The Modeler's Forum

Hello everyone,

Next up is a structure based on the FSM castings of Sewall's Foundry from Railroadkits.

This will end up being about half the size of the FSM kit. I plan on using the main stone structure but I'm not really sure about the rest. I have no plan as I start except I know I'll be starting with the main stone building and I already know the size of the space I'm going to be installing it on the layout.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1650-e1615673858948.jpeg)
I laid out and started sorting the castings. The quality of the castings are excellent and pretty much no different than what I would expect from George's original kits. The only thing I found a bit tedious is the castings are polished with walnut shells and they really get imbedded in the cracks. I used a dental pick to clean the remnants out but it did take a bit of time especially on the stonework. I bought these from Jimmy so I'm not sure if Bill is using the same process. It does make them look nice, shiny and clean.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1656-e1615674156582.jpeg)
I primed all the walls with gray auto primer.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1688-e1615674215611.jpeg)
I washed over the stones with A&I, touched up some with chalks and added the doors.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1689-e1615674311132.jpeg)
The side wall.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1690.jpeg)
First step was gluing the bottom together. No rear wall is provided so I just made one from cardstock and painted one side black.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1695-e1615674385434.jpeg)
I glued the top 3 walls together on their own then I glued them on top of the bottom base walls.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1696-e1615674495107.jpeg)
The lower brick section will be covered with decking so I didn't spend much time weathering it.

While these walls were drying I did spend some time working on the detail parts.

I'll be working on the roof tonight or tomorrow hopefully.

Thanks for following along.

Nice.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one, Steve.

That looks great. I think I purchased some of those wall castings from Jimmy at one of the EXPOs...I might just have to dig them out.


John

Craig


Looking good.

That's some great metal casting's work. Love the color's.

Hey Steve:

Your walls look just gorgeous. I just can't wait to see your layout.

Karl

Great start Steve.....I'll be looking in.  :)

Steve looks like your off to a good start.  Wall look great. Be following along to see how you do with this one.


Jerry

Steve,

With your modeling abilities, I'm sure you will have another winner.
I noticed when you dry brush the walls after A & I, it really makes the stone pop.
I will be following along with your progress. I have yet to dig mine out, and I should
have purchased the castings from Jimmy when they were available, because I bought
a kit on Ebay without the walls. I didn't want to buy an extra set of castings, but now
I could kick myself. Oh well, you snooze and you lose!

Rich

Looks great Steve!

Thanks everyone! Should have another progress update soon...trying to figure out what I want to do with the roof.

Late to the party, but in agreement with everyone else--looks fantastic.  You are off to a good start.
--Opa George

Steve,
Always liked that kit...took a photo of the full FSM build after unpacking it from the 1000 mile move several years ago in today's 3/16/21 baggage car thread...
Will follow along with your changes...
Tommy

Steve,

Great job on this one. Love the old weathered stone look.

Tom  ;D

Awesome start Steve.  Looks like another winner in the making.

8) 8) 8)

The engineer in me looks at this and asks "What is holding up all that stone weight on the overhang?"    But it sure looks good!


dave

Looks good Steve - good start

Doug

Beautiful Job Steve!!!

Probably a sky hook Dennis.....I've not used one in anything I've built, but it seems to happen in railroad related kits on occasion.  ;D

Thanks everyone!

I shingled the roof with diamond shingles made with pinking shears and I ended up hating it so I started to redo it today.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1700-e1616038618219.jpeg)
Roof card is in place.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1701-e1616038661611.jpeg)
I added metal I beams under the stone overhang. I figured the metal beams with the brick posts makes the overhang slightly more believable.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1702.jpeg)
I added the rafter tails and started shingling the roof.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1703-e1616041435143.jpeg)
Glued the 2 cupolas up on the roof.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1704-e1616041486668.jpeg)

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1705-e1616041514679.jpeg)

That's all for tonight...over the next few days I'll keep working on the shingles.

Hey Steve:

Looks just beautiful. Can't wait to see the finished model.

Karl S

Steve another winner for sure.  Great work.


Jerry

Love the wood shakes Steve.....looking forward to seeing them completed.  8)

I like the I-Beams, that's a nice touch and makes me feel better :-) :-)   You'll need a similarly strong column to hold everything up.

dave

Steve,

Looking good. I like those individual shingles.

Bernd

Looking really nice, Steve.

Did you scratchbuild the cupolas?  If so - what did you use for the vents?

I bought some pinking shears the other day - I hope I don't have the same reaction as you!  My intent was to try to make some diamond asbestos roofing, which was quite common in the day in New Zealand.  I also want to try to find a good material and technique for asbestos corrugated roofing, which was often used on industrial structures.  The undulations were generally wider than with corrugated iron.

