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anubis51
Crew Chief
Australia
932 Posts |
 Posted - 06/25/2012 : 01:31:26 AM
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Hello all,
Winter has arrived here downunder, and this as ever, brings more indoor activities. That phrase means many things to many different people, but for me it means pushing the motorcycle into the shed, hanging up the goggles, and moving into the workroom.
Time to start a new project![:-bouncy]
Some months back, I acquired my first ever O scale laser cut wood kit.
This is the one. It's the delightful Martinsburg No 1 Coal Mine from the folks at American Model Builders.
I realise that a few modellers out there feel that laser cut kits are a bit of a 'cheat', and as a dedicated scratch-builder myself, I was inclined to agree: until I saw how nice this one was.
After all, I have assembled hundreds of styrene kits in my life (from aircraft, through ships, motor vehicles, and figures), and even if someone else has done all the 'ground-work', I always considered them as my own constructions, and certainly not as cheating - so why not a laser cut wood kit?
I see that this structure has been the subject of at least one nice build on this forum, but I wanted to make it a bit more 'down-under' in flavour, and as per my other builds, with a detailed, and illuminated interior.
Again, there is no real location for this structure on my existing On30 layout, so I will build it as a diorama, until I get around to that 'super-layout'....well, one day!
I decided to begin with the Engine-house and changing room, as this seemed to be the logical commencement. It also will serve to give me a 'feel' for the structure.
Here I have added the basic Alcohol and Ink mix to the walls. I was very surpised to see how much they warped along the grain, but once I had dried them out under some heavy weights for a day or so, they came out fine.
Here, the walls are sitting together, just to give me an idea of how large the thing is, and how best to proceed. The inner walls are still bare wood.
Here I have printed up a template on plain paper, to give me an idea where I will locate the inner walls. The majority of the structure (coloured green) will house the steam engine which will drive the cable to the headframe in the front building. The LH section (yellow) will house the lockers and bench for the miners. The centre section (blue) is the shower - a mandatory requirement in any mining change-room, I should think!
Plans are always open to changes, and this floor plan will probably be altered quite a bit as I progress.
I have decided to use Bachmann's Log Skidder as the donor for the steam engine, and have one coming poste-haste from Wather's.
Here, the inner wall has been built up from stout card, covered with a woodgrain paper overlay.
I have made up a floor from 2.8mm balsa, and this fits in nicely between the walls, thus raising the floor level to that of the door stoops.
Adding the engine house second storey wall, jut to check for fit with my walls, which have been trimmed where necessary.
I have added a second layer of 1mm balsa, scribed with lines to represent floorboards. The rest of the floor will be painted up to simulate concrete.
<STUPIDO> This is where I made a very big mistake! In retrospect, I should have fitted the upper layer at 90° to the lower layer of balsa, for as this dried, it caused the whole floor area to warp along its length. No amount of weighting down or clamping could take it away, and when I tried to bend it back, I was rewarded with two horrid breaks, which look for all the world like.....two horrid breaks!
Important lesson learned![:-banghead]
Well, that's all for now, guys.
More later.
Thank you,
John.
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milocomarty
Fireman
Netherlands
4927 Posts |
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Neil M
Fireman
Australia
2173 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2012 : 07:00:26 AM
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| Nice going so far, John. Are you going to add an interior to all of the model or just the winding house part of the model? |
Built a waterfront HO layout in Ireland http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22161 but now making a start in On30 in Australia |
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SAFN SAAP
Engine Wiper
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2012 : 08:03:23 AM
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John,
For what it is worth, you may think you made a mistake but those breaks look fantastic! Believe it or not, wood decking with age does split like that, so you did get a result that is accurate, even though you made a mistake. To help disguise it, you could cut some of the end boards along the seams and curly the wood up; if the floor is simply strip wood that is. If it is tongue and groove, you won't be able to do that.
I too have noticed that AMB wood likes to do the wave when you use anything with an alcohol wash. That's why I am spraying the parts with a thin amount of el cheapo gray primer from Wal*Mart over them before anything else. John is correct when he says do both sides. That will prevent the bowing effect.
Overall, nice job. Keep up the good work.
Manny |
"Reflecting the Frisco influence in the railroads of the Texas Hill Country" |
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mabloodhound
Fireman
USA
4616 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2012 : 08:48:16 AM
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Looks OK to me John. AS for the future warping experience (there will be another) try putting the part in the microwave for a few seconds.
