Columbia Valley Models - Butler Bin

Oldguy · December 13, 2019, 10:44:24 PM

Building a granger railroad requires both feed mills and seed & feed stores and storage. Part of a seed and feed store for one town requires a Butler Bin or two. So here we go.
The instructions are very basic, but include two photos on constructing the bin top and forming the corrugated metal sides. The kit makes 2 bins so there are pair of cardboard tubes for the sides, a couple of punched cardboard bases, four sheets of corrugated metal (oh joy), and some very nice cast metal parts.
The first step had one use Goo for the bin cast parts. My Goo is over 30 years old and wasn't coming out of the tube as it should and I couldn't find my Pliobond. So, I decided to glue two pieces together with Aleenes tacky glue. Then use what Goo I can get to glue them all together. The intent is the Goo would hold the parts just enough to get it all on the cardboard tube. Not a good idea at all. I just couldn't get the pieces to nest properly. So I took everything apart. Getting the Goo off the parts was going to be a royal PIA. I remembered that I had a rubber cement pickup,also known as a rubber cement eraser, from my drafting days which will aid in removing the Goo. And yep, even at a ripe old age of 50 years, the hardened pickup did its magic.
By now I found my Pliobond. I added a thin line along one edge, allowed it to set a bit, applied a coat to the other edge of each top piece. I then started to put them together as in the kit photo. Amazing how easy stuff can be if one follows the directions. Once, all had been glued, it was a matter of carefully picking it up and putting it on the cardboard tube. They have you use a 35mm film container or the other tube to get the pieces to set down evenly. Easy peasy. Give the Goo or Pliobond a little time to set, and then, the instructions say to use epoxy, one needs to glue the roof pieces together from underneath, but not to the tube as yet.
One caveat - there are two roof castings that have small grooves on the raised edge. These will form a ladder and must be glued together.

jerryrbeach · December 14, 2019, 07:24:37 AM

Bob,

I am always interested in almost anything with "farm" in it. I'll be definitely watching this build. Looks like a fairly well designed kit so far, and is coming together nicely for you.

postalkarl · December 14, 2019, 07:49:00 AM

Hey Bob:

I never heard of one of these. I will be watching. Looks interesting.

Karl

ACL1504 · December 14, 2019, 08:27:17 AM

Bob,

This is going to be fun to watch. I remember Columbia Valley Models but have never seen one built.

Tom

PRR Modeler · December 14, 2019, 09:01:18 AM

I'll be following along.

GPdemayo · December 14, 2019, 10:11:19 AM

Can't have to many bins in corn country Bob.....I'll be looking in.

Oldguy · December 14, 2019, 10:46:50 PM

Whoa. It created more interest than I thought.

Once the bin top had set overnight, I added some B Weld to the underside. I find that I will need to enlarge the hole in the roof in order to get the vent to sit properly and I need the pieces firmly affixed.

There are paper wraps which aid in placing the metal siding and access door. It's strictly a matter of cutting them out and gluing them on. I started with a true vertical line drawn on each cardboard tube. Then add some rubber cement. I will admit, this part made me nervous since contact cement is a one shot deal. No do overs. So I cheated. I added the cement to the tube, then added the wrap immediately. I worked it around trying to eliminate any bulges.

It is worth noting that in the early versions, the "BUTLER" was a silk screen print on the corrugated metal. Later versions provided a decal. I would imagine that trying to get a decent silk screen on the ribbed metal was a royal pain. This kit is an early version. I have 6 of these kits and found the decals in several.

The second roof was a lot easier. As someone said - Good judgement comes from experience And a lot of that comes from bad judgement. The little plastic nozzles on the Piobond made applying a thin bead on one side of the roof sections, then the other real easy. Once that had set a bit it was a matter of getting on the tube and using the other tube to get the parts to nestle down. I added a weight to sit over night.

Oldguy · December 15, 2019, 10:08:48 PM

The kit comes with a 7/8" dowel to wrap each siding piece around. As the material springs back, it just about forms the radius of the bin. Brilliant.

