Build Challenge 2016: Bar Mills Dock House at Cundy Harbor

[Carter]

First allow me to introduce myself to the members here. I am Carter Morgan, retired in 1999 to a small town in Suwannee Co. Florida called O'Brien. I model HO and occasionally sell on EBay. (Not a sales pitch).

I read thru all ReadingBob's post on this model and am quite impressed by the details given along the way as this project comes together. (I have 6-7 Bar Mills models and will assemble someday as I make progress on my own layout). I am new to building wood models and have scratch build a few so following along has given me encouragement and I get to see the finished results of the different ordered steps taken in construction, painting and staining. A real benefit for me as not only new to wood projects but new to the finishing, weathering etc. that goes along with model building and, I might add, very interesting the lighting techniques. Well done.

And in closing several things I would like to say first Bob great job in explaining each step, second (?) being your handle is ReadingBob are you from Pa and the Reading RR area?

Finally I see you reside in Lake Mary, perhaps we crossed paths in Deland last month at the train show. Great show and I picked up a few Engines there.

Thanks for listening and look forward to watching and learning from a pro.
Carter

PS: I find this site very very informative as I like to model in wood but hate to paint stain and wash over a model only to have it turn out less that envisioned.

Thanks to each member for taking the time and effort to post your progress photos and descriptive exchange of ideas. A real blessing to see it all come together first hand.  I look forward to being a part of the Forum.

[rpdylan]

Welcome Carter! You know, the secret of wood is to apply light coats (I prefer the sponge method) and weathering with powders is great because you cant warp the wood!

[jimmillho]

Welcome to the Forum Carter.  Post some pics as you go along cause we love pictures.

Jim

[ACL1504]

Carter,

Welcome to the forum. Bob does some amazing work.

Tom

[ReadingBob]

Hi John S, Tom, John C, Marty, Carter and everyone else,

Thanks for the wonderful comments and for following along with the build.     Bar Mills has some great structure kits and this one has been fun to build. 

John C - The Dock House looks far better in it's home on your waterfront than it did sitting on my kitchen counter.  I'm anxious to see the Boat House in place where you have a spot reserved for it.  Your scenery will bring it all together.

[ReadingBob]

First allow me to introduce myself to the members here. I am Carter Morgan, retired in 1999 to a small town in Suwannee Co. Florida called O'Brien. I model HO and occasionally sell on EBay. (Not a sales pitch).

First and foremost welcome to the forum Carter!  We're certainly glad you found us and look forward to hearing from you.

And in closing several things I would like to say first Bob great job in explaining each step, second (?) being your handle is ReadingBob are you from Pa and the Reading RR area?

Yep.  I grew up in Schuylkill Haven PA (on the Schuylkill River in Schuylkill County    ).  Haven is North West of Reading and less than an hours drive away.  On the other side of the river is Cressona and the Cressona yards of the Reading Railroad.  There was also some Pennsylvania tracks around the area.  I grew up watching the coal trains rumbling thru town.  Later in life I spent time around Harrisburg (and saw a lot of the Enola yards in the Conrail era).  I lived in St. Clair, PA throughout the 90's but by time almost all evidence of the railroads was gone.  At one time there was  huge Reading yard, complete with a 360 degree roundhouse, between St. Clair and Port Carbon.  Now you can't find a trace of it.  I move to Lake Mary in December of 99 and have been here since.

PS: I find this site very very informative as I like to model in wood but hate to paint stain and wash over a model only to have it turn out less that envisioned.

One thing I'll add about the stains and warping that I didn't mention in the thread - the framework walls for the Boat House are laser cut from a layered material (kind of like a micro plywood).  Based on prior experience I knew that material takes stain a lot better than a simple sheet of wood and resists warping.     I had a similar type wall in a kit from a different manufacturer that was laser cut out a simple sheet of plain wood.  When I stained it the diagonal pieces warped like crazy.  Naturally when a wall is laser cut that way the grain of the wood is going to run the wrong way for some pieces and those are the ones that will warp.  If I run into on of those situations again I'll forego the stains and used the dry sponge technique Bob C suggested or color the wood with chalks or Pan Pastels.  Anything that will keep it from getting too wet.

Thanks for the kind comments.  I'm glad you're finding the thread useful.  Don't be afraid to ask questions.  There are a lot of terrific modelers on this forum and they're more than willing to help out if they can.       

[GPdemayo]

Looking good Bob.....welcome to the forum Carter. 

[deemery]

"Cutting with the grain" is a hallmark of good kit design.


dave

[S&S RR]

First allow me to introduce myself to the members here. I am Carter Morgan, retired in 1999 to a small town in Suwannee Co. Florida called O'Brien. I model HO and occasionally sell on EBay. (Not a sales pitch).

I read thru all ReadingBob's post on this model and am quite impressed by the details given along the way as this project comes together. (I have 6-7 Bar Mills models and will assemble someday as I make progress on my own layout). I am new to building wood models and have scratch build a few so following along has given me encouragement and I get to see the finished results of the different ordered steps taken in construction, painting and staining. A real benefit for me as not only new to wood projects but new to the finishing, weathering etc. that goes along with model building and, I might add, very interesting the lighting techniques. Well done.

And in closing several things I would like to say first Bob great job in explaining each step, second (?) being your handle is ReadingBob are you from Pa and the Reading RR area?