I had this happen to me and I had used AI on both side. Put it in the MW to cook, then set it out under weight and it worked.
Only disadvantage was that it grew in width and I had already cut the part to proper dimensions. But it was flat.
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Dave Mason
D&G RR (Dunstead & Granford) in On30
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”~Benjamin Franklin
The 2nd Amendment, America’s 1st Homeland Security
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andykins
Fireman
United Kingdom
3878 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2012 : 08:57:49 AM
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nice start john :D looking forward to this.
and im agreeing with manny, the split flooring dose'nt look too badto me. bit of paint to fill the new wood :D |
"Is it really "rivet counting" if it's regarding NBW castings?"
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Curator49
Engine Wiper
Australia
311 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2012 : 4:06:36 PM
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John - I am looking forward to this build and will be following it as you go. I am considering buying the Martinsburg Mine No.1 kit so the thread will be important for me to follow.[:-thumbu]
Already in the first two posts you have given us something to be careful of and Milocromarty has provided a useful tip. 
Regards
David Mewes
Curator
The Workshops Rail Museum
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anubis51
Crew Chief
Australia
932 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2012 : 5:30:16 PM
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Thanks for the input, blokes.
xxxxxx
Martin, you are correct. Next time, I will do both sides. The only problem here was that I was unsure as to what I was going to do with the inner walls, so I just left them unstained...
xxxxxx
Hi Neil. I plan on adding a detailed interior to the Engine house, as well as to the Loading house, but I may not go as far as the headframe chute, as it is mostly invisible from the outside anyway. I may make some attempt at the winding gear at the top, but I have no plans ro make the whole thing operable...
xxxxxx
Thanks for the observation, Manny. I now see that as the build progresses, I have gotten to quite like those cracks. As you say, real batten floors do split!
xxxxxx
Hi Dave. Good idea, warming the wood up in the microwave. I may try it next time. It's funny that you should mention the timber 'growing in width', as I have had this happen already. I was almost convinced that the laser-cut parts were incorrectly cut, and I would have to re-size them. The next day however, after a good drying out (in what there is of the winter sunshine), I found that the parts had all returned to their correct dimensions....
xxxxxx
Thanks, Andy. I always appreciate your input.
xxxxxx
Hi there David M. Nice to have you along. Aussies keep popping up all the time.
More later.
John
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Thorn Creek and Western
Fireman
USA
2349 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2012 : 7:22:28 PM
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I'm on board too, John.
I agree that both sides of sheetwood should be treated with the same solvent(s) at the same time. I suppose that to keep the 'natural' look inside you could have just left out the ink.
-Dave |
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anubis51
Crew Chief
Australia
932 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2012 : 8:10:08 PM
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Hi again all,
Time for an update.
Here I have added inner detailing to the shower recess. The white walls are cut from glossy photo paper, weathered up with some soap, scum, and rust streaks, using pastels.
The shower head is scratched from a couple of small washers and a length of soft wire solder.
The taps are slices from a length of grass-cutter nylon line, the towel rail is a wire staple, and the mirror is a piece of mirrored card from the craft shoppe.
A shower plinth cut from 2mm EVA foam sheet, with a drain hole made from another tiny washer. The footstool was built up from 1mm balsa.
Attaching and weighting the inner wall assembly to the floor. The tiny bumps that you see indicate where the shower 'plumbing' is to be fitted in order to line up with the taps.
Or not.....
The concrete floor is a paint blend of my own, consisting of an acrylic light grey mix, which will be spotted and weathered here and there with my A/I mix, and some powdered pastel chalks.
The completed shower recess and inner wall.
There's those two horrible cracks again.......
Commencing on the inner wall bracing. It's probably not quite prototypically intricate enough for the builders and carpenters out there, but it should give the correct effect, once painted up.
The two wires run up inside the timbers to carry current to the exterior lamp, mounted above the door.
The exterior end wall, with the lamp. The lampshade is a brass HO scale one from Miniatronics. The bulb is a 12v microlamp, with the leads themselves forming the gooseneck. A tiny craft glass bead forms the escutcheon on the wall.
That's all for now, guys.
More tomorrow, if I get the chance.
John
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anubis51
Crew Chief
Australia
932 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2012 : 12:31:58 AM
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Hello again,
Friday, and the sun is struggling through the wintering trees. Time for an update.
Finally, the Bachmann Log Skidder has arrived, and has been unceremoniously relieved of its sled frame.
