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The Sawmill Project kit #308

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Comments

  • Thanks Bryan.

    I was afraid you were going to say it was camo Tan. That is the one colour I can get in Toronto? I've looked in the big box stores, art stores, the smaller hardware stores, etc and none of them carry it. They do carry the Khaki colour, but it looks too green for my taste; I prefer the Tan/Sand colour for wooden things.

    I'm travelling to Cleveland in July and was wondering where you got yours?

    Marty
  • Anyone for modeling knob and tube wiring using magnet wire? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knob_and_tube_wiring
  • edited June 2014
    Bryan, Nicely done, I particularly like the rust effect on the middle barrel along the bottom and the streaking rust on the others. -Ken
  • Marty-I've gotten that paint from Walmart and Home Depot. Good luck in Cleveland.

    Mike-I believe I will be doing a variation of that wiring. The more I think about it I'm thinking I will take the wire bundle from underneath the module all the way to the top of the rafters, run it down the peak of the roof and drop wires wherever I need them. Sort of like I did on my tractor repair shed. I'll color the exposed wires like your link

    Ken-thanks. I'm still trying different techniques to see which ones I like best, but for sure the streaking rust is a keeper.
  • That is similar to my wiring Bryan, due to the open walls a main bus along the roof ridge seemed logical to me.

    Barrels look good.

    Karl.A
  • Bryan this is just an outstanding build!
    Jim
  • Bryan, all looking great. Special thanks for the many close up detailed photos.

    John
  • I was able to get this outside and get a couple of shots in natural light.

    The belt system is in. I see a couple of spots to tighten up in these photos. Getting super close up sure helps. I also spotted a couple of glue spots and out of line NBW's. I'll get rid of the glue.

    I also got the maintenance and storage shed done and got started on the castings.imageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimage
  • Bryan, it's looking good. In the second frame, I like the way the post looks off plumb.

    Marty
  • Thanks Marty. I saw that also. I'm thinking about putting a splintered gash in the beam like someone ran into it with a heavy cart.
  • wow Bryan looks fantastic, love the wood grain texture and colour. Castings are coming along a treat.
    cheers
    Dave
  • Looking terrific Bryan, the machinery all looks superb and I like the splash of colour you gave to the edger and cutoff saw, really nice.
    Your details are coming along nicely and I really noticed the finish on your flooring, it turned out beautifully, really nice work all around.

    Karl.A
  • Thanks Dave and Karl. I had to color the edger after seeing yours Karl.
  • Bryan, great work here, everything looks super. Castings are stellar and love the shot of the inside walls with the ladder. Really nice build so far....Ken
  • eechee wawaa. that is amazing - and big. What is my wife going to say when I start building this monster,,,
  • went over some photos I missed earlier. Everything is perfect. And those little green bottles actually look like glass! thanks for posts on wiring too.
  • Bryan,

    Simply gorgeous. What are you in to at the moment?

    Respectfully,
    John
  • Thanks guys, much appreciated.

    Yes James is it BIG. I've been working on it in sections on my work bench then transferring parts to the diorama which is supported by a temporary work station set up in the middle of the room.

    Right now I'm working on the castings. Yesterday I put together the desk, cart and workbench with knee vise. I'll try to get a pic later today if I can fit it into the very long honeydo list I have.
  • I finally got around to taking some photos and have added the boiler and engine. I routed the steam pipes a little bit differently on this. I've begun placing the details in place and got the next layer of dirt added which is sifted through a tea strainer.imageimageimageimageimageimageimage
  • Bryan, very well done..everything just looks great. Love the asbestos insulation wrapped pipe and the rust effect on the same pipe is outstanding, boiler detail looks great, castings are wonderful, so much to comment on...Ken
  • Hi Bryan,
    This is just breathtaking. The pictures above look very natural. Everything fits together perfectly. The coloring of castings, walls, pipes is absolutely masterful.

    I have a question on the first picture is a water cooler. How did you color the galvanized metal as it looks very realistic? What is the underlying coloring for the boiler?

    I could keep on writing about the results you have achieved!!! Wow!!!!!!!!

    Jim
  • I give up! How can anybody do better that?

