I was undecided what to do next after the two small projects. I have a brass caboose I'd like to paint, something I've never tried before, but I needed to order some paint/decals for it and who knows when they'll get here, so that was out. I thought a resin boxcar kit would be doable, as it would be the same color as the caboose, but after looking at the parts and instructions, it went back in the box for now. My present layout "plan" is to finish the scenery in the rocks area (on the right in the first photo), and extend that to the left. I'd also like to go from the "west" end of the layout (staging yard in the photos) and go east. This leads to the end of the peninsula. The overall plan here is for a "Bernina drop" meaning the curve would be covered with backdrop so you can't look down the edge and see both sides at the same time. I'd envisioned a small farm on this side of the peninsula (where the aforementioned boxcar kits are still stacked) ::) , placed on a hill to block the vision of the curve from the other side. I now think the farm would be too small, even for a barn and house, set on a hill. I need to extend the road which will follow the curve of the track and disappear around the hill. So another small business would fit here. I'm going to build FOS' Bernard Tractor Repair and see how it fits here.
Jeff
Beautiful scene on the left.
Thanks, Curt.
Here's the box contents. The usual suspects. No precut window glass, >:( , but I'll survive. It's a central building with 3 additions. One is board on board, built on cardboard walls. One is corrugated metal, and the box has the "paper" kind, which I prefer to the shiny aluminum, as there's no irritating shiny spots that pop up when you think it's all painted.
Jeff
Started with squaring the edges of the walls on my True Sander. The base is getting some small grooves in it, may be time to buy a new one.
Jeff
I then added the nailholes with my nail tool. Cut in the board edges, lifted some boards, etc. This is easier when they are not yet braced. I then braced each wall as it was finished, per the instructions. I know I'll goof up at least one, which will need to be removed later. ::)
Jeff
Next they went into the spray booth to get their back sides sprayed with flat black spray paint. This is to (hopefully) prevent warping when the stains/paints are applied. Also blocks internal lighting from seeping out, though I don't light the structures. Even though I usually put a black view block inside the buildings, so you can't look thru them, this helps so the inside wood doesn't show thru the windows as well. Next up was staining with light grey stain. This took 4 coats, with letting it dry in between to get it to the grey I wanted. It looks greyer in the picture than in person.
Jeff
While waiting for the drying times, I cleaned up the metal detail parts. Some were pretty easy, some (especially the curved vent ducting) required a lot of work. They went into a Dawn/water bath and dried. They will be sprayed or etched with blackening agent depending on the part. Next up was color choices, Doug's colors on his kit are white and dark green. These are the same colors as the building next to it on the layout, so that was out. I chose an off white for the walls. This was applied as a wash. Notice the tape pieces. These areas are covered by other parts of the building and don't need painting/detailing. Next I'll sponge paint on some light grey and sandstone lightly to make it have the peeling paint effect. I'm going to use a red tone, probably boxcar red, for the trim. The plastic windows have been removed from their carrier sheets, along with some Tichy barrels, nubs sanded and they are now drying from their washing. I think I'll airbrush the windows later when they've dried.
Jeff
I put some vinegar in my 'casting bath', the acid adds a bit of etching to help the paint stick. Glad to see you're making full use of planned and unplanned time off!
One of Doug's kits had instructions for using a sponge to get peeling paint. You first paint the primary color. Then you put 'weathered wood' color on a kitchen sponge, remove most of the paint, and carefully dry-brush/lay the sponge down on the tips of the siding. Worked great when I tried it.
dave
Thanks for checking in, Dave. Your sponge painting description is my plan for this one. The peeling paint would be on the edges of the boards first. Sponge painting the primary color puts the color on the edges.
Jeff
Act III? Gee, I'm still on Act I. ::)
Nice choice for a build! ;) Looks like you're off to a great start Jeff.
What Bob said, except my Act I is from last year..... ::) I'll be looking in on this one Jeff.
HJey Jeff:
the walls are looking good. Can't wait for more.