It looks a bit too good to turn into an old, well-worn machine, doesn't it?
Maybe that's what Warren, my tram driver, is thinking.....
Meanwhile, here I am preparing some enamelled lockers for the change room. I sketched them up on my Paint Shop Pro program, scaled them at about 6' in height, then printed them out onto heavy gloss photo paper.
I wanted to have at least one of the lockers with an open door, so that meant using a shaped wooden block as a former.
Here I have added some stuff inside the locker. The clothes on the hangers are made from painted micropore medical tape, and the thingie on the top shelf is a polyester capacitor from my stock of electronics bits and pieces.
[:-bulb] .(I find that a lot of prospective detailing parts are available from electronics components bins. Just take a stroll through your local Radio Shack parts aisles, and you'll find lots of colourful 'bits' that can be turned into great scale books, boxes, cartons, suitcases, and other things, with a minimum of effort. The best part is that most of them are only a few cents each, too....)[:-bulb] .
The locker banks, still awaiting the ends.
I have 'indented' the several handle spaces with a small screwdriver, tapped with a small hammer, and added some rust and other signs of wear.
Aha!
It looks like I have found my steam engine operator! He is part of the WS Scenic Accents 'Bystanders' group, and he will look quite suitable, after I make a few modifications to him, (for instance, shorten that 'orangutan' left arm) and 'dirty' him up a bit....[:-eyebrows]
This is a shot of some of the 'components' that will go into the Engine House. The three figures selected to populate it, the steam engine, the lockers, and the small table that I made up from balsa and stained with a mix of A/I and brown pastel chalk. They all require some more detailing before I fit them.
The rear wall, ready to test fit to the base. That floor section is STILL warped!!
A bit of weathering on the two storey wall end: different colours for inside and outside of the roof.
That inner wall overlay paper is creased, and looks unsightly. I shall have to re-cover it, before I add the lockers and etc,.
The walls test-fitted to the floor assembly.
As you can see, the interior walls have had their balsa strip studs and noggin timbers all fitted, and have been overpainted in a drab overall yukky grey. [:-glasses]
That's about all for now, guys.
More soon.
Thank you,
John.
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George D
Moderator
USA
9909 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2012 : 07:54:23 AM
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I enjoy watching the innovative way you build all your interior details.[:-thumbu]
George |
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Curator49
Engine Wiper
Australia
311 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2012 : 3:55:58 PM
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I am taking notes as you progress, John.
I found your shower details fantastic and the lockers will really "set off" the details in the change room.
You have some great approaches to the tasks at hand that I think even I can do.
Regards
David Mewes
Curator
The Workshops Rail Museum |
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anubis51
Crew Chief
Australia
932 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2012 : 7:54:05 PM
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Thank you, George and David.
Updating on this build, I have decided to move onto the task of building the fuel and water supplies for the steam engine. This will have the effect of moving further towards the completion of the Engine House, which I shall return to later. These two structures will be located at the rear of the Engine house.
I found this old Triang OO scale Shell fuel tanker cowering in an overlooked drawer some weeks ago, and as it was useless to me for anything else except cannibalising, I fell to with gusto.
I removed the tank and frame from the wagon, unfortunately breaking off two of the mounting ends in the process.
I removed the embossed Shell logo by scraping with a knife, and then cleaned it all up a bit, before spraying it and the frame with red oxide auto lacquer primer.
After it had all dried, I then 'flicked' on a spattering of latex liquid frisket (aka masking fluid) with an old toothbrush, and let it dry overnight.
I then overcoated the frame with matt black, and when it was dry, picked off most of the frisket with a pencil eraser.
I chose silver enamel to spray the fuel oil tank, and again used the eraser to pick off most of the masked bits. I find that leaving some of the frisket in situ and bubbly, and other parts only semi-removed, is a great way of simulating blistering and peeling paint.
Meanwhile, I commenced on the timber stand. This is built from balsa strip, cut from a couple of sheets of varying thicknesses. I added wood-grain by distressing with a series of scrapes from a fine tooth saw blade.
My prospective operator with the overlong appendage is assisting me by holding it all still while I shoot the pic! (Or does he just want to get into the shot?)
Adding the legs to the frame. These are made from 4mm dowel, distressed with the fine toothed saw. The cross-braces are from balsa.
A bit of A/I weathering, some NBW detail, and the tank stand is well under way.
