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Logging & Tractor Repair Shed in O Scale

edited March 2016 in O Scale Builds
Hey Gang,

I'm going to "attempt" my first O Scale Build. The plan is to recreate my HO Scale Build of the Logging and Tractor Repair shed with the additional shed. This time around, I'm going to use part of the Sierrawest Boiler House kit to recreate that additional shed. I'm also going to implement some greater elevation changes as it adds more interest. If you've seen my HO Build of this kit, you would have seen a Fordson Tractor in that additional shed. To kick things off and to get comfortable with the larger O Scale, I began with assembling that tractor.

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The kit I'm building comes from Anvil Mountain...and is now available for sale thru Wiseman Model Services.


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The first step is to blacken all the Metal Pieces of the tractor with Jax Blacking Solution. This gives the metal some "bite" and allows the paint to stick to the parts.

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After blacking the parts and letting them sit in water for 10 minutes, they are pulled out and set to dry on a paper towel. I then painted them with Dove Gray Craft paint. After letting the paint dry for a few hours, I used a 1/4 inch piece of strip wood and rubbed it over the various parts to scrap off a portion of the paint. I also tapped it against the wheels to create worn spots.

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I then brushed on another coat of the Jax Blacking Agent to get the scratch marks to "pop". Again, into the water and then onto the paper towel to dry. After the first pass of this, I felt there were too many worn marks so I added some paint, allowed it to dry and repeated the process until I got it the way I wanted.

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Assembly is simply that...I followed the exploding instructions that came with the kit. I'm not going to lie...I hate these kind of instructions as they are quite confusing to follow and in the end, I had 4 pieces left over that I'm still not quite sure where they go. Super Glue Gel was the glue of choice to hold the tractor together. To create the faint rust marks around the radiator cap and on the engine, I used a new product for me - the AK Washes. I also used their Grease and Engine Oil Products to help dirty up the engine and other parts of the tractor. I used a razor blade and tapped on the edges of the wheels to give the rubber that worn and stressed look.

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The final steps were to rub on some lead that I shaved off a pencil from the local golf course, onto the seat and the various levers to give those area that worn look. I then brushed on some dirt around the engine and wheels and that's it.

Next up is the construction of the Shed...after I return from vacation...
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Comments

  • That came out really nice Alan. I'm so glad that Keith Wiseman purchased the McKenzie line from Anvil and has it in production.
  • Beautiful job on the tractor Alan, so very nicely finished. love the effect on the tires and engine.

    Karl.A
  • edited April 2016
    Thanks Karl and Brett...ok, its back at it. Just finished all the walls tonite. The camera sure works like a good magnifying glass...I just noticed from looking at the pictures that I need to go back and sand the burrs off of the window openings and I see some spots that need touching up on the tractor. Next up is the creation of the diorama base so I can start laying the wood floor boards. Here are a couple pictures of the completed tractor as well as a close up on one of the walls.

    Alan

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  • You should be very proud of that tractor Alan, its an amazing piece of modeling.
    It's a great little kit, I loved building mine from the BlueSky kit, such fun.

    Wall looks fantastic too, so much detail and interest, but none of it overdone, nails 'n' knots' are just dead on, had to look for some of the knots, but when I saw them, then I saw more of them, perfect.

    Karl.A
  • Very nice. Do you sand down your knot holes after trimming them? They are nice and flush with the boards with no obvious cut mark.

    Oil and grease stains on the tractor are very subtle and convincing.
  • edited April 2016
    Thanks Karl and Bryan. Yeah, for the Knotholes I just follow Brett's lead on those. I use a flush cutting nail clipper which cuts them flush to the surface. I then use a light gray or a linen white paint to lightly dry brush them. You can especially see the pop effect it creates on the knotholes found in the bottom left and very far right parts of the picture. Some of the smaller knotholes are created by poking the wood with a sharp point (I use a beading tool used for making jewelry) and then rocking it up and down.

  • Alan, wonderful board detail! Nice variation in techniques and I spent a long time just going back and forth noting all the subtile stuff. Nicely done.
  • edited April 2016
    Started the construction of the diorama base as its need before proceeding. Next up is to glue the wood floorboards to the diorama. In the mean time, I started painting some of the castings....

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  • Nice shelf unit, and great to see a "not so pretty" pic of how these things are put together.
    I foresee some interesting topography happening again, looking forward to this one.

    Karl.A
  • edited June 2016
    Here is a quick update on my Build. The walls are all finished on the Repair Shed and I created the diorama base which is in the middle of getting 8 washes on the rock work. I used a 6 1/2 inch elevation drop in certain spots which in O scale is 26 Scale Feet.

    Conversion: 1/4 inch = 1 Scale Foot in O scale.

    I'm now in the process of working thru the 100s of castings. Here are a few I finished yesterday.