Finally I see you reside in Lake Mary, perhaps we crossed paths in Deland last month at the train show. Great show and I picked up a few Engines there.

Thanks for listening and look forward to watching and learning from a pro.
Carter

PS: I find this site very very informative as I like to model in wood but hate to paint stain and wash over a model only to have it turn out less that envisioned.

Thanks to each member for taking the time and effort to post your progress photos and descriptive exchange of ideas. A real blessing to see it all come together first hand.  I look forward to being a part of the Forum.

Welcome to the forum Carter - you picked the thread one of the best modelers on the forum for your first post.

[ReadingBob]

Here's an update on the Boat House build.   

After I sided the boat house with the strip wood I had prepared you can see were the 'unpainted' edge of the boards on the end walls stands out a little bit.


I masked off the walls so only offending edges were exposed and gave them a quick sponge paint of the gray paint I had used for the wall.  They blend into the side wall better now.   


The roof is supposed to represent metal panels and the joints are covered with peel and stick strips of material.  I peeled the backing off and stuck them in place.


Where the main roof has a fold in it I cut thru the peel and stick strips so they would 'fold' as well.


I then flipped the roofs over and trimmed the strips to fit with a single edge razor blade.


I capped the peak of the roof with a strip of paper cut from an envelop.  Cut the envelop right along the folded edge and you'll have a pre-folded strip of paper.  I painted it to match the roof.  Now, as far as the finish on the roof is concerned I tried something new (to me) here.  The instructions recommend painting the roof a rust color first.  I did that using a mix of Raw Umber and Burnt Sienna (Model Masters Acrylic Paints).  After that dried I stippled on and dry-brushed the roof with Model Masters Aluminum (the instructions call for Polly Scale paint but I don't have that particular color in the now defunct Polly Scale line).  This lets some of the rust show thru the aluminum.  I added some rust color Pan Pastels for the finishing touch.   


I have a love/hate relationship with the finish on the roof.  70% or the time I like it when I look at it.  30% of the time I don't.  It depends a lot on the lighting.  I'm going to leave it as is however.

More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

The windows (and doors) are all peel and stick components assembled in layers.


I added the laser cut 'glass' to the windows.  I cleaned the exposed side first, stuck them in place and then removed the protective paper that covers one side of the glass.




The smaller windows had to be glued into place.  For this I use Micro Krystal Klear which is something I also use for window glazing.


I started prepping the strip wood for the dock by roughing it up with a wire welders brush I picked up at Home Depot.  You might notice that this process has the side benefit of cleaning off the glue, paint, etc. that accumulates on the cutting mat.   


After staining all the strip wood with Hunterline Creosote Black I started assembling the joists for the decking by gluing them directly on the template.  I used a piece of the bamboo skewers included in the kit as a gauge to ensure a tighter fit were the pilings will go.


More in a moment...  

[ReadingBob]

Finishing up the joists for the decking.  Afterwards I slide a single edge razor blade underneath it to cut it loose from the paper.  I used the smallest of dots of Elmer's White Glue to glue the strips to the template.  I scraped/sanded off any paper that stuck to the wood and touched up the top with A&I.  It doesn't matter too much, the top was the part glued to the paper.  The assembly was built upside down (this important to note when you're planning which side of the structure you want the larger deck to go on).  So the spots will be covered by boards anyway.


Adding the deck to the dock.  That doesn't sound right.     This is easy, kind of fun but still a bit tedious all at the same time.  But well worth the effort.


I used full strips of strip wood for the longer section of this assembly.  I thought about cutting them into short strips for realism but realized that the joints wouldn't be in a visible place once the structure was glued into place so why bother?


For the shorter pieces I cut but of pieces to length using my Chopper which made this section go together pretty quickly.


This section will actually be inside the Boat House so neatness isn't exactly important here.


Finally I touched up the assembly with the same Hunterline stain.  All the cut edges of the strip wood stand out like a sore thumb prior to this. 


That's where I am, picture wise, at this point in the build. 

Thanks for following along!

[cuse]

That's some good looking, precise work Bob! Every time I see that Flamingo glue applicator, I tell myself to get some...haven't yet.


Great build, as usual.


John

[jerryrbeach]

Bob,
First of all, another great step by step thread.  I never thought to use masking tape to touch up the corners after assembly, that seems much easier than trying to be neat freehand.  I will be using masking tape in the future.  Love the finish on the walls, they look great.
Since you indicated you are not sure you like how the roof came out, I'll offer a suggestion. I built Bar Mills the Barn at Jackson Corners.  The roof was designed to be done the same as the one you just completed.  I followed the instructions as you did, but was never completely comfortable with the end result.  Since then, I have changed my approach to this type of roof.  First, I cut a piece of 110# cardstock slightly oversize and glue it to the cardboard roof supplied with the kit.  This eliminates the kind of "wavy" look that the cardboard supplied in the kit has, and IMO the smoother finish looks more like metal.  It also gives the metal roof the prototypical slight overhang.  Then I mark pencil lines every scale foot, and use Evergreen 1x2's in place of what to me are oversize ribs.  I use Canopy glue to add the Evergreen strips, and have had no issue with them not sticking to the cardstock.

[Mkrailway]

Bob, you make it look too easy.