    Marty
  • Thanks everyone. One of the things I am loving about this kit is that as the details are placed you can really appreciate the depth of the model. It is interesting to see how one area leads to another.

    Ken, the asbestos insulation is a tissue wrapped around the pipe and secured with small bits of tape painted black. Then I used dirty alcohol with chalk to color.

    Jim, the water cooler is a metal casting. I really didn't know what color it should be so I left it as you see it. The best product I have found to give this color on non-metalic items is "Dark Steel" pigments by AK Interactive. The more you rub this powder the more it looks like steel. It's an amazing product. The boiler started with a coat of flat black primer, was drybrushed then powders were added. I almost redid the rust using oils to get a nice streaking effect but chose this more subdued approach.

    Marty don't give up. I feel like my details are better than the first time I did some but not as good as I want to make them. I really studied the techniques by Kevin O'Neill on individual details. And it's hard to match the placement and scene composition by Brett and Karl. Their approach to composition is that by adding layers of details in a natural manner makes the scene look realistic, even if you don't have the skills (which I don't) for creating the ultra-realism scenes ala Chuck Doan or Anders Malmberg.
  • Fantastic work Bryan. I love the pipes.
  • Thanks for the heads up on the dark steel pigment. Will order and give it a try.
    Jim
  • Bryan - I do think you have entered the Chuckster zone - it doesn't get much better.
    Detailing is one thing but natural feeling placement is another - something Chuck excels at and something Brett always preaches. Love the desk in this regard in particular - just feels "real"

    Sanding a pile of soft pencil lead (graphite) also works re: rubbing in to get a steel look I've found
  • edited July 2014
    Hi Bryan: the photos are just fun to look at, incredible job. You and Karl are setting a mighty high bar....Joe CCCModOn30
  • edited July 2014
    The details are all looking fantastic Bryan, their painting and weathering is terrific. As you mention earlier adding the details really starts to show the depth of this model/kit.

    I mentioned earlier in a thread that most of these details were mastered new specifically for this kit. Not only did Brett master them specifically for the kit they were also mastered for specific areas and specific placement. This is why the areas look so natural and flow so well.

    Brett is a master at composition and placement design, as Bryan noted above, one area leads seamlessly to another. Brett has achieved this by logical and natural placement of items, hours of research and creation of new masters when needed, and this takes time.
    However for the modeler it is as simple as following the photos in the manual as Bryan and myself are showing, to get this exceptionally high level of realism and detail.

    The desk area is a perfect example of this, many hours were spent during kit development shuffling the larger items around , ie desk, cabinet, locker and shelf in order to obtain the perfect composition. Once done the smaller items such as books, bottles, clipboard, hat...etc were added to bring the detail level to the pinnacle, again these items are very strategically placed for optimum impact, viewability and realism.

    As Bretts kits are so well, designed, developed, engineered and produced almost any modeler can achieve these high level results , even a beginner building their first SierraWest kit.
    James, Brett does much more than preach these ideas, he puts them in the kits. Everything is in the box, the details, the instructions on how to achieve the look, and plenty of pictures to show placement. This is why Bryan and I have copied the desk directly from the manual.

    Personally I rarely deviate from Bretts detail placement as I know it has been thoroughly designed and is generally the optimum arrangement possible. Also I don't generally enjoy designing scenes so it is easy to just follow Brett.

    A little insight into why SierraWest kits are the best available and why they look so good with results that can be repeated by almost anybody.

    Karl.A


  • Thanks everybody, and I must agree with what Karl said. It's hard to go wrong by placing the details the way they are in the instruction manuals. Let's face it, we all started buying these kits because of the way they look and they way we can make them look and that all starts with the pilot. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel so I follow the guideline for the most part.

    With this being said, one of the details I loved most about this kit was the desk and I've been tinkering around with it. Specifically the books. I liked the way they looked in the little book nook on the desk but they were't quite right. So I took a piece of scrap wood and painted the edges white. I cut off a strip of cardstock and colored with a sharpie to make a cover and presto. I plan on re-doing all of the books this way and filling a shelf on the wall over the desk as well.

    Ashes in the astray are Bragdon powders secured with mineral spirits. The newspapers are from another SW kit, I think it was Blue Sky

    image
  • So a clean desk is the sign of a sick mind, right?imageimage
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