    To detail a few of the techniques I used:

    - High Boy - For the finish, I used a one step Chipping Process. Primed it in black, painted it a rust color brown, sprayed it with hair spray, painted it orange (gives the final yellow color a more dense look, painted it yellow and then used water and a brush to give it the chipped look. The rag is made from painting a piece of Kleenex.

    -Wheel Barrow - For the finish, I used a Double Chipping Process. Primed it black, painted it a rust color brown, sprayed it with hair spray, painted it a silver, sprayed it with hair spray and then painted it red. I used water and a brush to give it the chipped look.

    The key is to let each coat of paint dry. For the Primer Coat, I waited a week for it to cure. This way if (or acutally when in my case) had to strip off the layers of paint, the Primer would hold up. For the rest of the coats of paint, I just waited over night before applying the next coat. Also make sure to wait a few hours between applying air spray and another coat of paint otherwise you will get a bubbling effect under the coat of paint (which you don't want). When I didn't get the effect I was looking for...which happened a few times, I just soaked the casting in rubbing alcohol and scrubbed it with a brush to take the casting back down to the Primer Coat.

    I think most us know that most modeling doesn't happen exactly the way we want it the first time so don't be afraid to start over and try again.

    That is all for now...
    Alan

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  • Looks great Alan. What did you use to color the Kleenex rag?
  • Thanks Steve. Just a plain red and then added some chalks to it...
  • Alan, great work on weathering the details above. I really appreciate you sharing the steps taken. I've never tried the hairspray technique but look forward to trying it on my current build. The wheel barrow and high boy are especially impressive. I like the effect the thickness of the multiple layers gives on the wheel barrow. I'm looking forward to following this build and also seeing your work on the diorama base with the changes in elevation. The Repair shed is on my short list of future builds.
    SteveF
  • edited July 2016
    Hey Gang,

    I know its been a while since I posted on this build, but besides playing a lot of golf, I've been busy educating myself on the techniques that are used by those guys that build those awesome looking Military Vehicles. Using their techniques, here is the process I followed on one of the 2 tractors that goes with the Repair Shed Kit.

    My camera didnt take the best of pictures and I cant figure out how to make the size of them bigger on the new forum...hence, its kinda difficult to see all the weathering but here we go....

    I want to preference this post by saying I'm not affiliated with AK Interactive in anyway...but that I chose to use a bunch of their products to get my results. To produce the chipped paint, I first primed the tractor with black paint. After waiting 48 hours for it to cure, I painted it with AK Interactive's Chipping Color. Because I have no patience, I chose a method to keep the process moving. After waiting about 5 minutes, I took a hot air gun to the tractor for 30 seconds to help the paint dry. I then coated it with a layer of Worn Effects from AK Interactive. Applying this solution allows me to chip away the layer of paint I applied on top of it. I first used Hairspray but since that itsnt really designed for modeling, it caused the top layer of paint to bubble. A quick note, AK Interactive also has a Hard Chipping Solution but since I like the control the Worn Effects solution offers - requires more scrubbing to get the paint to chip off, I chose it instead. Again, I waited 5 minutes and then used the heat gun. Next I applied a layer of Gray Paint from Reaper Paints. Waited 5 mins and then used the Hot Gun for 30 Secs.

    Now the fun part starts. I wet a brush with tap water and started rubbing it against the Gray layer of paint exposing the Rust Colored Chipping Color. I also used a needle to create scratch marks. After this step was completed, I applied another coat of Worn Effects Solution - Dry for 5 Mins - Heat Gun for 30 Sec. I then applied a coat of Green...which I found in the Brett's Sierrawest Paint Set from Reaper. Again, dry for 5 mins and Heat Gun for 30 secs. Next I wet a brush with tap water and started rubbing it against the green layer of paint exposing the Gray Color and the Rust Colored Chipping Color. Again, I also used a needle to create scratches.

    After I got the chipping the way I wanted it, I applied a little White mixed with Yellow Oil colors from Windsor (gave me a pale yellow) and blended it with White Sprits from AK Interactive. This gave me the nice color which made it appear as if the green color was faded in certain areas. After letting the Pale Yellow dry for 5 mins, I used a brush dipped in the White Spirts to thin it out and remove what I didn't like.

    The next step was to add streaks. For this I used Streaking Grime and Rust Streaks - yep, you guessed it...both products from AK Interactive. This stuff does an awesome job. Just apply it like paint to areas you want streaking. Don't worry if you put on too much or the streaking line you drew is crooked. After it dries for a few minutes, use a brush dripped in White Spirits and wipe down across the streaks you created to lighten and shape them. After a few passes with the White Spirits, you will actually end up removing the streak and have to redo it. In my case, I probably removed some of the streaks 3 or 4 times before I got them the way I wanted.

