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BillMichaels
Engine Wiper
USA
249 Posts |
 Posted - 10/10/2011 : 6:07:02 PM
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Frederic and Mike--the log is a piece of Fir as recommended in the manual. It's not Mac's, but it did come from PetSmart. This particular brand is "All Living Things" Fir Perch.
Elliott--thanks a bunch for that picture! Filthy dusty places to say the least. I'll keep that one close by when I get to the final details and intertior assembly.
Here are a few more shots of the finished pieces with the logs and on the layout:
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BillMichaels
Engine Wiper
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - 10/14/2011 : 3:03:43 PM
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Here's the husk saw...another cool detail in this kit. Assembly is pretty simple but adding the belts takes some patience and steady hands.
For the saw blades, I felt that they needed to be weathered somehow. I wanted them to look used, but not old and rusty. I took a look at my table saw blade and saw that it's got scuff marks and what looks like burn marks from where the wood got bound up. Blaken-it was out of the question because I believe the blades are aluminum and using echant seemed too risky. I remember reading Kevin O'Neill's thread where he had to weather saw blades: http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=32752&whichpage=2
What I ended up doing was chucking the baldes into my Dremel and adding a coat of flat finish and chalk while they spun. I went back and forth trying to thin down the mixture with Dio-Sol, then adding more chalk (grays and a touch of black) and reapplying, etc. (this blade is part of the cutoff saw rather than the husk saw):
I got a nice "used" look in a steel color but found it impossible to repeat the pattern on the other blades (and the other sides). I couldn't find any prototype pictures for a double saw, but my guess is that they wouldn't bind or wear in the exact same way on the top and bottom. Here's how it turned out:
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ETinBH
Fireman
USA
4240 Posts |
Posted - 10/14/2011 : 7:45:13 PM
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| unfortunately, the saw's position inside the mill lets little of it shows above the log in the carriage. but neat looking now |
Edited by - ETinBH on 10/14/2011 7:46:32 PM |
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BillMichaels
Engine Wiper
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - 10/14/2011 : 10:46:04 PM
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Well, hopefully with the removable roof or a slight reposition of the log carriage the idea will be conveyed that the blades have been used.
Talk about stuff that won't be seen...I've spent most of the day working on the castings! |
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UKGuy
Fireman
USA
5427 Posts |
Posted - 10/15/2011 : 01:07:00 AM
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The things that are bareley seen but still are done this well, they are the things that make a huge difference.
Another wonderfully modelled piece of the larger picture, great execution of the rings and wear on the blade Bill.
Karl.A
(watching and admiring from afar) |
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Mr Lucky
Section Hand
USA
67 Posts |
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BillMichaels
Engine Wiper
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2011 : 3:41:01 PM
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Elliott, Karl & Erik--thanks for the kind words!
The last pieces of machinery are the live rolls and dead rolls. Real simple construction with no surprises. The rollers are white metal castings that you age with Blacken-It. I found this little Dremel polishing wheel at the hardware store:
I bought it thinking I could texture stripwood with it, but it's way too soft. However, I found it works great for smoothing out castings. It does a nice job getting rid of part lines and shining up the metal. That in turn helps the casting accept the Blacken-It better and faster. I used an old shop brush to dab on the Blacken-It and the chemical reaction was immediate in the areas that I polished. After drying, I buffed them a little directly on the roller areas using a regular felt buffing wheel.
Next on the "to do" list: castings! Lots of 'em! I've been anxious to try Kevin's techniques that I read about in this thread: http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=33146&whichpage=1
I did a test with a couple benchs. First, I primed 'em with a light coat of Floquil Earth, then added chalk powders. Comparing the before and after, I think this was the first time I truly understood "creating depth". It was like a light bulb went on. NOW I get it! These are 2 different castings but they make the point. The first is straight out of the box with only the flash removed and some grain scribed in. The second has the Earth and raw umber 408.5 chalk applied, then A/I gently wicked into the cracks and depressions:
Using less paint and more subtle colors for the rest of the areas, here's what one of the benchtops looks like:
And here's another that goes inside the boat house:
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BillMichaels
Engine Wiper
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2011 : 09:15:49 AM
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It's been a while since I posted an update. Time to get caught up!