Enjoying your work, cheers, Mark.

Thanks everyone!

Mark, I've had better experiences with pinking shear diamond shingles in the past but it's a bit of a struggle to get the cuts straight, at least for me. The cupolas are part of the casting set.

Hey Steve:

Can't wait for some more pics. Can't wait to see what you do with the roof.

Karl S

Hello everyone:

I mostly completed the main roof over the last few days. These individual shingles always bog me down a bit getting them done.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1718-e1617019772457.jpeg)
Working my way up...

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1721.jpeg)
Everything but the cap at this point..

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1726.jpeg)
The ridge cap is done and I added the roof cards for the cupolas.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1727.jpeg)
Shingling the cupolas was a little challenging..I was concerned about knocking them loose. This building is really front heavy also, it really wants to tip towards the area with the overhang.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1728.jpeg)
This is after a thin wash of gray paint. I always go slowly when coloring these roofs. They take too much time to get impatient and ruin all my work with a bad coloring job.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1729.jpeg)
This is after a second wash of gray paint.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1735-e1617021916351.jpeg)
I colored all the shingles with some chalks. Mostly rembrandt 408.3. I'll add a few more color shades as I finish it.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1735-e1617021916351.jpeg)
I drybrushed all the shingles with Linen colored paint.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/img_1737-e1617022022973.jpeg)
The same was done to the rear.


That's it for now for the roof, some more minor weathering on the little corrugated metal patches and around the chimneys yet but the hard part is done.

Hopefully later today I'll get working on the loading dock and the rear extension of the structure.

Thanks for following along.

Beautiful job Steve.

Excellent work on that roof. Nice weathering.

Bernd

Steve,

I too, like using the cedar shake shingles. They look best when weathered and you have done
an excellent job with them. I like that you have missed a few in places. Nice work.

Rich

Great work, Steve. Shingle by shingle isn't for those with a weak stomach, but you've done a fine job.

Looking really nice, Steve.

Cheers, Mark.

Very cool ....Sir

Thanx
Bob

Hey Steve:

The latest pics look just beautiful. Keep em coming.

Karl

Steve you are a "MASTER" at doing those shingles!!


Are the corrugated pieces the real metal ones??


Jerry

The shakes came out beautifully Steve, perfect ridge.....great job.  8)

Thanks everyone!

The corrugated pieces are the metal ones from Campbells. I sprayed them with light gray primer and weathered them with some chalks. I'm going to add some more pronounced rust with paints but I haven't got there yet.

I'm working on some loading dock ideas for the rear of the structure. I'm thinking of making a concrete slab for the rear loading dock that runs under the whole rear extension building. I'm also not sure what I'm going to do with the front loading dock under the overhang. Not sure if I want to stick with the original FSM design or do something a little different.

Hey Steve:

You are quite welcome.

Karl

Hello Everyone,

I made some progress on the extension building over the last few days. I made the concrete loading dock and got to the walls started for the structure.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1739.jpeg)
I tried a bunch of different things to create the proper height for my plaster mold. These lego blocks ended up being just about the perfect height.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1740.jpeg)
This is the mold I made using the legos.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1741.jpeg)
I pulled the plaster from the mold. Looks like with a little touching up it should be about perfect.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1743.jpeg)
I added some chips and cracks in the area that's not under the building.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1744-e1617362295686.jpeg)
I cut a piece of clapboard and added a few windows. Here I mocked it up to make sure I had the proper height.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1745-e1617362373269.jpeg)
I added a base of A&I to the walls.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1746-e1617362411964.jpeg)
Before I applied the paint I added a coating of mineral spirits to the walls to help keep some of the paint from sticking. Before the mineral spirits dried I added the main paint color. This is AK Interactive 3rd Gen Anthracite.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1747-e1617362536770.jpeg)
As soon as the paint started to dry I used a piece of tape to pull some of it up. I only waited a few minutes after applying the paint to do this.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1750-e1617362638115.jpeg)
I scraped more paint off the walls with a wire brush then I drybrushed the walls with Linen craft paint.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1748-e1617362705272.jpeg)
I painted the windows and doors with white craft paint applied with a torn makeup sponge.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1751-e1617362755652.jpeg)
After the windows were weathered with A&I I added the acetate and glued them in place.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1752-e1617362814940.jpeg)
The rear wall..

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1753-e1617362847591.jpeg)
Here is the rear extension mocked up.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1754-e1617362938909.jpeg)

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1755-e1617362977634.jpeg)

Next step will be the roof and then I need to figure out what I'm going to do with the other side.

