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Comments
Keep plugging away because Mike tends to catch up in a heartbeat!
For a small kit there is a lot of staining and graining of wood. I am not complaining. I think it really adds to the overall appearance of Brett's kits. Here is a bundle waiting patiently. I also picked up this great tool at the Expo. It was freebie from a vendor. I will be the first to admit I struggle with wood sizes sometimes. Thank goodness Brett's templates let you double check.
Now it was onto adding the boards for the chutes and the interior.
I really like being able to pick out each board next.
As promised all the board ends were treated.
Fantastic work. This looks like a blast to build.
Jim
I started with the bents- first tip is that I always make photo-copies of each template to actually work on. That way your original stays clean and intact- since the templates are 11x17 make a copy of each half as it will be easier to work with. Test your copier to make sure it is exactly accurate 1 to 1. Make a copy of one of those thin clear-plastic rulers. You don't want to screw up your original.
I am trying for a gray rather than a reddish-brown stain for by bents and other wood parts. The aged,untreated lumber around here where my taconite and puriat mines are located is a silvery gray for the most part. I believe the color of this lumber depends on several variables- type of tree the wood comes from, area of the country, climate and weather conditions, etc. What opinions (facts?) do you have?
I stained the cut and grained pieces with a short dunk into alcohol and black water-soluble India ink, and then gave them some texture using Rembrandt Grays 704.7 and 704.8. The result is what I was trying for, but the cell phone pics don't do justice to the gray.
The aged grey timbers look good in the pics, and I'm sure better in person
based on your comments.
Looking forward to more of your updates as you play catchup to Justin
and Bill, I know I am going to be impressed.
Karl.A
Paul asked about graining, and I have to say over the years I have picked up more tools for distressing and graining wood than the law allows. I have tried all of them with very mixed results. I own about a dozen "scratch" brushes, steel and copper, and even applying heavy pressure as well as light I am still usually disappointed with the results. File cards sometimes are OK, but even a little pressure seems to tear the wood, and like a razor saw blade will leave a "corn row" effect.
A couple of years ago I asked my friend Don Railton how he achieves such a great grained appearance on stripwood, and he told me he uses an X-ACTO knife with a #11 blade exclusively. Don usually wins several firsts at most national model contests, and I consider him to be as good as anybody whose work I have seen. Use it in light strokes, upside down, curve grain around a knothole, etc.,etc,. It may take a little longer, but on one of Brett's kits you treat each board as a separate model.
Speaking of Brett, his design of the styrene jigs and assembly technique for the tipple bents and construction is truly ingenious. Just when you thought you had seen it all! And the presentation you see when you open the kit box makes you think you got your money's worth even before diving into the construction.
Achieving the gray stain for the mine was pretty straight-forward. I simply used A/I, isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol from the drug store. 70% and 91% readily available for less than $2 per pint. Since the idea is to have as little water as possible, I order through my Walgreen's a 99% alcohol in a gallon size. Also available from Amazon. I mix about 1½ teaspoons per pint of Higgins Water Soluble Black Ink. I also stock several brown and sepia tone inks. In addition I have about 20 Rembrandt artist chalks.
I put the A/I in a pan and drop in the stripwood (or wooden ties). I leave some pieces in for a minute or two, removing them with a tweezers and put them on paper towels to dry. Occasionally I blot some or wipe them very lightly with a paper towel. The idea is to vary the color a little from board to board. Toward that end, after they are dry (just minutes) I will add a little texture with a couple of the lighter gray Rembrandts- I think 704.7 and 704.8. Wet the sticks lightly and sprinkle on the chalk, and work in with a soft brush. Don't overdue the texturing or you will obscure all your graining.
I've finished the tipple bents and framing. Those guys better not look back- something's gaining on them!
(Told you he'd come on in a hurry, Dustin!)
Bill, you were very correct. Now I can just look over both of you guys shoulders.
James, but the fun part is that it's not.