Hello Kyle, the backdrop just keeps getting better and better. Great job.

Hello Larry, you are doing a great job telling a story with your scenes. Wonderful modeling.

Quote from: Rick on August 18, 2025, 08:37:56 PMJeff, that looks fantastic!
Nice job!

Hello Rick, I appreciate the nice comment

Quote from: craftsmankits on August 18, 2025, 10:30:30 PMNice job Jeff, you've been making a ton of progress on this kit.  I'll have to pop mine open and take a look at what's in the box.  There's a lot going on there, more than I imagined.  Mark

Hello Mark, you should open that box, there's a lot to look at and maybe you'll be inspired to start work on the kit.

Quote from: Keep It Rusty on August 19, 2025, 10:29:20 AMMore fantastic progress, Jeff. Watching you discover all the little details is such a joy. Thank you for continuing to share your build here.

Hello Craig, thanks so much for looking in. I'm having a lot of fun with your kit. You did a great job with the design and construction of all of the many parts.

Quote from: Jerry on August 19, 2025, 11:15:54 AMWonderful build Jeff!!!

Jerry

Hello Jerry, thank you for the kind words.

Quote from: GPdemayo on August 20, 2025, 03:03:45 PMGreat work Jeff.....

Hello Greg, thank you, sir

Quote from: friscomike on August 20, 2025, 05:15:28 PMHowdy Jeff,

The boiler and engine house are looking great.  Congrats on the excellent progress.

Have fun,
mike

Hello Mike, I think that this part of the kit is the most interesting to build. Craig did a wonderful job with the design and the instructions and templates that come with the kit. And I am having fun.

Quote from: Pennman on August 22, 2025, 07:33:31 AMGood looking detailing and a fine build, Jeff.
Thanks for the tutorial on assembling the machines.

Rich

Hello Rich, thank you for looking in and for the feedback. The detail that has been built into this kit is amazing. I've been very impressed with the 3D printing that is possible these days. It makes building a kit like this a lot of fun.

I've installed the vertical boiler and the steam piping



I decided to use the left over bits from the steam pipe install to create a pile of steam pipes with fittings on the ground behind the boiler



I added a few details to the pulley tower end as well



This is as far as I am going to go with this sub-assembly for now. When it is planted along with the rest of the sub-assemblies I will add more scenery and details.

Next up is the line shaft support platform. This platform houses the other end of the main drive belt from the steam engine. Using the template provided helped greatly while building this little structure. In this picture you can see that one side is drying, while the other side is laying on the template. The 3D printed concrete bases for the legs of the platform have been painted and the guard for the lower part of the belt is partially done



Gluing the two sides of the platform together requires more hands than I have available. I used several tools to help hold things steady so that the glue could dry properly.



The platform has been glued into place. The main drive shaft was fed into the mounting holes of two brackets with a pulley wheel in the middle. I spaced the three parts properly using the template and the super glued them into place on the undersides of the top platform timbers. The drive belt was first glued to the bottom of the big drive pulley on the steam engine and then glued onto the top pulley one end at a time. I'm pleased with the color that I used for the belt. The most tricksie part of all of this was getting the wood guard tray in place. There wasn't a lot of room to work, but I eventually got it where it belonged. One of the reasons that I installed the exterior wall cladding on the back side of the shed was so that I could put some details against the wall on the inside. The castings came with the kit.



There were five complete trusses on the roof when I started. I had a paint bottle balanced on top of the wood platform while the glue was drying, but it fell off and broke two of the trusses. I thought about trying to repair the broken trusses, but then realized that by just cutting them off at the ridge beam it would just look like those two rafters hadn't been installed yet. A happy accident.



I'm very pleased with how this whole thing came out. I'm glad that I decided to use a base piece big enough for all of the pieces. I don't know how I would have gotten them all into place without it. In case you're wondering, the metal drive shaft will go into a hole in the side of the stone wall mill building when all of the sub-assemblies get glued together. The tie straps on top of the corners of the platform were laser cut wood that bent into place when glued- just another little detail that Craig designed into the kit. Amazing.



That's it for now, more later.

Hello Mike, your stone walls have a very natural look to them, well done sir.

Hello Tom, your cabooses, cabeese ?, are looking good. They will look great trailing a train on your layout.

Hello Kyle, your backdrop is looking very good. I wish that I had your artistic ability.

Hello Tom, thanks for looking in and for the nice comments. I agree with you that Craig did a nice job with the design of this kit, it's been a lot of fun working on it.

Continuing on...

I added some flashing at the roof joints. I used some brown packing paper which I painted grey for the flashing. Craig suggests using aluminum foil for the flashing, but I wanted to try the packing paper and I'm pleased with how it came out. I also did a little weathering on the metal roof.



Here's a view of the other side of the roof. This is as far as I'm going to go with this little structure for right now. Later when things start getting glued together, I'll do some more detailing and weathering.



Next up is to me the most interesting part of the kit. The steam engine, it's large belt and the boiler and steam piping. Craig supplies a piece of cardboard for the base of the engine shed, but I wanted something bigger that would allow me to put the shed, the pulley tower and the boiler all on one base. I cut a piece of styrene that would allow me to do all of that and painted it a dark grey with a rattle can primer. I then glued the walls of the shed together and glued the shed to the base. The walls were single piece laser cut wood with some nice framing detail.



The idea is that the shed is under construction and I wanted to take that idea a little further along. I used some untreated 2x10 strip wood for vertical siding boards and did the wall that will be near the stone mill building with that material. Since it's supposed to be new construction I didn't stain or color the boards at all.



Next was the steam engine. It comes as eight different 3D printed pieces that you first paint, I used a rattle can grey primer for all the pieces, and then paint before assembling. Everything fit well with almost no flash and I like the look of the finished steam engine. I used a silver color on the outside surfaces of the pulleys, A blue/ grey mixture for the body of the engine and a red for the inside of the pulleys. You can also see that I'm painting the material for the belt with a brownish/ orange color to look like a belt color.



That's it for now, more later.

Hello Larry, really nice job on the store and shed. Love all of the details.

Hello Dave, you're moving right along with the lights. Can't wait to see them all working inside the shop.

Quote from: Pennman on August 12, 2025, 11:48:19 PMJeff,

Moving steadily along, I see, and the construction seems tight on all corners.
I like the coloring on the roof tops, the shingles and the rusty door.
Great modeling.

Rich

Hello Rich, thanks for looking in and for the kind words. It's always nice to get some feedback.

Quote from: Rick on August 13, 2025, 07:52:14 AMJeff, nice to see all the progress you're making.
Excellent job of painting and weathering.

Hello Rick, I'm just going from one sub-assembly to another with this kit. Soon it will be time to start tying things together. Thanks for looking in.

Hello Mike, I like the stone coloring on the lodge walls and with some structures next to the nicely ballasted track, your layout is really starting to come together.

Hello Dave, the interior details look great, nice job. I hope that you work out your belt attachment problems.