The Atlantic and Southern Build Thread Continued, Part 3

[ACL1504]

ACL 1540,
          Wow, you just flung a tugboat and barge cravin' on me with this latest next modeling step you're creating.  Drink Diet Pepsi and hurry up finishing this water scene (I can't wait) .  Thanks for the update brother!
                                       Thanx Thom...

Thommy,

I've been wanting to do some sort of water craft for quite awhile. When I saw this, I thought it was the perfect fit for the river. I have a Diet Pepsi as I type this response.

Tom 

[ACL1504]

That little tug is a neat piece. I saw Bruce building the patterns for it this past summer and told him the full hull version would make a nice flat car load.

Dan,

This a nice little tug and barge for the river. It also adds many more things to view in the river scene.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tom 

[ACL1504]

Tom, I'm looking forward to you building the boats. I have quite a few in my stash. The water scene is looking great.

Mike

Mike,

Thank you, I have a few also but these two are up first. I'll have a update later this evening. The river area is coming together nicely.

Tom 

[ACL1504]

Tom


I too, will be watching this scene develop.  You are off to a great start.

John,

This scene is developing as planned. Problem is, I keep finding other stuff to do in the river area. I'll need to stop sooner or later. I'd planned on having the water in at his point but just want to make sure it will all look natural.

Thank you for following and for the compliment.

Tom 

[ACL1504]

I planned on having the water in the river by this time but I keep finding little details that just seem natural being in a river.

I found an old auto frame, bicycle, FSM rotten boat, tire, pallet and the obligatory shopping cart. The river area is small so this is just the right amount of "junk" to be found.



The shopping cart is by Gold Metal Models. I put it together and soaked it in Hunterline Rust for about 10 minutes.



The auto frame and bicycle were painted with Floquil Mud and then dipped in the Rust A&I - set aside to dry.

More in a few.

[ACL1504]

The tug engine room has a curved wall on each end. The roof is flat. I noticed the resin roof casting was thick on one end and very thin on the other. I'm assuming the mold wasn't level when the resin was drying. Instead of trying to get a new one, I decide to just work with this one.

Since the roof is flat, the instructions call for the modeler to glue one side of the roof on the engine top side wall. When dry force the other side to the other side wall and glue it in place. The roof section is thick on one end and will never stay in place even with super glue being used.

The roof needed to be heated and reshaped to fit the engine walls.

Here is what I did.

I used my Weller soldering iron to heat the roof.



The soldering iron was clamped in the on position. I placed the roof on top of the iron barrels and let it heat a little. No more than a few seconds.



Continued -

[ACL1504]

I carefully removed the roof and placed the other side on the iron barrels. Again, no more than a few seconds.

The roof was removed and reshaped to fit the engine room. It was trail and error but I got it to fit as best it will considering the imperfect roof.





Continued -

[Keep It Rusty]

Tom, those little details are wonderful. LOVE IT. And I'm ordering some of those carts!

[ACL1504]

Tom, those little details are wonderful. LOVE IT. And I'm ordering some of those carts!

Craig,

These are a great detail to have. No river, lake or ditch is worthy unless a shopping cart is thrown in. 

Thank you for posting and following along on this adventure.

Tom 

[ACL1504]

The engine room walls are a bit warped. This is caused from the resin drying on a thin piece. I've experienced this in making some of my own resin castings.



I cut a couple of HO scale 10 x 10's to hold the walls in square. I didn't use the hot iron to reshape them as they are very thin.



More in a few.

[S&S RR]

Tom


I too, will be watching this scene develop.  You are off to a great start.

John,

This scene is developing as planned. Problem is, I keep finding other stuff to do in the river area. I'll need to stop sooner or later. I'd planned on having the water in at his point but just want to make sure it will all look natural.

Thank you for following and for the compliment.

Tom 

It's all about the details, my friend.  I think you are striking a good balance. Our buddy George Sellios is currently going through his layout and adding more details, now that he considers his layout done.

[ACL1504]

The tires, buckets and life rings are very thin and fragile. Take care when cleaning off the flash.



I managed to do so with dropping any on the floor to never be seen again.



Continued -

[ACL1504]

Tom


I too, will be watching this scene develop.  You are off to a great start.

John,

This scene is developing as planned. Problem is, I keep finding other stuff to do in the river area. I'll need to stop sooner or later. I'd planned on having the water in at his point but just want to make sure it will all look natural.

Thank you for following and for the compliment.

Tom 

It's all about the details, my friend.  I think you are striking a good balance. Our buddy George Sellios is currently going through his layout and adding more details, now that he considers his layout done.

John,

Thanks, yes, the details really can make or break a scene. As you say, "It's all about the details."

Tom 

[ACL1504]

There were a few small holes left from air bubble in the castings. I went to the local hobby shop for some fresh green squadron putty. Of course, they were out but had the product shown below.



I never considered the new putty color but got home and found it was white. And, the resin tug is all white. So it was a bit tricksie to fill  the holes and then find them to sand the putty smooth.

Continued -

[ACL1504]

Not shown here but all the tug parts and barge were washed in warm soapy water to remove any casting mold release.

When dry, I sprayed all the parts with Floquil Primer. When cured, I'll begin the painting process.

On a side note, the kit was missing the tug horn and light mast. I emailed Sea Port Models four days ago and have yet to hear back from them.





Done for now.