Well, I'm at that point, and as always I get a little nervous, I dont know why but, it's just one of those things for me. Time to epoxy all that hard work down and then hope I did everything right and I followed all the steps correctly.
Nothing has ever gone wrong, everything has always worked out perfectly, but, I do still get that little 'twinge' when I plant it down for eternity... probably just me.
Anyway.... structure and ties epoxied down and planted earlier today, I gave that a good few hours to cure while I did 'other' things and then tonight I just laid down the base layer of 'dirt'. Thats going to need to dry out until tomorrow and then we can turn the manual page and see what's next.
So, the newsprint paper that Brett puts in the USPS kit shipping boxes is great for keeping the desk clean at this stage.
Time to take a deep breath and get messy. (but very carefully...)
Thanks Everyone, great to read all the comments. I've got a few irons in the fire Jerry to keep me busy.
Ken is the master of Grungy Tom, I'm just going to play around with grimy.
The fun begins... meaning that it's back to graining and staining strip wood.
Next in the manual is to put the base aside and build the tank base and water tank. I got the base done and now I'm moving on to the tank.
(the tank 'frame' is just sitting on the platform to show it together)
The details are relegated to the back of the bench for a while. I spotted this one in the pile and snapped a quick pic.
I think Bretts tool box is more randomly cluttered than even one of my real life 'general' ones.
This toolbox in the kit is about 3/4" long and 1/8" wide, so pretty small, Brett still managed to squeeze in a hammer, plumbers wrench, couple of adjustable wrenches, a tire iron, drill bits, some regular wrenches and a few other things, amazing detail part.
Looks like I missed painting the hat in the background, there's also a few more I missed on the sticks, the car batteries for example, plenty of time until we get to that point.
Of course we all know that "the fun begins" as soon as we open that wonderful SWSM box.
Thanks Jim, I'll admit I had to wear glasses for that one, but yes, a small brush and a steady hand.
Well Jerry, those circles and the spacers worked perfectly as designed to keep the tank absolutely straight and true. Such an easy process and fantastic method.
That looks wonderful. I would have thought the weathering of the boards came before attaching them, so that is a little surprise. It all looks awesome, I can’t wait to get mine and start with it. It’s very inspiring!
Jeroen, the boards were grained, weathered and basic random colour stained before assembly. The sun bleached top, rising damp and colour blend were then added after construction.
Oh yes, I’m seeing it much better now. To be honest, I noticed the lighter Wood strips on the side after I wrote the remark Karl. But these pics show even better what you did. I’m really enjoying your thorough explanation on progress. Can’t wait to see what the landscape will look like. Did you make the sleepers under the rails yourself… and what rails will you be using?
At the begining of this thread there was a detail bag I didnt open and show as it was small parts and waited until I needed it. Well we are at that point, so, here's whats in the bag...
More bags in the bag...
It's basically all the exceptional details for the water tank, along with chain, styrene for the fill pipe, gauge and brass wire. Also the spout, turnbuckles, weights, pullys, NBW's, globe valve + handle and the finial.
First thing to be used was the turnbuckles, I added the bands to the tank using the extremely easy guide method provided by Brett and then added the highly detailed turnbuckles to the bands.
Next in the manual is graining/staining the wood for the shingles, building the subroof and then putting it all together.
You know it Ken. I wasnt going to post this pic as it looks so bad... but it does show some of the details.
Also I had cracked one of the super fragile rods in the middle of the 2nd down turnbuckle, and the third is slightly mis-aligned. Luckily as they are so fragile Brett provides several spares for just such an incident, now that is customer service and support at it's best.
I'll replace the broken one with one of the spares later as I have already cleared and moved the tank off my desk, (well, I've cleared a 6" working area), to make the shingles.
Took some time out, and I got the first row done, moving on to the second row. I'm thinking those cut-offs would look good around, and in a burn barrel...
Did you make the sleepers under the rails yourself… and what rails will you be using?
The sleepers ('ties' for our American friends) were weathered and cut from 6"x8" stripwood, (6hx8w), The code 55 rails for inside the handcar shed are provided in the kit, for the mainline rail I think I have some code 83 rail around here somewhere that I'll use.
Comments
Time to epoxy all that hard work down and then hope I did everything right and I followed all the steps correctly.
Nothing has ever gone wrong, everything has always worked out perfectly, but, I do still get that little 'twinge' when I plant it down for eternity... probably just me.
Anyway....
structure and ties epoxied down and planted earlier today, I gave that a good few hours to cure while I did 'other' things and then tonight I just laid down the base layer of 'dirt'.
Thats going to need to dry out until tomorrow and then we can turn the manual page and see what's next.
So, the newsprint paper that Brett puts in the USPS kit shipping boxes is great for keeping the desk clean at this stage.
Time to take a deep breath and get messy. (but very carefully...)
Thanks for following along and all your comments.
Anywho that is a beautifully weathered looking little shack!!
Jerry
I've got a few irons in the fire Jerry to keep me busy.
Ken is the master of Grungy Tom, I'm just going to play around with grimy.
The fun begins... meaning that it's back to graining and staining strip wood.
Next in the manual is to put the base aside and build the tank base and water tank.
I got the base done and now I'm moving on to the tank.
(the tank 'frame' is just sitting on the platform to show it together)
The details are relegated to the back of the bench for a while. I spotted this one in the pile and snapped a quick pic.
I think Bretts tool box is more randomly cluttered than even one of my real life 'general' ones.
This toolbox in the kit is about 3/4" long and 1/8" wide, so pretty small, Brett still managed to squeeze in a hammer, plumbers wrench, couple of adjustable wrenches, a tire iron, drill bits, some regular wrenches and a few other things, amazing detail part.
Looks like I missed painting the hat in the background, there's also a few more I missed on the sticks, the car batteries for example, plenty of time until we get to that point.
Of course we all know that "the fun begins" as soon as we open that wonderful SWSM box.
Glad you kept the tools in the box nice an shiny looks that there getting a lot of use.
Jerry
Well Jerry, those circles and the spacers worked perfectly as designed to keep the tank absolutely straight and true. Such an easy process and fantastic method.
Base done, details and weathering to follow...
another day.
Jerry
Jeroen, the boards were grained, weathered and basic random colour stained before assembly.
The sun bleached top, rising damp and colour blend were then added after construction.
Well we are at that point, so, here's whats in the bag...
More bags in the bag...
It's basically all the exceptional details for the water tank, along with chain, styrene for the fill pipe, gauge and brass wire.
Also the spout, turnbuckles, weights, pullys, NBW's, globe valve + handle and the finial.
Thats more details than most other kits... hahaha
I added the bands to the tank using the extremely easy guide method provided by Brett and then added the highly detailed turnbuckles to the bands.
Next in the manual is graining/staining the wood for the shingles, building the subroof and then putting it all together.
I wasnt going to post this pic as it looks so bad... but it does show some of the details.
Also I had cracked one of the super fragile rods in the middle of the 2nd down turnbuckle, and the third is slightly mis-aligned. Luckily as they are so fragile Brett provides several spares for just such an incident, now that is customer service and support at it's best.
I'll replace the broken one with one of the spares later as I have already cleared and moved the tank off my desk, (well, I've cleared a 6" working area), to make the shingles.
I'm thinking those cut-offs would look good around, and in a burn barrel...
The code 55 rails for inside the handcar shed are provided in the kit,
for the mainline rail I think I have some code 83 rail around here somewhere that I'll use.