Karl
All the stripwood was stained with the same grey stain. I was too lazy to stain each piece individually, fortunately they fit in this tray. I thought about building a PVC pipe stain container like Bob B.'s, but I don't have all the parts. I used the one end cap I had on the sump pump issue last fall. :( Then the pieces were put out to dry. Next I'll have to figure out which ones get stained red and which don't.
Jeff
The plastic parts were airbrushed with Tru Color paint. This is SP freight car red, left over from a kit I built a year or two ago.
Jeff
Hey Jeff:
Looks good keep the pics flowing. Can't wait to see more.
Karl
Jeff,
This in one of kits I really like but never got. I'll be following along, great start.
Tom ;D
I've been meaning to building a little bath for my strip wood staining too! Thanks for reminding me.
And great work, Jeff! You're doing the challenge proud!
Craig, I bought these olive serving trays for strip wood. There pretty cheap and about 16 inches. Dennis
Good idea Dennis. Thanks.
I don't believe I am familiar with this kit. I'm intrigued. Looking good so far.
I get real lazy about staining long lengths of strip wood. I just lay them down on a piece of glass and pour enough stain to cover the bunch. I go do something else and come back when the stain evaporates. However, those olive trays would keep things tidy.
Jaime
Dennis, those olive trays look like just the ticket. Thanks for the idea.
Jeff
Thanks for looking in, Karl.
Jeff
Tom, we can't buy EVERY kit. Can we? ;D
Jeff
Thanks, Craig, I'm doing what I can for the challenge.
Jeff
Thanks for looking in, Jaime. One advantage to using the tray is I can pour the stain back into the bottle when done.
Jeff
Hit a bit of a snag yesterday with the kit. There's a "frieze board" on top of the structure. The instructions note it's "optional", but will make the structure taller. I assume the wood is supposed to be in the kit, but it isn't. Rather than email Doug, wait for mail, etc (which would push this build to next year's challenge :D ), I found a 3/16 in piece of wood in the stash. It's thicker than needed, but it will be covered with a roof anyway. I'll need to add a piece of stripwood on top of the back side of the wall, but this should work. They are the large pieces in the center of the pic.
Stained them this morning, now trying to pick out a grey color to weather them with. The plastic parts have dried and need weathering as well.
Jeff
Olive serving tray????? Intriguing. Who knew that you just couldn't serve olives out of a bowl. Gotta look those up. Hope they come in metal.
The olive trays came yesterday, look like they will do nicely. Thanks for the tip, Dennis. I sponge painted some grey over the walls and windows/doors yesterday. This was done by getting most of the paint off and some dabbing, and some dragging down the sides. I unfortunately forgot the corner and frieze boards :o so I just finished them this morning. Again, a problem with these kits which have different types of wood, siding, plastic, etc is getting the colors the same. The red on the frieze boards which were wood, are darker than the "laser board" and plastic doors. They will get a black wash to help tone them down after the grey dries, as will the white sides after the signs are applied.
Jeff
Speaking of signs, there are some signs to be applied over the siding, as if they were painted on. So I'm thinning these by sanding the backs with a sanding block. I lightly sand the fronts with 1000 grit as well to age them a bit. But be gentle, you don't want to tear them (also the reason to tape the sheet down so they don't accidentally get folded/torn).
Jeff
I use a Derwent colored pencil on the edges of the signs. This prevents a white line between the side of the building and the sign. Hard to see in the pic, right edge is yellow, left is white.
Jeff
Signs were applied with full strength Elmer's glue. Then using a fingernail wrapped in a plastic bag (to prevent tearing the sign), the sign was pushed onto the clap boards. After drying a light drybrushing of grey and off white were used. Had a small tear on one of the top edge signs which was, fortunately, easily repaired while the glue was still wet. The yellow sign had a small area which rubbed off, I think I sanded them a bit too thin. I then applied a black wash. I should have done an unseen wall area, as it was really too dark when I was finished, though I knew it would dry lighter. But I was quite anxious as it didn't seem to be lightening. It finally did, but still a bit too dark (like the edges of the yellow sign). I can live with it. Some areas on the flat walls dried kind of circular as well, I think we'll try gently trying to remove some of this.