I may still do a wooden loading dock under the overhang like the original design, concrete or none at all- just leave the concrete supports sitting alone and put a few bumpers under to the 2 freight doors with some trucks in front of them.

Thanks for following along.

Steve, That is looking great!!!

Great work, Steve. Shaping up to be another quality build!

Wow.  Oh wow!

Wow , looking great Steve, beautiful weathering .

Hey Steve:

Looking just gorgeous. Keep them thar pjs a flowing.

Karl

Really cool technique on the weatherboard painting there, Steve.  They look very realistic.

I'm not sure how the broken sash window would get in that position...

Cheers, Mark.

Hey Steve:

Oops I meant pics.

Karl

Quote from: postalkarl on April 03, 2021, 04:54:33 PM
Hey Steve:

Oops I meant pics.

Karl

Spell checker didn't catch that one Karl..... ;) ;) ;)

As all ways, beautiful work.  Looking forward to your progress.  Mark

Steve,

I love that weathered look on the substructure. I have many of the AK paints but not the 3rd. gen color. Also, I'll be using the mineral spirits and tape method on a future build. Thanks for the clinic.

Tom   ;D

Thanks for the positive comments everyone!

Tom, I recently started using the AK 3rd gen and I love them. I don't typically use them for painting walls, mostly for castings. The coverage is really great, it usually gets it done in 1 coat.

Just a little update today. I got the roof on the shed and started working out the placement of the structure on the layout.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1774-e1617908971587.jpeg)
Roof is on..

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1772.jpeg)
I decided to not add any sort of loading dock the the area under the stone overhang. I made these bumpers from wood, NBWs and a few tire castings I cut in half.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1773-e1617909069393.jpeg)
Some vines were added to hide the seams.

I'm not going to do much until I can glue the structure down. This is unfortunately one of the scenes I need to complete on the layout. I started adding the scenery where it will sit but I can't progress until it dries. I'm going to try to finish painting some of the detail castings and build a few trucks I would like in the scene.

Thanks for following along.

Great work, Steve. Enjoying this one come together.

Excellent work Steve.  Looking forward to the placement of this beauty.


Jerry

Hey Steve:

It's coming along nicely. Keep the pics flowing.

Karl

Hello Steve, another very nice build. I'm looking forward to see what you do for the support columns.   Jeff

Thanks everyone!

Over the last few days I installed the structure on the layout and started to work the scenery in around it.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1781.jpeg)
First step before I could install the structure was adding the concrete under it. This is done the same way I had done in my previous builds...plaster of paris smoothed out with a wet sponge and some really light sanding with some fine sand paper to level it out. I colored it with Parisian Gray Chalk paint and weathered with charcoal briquet dust.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1782-e1618279369939.jpeg)
My pavement wasn't completely level so I need to shim up the backside of the structure.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1787.jpeg)
I had to do a little bit of adjustment and filing to get the brick pillars to fit correctly. Looks kinda boring to me now but I'll fix that with a vehicle and many details.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1784.jpeg)
Backside..obviously lots more details coming.

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1788.jpeg)

(https://craftsmanstructures.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/img_1785.jpeg)
This is how it ended up fitting in the overall scene.

Thanks for following along. I started work on a couple vehicles and I need to finish some of the details then I can complete the areas behind the tracks and start working on the very foreground of this area.

That looks great in its position, I'm looking forward to seeing how you detail it.


dave

hey Steve:

Looking just beautiful. The location looks just great. Can't wait to see your RR in person.

Karl

The brick columns look great Steve..... 8)

Steve,

This overall scene is turning out quite nice. I see your attention to explicit detailing
throughout the entire layout. You are an exceptional modeler. Thanks for sharing.
PS:  I am scratchbuilding this FSM Sewall's Foundry group of structures now.

Rich

Steve


Beautiful work! Love the details and the placement on your layout.  Great modeling.

Thanks everyone I really appreciate the positive feedback. I apologize for not replying sooner I have a few threads going and I lost track of which one I had responded too.

Very nice Steve can't wait to see the detailing that goes with this to complete the scene.


Jerry

Thanks Jerry. Once I get the area in front of it completed it'll be easier to see what's missing or looks empty.

Wonderful work!!


Jerry

Hi Steve:

Your model looks so natural in the photos.  All of the models in the background are incredible!  Very impressive how they are all built and laid out together.  I would love to see more shots of the other buildings too, wow!  Joe

Thanks Jerry, Thanks Joe!

Joe, I have a thread going that follows the construction of the layout as it's being done. The link is here:
http://modelersforum.com/index.php?topic=2968.0