Add a couple of lengths of Plastruct ladder, some oil spills around the filler cap, then fit the tank to the carrier, re-pose old photo-hog, and it's ready to be filled with the distillate that will fire up the steam engine...[:-bouncy]
Meanwhile, I have glued and rolled a sheet of embossed card around former made from a rattle-can cap, and sprayed it with a matt grey.
The 'concrete' base is a piece of 3mm vinyl floor covering (used to be called linoleum, but that's another story). It will be painted up, and weathered along with the tank, when I get a bit further along.
I added a filler hole at the rear, and a manhole at the front. Just to make certain of the correct size, I slotted my mate in. (But something went wrong - he refused to fall all the way down!!) HA HA . [:-eyebrows]
I guess that's all for now, guys.
More later.
Thank you.
John
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andykins
Fireman
United Kingdom
3878 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2012 : 03:01:51 AM
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| thanks for the update john, the details are looking great and the tank looks really crusty :D very nice |
"Is it really "rivet counting" if it's regarding NBW castings?"
Unknown |
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anubis51
Crew Chief
Australia
932 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2012 : 10:02:15 PM
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Thanks again, Andy.
Hi all.
Time for another update.
Moving onto the walls.
Here is the assembled front wall. As I stated from the outset, this is my first laser-cut kit, and I have found it to be very well produced and prepared. The self-adhesive windows and doors supplied in the kit are quite easy to apply. I elected to make my doors operable, and this only involved adding a strip of Micropore surgical tape as a 'hinge'. This is then easily covered with paint, and becomes almost invisible.
The wall has had some extra weathering with brown pastels, and I have added a necessary oil spill 'smudge' from the cable slot.
The lamp is again a 12volt microlamp with an HO brass shade, as per the end lamp.
Here, I have added the second storey centre wall section.
The concrete floor has been dirtied up with a couple of applications of A/I and black pastels, where the steam engine will sit.
Shot from the other end. The first bank of lockers have been fitted to the centre wall, and I have removed the shower cubicle door, as it was fouling the footstool. Besides, everyone knows that O scale miners are not a bashful lot!
External and internal views of the rear wall and the single storey end wall. Again, the self-adhesive windows were a breeze to apply. I chose to have a couple of them partially open.
I didn't care very much for the kit-supplied upper storey windows, which were really only louvres, so I added some old windows from my box of bits and pieces. The one at this end is missing a pane.
The rear wall and the two end walls are only sitting in situ at this stage, held together with an elastic band.
Here I have added the table and bench, for the comfort of the miners. The table is built from balsa, and the bench is from coffee stirrer stick.
The second locker bank, attached to the rear wall.
The Bachmann steam engine, still undergoing weathering (oil and rust) sitting in its intended location.
Note that I have opened up the front wall cable slot to window-size, as I intend to run two cables from this twin-spool 'engine.
Meanwhile, back in the changing room, I have added some extra detail. Some junk and other bits and pieces on top of the lockers, a bin for the soiled clothes removed by the miners, a second seating bench, and one of the miners sitting, ready to go home. His bag, jacket and newspaper sit on the table beside him, as he apparently contemplates those horrid cracks in the floor boards!! .
The small workbench in the 'engine room started out as a Bar Mills casting, to which I added a couple of 44 gallon drums, to raise it to a more prototypical height. I also added the oil drum and the shifting spanner (monkey wrench) and the signs on the wall.
Here, I have added the warm white LED which will illuminate the change room. The shade is from Plastruct. Another similar one will be fitted to the 'engine house.
Perhaps, my seated worker figure has now cast his attention to the overhead lamp, wondering whether the thing will fall on his head! .
Our worker has been joined by a 'ginger' colleague, who may look a little bit askance at the moment, but he is posed in such a way to be holding the open door of his locker - later, when the rear wall is finally fitted.
I have also added a mop, leaning against the shower door, and a towel across the second bench.
A trial fitting of the water and fuel tanks. I have added a feed pipe from the distillate tank, which has a hand valve at ground level. This runs into a smaller diameter pipe that will supply the fuel to the steam engine. It will have to be buried in the concrete.
You can just make it out in this pic. It's the white strip at lower right.
I also added a control valve for the fuel to the burner, and 'rusted up' the boiler a little more.
And here is my steam engine operator, complete with his newly-shortened arm.
Next stage will be the roof.
Thank you for checking in.
John.
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Time is the Gauge of Existence |
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My "Neverbea Mine" O Scale Diorama
