SierraWest Scale Models - The Machine Shop at Deer Creek

[nextceo]

Alright, my next build will be the HO Scale Kit by SierraWest Scale Models - The Machine Shop at Deer Creek. Since this is one of Brett's earlier kits, it requires the 24 hour process of staining the wood. Part of Brett's Secret Recipe for the Stain includes using Polly Scale Railroad Tie Brown Paint. Since that's no longer made and I don't have any, I replaced it with an India Ink with a shade of color called Sepia. It has that same shade of dark brown to it. I slide one of those Woodland Scenic shaker bottles that contains ground foam in it under one side of each pan so they are tilted allowing for all of the wood to be submerged.  While I was emptying the box, I came across a nice little surprise...a"Bonus Shop Car" inside. I'm not sure if only some or all of the kits included this car. I scanned thru Brett's online Photo Album for this Shop Car Kit but I couldn't find a completed picture of it. If anyone has one that they can share, would you please post it to this thread?

Thanks!
Alan

[MAP]

Nice looking kit Alan.  I'll be following along.

[nextceo]

Thanks Mark.

Alright, the prep work has been completed. I wanted to show you a few things before I move on.

In the first picture, I primed all the resin castings following the process Karl A (UKGUY) demonstrates in the Craftsman Kit University off the Sierrawest Scale Models Home Page. This is also taught in their workshops that Brett and Karl put on. They recommend priming all the RESIN castings with a light coat of Spray Paint. The metal items such as Oil Drums in Black and all the wood items such as boxes, crates and wooden barrels in Tan. I show the 2 spray cans that I used which were purchased at Home Depot. I used either paint stirring sticks or strips of card board and applied doubled sided tape which allowed me to stand up all the castings for the priming process.

In the second picture, I blacked all the metal castings with Jax Pewter Black Solution. I found that if you buy it thru the company's website, they want to charge you $25 to ship this item (Dangerous Chemical)...but if you buy it thru Amazon, it only costs $5 to ship it. With that said, I used the brush shown to spread the solution over each of the metal castings. I then went back immediately with the tooth brush to work the solution into the tiny crevices. After letting each piece sit for a few minutes, I threw them all in a cup of water for 20 minutes to wash off the solution. I learned the hard way from a previous kit that you don't want to apply paint straight to these metal castings.

In the third picture, the instructions call for Poly Scale Roof Brown for the Metal Roof and Box Car Red for the tarpaper. I of course have neither of these colors since they are no longer produced...kinda sad. Anyways, I went over to Home Depot and found almost exact matches for both of these colors which I show in this picture.

In the last picture, all of the wood as been colored using Brett's "Patent Pending" staining process. Up near the top of the picture, you'll see the water tower casting which I sprayed with a light tan paint from Home Depot. For the most Famous Part of the kit, the Front Stone Wall, I followed Brett's instructions and painted it with Grime colored paint and then thinned it out with Dio-Sol. Since its a base coat, I'm sure its not going to matter that it doesn't look so great right now.

Next up, the building of the 1st wall....

Alan

[postalkarl]

Hi Alan:

Looks like you're off to a good start.

Karl

[S&S RR]

Looks like a great build - I will be following along.

[nextceo]

Thanks Mark and John. I'll start the walls this weekend.

Alan

[nextceo]

Started building the main walls today. To weather the boards, I use the following methods:

- Use a wire brush to add texture
- I have a beading tool (has the same tip on it as a compass but with a nice foam handle) to add holes and indentations to the boards.
- I take a razor blade at a 90 degree angle and make a small chopping motion to add that "rough cut look" to parts of the boards.
- An Exacto knife is used to remove portions of the boards.
- On some of the holes I take a toothpick - dip it in glue - jam it in the hole and them clip off on both sides with a flush cutting toenail clipper to create a knothole.

After all of the weathering techniques are done to the boards...which I learned from Brett at Sierrawest, I wash over the boards with Indian ink to make the details pop.

The last step before adding the boards, I take a brown piece of paper and pinch my fingers together. I got the brown paper I'm using from shipping material that was used in a box that was sent to me...but you can also use a paper bag from the grocery store. I then run each board thru my fingers 3 times and them I flip the board over and re-run it thru again another 3 times to remove all the "fuzzies".

I was able to finish 2 of the 3 main walls today. You will see in the last picture that the walls will sometimes warp from the glue. The next step is the press the walls between two boards with bricks on top to flatten them out. I will usually press the walls for 2-3 days...periodically taking them out of the press to work on them such as adding windows before returning them to the press.

That's all for now!
Alan

[Vilius]

Alan,

That is a lot of work but surely worth it.

Vilius

[nextceo]

Hey Vilius,

   Havent heard from you in a while. Hope all is well. I was going to see if you had plans on attending the Narrow Gauge Covention?

Alan

[Zephyrus52246]

Nice looking walls, Alan.  I'll have to try the brown bag trick for the fuzzies.


Jeff

[nextceo]

Thanks Jeff.

Just finished up the 3 main walls...minus the weathering. The walls are really beginning to warp and will now go into the homemade press for the next 2-3 days to straighten out. Next up is the weathering on the main stone wall and the creation of the Diorama Base.

Alan

[nextceo]

Weathered the Stone Wall last night. I used 2 different shades of Brown, Grime and Concrete like the instructions stated plus I used Stone Gray, Rain Gray and Stormy Gray (Dark Gray) to color the stones. Once you add the chalks, it covered the areas I didn't stay within the lines when painting the stones.

Alan

[UP Fan]

Nice job on the wall Alan.  Are you planning on hitting it with some Dullcote to take the shine off?  Maybe it's just the way it photographed (flash unit?).

[Vilius]

Hey Vilius,

   Havent heard from you in a while. Hope all is well. I was going to see if you had plans on attending the Narrow Gauge Covention?

Alan

Alan,

I was considering couple of months ago but not very seriously though. Then our closing date got moved by two weeks, I had unexpected expenses, and I used up extra three days of vacation. I guess that sums it up. I am definitely not going this year. I am hoping to be able to go next year. I have always been wanting to visit Maine. Maybe I will make a little mini vacation out of it.

Vilius

[nextceo]

Bob, yep...I use Dull coat on it eventually...I'm still trying to decide if I like the stones that were painted in Earth first...I may rework those stones.

Vilius, yeah..we use to vacation to Maine every year. If you like seafood and awesome scenery, that's the place to go. The drive getting there/back is really only the bad part about going there...

Alan