Jeff
Jeff,
The walls and signs look wonderfully weathered. Great job.
Tom ;D
The walls and signage look great.
Agreed. The signs are very well done. This one's going to be a beauty when you get it together. ;)
Thanks, gentlemen. I'm presently adding the doors, windows and signs on the walls while they are flat. Cutting out the signs is kinda laborious, especially the circular ones. I also noticed a window installed upside down. ::) Some stripwood added at the top of the walls so the frieze boards went on as flat as possible. The windows are still too red compared to the rest of the weathering, so I'm going to try a bit of chalk or Pan pastels on them.
Jeff
Looking really good, Jeff.
I think the signs came out great. I often tone my windows down with a dusting of white chalk.
Cheers, Mark.
Thanks, Mark. I used some light grey Pan pastels applied sparingly with a brush to the trim and it turned out well. Didn't disappear with the matte fixative I sprayed on as well. Looks better than the picture, my photography skills are not improving, even after all these years.
Jeff
The large garage door is made up of three separate doors, each of which has a front and back piece. Together they are just a smidgen smaller than the opening. I used some of the leftover carrier sheet to make further edges to enable it to be glued to the back of the opening. The picture also shows the stripwood piece used to make it easier to attach the frieze board. Windows up next.
The doors look great Jeff.
Thanks a lot, Curt.
I put in the windows and shades. I found some microscope cover slips a few weeks ago while searching for something else, and decided I'd follow Idaho Bob's advice and try them. I had nothing to cut them with, though I did break one to fit between some bracing. I just glued them to the back of the wall, they are a mm or so behind the window frames, but you really can't notice. I six different shades of green until I found the one I liked for the shades. Again, just glued on the back of the windows. Easy Peasy. I will try to get a scribe to see if I can actually try fitting the glass in the future. I need to check the instructions, but I think it's time to put the walls together. :)
Jeff
Back at this after 2 weeks. Had a couple of minor hiccups which I'll put in the next post. I started doing the board by board addition. Basically cut 2x10s and glue them to one of the cardboard walls. The instructions don't mention this, but I remember this from a Sierra West build. You want to make sure the corners match by overlapping the siding on one edge, otherwise if you go to the end of the wall, the edges of both boards will show. Glue one board to the edge of one piece, then attach the wall and then glue the first board on that wall to the edge. I doubt the boards on any wall will be an exact fit, so decide where you want the narrow board to be. I like it offset rather than the center or edge, so start gluing boards from the other edge as well.
Jeff
All right troops! Major Bonehead here. I made two mistakes (so far) on the walls. On the clapboard walls, I did the nailholes, cutting in ends of boards, etc BEFORE the walls were painted. So...the paint basically filled them in. DOH! It looks OK, but could have been better. You may have noticed on the board by board addition, I forgot to paint the boards before gluing them on. Double DOH! I'll just wash them with white, trying to do each individual board, and then do the grey sponge painting to make it look like peeling paint, but I think they would have looked better done individually. Anyway, windows/door are in on the other addition and it's time to paint the board by board sections.
Jeff
The three "additions" are finished. The center one is covered with corrugated metal. I need to do the roof and then paint/stain on the rust colors. One of the additions has the same roofing, so I may wait to paint/stain this until that roof is ready as well. It's the paper material, which I prefer over the metal. It's easier to cut and no shiny spots that always seem to creep up.
Jeff
The main structure is starting to come together as well.
Jeff
My frieze boards were a little to thick and had to be trimmed back to fit bracing, etc. Notice this at the corners and the center of the top wall in this pic.
