FSM #145 Coal Tower

Started by Opa George, June 27, 2020, 06:26:20 PM

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Opa George

Quote from: PRR Modeler on July 22, 2020, 09:42:15 AM
Looks awesome George. Do the platforms have railings yet to be installed?

Thanks, Curt.  Yes, the platform railings are next, along with ladders.  I am out of order, having put off roof painting until the paper shingles dried completely. In checking John's build of this kit at this point, he had all of the underneath bracing done by now whereas I don't have any bracing underneath on the front side.  Either I missed that step, or it comes later and John just installed it early.  I'll have to review the instructions in case I accidentally skipped over it, which is most likely.

--Opa George

Opa George

I didn't quite get to the railings and ladders yet.  Went back to look for the bracing instructions for the front wall, but could not find them, so just added the bracing based upon the photos and full size plans.  Then I went back and finished the roofs and touched up a few areas. 

I wanted to get this basic work done before the delicate railings and ladders go on.   It is starting to get a bit difficult to handle the structure at this point without knocking something loose.  It is really shaping up, now.



Sorry that this shot came out slightly out of focus.



--Opa George

S&S RR

John Siekirk
Superior & Seattle Railroad

PaulS

Very, very nice George !!
Looks great so far sitting on your bench and is going to look even that much better once in place on your layout.
Thanks for sharing the build and you know I'm following along ...
All the best,
--Paul
Modeling the Atlantic & White Mtn Railway

Opa George

Quote from: PaulS on July 23, 2020, 08:06:04 AM
Very, very nice George !!
Looks great so far sitting on your bench and is going to look even that much better once in place on your layout.
Thanks for sharing the build and you know I'm following along ...
All the best,
--Paul

Paul,
This is a beautiful kit and because it is so well engineered, it is very enjoyable to build. I'm having a blast with it.
Best,
--Opa George

Jerry

Whoa that is one nice looking roof!!


beautiful all around work George.


Jerry
"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." A. Lincoln

Mark Dalrymple

Looking terrific, George!

The ridge cappings, barge boards and flashings really make this roof.  I especially like them being in a different colour. 

Cheers, Mark.

Opa George

Thanks, Jerry and Mark, for the compliments on the roof.  I have to say I am pleased with the way it came out. The material is the old rolled and gummed paper shingles.  I applied them as usual before installing them on the structure, then let them thoroughly dry for a few days.

Here is how I colored them. I must have been in a bold mood, because I never used this combination of coloring before, but it seemed logical.
1. All shingles were applied to the flat cardstock forms before installing on the structure. This is my usual procedure. With the exception of corrugated roofing, I rarely apply roofing materials to roofs after they are on the building.
2. When dry, I gave them all a light overspray of Rustoleum light gray auto primer.  By "light," I mean up close you could still discern a little of the natural brown paper color under the gray, but from a distance they appeared all light gray.
3.  After drying I installed them on the tower and let them cure for several days.
4.  I used the following artist tube acrylics to add shingle color on top of the primer:  burnt umber, raw umber, burnt sienna and paynes gray.  I imagine craft acrylics would give the same effect, although the artist acrylics thin out so nicely with water.  Using each color as a wash, I used the burnt sienna (the brightest) first, dabbing patches here and there and thinning out more if it looked blotchy. Then the burnt umber and finally the raw umber.  I didn't wash my brush between colors, so there was some natural blending. I finished with a wash of paynes gray for depth.    The wash for all was thin enough that much of the color settled in between the shingles, leaving a subtle coloration on the surface. 
5. Let everything dry for a day or two.  I was worried that all of the moisture from the wash might loosen the gum on the shingles, but that did not happen, perhaps due to the Rustoleum gray primer coat.
6. I decided I wanted a little more shadowing and definition, so a day or so later added an alcohol and ink wash.  Some of my ink had settled in the solution and I had not mixed it beforehand, so the first few brushfulls taken from the container bottom was pretty dark.  I dipped the brush back in near the top and got a lighter solution to blend it in.
7. After thoroughly dry, I lifted lots of the shingles with the tip of a #11 blade.
8.  Very light dry brushing with craft acrylic white to finish.

