The Backwoods Water Tank & Storage Shed

Karl.A

I would tend to agree with Bryan. End the base right up to where the track would be.

My first diorama, the tool shed did indeed include the tracks, I have since regretted this and my subsequent dioramas, such as Railroad Camp (part 1) and O'Neils end where the track would be.

This will give more versatility and less reconfiguring in the future.

Confined to 8x8 .... hmmmmm... sounds like an award winning contest entry in the making... I look forward to watching it progress.

Karl.A

ironmountainlumber

I agree with Karl and Bryan. I too have been thinking about whether to include the track in the build I am doing and had decided not to. It will be more difficult to get a smooth transition among the track pieces and leaving it out will eliminate trouble wiring the small piece of track or derailments in your layout ( just my two cents worth). Also if you ever move your layout you could remove the dioramas to prevent breakage and leave all the track in place.
Jim

KKarns

Mike, the rocks are designed to be bedrock along the ditch and although the rock is a hard shale, to scale it could pass as limestone layers such as the material used in the pump house. The intermittent exposure is to simulate where topsoil has sloughed in and filled in some areas of weathering and gives me a place for some landscaping and breaks it up.

Bryan, Karl, Jim;
The issue of the track is that it is only being placed for the sake of the diorama and will be lightly glued down and easily moved/removed if and when needed. Karl caught me!...I'm attending the Expo in the fall in MA. and want to enter this dio just for fun since I'll be there anyway (tail end of an east coast vacation with my wife). I want to keep the track to complete the dio and have one that is no doubt associated with a railroad. As a result, I want to keep it at 8x8 or jump to the 12x12 entry which I'd rather not do.

Karl.A

Good thinking and forethought Ken, lightly tacking down the track.
Entering the dio will indeed give you lots of fun and good feedback from all of us there. It is so much better to stand next to the guy and hear their thoughts, I look forward to seeing you there, with the dio.

Stick with 8x8, compact and full of interest, if you try to spread an 8x8 dio into a 12x12 space you may only end up diluting the impact of your work over a larger area. Just my thoughts.

Karl.A

KKarns

Karl, Great to know you'll be there this fall and can't wait to hob nob with the group and absorb as much as I can.

The dio is staying 8x8... will keep you posted as to the progress. -K

Bill

Well how the heck did I miss this thread???
Fantastic job, Ken. Your pump house looks very nice and particularly the brick work--the colors are perfect. Nice work on the shake tank roof and walls, not to mention the tank itself.
Another stellar job on your strip wood. Nice texture and color and I really like your metal signs. Cool!

On page 3 you wrote, "I discovered a neat way to color and stain the strip wood that gave me a nice texture and variation in the wood, other than that, I detailed each board one at a time." Okay, you've been posting here long enough. Spill it!! I miss ONE thread and now there's some new magic way to prep strip wood and everybody knows it 'cept me!!
I demand answers!

Seriously, the whole build looks awesome. The only think I'd rethink is what you're using for track. You've got all those nice details perfectly in scale, everything looks real, but the track kills the illusion. Whatever brand it is, it's got that series of gigantic plastic tie plates making it look like a toy. Easy enough fix: use a piece of Micro Engeineering code 83 or 70 and space out the ties like you did. Or, try a little hand laid track. It's only an 8" section and is pretty easy to lay down.

Again, nice work and I'm glad to hear you're bringing it to the Expo so we can see it in person. Keep it up!
Bill

KKarns

Hey Bill, great hearing from you and thanks so much for your input!

Your insight on the track issue was dead on. I made an attempt to hand weather regular HO scale section track and of course have not glued down the track yet as I wasn't sure it was going to cut it. After your insight.. it's gone for good. Brett used ME code 55 narrow gauge rail and ties and hand laid them. I'm thinking of the same and have an order ready to go for the pre-weathered rail and ties. The Water Tank will by on a spur track so what do you think about the hand laid Code 55 unballasted?

OK..the method I came across for staining the strip wood, which gave me some really nice texture and varying tones, was used on the Water Tank & Storage Shed featured here. After the normal texturing of the strip wood with the brass brush I used Floquil Earth and thinned it down with thinner on my bench then brushed it on with a soft brush. Then, after only about 5 minutes or so, while the stain was still a bit "sticky" I lightly brushed the strip wood varying the amount and pressure of the brushing and was really amazed at how much variation in tones and wood graining I got. I tried the same brushing on a well dried piece of wood and there was a definite difference. I suppose the brushing re-distributed and forced the stain down into the grain of the wood or exposed more fresh wood to give more highlights, whatever the mechanics were I liked the results and they appear reproducible. Love to hear from anyone who would care to try it.

Can't wait to meet you guys and I plan on attending your seminar!

Bill

Wow, that's cool. I always forget to grab a brass brush unless the manual calls for it. Thanks for the run down. Sounds like something I'm going to have to experiment with.

Bill

KKarns

Bill, yea give it a try and let me know what you think. Would be a tough drill on a big project like your sawmill but is manageable on a smaller build. I mean I just gave some pieces just a couple of back and forth strokes with the brush and could immediately see the results and it got better when fully dry.

ironmountainlumber

Awesome on entering this build into THE contest!. What a cool show to be able to attend and learn from the SierraWest crew. I too was thinking about the track over the weekend and then saw Bill chimed in. This is a beautiful build and the track distracts from the build. Hand laid track will really add and compliment the build. I think a small amount of ballast with weeds and grass would look cool inbetween the tracks ( my 2 cents worth). I think hand laid track with color variations in the ties and rusty rails will help put this over the top. Great job as always!
Jim

KKarns

Hey Jim; Yup, no doubt the track choice change was a sound decision, nice job Bill!. I'll keep you updated on the track install and see what you think. In the mean time a couple updates, albeit minor, but still progress....railing, ground to deck ladder, final, and tank roof rafters. I cut the final in half from the original as I thought it stuck up too high, this looks nice and a bit more subtle I think?

