Superior & Seattle Railroad Build

[S&S RR]

The base was then moved to my work bench and the cutting, sanding, grinding, and fitting began.  Here are a few pictures of the process.



It all starts with the first piece.



The roof pitch had to be cut into the side walls and the windows had to be fitted. Also, each casting had to be squared and fitted to the next.  This created lots of plaster dust.





Some cracked castings also needed to be repaired.



The test fit - before the glue.  Also, notice the rock molds drying on the lines on the back of the work bench. Getting them ready to go in the box after the layout rock work was complete.

[S&S RR]

That's enough for tonight - tomorrow we will start the assembly process.

[deemery]

I know all too well the feeling of terror you get when working on a plaster kit, that one slip can ruin your whole experience! 


dave

[S&S RR]

I know all too well the feeling of terror you get when working on a plaster kit, that one slip can ruin your whole experience! 


dave

Dave

I find that the look of plaster when it is complete makes it worth the risk. I have found that cracks are easy to fix.  I'm not sure if that isn't because I have had lots of practice.    

[S&S RR]

Next step on the roundhouse was the assembly of the walls.  I added wood on the interior because I like the look and it helped stabilize the large plaster wall castings.  In the location the roundhouse is going on my layout the interior will only be visible through the back and side windows so the look isn't going to be real valuable once the roundhouse is on the layout.



First the plaster castings were glued together.



Then they were reinforced with a wood interior wall.

[deemery]

In my case, I was working with Model Masterpieces parts that would have been really expensive to replace.  (No one seems to know what happened to the old MM molds.)

What are you using to glue the plaster together?  I've used carpenter glue, with epoxy where I wanted a particularly strong joint (or gluing wood bracing to plaster.)


dave

[S&S RR]

In my case, I was working with Model Masterpieces parts that would have been really expensive to replace.  (No one seems to know what happened to the old MM molds.)

What are you using to glue the plaster together?  I've used carpenter glue, with epoxy where I wanted a particularly strong joint (or gluing wood bracing to plaster.)


dave

Dave

I used epoxy for the plaster to plaster joints and carpenter glue for the wood to plaster.  The casting here are very easy to replace because I made the molds, but when I put a plaster kit together I usually make a mold of the major plaster castings before I start.  I know I will find a place on the layout for the extra casting and I have a backup if I have a major disaster.

I actually made extra casting for a machine shop that I have planned in front of the Roundhouse. 

[S&S RR]

Next came the process of gluing the wall sections together.  I only got four sections together and I had to see what it looked like in place on the layout.

[S&S RR]

Then it was back to the workbench and lots of gluing and measuring and more gluing.  You can't have enough weights and squares for a project this size.

[S&S RR]

The next step was to paint the floor under the tracks black - simulates repair pits under the track. Then the track was laid and wired.

[S&S RR]

For the floor area between the tracks I chose to go with a wood plank flooring. The wood was glued to a cardboard base and then cut to the right size and fitted between the track sections. The stain for the floor was alcohol and ink.  I used different ratios of A&I to simulate oil spills etc. I didn't forget the nail holes even though no one is going to see them. But now we all know they are there.

[S&S RR]

Today I finished the cabinet for the DCC system. Tomorrow it's back to laying track and I may install part of the DCC system.

[S&S RR]

With the completion of the two side walls and the back it was time to add the interior framing. After buying the strip wood for this part of the project I decided that I need a better way of cutting it than my chopper.  I purchased this miter saw from Micro-Mark and so far it has worked out real well. Nice clean square cuts and the angle setup is very accurate and easy.

[S&S RR]

The first step in the interior framing was to build a gluing fixture so each one of the trusses was the same.  I have built many fixtures from styrene this was an experiment with building it out of wood. For a fixture this size I found it faster and easier out of wood. 







The production run begins - notice that all of the pieces to the truss are cut and put in number cups so I could run a mini-assembly line. 





And here are the results.

[S&S RR]

The next step in the project was actually assembling the interior frame of the roundhouse. As with the rest of this project, lots of clamps, weights, and measuring twice. This series of pictures tells the story of this process.