O scale Woodcutter's Shack build by an N scaler

kebmo

i' ve completed the 6-pole shed.




now that all the building has been completed i'm focusing entirely on the details.
the welding cart has been assembled. the issue? the solder that i have is a bit too large for the hoses.


I went to Ace Hardware to find some thinner solder, and picked up a spool of .32 diameter, but it turns out that it's too big as well. so....i went to radio shack's website to see what they have, and they offer a diameter of .015, so i went to two radio shack stores and neither of them had it in stock. i ordered it from their website this morning so as soon it arrives i will cut a couple of pieces, prime them with rattle can gray, and paint one red and one green. then i'll epoxy them together at one end and epoxy that end to the nozzle, and epoxy the other ends to their corresponding gauges and call the welding cart finished. that's the last of the big details. all that's left are the barrels and crates, and then it's on to the scenery. I'll probably epoxy the foundation to the base, and start in on the ground cover. i picked up a cuisinart blender at the thrift shop for $6.99 and i'll use it to grind up bark, pine needles, wood chips etc and apply it over the dirt layer. hopefully this will all happen by the end of this month and quite possibly this project will then be completed, and brett will allow me to order the rigging shed.

kebmo

with the recent demise of the blackhawks, i have only the cubs to distract me from the workbench (and to a certain extent, the white sox). i've been busy on the details, and i have a question for the forum: in my ham handed way, i managed to glob a bit too much epoxy on the acetylene tank where i was attaching the welding nozzle. does anyone have an effective way of masking that shiny glob?

KCSTrains

I always use a dark Rembrandt chalk to dull down the shining epoxy. The color choice is up to you as long as you consider the surroundings to compliment colors. If you have trouble getting the chalk to stick to the epoxy, use a water soluble oil paint as a base (a very small amount) and put a small amount of chalk on that. Phil

SteveF

You could try brushing on liquid dullcote by Testors followed by chalks. It comes in a small bottle that can be brushed on without using the spray can version which is also an option. Vallejo and others make a brush on flattening agent that would also work. Hope that helps.
SteveF

kebmo

Thanks Steve. I'll try it this weekend.

Karl.A

If you only have spray dullcoat, spray some into the inside of the cap (or other small recptical) until it pools, then use a small detail brush to apply it where needed to the model.
Epoxy is resiliant to being covered/coated, so it may take a couple of 'gentle' applications to get rid of that shine, don't overwork it, apply and let dry well.
Then use some chalk with a soft brush to blend it in.

Karl.A

kebmo

just so no one thinks i've been completely slacking on this build, all of the details are finished:

and i've started on the scenery. the only things epoxied down at this stage are the foundation, chopping base, and the track.
the dirt was stolen from a local infield and sifted through two different sized strainers giving me a fine and a course dirt. the dirt was applied along with 50/50 white glue/water. i used painters tape to create a dam about 1/8" above the base, and added the dirt up to that level, then doused the dirt with alcohol, and applied the diluted glue:



next up, finding suitable branches and chopping a whole lot of wood. once that's done i'll try to make the stacks of wood on a thin a base of styrene that i can then embed in the dirt.

admin

Glad to see you haven't been slacking! Great progress...

kebmo

thanks brett.
it's taken quite a while to get to this stage due to the blackhawks, cubs, and life getting in the way, but i can see the light at the end of the tunnel now that all the details are finished(and the hawks are out of the playoffs) and i hope to wrap this up within a couple of weeks and move on to another one.

kebmo

spent some time yesterday playing with dirt....

kebmo

if i'm doing this wrong, stop me!

kebmo

a bit more progress....

the unused acetylene and oxygen tanks stacked up against the shack. the spent tanks are just leaning on the sled.



the back of the shed:

the back of the shack:

the back of the oil tank:

side of the oil tank:


nobody piped up so i assumed i was doing it right.....

kebmo

plans for final scenery:
i started chopping firewood and building the stacks. once everything has been added to the diorama, i plan on sprinkling a finer grade of dirt over all of the ground cover and adding quite a bit of debris, re: bark, shavings, pieces of logs etc. after that's done, a final overall dusting and i'll call it finished. this is probably not the coolest version of the kit, but overall i'm pleased with the way it's turning out.

KCSTrains

I think you are doing a great job. As I complete the scene I look it over and look for anything that seems to be sticking out or seems out of place. Your green and white barrel is a bit on the bright side, so a little powder will bring that shine down. Keep up the good work. Phil

admin

Looking fantastic. That dry, dusty, backwoodsy appeal is front and center. Excellent job thus far...

brownbr

Looking good.