    For the Tracks, I primed them with the Track Color Primer from AK Interactive. After letting them dry for 30 minutes, I used the Dark Rust color paint from AK Interactive by dipping my brush in the paint and then flicked it against a tooth pick to create little spray or splash marks across the tracks. After waiting 5 minutes, I used Light Rust color paint and did the same thing. Finally, I brushed on AK Interactive's Light Dust Deposits on each of the tracks. The reason this solution is so good is because when it dries, it leaves behind a nice residue of dirt in the nooks and cranies that you cant get by just brushing on dirt. To expose the metal on the high spots of the tracks, I used a sanding stick to remove the paint and expose the metal underneath.

    All the points where I want to add worn out metal such as on the various handles, I used AK Interactive's Dark Steel Pigment. You can get the same affect with pencil lead but since this product already comes in a powder format, its easier to work with, For the areas I wanted to represent Grease, I applied AK Interactive's Grease Product.

    And that is all. Next up is the Cat Tractor...

    Tractor1

    Tractor2

    Tractor3

    Tractor4
  • Looks good, I also love those products. Did you use an airbrush to apply the coats of paint?
  • edited July 2016
    Yep, I used an airbrush...and this was the first time I've ever used one. The only trouble I found using an airbrush is that the paint seems to get stuck in the gun (when swapping between colors) pretty easily and I spend more time getting the next color to spray correctly then I spend actually painting. With that said, the results are way better because you get no brush marks.
  • edited July 2016
    I went back and rubbed on some more of that dark steel pigment by AK Interactive on the corners of the tractor to get that worn metal look. Its the areas that appear shiny. Sorry guys, I wish I could get the picture to appear bigger so you could see the results better. I think Brett's working on resolving the issue.

    Tractor1
  • I must say your work is very impressive, and thanks for the instructions on your application It's always good to learn new techniques.
    David
  • Hi Alan.

    Just catching up on your build here. Beautiful stuff so far. Will you be adding some dry mud build up around the running gear?
  • edited July 2016
    Thanks Wes...no mud on this tractor but to create some variation, I will probably put some on the tracks of the CAT Tractor. For the dry mud, I'll be using a little plaster mixed in with the paints and pigments.

  • Looks great Alan. The body/radiator etc.. is superb. The BATES is in the shop for re-treading (of course), how about some rust spots or oil/grease drips/leaks over the face of the gears, wheels? I am thinking you will be lighting the interior up so I would think these subtle details will show up inside the shed. These additional details will support the re-treading story line quite nicely.
  • Well done Alan, looks like you have been doing your homework. Love that green color and your weathering looks wonderful. Great tutorial as well...certainly a must save. You sure make all this cool O Scale stuff tempting for a hardened HO/HOn3 modeler!
  • edited July 2016
    Thanks for the comment Gents..Yep, I'll be adding lights and thanks for the suggestion on adding even more grease and grime. Kenny, might never go back to HO Scale again...this O Scale stuff is much easier on the eyes...
  • edited August 2016
    I didn't like the first Fordson Tractor I built for this diorama (see the beginning of this thread) so I decided to try again - this time the Irish Tractor Model. I followed the same steps as I did on the Bates tractor. The only difference is I decided to add Dirt to the treads. To get the wet mud effect, I dabbed on some AK Interactive Wet Effects and then sprinkled on dirt. Next up is the Cat Tractor. Its already been weathered...just needs assembly. If you cant make out the detail in these pictures (which I cant due to size restrictions), feel free to shoot me a message and I can email you the original photos...

    TractorA


    TractorB

    TractorC
  • I loved that first tractor - a lot... Now this one is way more traditional (obviously) and it looks great as well. Mud is always quite effective and works well here. Gas tank paint wear is particularly nice.
  • edited August 2016
    I found that the Prisma App does a neat job of showing off the details and color variations...

    Retro1


    Retro2
  • I think you have a couple of masterpieces here. Now get out your oil and grime and get to work on the newest edition. That thing had to leak from everywhere.
  • the prisma app pictures are way cool
  • Followed the same steps to chip the paint on the Cat as I did on the previous 2 tractors (see above). Otherwise, just followed Brett's instructions to get these results. To help with the weathering, I used AK Interactives Dirt/Deposits, Rust Stains, Grime Stains, Grease and Oil products. After applying one of the products straight from the bottle with a round tipped brush, I allowed it to dry for a few minutes and then applied White Spirits from AK Interactive (actually any White Spirts will do) with a flat brush to lessen the effect and give them that faint look. The best part is if you don't like how your effect looks, uses a few passes of the brush with White Spirts on it to remove the effect...and start over.

    Next up is to finish the castings and then construct the Repair Shed.

    Cat 1

    Cat 2

    Cat 3
  • WOW. the hood is incredible and the mud on the treads perfect. love the grease stains on the running gear. just a real joy to view… outstanding!
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