Having learned my lesson, I followed the instructions and added contact cement on the first row of the paper wrap. Again, I'm pretty much out of Goo. The procedure is to add a strip of corrugated, but leave the right end clear. Then work around to the left adding siding, until you come back to the first piece. The end of the last piece tucks under the right end of the first piece. Easier said than done. I found that the first row was taller than the spacing showed. Okay, I'll just cut it off later. Then I started to add the second row. It went easier. As I started on the third row I noticed that I was going left to right and not right to left. Eww. But maybe not all that noticeable. Fourth row, okay. Until I noticed that the lower rows were moving on me. By this time my fingers probably as much cement on them as the siding pieces, causing the lower pieces to move.

Okay, that's it. Everything coming off. Thankfully I hadn't reached the last row with the Butler sign. Again, using the rubber cement pickup, I managed to remove all the contact cement on the wrapper. I'll try again with Goo. Luckily I found a seller on Amazon who has free shipping, so I bought 2 tubes. The closest thing I have to a hobby shop is JoAnns and they don't carry Goo.

So now what. I'll have to cut more siding. Thankfully I have a bunch of corrugated siding on hand. In the mean time, I added the top vent, access hatch, and ladder rungs.

Janbouli · December 16, 2019, 03:28:35 AM

I'm thinking that transfer tape might work better then glue or cement, but it would have to be the stronger sticking kind.

Oldguy · December 16, 2019, 09:51:27 AM

Quote from: Janbouli on December 16, 2019, 03:28:35 AM
I'm thinking that transfer tape might work better then glue or cement, but it would have to be the stronger sticking kind.

Hmm, never even considered that. And I do have that on hand. I need to give this a thinkin'.

jerryrbeach · December 16, 2019, 06:02:55 PM

Bob,

If you check out George Dutka's White River Division blogspot he posted several photos of round bins on December 15th. The photos show ladders, weathering on the roofs, access doors, etc.

Link: http://whiteriverdivision.blogspot.com/

Oldguy · December 17, 2019, 09:32:07 PM

Quote from: jerryrbeach on December 16, 2019, 06:02:55 PM
Bob,

If you check out George Dutka's White River Division blogspot he posted several photos of round bins on December 15th. The photos show ladders, weathering on the roofs, access doors, etc.

Link: http://whiteriverdivision.blogspot.com/

That guy has some mad modeling skills.Thanks for the link.

Oldguy · December 17, 2019, 09:47:19 PM

So, I just couldn't wait for the new Goo to arrive, so I jumped in using the E6000. I did raid another bin kit for two sheets of the siding. Seems that My stash is the Campbell 8' and this kit uses 10'. I counted out 13 corrugations as required and used a utility knife to ensure that each piece was exactly 13 wide. Which works out to be 3'. Idiot. I should have measured this first.

It is extremely important to roll the sheets parallel on the rod, otherwise they develop a curved set. And you do not want that. It is also important to get the first row even with the bottom edge as the next row will follow the ridges and so on. If you didn't get a sheet rolled correctly, it will show on the ends. I fought this for quite a while. Also ensure the overlaps match all the way around. I didn't do this.

Anyway, no matter what adhesive one uses, it will get messy. Again, I eschewed transfer tape as I find that I can not to a first time final with corrugated metal. Here again, the rubber cement pickup removed almost all the adhesive squeeze out. The remainder was removed with pointed tweezers and a brass weathering brush.

The base was glued on and the bin weighed down.

postalkarl · December 18, 2019, 02:37:52 PM

Hey Bob:

I have to admit I have never heard of A Butler Bin but it's a rather cool looking model. Can't wait to see it finished. What was it's purpose. Oh ok just looked it up it's A grain bin.

Karl

Oldguy · December 18, 2019, 10:13:19 PM

Quote from: postalkarl on December 18, 2019, 02:37:52 PM
Hey Bob:

I have to admit I have never heard of A Butler Bin but it's a rather cool looking model. Can't wait to see it finished. What was it's purpose. Oh ok just looked it up it's A grain bin.

Karl

Unless you lived in or near grain country, there is no real reason why you should have. When I was discharged from the Navy and went back to school. I interviewed with Butler, since it was a hometown company.

Any way, here is a photo of Blairstown Mo depot and a grain bin in the background.