You are letting all the luck run out of your horseshoes.

SteveF

To your earlier question on dirt, you might want to read through Karl's discussion entitled "Dirt, Details and Dioramas" in the Scenery category. I read through it and was blown away. It is a wealth of information on making our scenery a fine scale model on its own.
The build looks great, definitely has the woodsy feel. How did you make the logs?
SteveF

kebmo

thanks for all the comments and i appreciate you all looking in. steve, the logs were just branches (and i think they're a bit oversized so i'm going to find something smaller.) i'm not sure what the dirt question you're referring to is. i have read karl's dirt, details and dioramas several times and am blown away by his results. i opted to use real dirt as opposed to the sanded grout (although i have some, and i also have durham's water putty) so much so in fact that i'm considering adding a fence along the rear of the diorama just so i can play with karl's techniques. i've been using ws poly for weeds in the same manner as karl's for years and i plan on adding a bit more greenery to the diorama as well. a trip to walmart or michael's is in order because i want to get some dried caspia and floral moss (thanks karl).
i cut a couple of branches from a white pine in my back yard for the firewood stacks, but it's too wet so i need to find some branches on the ground or possibly cutting a few from a lilac bush and letting them dry out. as karl stated, the bark is thinner on shrubs and probably more prototypical. it's gonna be a little while before i can call this one finished, but hey...i'm getting closer and it's only been two months since this started.

Wes

That looks so cool. this was my first Sierra West kit and I loved it. So much detail in such a small space.

I disagree with your comment about it not being the coolest version of the kit. You've done a job you can be proud of and if it puts a smile on your face when you look at it, then its a very cool version of the kit.

What do you plan next?

kebmo

wes,
thanks, i appreciate that. i'm not sure what i'll do next. if brett has a rigging shed available i'll do that. if not, i might just wait for the O version of o'neill's. either way, i've dived in to O scale and N scale is a distant memory.

James

Very nice work - benches are my favourite thing to paint.

kebmo

i enjoyed the benches quite a bit myself. i enjoyed all of the detail in this kit. brett's details rock!

kebmo

i built a fence. my initial plan was to have it behind the woodcutter's shack, but after test fitting it i decided that there wasn't really room for a fence considering that the back of the struture is 1.5" from the edge of the diorama base. i'll save the fence and plan to use it for the rigging shed (if brett still has any).

kebmo

for all intents and purposes,the woodcutter' shack diorama is finished! i'm waiting for a couple of things. a) the glue to dry. i basically doused the entire front side of the dio with 50/50 glue/water (after giving it a good bath of alcohol). wood stacks, strewn wood, bark etc. is all applied and glued or epoxied in place.
b) once all the glue is completely dried i'm going to go back over the entire diorama with rembrandt chalks (browns and greys) to blend it all together.
c) sprinkle small amounts of green ground cover in various place and
d) my daughter to bring her photography equipment over to take a lot of final pics.
the tool shed is next....

kebmo

three months later and i'm still waiting for my photographer-daughter to come by and take some photos. in the meantime, my wife took some on the patio with her ipad.












she did the best she could, and its alot better than i could have done. i'd appreciate any criticism or pointers.
life has kinda gotten in the way. i planned on ordering another kit, but that's on hold for a couple of reasons. a) i need to put money away for a car, and b) i'm building model of a friend of mine's house that she's converting into a b & b and i want to present it to her for her grand opening in april.
so i'll be mia for another extended stretch, but i'll be back soon...

admin

Nice to see your diorama completed! Excellent job.

nextceo

That's ALOTA Wood! Looks really good! Thanks for sharing.

brownbr

Nice job all around. You got a nice variety of textures that blend together naturally. I was noticing the wood under the tarpaper, the rust on the square water tank under the shed, and the sacks on the front porch. All are very good.

It appears as though all of the luck is running out of your horseshoe.

admin

brownbr said:

It appears as though all of the luck is running out of your horseshoe.

I remember as a youngster hanging out in my Dad's workshop. He always saved old license plates from his and my Mom's cars and hung them on the walls along with many, many horseshoes. All but a few were hanging with the open end facing upward to "catch the luck". But a few - usually over a doorway - were hanging open end down to spill their luck over anyone who walked under it. So when you see these in my kits know I am honoring my Dad's memory!

brownbr

As Paul Harvey would have said "and now you know the rest of the story". Who knew.