I did this with a fine tooth razor saw and xacto blades. When readying this pic I noticed the HUGE gap on the "Bernard's" sign wall on the left. It's presently drying from being re glued. ::)
Jeff
Looking good so far! ;D
I certainly make my share of "oops" as well. It's the added challenge of fixing them or hiding them that makes all the difference. I'll be covering one I made the next time I update my build thread. ::)
Thanks, Bob. The next step is to add the floor to the overhang, and add the joists under it. This didn't go well. The cardboard floor is only supported by the edges of the side walls, and then on ly on 3 sides. I should've braced this first (there's nothing in the instructions about this). After trying to add the joists, I noticed the floor bowed. I added some bracing inside it using this rigamorol.
Jeff
This took two tries, as the first didn't quite sit flat, either, but a second attempt worked. You can see them in place here. Note I added some 90 degree pieces inside the walls earlier to square them while gluing as well.
Jeff
Finally got the joists and the external cross beam in place. The edges will be touched up later. If doing this again, I'd do the joists while it was not on the structure, and add it when finished.
Jeff
Good looking building and nice work, Jeff.
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Hey Jef:
looking just great so far.. I talked with Frank Bernard yesterday.
Karl
Jeff,
The build is coming along nicely. The weathering looks very good.
Tom ;D
Thank you Craig, Karl and Tom. The kit comes with a cardboard base. I painted the concrete and used some PanPastels on it. It will be further weathered when put on the layout. I think I'll have a dirt driveway and lot around it, but we'll see. Added some black view blocks. Gluing on the left addition was problematic. It's a bit too wide. I ended up making the front flush, as it will be seen from the front, leaving the back wall hanging in space.
Jeff
Placing the back addition on, the corner looks a little funny, but when the roof is on and a large bush is planted there, No one will be the wiser. ;D
Jeff
Jeff
You are doing some fine work on this one.
Hey Jeff:
All I can say is WOW!!!! Beautiful job.
Karl
Thank you, John and Karl. I've gotten a lot done the last two days. The tar paper was painted, cut and applied to the appropriate roofs. I use the 3M tape for adhesion. I paint the edges and visible undersides of the roof (used the trim color in this case). Lines are drawn to have a reference to make sure the strips are straight.
Jeff
The corrugated metal areas were "painted" using powdered pastels (not the Pan Pastels) and alcohol.
Jeff
All the roofs are in place. The roof details are on, except for boards to cover the peak of the corrugated roof. The posts under the overhang are finished as well. Getting close to finished on this one. Of course, now I work the next three days. >:(
Jeff
I give this one two thumbs up! ;D She'll look great on the layout. ;)
I agree with Bob. Beautiful job!!! Dennis
Jeff,
Glad the grand opening for the tractor repair is just around the corner, need to make an appointment to get my front end repaired on the rider tractor soon.
Should be able to find it soon due to the nice signage on the structure...
Tommy
Great looking building Jeff
Doug
Hey Jeff:
The walls and signs look just great. Keep the pic coming.
Karl
Jeff,
Very very well done. I'll agree with all others and say you nailed this one.
Tom ;D
Jeff, very nice results. I've been wondering what this kit looked like assembled--difficult to tell just from the pics in the ads. All the additions, overhangs and roof angles makes for an intriguing building. Excellent work and thanks for posting!
--Opa George
Well done Jeff.....great saves on the problems you encountered. 8)
Thank you all, gentlemen. You are too kind. Roof sign on, a few more signs as well. Two lamp shades. And we're done for now. The concrete pad needs weathering, but I'll wait to match that with whatever terrain, probably dirt, goes around it. Roof could use a bit of weathering, and some pigeons. I don't have any that are painted right now. ::)
Jeff
Here it is on it's proposed spot on the layout. I couldn't decide between this and another structure. I think I'll build that one as well and see which works better.
Anyway, thanks for following along!
Jeff
Hey Jeff:
Bernard Tractor looks just great. I can't wait to see what you do with the scenery around it. If you don't use Bernard's Tractor what is the other building you are gonna use.
Karl S.
Thank you, Karl. I've got FOS' Barlow's Barbeque, which I think may be a bit too large for the spot, but I'll probably build it next to compare the two.
Jeff
Hey Jeff:
You are quite welcome. I'll be following along.
Karl