Most of the castings are done. To color and weather these, I followed a mix of Brett's directions and Kevin's along with some other things I wanted to try. I primed all the castings with either Floquil earth or Rust-Oleum Camouflage (I think Khaki was the color). I tried all kinds of Floquil and Polly Scale colors (the ones Brett recommends) and dulled them down with chalks. One thing I realized is how versitile the gold ochre 231.3 is! It's great for warming up wood castings, but also is a great rust color when used sparingly on top of the darker browns. First the wood stuff...(the trunk on the right gets most of it's lighter color from the gold ochre):
Here's one of my favorite castings in the kit. It's a cluster of leaky, corroded barrels and drums:
For the stack of split wood, I used Kevin's raw umber 485.5 with A/I idea and let everything dry. Then, I went back and dry brushed on some raw umber oil paint (water soluable). I also stabbed in some of the oil color here and there (full strength) and got a pretty believable bark look on the wood:
So here's the whole batch of castings:
Next, I put together the steam donkey. Including the support wires, there are about a dozen little parts that make up this unit. The boiler gets painted with a dark rust color. Then while still wet, you stab in dark rust colored chalk. You can see where I used a little of the gold ochre on the top funnel to get that lighter rust effect. I wasn't sure if the protype used rope or cable, so I went ahead and modeled it to look like metal cable. The string got an A/I staining, then I dusted on black chalk and "polished" it with a real soft brush. That removed some of the black chalk giving the thread a shiny steel look. I'm really pleased with the way this thing turned out:
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Frederic Testard
Engineer
France
16441 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2011 : 4:53:28 PM
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| Bill, I like your work on the castings but feel a bit uncomfortable with the donkey. I don't think a donkey being used could be so rusty, since there would be a real risk corrosion make it explode with the pressure of water. If I remember correctly the kit design, this donkey is used to power the unloading mechanism, and hence it should be in a better state of repair in my opinion. |
Frederic Testard |
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BillMichaels
Engine Wiper
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2011 : 7:41:36 PM
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Thanks for the input, Frederic.
I hadn't considered that. The look I was going for is one of surface rust, rather than corrosion or disrepair. My understanding of these types of boilers is that there was extreme heat which caused the paint (if any) to burn off leaving the steel exposed and oxidized. The manual calls for the casting to be painted dark rust color, then blotted with dark brown chalks.
Do the lighter brown chalks that I used give it a more deteriorated look? I used those light colors because I thought it gave a look of fresh/surface rust.
Thanks,
Bill |
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closetguy
Fireman
USA
1288 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2011 : 8:29:05 PM
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Hi Bill
I seemed to have missed this build earlier. Very nice. |
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UKGuy
Fireman
USA
5427 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2011 : 9:05:02 PM
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The details are looking fantastic Bill, beautiful modelling.
Karl.A |
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brownbr
Crew Chief
USA
700 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2011 : 07:09:38 AM
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| Great job on the castings. The colors are very muted but not monochromatic. Gives a very dusty appearance. |
Bryan |
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Frederic Testard
Engineer
France
16441 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2011 : 09:59:19 AM
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| Since nobody else seems puzzled by it, I suppose there's no problem with the finish of the boiler, Bill. I just have read that loggers were very careful with the state of these machines, since accidents in this case were very likely to kill a lot of people. |
Frederic Testard |
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Rick
Administrator
USA
17726 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2011 : 10:05:16 AM
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Very nice job on the detail painting.
I've got a feeling Frederic is correct about the donkey.
I think they were better maintained to prevent any accidents.
A little rusting around joints and seams but not a heavy all over rust IMHO would be more accurate.
I know the next post will be someone posting a heavily rusted boiler in use.  |
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SWSM Twin Mills...one more time!
