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Comments
Hoist cable guide
NBW's x infinity
Just missing a few last things.
Each build is really showing the highest qualities that can be achieved. Great kit, great instructions, great builders.
Karl.A
This Dustin is quite the builder- a great job on the head frame. And fast too- he has a five week vacation and he caught up with me. Since he had bench time last night I better show some progress or I'll be left behind.
One of the things I do as a model builder that really gives me a sense of accomplishment is building an individual board wall. Learning Brett's techniques will enable any modeler to be a highly skilled scratch builder. Of course in the old days when we also had to build the framing wall board-on-board was a little more challenging, as Brett now laser-cuts these for us. I think all the young guys should have to pay their dues and buy one of the early kits just to build some frame walls.
I built the two end walls yesterday. The boards were already stained and weathered when we did the tipple house. Brett's stripwood traps for corners are genius- don't tell them how to do these Dustin- make them go buy the kit to know as much as we do
Each window is made up of seven pieces, and include spraying the mylar "glass" that gets sandwiched between two frame pieces, after they are stained with alcohol and Rembrandt chalk. Just like a real window. Adding a couple of small pieces of channel here would allow the lower sash to be raised and lowered. Even if you don't do that you can model them open, closed, or anywhere in-between.
Cracks, holes, shards, and missing panes are easily added and Brett includes a template to help do these effects neatly. There are seven pieces that make up each window and the best thing about the finished product is that they don't look like plastic windows. All the other major large kit suppliers- George, Doug, Bob VG, etc all use Grandt or Tichy plastic windows to my knowledge. Photos of the finished models that include the plastic windows are almost as much of a dead give-away that the scene is not real as it would be if Little People were included.
Brett's laser-board is great to work with, and he uses an incredible self-adhesive that actually self-adheres. I still used a dot of canopy glue or ACC gel to make sure it all held together. This is not a big structure as it only has seven windows and three doors, and a hoist cable opening. Oh, and the doors have two-part plates and door-knobs on both sides of the doors.
Working with chalk and alcohol can cause some build-up on things like window mullion frames. Use a magnifier or take some close-up photos like these to identify where you will want to clean-up here and there with the tip of a No. 11 blade.
So on to the hoist house floor and the diorama base. I'm still behind Dustin as I think he has already decorated all of the castings. First some pics of the finished windows and doors. The first one is using a stripwood guide to make aligning perfectly square. Brett teaches you to do this often, with various stages of the construction.
I'm plugging away, and always a nice diversion with one of Brett's creations are the many white metal and beautiful resin castings. And nothing smells better than resin in the morning with the possible exception of resin being drilled with your Dremel. Again, no room for short-cuts here. These resin castings rarely need any cleaning, and washing them is wasted time- simply not necessary. The ones that are wood, like wooden kegs, benches, cabinets, and crates get a light primer coat of Krylon Camo Khaki, and the ones representing metal like steel barrels and trash cans get Flat Black, also a Krylon rattle can.
Before spraying the round castings are drilled from the bottom to accept a round wooden toothpick with one of the points snipped off. Put the tooth-pick holders in a chunk of foam so that you can spray them. As we will see later this will allow us to paint the tiny bands on the barrels by holding a very small brush steady and rotating the barrel by twirling the tooth pick slowly. You keep your hands joined together on your work surface- this sounds awkward but you quickly get the hang of it and gets great results.
The best thing about Starbucks is their free wooden stir sticks. You can put 7 or 8 flat on your work surface, and then put a five inch strip of 2" wide carpet tape length-wise on them. Then cut the sticks apart with your X-acto knife, and now you have several sticks that you can attach many boxes, crates, shelves, workbenches to. Wear a plastic glove and spray all your castings, and after they dry the fun begins. We will decorate with chalk and alcohol, so the primer will give the casting some "teeth" to hold the decorating.
Cant wait to see what you do with all of the castings, your work on those is always inspiring.
As you noted, the techniques outlined in Brett's manual make the process a pleasure, even down to the level of how to hold them.
Looking forward to seeing your results on these.
Karl.A
There are several rather large interior details for the hoist house, and they are kind of kits within the kit. I'm usually not big on building Jordan vehicles and the like as I am out of my element when I get beyond basswood and card stock, or anything that requires more than white glue to hold it together. So while waiting for the primer to dry a little bit, I decided to see what a Stationary Horizontal Steam Boiler and a Double Cylinder Mine Hoist were all about. Well, they were a ball. Once you start you don't want to stop- you have to force yourself to let the five-minute epoxy get good and dry after you join a couple of pieces, before moving on.