Typing it all out, it seems like a lot of steps, but you know how it is--you go back and add something, like the effect, try something else, etc.  It seems effortless as you go through it, though.

To finish it out, I decided to simulate rusted flashing instead of cap shingles.  I used a leftover strip of rolled roofing strip painted with Rustoleum red primer, for the rich rusty-brown look.  I simply cut a thin strip, about 1/8th inch wide, then ran my blade VERY LIGHTLY down the center to create a crease/fold line.  Then glued it in place with the fold along the peak, or for the internal flashing, with the fold in the "valley."  I finished with a toothpick to push it down and mold it into the creases.  Last step was to dust it with some gray and brown chalk dust.

So this was kind of a "make it up as you go," and fortunately it turned out well.

--Opa George

ACL1504

George,

Very well done, love the overall look. Once the ladders, chutes, sand pipes and railing are added it will be a real eye catcher. Again, well done.

Tom ;D
"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson

Tom Langford
telsr1@aol.com

postalkarl

Hey George:

Very well done. Love the colors you used. Can't wait to see it finished.

Karl

Opa George

Thanks, Karl.  It did turn out well.  And thank you, Tom.  Well, let's get to some more of those details...

Below is a shot of the first two platform handrails as constructed directly on the template.  I got a little lazier this time and did not use wax paper between the wood and the original plans.  As these were much smaller constructions as opposed to building the walls over the templates, and as I was very careful to use pinpricks of glue, they came up easily without damaging the plans.



Here are shots of the tower with platforms and handrails installed.  I also installed the electrical connections per the plans, from the supplied wire and castings.  You may also notice I added additional sway bracing to the underside support beams. As far as I could tell, this was not called for in the instructions and does not show on the plans, but it made sense, and I happened to have a spare pack of dimensional lumber that fit the bill.


Here is the front side.  (Hmm, second time my view of this side came out blurry...ghost in the machine?)


--Opa George

PRR Modeler

Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

Opa George

Many thank, Curt, for the compliment!

I added several details--ladders, doors and some etc.  But my main focus is now on getting the sandspouts and coal chutes installed and rigged.  Sandspouts were installed first, and I ended up gluing them into permanent position. They, along with their rigging, just seemed too delicate to make them operating (raise and lower).  I also misread the instructions to connect them with a piece of fine wire, which meant to connect them at the base to the wall, but I ran the wire from the pulley to the spout end.  That is an "oops," but I don't dislike the look.

Next are the four chutes, which are two-pieces each.  Quite a bit of driling to do here to open up holes, but I used a pin vise twist drill, and it all went quite well. George provided tiny indentations on the castings to help position and start the drill bit. Worked like a charm.


Here is a close up of the complete assembly for one coal chute.  A small piece of wire holds it together at the base. The wire is bent at each end to keep it in place, and the chute moves easily.  Also a disclaimer here on painting--I have the castings all primed in red primer, and will add gunmetal and other weathering tones once they are in place and properly rigged.


Below are several picture showing the chutes installed.  All are fully extended down, but as they are fully hinged, will be later positioned raised when the rigging and weights are added.  The chain pullers, on the end of each, were a bit of "fiddly" work.  I settled on acc to connect the tiny chain to the short length of wire, then used acc to connect the chain to the ends of the chutes.




Here you can see the tiny wire "hinge" at the base of the chutes.


Slightly different angle.  I later straightened out the "kink" in the hanging chain.  It was just a friction kink from the primer paint.


Here is the front of the tower.  The ball weights are waiting for installation, probably tomorrow. That will be another bit of fiddly business.  The top of each ball weight string had to be drilled out to accept the thread "cable" as well.  This image also shows the loops at the top of each chute end. Those were drilled out, and will accept the thread cable that goes up over the pulley and will connect to the ball weights hanging below. 


At this point, the chutes are fully "operational" in that they can be raised or lowered by adjusting the hanging ball weights (once I get them on).  I don't know if I will attempt that, or just put spots of glue on all the cable joints to keep things in position.  More on that decision next time.

Thanks for looking in.
--Opa George





PRR Modeler

Great job on the chutes. I've made them from various manufacturers  but they always come out looking like crap
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

sdrees

Steve Drees
SP RR

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