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The Curmudgeon (Mike) and the Punk (Dustin) build the Deer Creek Mine

edited July 2015 in HO Scale Builds
Dustin Hedrick and I have been talking about doing a build-thread on Brett's new Deer Creek Mine kit that is now shipping. This will be a non-traditional approach to a build-thread, and there may be more progress reporting than step-by-step instruction. That is being done by my good friend Bill Obenauf (aka Bill Michaels) on this Forum. If you haven't seen the start of his build thread, check it out.


Some years ago I did a thread with the late Elliott Moore called "Dueling Builds- SWSM Twin Mills of Deer Creek" on RRLine that was a lot of fun and had over 100,000 views (most of which were by Elliott and I according to my wife). So Dustin and I will attempt to reprise that kind of fun and hope that we can entertain and educate you a little bit.


Dustin has already received his kit and in a little will be posting a video of the opening of the kit and surveying the contents. I won't get to see mine until I return from California. My kit arrived Tuesday and is being guarded by my neighbor until I return. So let's have at it!image
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Comments

  • Sounds like fun
  • edited March 2015
    Hey Everyone. This sure should be a good time!!! Some of the biggest reason that I got into modeling is because of guys like Mike Engler and Elliott Moore. I wanted to pay tribute to these excellent builders. What better to use as a tribute than one of Brett's kits. So I contacted Mike about this and he jumped right on board. I hope that we can provide some entertainment along the way. With that being said, I shot a video of the unboxing of the Deer Creek Mine and wanted to share with everyone what really comes in one of Brett's kits. This is the first video like this I have ever done. I hope that you enjoy it.





    I am having issue with the video starting ahead of the beginning. You may have to back the video up a little. Sorry for the glitch.
  • Oh man! Right out of the box you guys go full tilt with fancy visual aides!
    Make sure to keep Mike on his toes, Dustin.

    You're going to love the new acrylic jigs that Brett includes in this kit. It's as close to perfection as I've experienced. Plus, it's faster and easier. I'll be following along.

    Have fun!
    Bill
  • edited March 2015
    Fantastic video Dustin, just superb. It really shows what opening a SierraWest kit box is all about.
    I loved the fact that it wasn't rehearsed or planned and you showed actually opening the packages for the first time and discovering layer after layer of everything that is included in Brett's kits. The pauses in your narration while you were taking everything in was great.

    I'm looking forward to following you and Mike building this kit and you both discovering everything else included along the way after this initial cursory glance upon opening the box.

    Great video.

    Karl.A
  • Mike,
    Really glad you and Dustin are going to do a “dueling build” on the Mine. At present I'm about half way through reading and studying the SWSM Twin Mills build that you and Elliott did. One of my real regrets is that I didn't get to know Elliott. I didn't know until you posted that he was in the hospital in Santa Rosa that I only live a few miles from where Elliott resided.

    David U
  • Mike & Dustin,

    This is going to be one of the builds of the century. I sure hope you post frequently.

    John
  • edited April 2015
    I have to admit that I have been tied up working on a few other projects. As soon as the EXPO is past the build will be in full swing. I have started the kit though. I think the curmudgeon has broke the seal on his also. I promise some pics very soon.
  • edited April 2015
    Well, I made it back form the Expo with tons of build mojo. Since Bill is doing a highly detailed thread these will be more progress and what I did type post. So lets see where I am at. I started with getting all the resin casting prepped. Lots of great ones in there.

    image
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  • edited April 2015
    There were a few things in the instructions that Brett says to take care of in the beginning. Painting the ore chute and roofing material were some of them.imageimage
    image
    You also spray the window sets with dulcoat.
  • Next was graining the wood. Here are a few brushes that I use. image
    You grain and stain the first 17 pieces. image
  • The staining process is super easy. It didn't take me any time to get the color I liked. I wanted it to be a little grayer. I'm not sure it looks that way in the pics though.image
    imageimage
  • Here is the finished product.imageimage
  • edited April 2015
    Here are the first two bents completed. I am slow so that is were it stands as of tonight. I hope to get the other two done over the Easter weekend.imageimage
  • edited April 2015
    Love the wood colour Dustin and those super tight joints in the construction are a pleasure to see, even if it is just a test fit... Great work.

    Karl.A
  • Great to see you at it Dustin. Looks fantastic. Eager to see more...
  • Nice meeting you at the Expo Dustin. Good start on the Mine and look forward to your progress. Those templates are awesome aren't they? Ken
  • Thanks Ken, it was great to meet you as well. For something that looks so complicated Brett has laid out all the ground work for an easy build. I am surprised at the progress that I am able to make.
  • I found some time to work on the mine a little more. So I will jump right in where I am at. Cutting and checking all the spacers for the bents took a little while. I wanted to layout all the bents on the template first just see how it all lays out. I used double sided tape to hold them in place.
    imageimage
  • I had to go back and fix something I noticed I did from Bills thread. Tipple leg A was wrong. The angle support was to short. image
  • Next was to start glueing in all those spacers. I went back and checked all of them again just to be sure. This thing goes together like a dream.
    imageimage
  • You install the ore chute now but you don't glue it in. I wanted mine pretty weathered. I know it's not really seen but I knew its under there. I really tried to add texture to the chute. There are several layers and washes on there to build it up. I'm happy with the look.
    imageimageimageimage
  • Here is the ore chute nestled in the bents. That's were I'm at so far. More to come soon. It's hard to not be motivated with Brett's kits. image
  • The texture on the bin casting looks great... keep it coming!!!
  • edited April 2015
    I also love the texture and mottled appearance of the chute, terrific result on that piece. Don't even worry that it will never be seen, we all just saw it and admired it, as will many others viewing these pics in the future. It is always worth the extra effort I think, if only for personal satisfaction.

    The bents all look perfect and the spacers are as tight and true as they could be, great assembly shots for us all to follow along with and great to read that it is going together effortlessly. That definitely gives more enjoyable modeling time to spend on things like weathering the wood, the ore chute and the abundance of other fun things included in this great kit.

    Great progress so far, looking forward to more.

    Karl.A
  • Thanks Brett and Karl. That is high praise coming from you guys. Brett's instructions also make things pretty easy. Now if we could only get the Curmudgeon to join in.
  • Ah, leave him alone.... He is just giving you a head start. LOL
  • edited April 2015
    Update time.

    I finished up with all the spacers. I made sure to check and recheck as I went. imageimageimage
  • I really like this shot looking down the bents. It not perfect by any means but it really shows the simple complexity of it.image
  • Next you add the 8 back spacers. I took my time with these to make sure they lined up as good as possible. These tested my patience a little. imageimage
  • Next I added the legs. If you have done all the other steps correct these line up beautifully. I was careful to make sure that they stood up straight.imageimageimage
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