My biggest problem was not knowing the nomenclature of all the parts, but that is another big reason why I love doing Brett's kits- the educational factor. When his manual says "make sure the crosshead guides, connecting rods, and crank discs fit together and are quartered", I'm doing a lot of back and forth from model to photos. High level of satisfaction when you can assemble and weather one of these little critters, especially when you build it in HO. A lot of 5-minute epoxy, some ACC, and occasionally Formula 560 Canopy glue are used to join resin, copper and brass wire, pewter, and styrene.
The third photo is the finished Stationary Horizontal Boiler, the Double Cylinder Mine Hoist, and the Mill Engine and Blower. The weathering is chalk, A/C (alcohol and chalk), and dry brushing Reaper and Vallejo acrylic metalic-colored paints. The assembled boiler was sprayed with flat black Krylon, and most metal parts were treated with A-West BLACKEN-IT- yeah I found another bottle.
Inspired by Bill Obenauf's work with signing wooden crates, I made a few up. After priming all the epoxy castings, and weathering them with various shades of chalk and alcohol, I applied a few signs, and I think they will be serviceable. Several are shown in the last photo.I have thousands of signs but I am going to have to resize some of them to HO crate size, which is pretty small. Back to decorating castings.
Thanks for sharing!
Alan
I've applied the first scenery layer to the diorama base, and have cut, stained, and glued some ties in place. I've cut a few pieces of code 55 rail but will have to wait to lay the rail until I get a second HOn3 track gauge. I've also cut some code 40 rail for the ore cars.
Before I glue the elements in place I have to verify the spacing and alignment. The photo shows a rod that indicates where the cable will go. The rod rests on the top of the sheave, and goes through the center of the hoist door, and rests on the diorama base centered where the hoist will go.
I'm starting the detailing which i consider the dessert phase of the diorama. This diorama is on a 11 X 14 frame board from the local Dick Blick store- Brett said I was crazy for trusting it not to warp. It is gesso-coated and the label said it was warp-proof. I even called a Blick product manager and got his assurance as well. I did use mostly alcohol instead of water to mist prior to using a reduced amount of water mixed with white glue to adhere everything.
The pics show you which castings to tone down with A/I, chalk, or dry-brushing. I have some additional dirt to put around foundations, doors to fix, and various touch-up work.
I make the casting placement and detail work last by only doing them for an hour or so at a time for several reasons. Give some thought to placement and resist the urge to finish. The last ten per-cent is the most important part of diorama building. They really are never finished- you can always make them better.
I still have some roofs to do. I have placed walk boards in several places including in front of the doors.
Sorry for the generally bad photography in these pics. I do study them and make notes as I like to make a punch list of the dozens of things that need to be fixed. Note in the third photo above a neat detail that Brett suggests you add- cut some very thin strips of paper that you have stained with chalk, and glue them in place as straps to hold the piping in place. The last shows some brightly colored castings that are screaming to be toned down.
Here are a few pics of this mine scene coming together. I almost cried framing a shed to cover all the detail on the horizontal boiler and the detail on the wall behind it. I should have figured a way to keep it in the open, but I didn't want to do a hoky roof under construction. The tanks together are cool details, and the area where the little ore cars are being refurbished is a fun addition.
I can't wait to see your final product. Phil
The closeups look great. The only thing I noticed that seemed "maybe" a little out of place is the Red Barrel with the Blue Strip and the Blue Barrel with the Red Strip. The colors on those two seemed to draw my eye away from your awesome craftsmenship because they are mucher brighter than the rest of your scene.
Thanks again for sharing!
Alan
Addendum: Not the website I was looking for but rather the outcome of a little Google searching: http://www.shutterstock.com/s/rusty+barrel+oil+old/search.html
This one outside with a friend's shade structure in the background that kind of blends in.
Thanks for Sharing!
The way the track curves away from the structure looks awesome. Cant wait to get my hands on another of Bretts Kits.
Looking forward to more pics.
The final result looks awesome and I concur with your roof/shingle work. I also like how you chose to situate the scene on an angle. Looking forward to more of those outdoor shots!
With that being said.
I'm back!! I have decided to get my arse in gear and get back to this kit. I can't make any excuses. I have cleaned off the bench and I am ready to get back at it. That means there should be pics and an update to follow soon.
Sorry for the long pause in between.
Next is to place board on board. I decided to try a different technique to weather each board. I used the back on an xacto on each one and then used a small brush with different stain on them to create a little variation.
More to come soon.....