in the back of the tank, but i thought i'd post these preliminary pics to get some feedback from the pros. (and i like seeing pictures on the laptop instead of the phone:) ).

kebmo

i finished the oil tank this morning. it isn't glued to the deck yet, and the pump is blackened but not yet buffed and placed, but other than that i'm calling the tank and base finished.





also, i think i may have solved the issue of pics not being visible to the person that posted them. i've been able to see the pics in my last two posts, and i think it's because i haven't "previewed" them. seems that when i click preview, i can't see them and if i don't click preview, boom. there they are....

brownbr

I like the crusty tank and the support. Wheelbarrow is nicely done...always one of my favorite little details.

dick52

Excellent tank , looks great .

Karl.A

Tank looks great Kevin, some surface rust but definitely still in service. A nice balance.
Support framing looks great, cant wait to see how you finsh it off when you get the pump in place.

Karl.A

Karl.A

Not so sure about that ladder, dimensions just don't seem to fit right, for some reason it just looks 'off'.
Keep up the great work and the updates,

Karl.A

kebmo

i think the ladder rungs should have been attached to the "2 inch" side of the rails rather than the 4 inch side. the problem is that i used waterproof wood glue so i don't know if i'll be able to separate the boards for a redo. i'll check my stock and see if i have anything that'll work.

kebmo

i redid the ladder. i'm not sure what i was thinking. it looked like a tree fort ladder from my early days. anyway, i glued the rungs to the 2 inch side of of the 2x4 and think it looks quite a bit better.
it's just leaning against the tank support. i won't glue it until it's time to place it on the diorama.

kebmo

made a bit more progress yesterday and this morning.

kebmo

fascia is all installed, and the next step....my favorite. individual shake shingles.
i put it on the base to get an idea how it's going to end up. i like it. alot. this is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.....




the flex track needs further weathering, but i don't plan on doing that until just before i start on the ground cover, woodcutter's scene.

Karl.A

Looking good Kevin, Its so nice when things start taking shape and all that hard work starts showing.
Tank looks great, as I said before.
Once you have the frame finished and weathered/oiled up a little its gonna look perfect.

Looking forward to seeing it with the shake roof on, you just cant beat individual shingles and the process is really quite painless. Fascia looks nice and tight, nicely done.

Karl.A

kebmo

well, i cut 400+ shingles today. colored them with browns, gray, ochre and a touch of red. i tried to give it some variety. after they were colored i cut them and put about a third in a burnt sienna/alcohol mix, a third in a sepia/alcohol mix, and the rest in black ink/alcohol. i let them sit in the soup for a while and dumped them out on paper towels to dry. there was such a wide range between the burnt sienna and the black that i ended up putting all of them in the black soup for a few minutes.
here they are right out of the a/i....
there's another pile of them just off to the right....

Karl.A

Great colour range and tones Kevin. Once you get started stabbing and placing those in place you'll be finished before you know it and all those tones are gonna look great randomly mixed up.

Karl.A

kebmo

actually the variance is a little wider than i hoped and i'm going to need to tone them down some.
advise welcome...
i hope to finish the rear roof today and if i do i'll post a picture so you can see what i mean.

kebmo

finished the rear roof today. the contrast in the shingles is much more drastic than it appears in this picture, and i'm looking for suggestions to tone the differences down.

Karl.A

Good looking shingle job Kevin, nice and tight and straight. Brett's guides and innovations in techniques for doing these processes makes modelling such a painless pleasure.

Wait until the entire roof is finished before you make any adjustments to ensure that everything turns out even on both sides and the cap.
Some subtle chalking and blending as I'm sure is described in the manual is all that may be required.

You're not quite at that point yet though so keep up the good work and show us how the finished roof looks before you do anything to it.

Karl.A

KCSTrains

I've put on several cedar roofs even though it was HO scale. I found it was easier to put the shingles on without weathering them and then weather them together once installed. Bill has a great tutorial on this in his Quincy Salvage thread. Basically, you apply the various color chalks to the roof and blend with AI if you want an older look or alcohol if you want a newer look. It works great and you get good uniformity. Phil

kebmo

i'm finished with the front roof and have 20 or so full sized shingles soaking in alcohol to soften them up. when the cap is finished i'll post a pic or two.

kebmo

so last night, while the cubs were kickin' some angel butt, i finished shingling but wasn't able to bring myself to doing the ridge cap. i'll do that today.
i did a little more work on the oil tank and decided to place everything on the base to see how things are shaping up. the water tank on the sled is only partially weathered.
today i'll do the ridge cap and foundation, and then hopefully get started on the 6-pole shed.

i know the tools need to be dirtied up a bit. i'll do it when i blend the entire diorama with chalks....

kebmo

i finished the shack today and built the foundation/porch. to blend the shingles i gave the roof three washes of sepia ink/alcohol and two washes of black ink/alcohol. i think it turned out pretty good. i'm open to suggestions.
i plan on hitting the porch boards with sandpaper and then applying chalk to it. again...i'm open to suggestions.

kebmo

and it's finished!

comments, concerns, suggestions welcome.

brownbr

I think it looks really good just the way it is. If you are still looking to blend the shingles together, I would suggest the chalks that Karl mentioned earlier. Apply and brush down to blend and create a nice streaking effect. Go light on them and build up as you like.

kebmo

thank you bryan. i don't think i'll touch it again until i dust up the completed diorama.
i started on the shed today....


next up, the three trusses and the roof panels

Karl.A

Like Bryan, I think it looks good as it is, maybe some very light blending but it certainly doesn't appear to need much. As Bryan wisely says, add a little very lightly.
Shed is coming together well, nice and square.

Karl.A

kebmo

i think the sepia washes did the trick. i'm pretty satisfied with the way the roof turned out.
since starting on brett's kits, the words "close enough" are no longer part of my modeling vocabulary. i've had a true sander since they came out and i used it more in the past two weeks than i have since i've owned it. these kits force you to be precise. n scale offered nothing like this. and the best part of it is, if you follow the manual and take your time, you'll produce a great model.
i'm really torn on the next one. do i go for the tool and rigging sheds, or jump straight to o'neill's fabrication? i think i could knock out the sheds with out too much trouble, but o'neil's seems like it'd be a great project to take on, one that could keep me occupied for a long time.
[edit]... in the last picture i posted of the shack, the rafter tails look like their pointing all different directions, but i think it has something to do with the camera (an iphone). the rafter tails are straight in reality. honest...