Wes

This whole thing is coming along beautifully.

I wouldn't say that it was resin looking at the pics.

brownbr

Nice progress. It's sure a show stopper

KKarns

Thanks guys, almost started putting on the roof of the storage shed then put the brakes on as I need to get the castings done and positioned as the inside is quite visible and the roof makes it tough to position things. Also, the spout on the water tank will have to wait as it would be just asking to get knocked off doing the scenery. So...on with the diorama landscaping!

us_okrim

Gret job, Ken. Am still marveling about the fantastic "staining the stone foundation" job. Looks really terrific, even without the scenery. Once all is blended in with castings and scenery it will look fantastic. Would look really great on my layout. Mirko

KKarns

Hey Mirko, Thanks for the feed-back. It's funny, I was most concerned going into this build with the stone casting and getting the detailing right for my layout plans. Fortunately things fell in place and I'm reasonably happy with it and tickled to be able to acquire such a nice classic piece. Did you see I mentioned MY layout plans.....-K

KKarns

Things are progressing slow as I'm working on the landscaping. Experimenting with different color grouts and applications and waiting for my code 55 pre-weathered rail and wood ties to come in. I'm starting on the back of the dio where the road comes up a grade to the back of the Water Tank building. Mistakes won't be as noticeable and ultimately fixable. The road has the base layer down and base coloring. A few scape items temporarily in place along the retaining wall. Will continue to add in details for the road berm and center line while I wait for the track laying supplies! -K

KKarns

Wes

Beautiful modelling Ken.

Your landscaping is really starting to take shape.

srankin6

really nice job ....still have this kit tucked away, great .inspiration....wish the hands were were steadier for HO.

KKarns

Thanks for the encouragement as I feel I'm progressing painfully slow! The scenery is taking much thought and planning being my first time at putting together a diorama. My track and ties arrived so things should get moving along. The biggest decision is arriving at a base dirt layer that I like. The road here is an experiment and turned out OK but not sure I want it for the rest of the dio. Once I get that worked out I should be able to get the castings staged and then move on to sinking things into some dirt!

brownbr

I really like the retaining wall.

KKarns

Hey Bryan, I wanted to use a variety of scenic techniques on this build, despite the relatively small space, to bone up on the skills needed as this is my first go at a diorama. It will fit nicely into my overall layout plans for this spur section. Although the wall, road, rock lined ditch, track section, fence, etc..makes for a bit busy scene, not all this can be seen at the same time!...good thing? I was inspired to construct the road and wall from Karl's great build thread "Dirt, Details, & Dioramas" If I come anywhere close to Karl's dirt road depicted in the thread I'll be thrilled.

KKarns

Another filler pick so you don't think I'm loafing. Few of the castings roughly staged....-K

KKarns

ironmountainlumber

The castings look superb. Painting all the details in the boxes really adds alot to the level of detail you are doing on the dio. One bottle has a really nice sheen to it which helps with the illusion of glass. Glad to see that you are using lots of color! I am really amazed how much detail is in bretts castings. Stuff you don't see until you start painting them ( I keep on wondering how he does this and have meant to ask him how he does this). Nice start on the road. The crates look old and weathered. What color of chaulk did you use for the crates? Are you using vallejo paints or floquil and poly s paints for your castings? Looking foward to more pictures as I am always amazed at the level of detail you are putting into your builds!
Jim

djdutch

Just jumping in to this thread, I really love this build it is the only fully explaint build about the water tank and storage shed that I found on the web.

I like you the colors that you used and it blend out together so well thanks for posting

DJ

KKarns

Hey Jim, Detailing a few castings held me over until my track and cross ties arrived. The crates were primed with washes of Floquil earth and depot buff then when dry a light wash all over of dirt (the color Jim, not the real stuff!:) After that dried, I dry brushed on grime and then a light chalking with grey (704.5) I use both Floquil and Poly Scale. I like Poly Scale on the non-wood items and prefer the Floquil on the wood stuff. The poly on wood hides too much detail. As always, really enjoy hearing from you Jim. Lets get some of your stuff up?? -K

DJ, your right....I couldn't find another build thread on this kit either. Glad it is appearing useful to someone. Do you have this kit? I really like how its gone up and the fact that it's a nostalgic piece just makes all that much better. Stay in touch. -K

KKarns

Hey Jim, Detailing a few castings held me over until my track and cross ties arrived. The crates were primed with washes of Floquil earth and depot buff then when dry a light wash all over of dirt (the color Jim, not the real stuff!:) After that dried, I dry brushed on grime and then a light chalking with grey (704.5) I use both Floquil and Poly Scale. I like Poly Scale on the non-wood items and prefer the Floquil on the wood stuff. The poly on wood hides too much detail. As always, really enjoy hearing from you Jim. Lets get some of your stuff up?? -K

DJ, your right....I couldn't find another build thread on this kit either. Glad it is appearing useful to someone. Do you have this kit? I really like how its gone up and the fact that it's a nostalgic piece just makes all that much better. Stay in touch. -K

djdutch

yes I bought the kit last year, the time this kit came out I was 10 years old ;-) I'm waiting for some room to build it and I have to find out wich colors are match with the floquil and poly scale because I can't get them over here.
I also have the tractor repair shed and woodcutters shack the last one would be the first I'm gonna build.

I think you did a very good job can't wait to see the finished diorama :-)

DJ