Working name - Frary's Fish Head Fertilizer

[Random]

The next structure needed is the powerhouse that sits at the right side of the complex.  I picked though my scrap box and various kits looking for something to use as the core to this structure.  Nothing I had on hand really worked.  Given the current budget (layoffs kill that) I wanted to work with materials on hand so I decided to use some brick paper that was different from what I had used for the foundations.  I built a simple box from cardstock and reinforced it with strip wood.  I then wrapped it in the brick paper.  For the front section I build another box, covered it and attached to the first box.  I also built up a cornice for the upper edge, wrapped it and overlaid it to the main box.  The result came out fairly nice.  I used balsa for the subroof. 




Here's the view from the back.



I wanted twin stacks to indicate a pair of boilers.  Going back to the scrap box I found a couple of pieces of brass tubing that fit the bill without trimming.  I build a simple bracing structure with strip wood.  I then used thin strips of the same pastel paper I'd used to make siding to make straps to hold the tubing.  I embossed a few "rivets" and then glued them to the wood frame.  Once that had set I carefully wrapped the paper strips around the tubing and glued it to the back of the frame.  The tubing was free to move within the straps. Once the straps had dried I removed the tubing and glued strips of pastel paper around the bases to create a flange.  I then glued square pieces of balsa to each tube.   Then I reinserted the tubes into the bracing frame, squared everything up and mounted them on a sheet of thin balsa cut to fit into the lower brick box's roof. 






You might notice in the last picture above that the cornice didn't wrap around the left side of the power house.  This side buts up to the wooden barn building and I clearly wasn't thinking about how the two should interface.  I'll blame it on working too late at night.    So I went back and made an end cap for the left side and added it to the main structure.  I'll have to cover the obvious butt joint with a down spout or ivy or something.




A bit of black paint later and the stacks look pretty good.  They will need some weathering later to reduce the freshly painted look.




Here is the basic powerhouse added to the full factory.  I plan to add some more relief detail to the front of it. 




That brings things up to date.  I have started working on the roof for the barn.  I want to make it removable so that I can go back and add lighting.  I'm not sure what to use for roofing.  I supposed rolled roofing would be appropriate for a structure like this set in the 1930s.

Cheers

[Random]

I've managed to sneak some time here and there over the last few days with company around and work on the roof for the main factory building.  I cut 3 "trusses" to match the front and back building profile and subroof from card stock.  I used a bit of masking tape to hold the trusses in place and then glued the sub roof panels in place.  I did all of this in place to insure a proper fit.




The roof is removable.  Here is the view of the underside.





And here is the completed subroof in place.  It came out pretty nice.




Next up is the equipment room that sits on top of the barn roof.  I cut walls from card stock and reinforced with strip wood.








This will get the same paper siding as the main building.   That will be up next.

[Random]

Picking up from where we left off...  I needed to add siding to the equipment room.  I marked off guide lines horizontally to position the boards.  I also marked vertical lines 2 feet apart to indicate where vertical framing would run.  Then I covered the wall with 3M transfer tape.




I gathered a pile of "boards".  These are leftovers from the sponge painted pastel paper siding for the main barn structure.




The guide lines show clearly though the transfer tape.




I started by positioning the first board on the wall and then burnishing it down with a burnishing tool.  The tool mars the paint so I have to be careful not to burnish portions that will be visible.




The siding boards are cut to 33' lengths.  I work with one board until it will not make a full course.  Once I have a partial board I position the end to align with one of the vertical "framing" marks. The boards on this wall overlap the ends to allow for the joint with the other walls.



I continue this pattern up the wall allowing the joints to fall where they may based on the board lengths.  If the pattern gets a little too regular I will cheat in a longer or shorter board to break it up.   Also, as the strips are cut by hand they are not all exactly the same width. This plus variations in laying them down gives the wall a more uneven look.  I was less careful on the equipment than on than the main barn to give it a more rough look.




Here is the finished left wall.



And here are all of the finished walls.  The back wall was left blank.  The front wall has one window.  I boarded over the window then used a flat chisel blade to cut the opening out from the back.




Here is the equipment shed punched atop the main barn roof.




The last step was to add corner boards to the walls.  I used the same siding strips.  The were folded in half lengthwise and glued on the corners with canopy glue.

[Janbouli]

Great job Roger looking fine, and I love the idea with the weights.

[Random]

Thanks.  Those fishing weights are very handy.  I have a supply of 2 and 3 ounce weights.

[Random]

Next up is the conveyer between the two rooftop equipment sheds.  First I added a simple card stock subroof to the lower shed that sits on the brick section.




Next i played around with sizes a bit and decided on just over 4 scale feet for the hight of the conveyor.  It actually measures 15mm for ease of marking.  I cut a cardboard strip to that width and clamped it in place on the back of the upper shed.  Once it was positioned to my liking I marked both ends against the roof of the lower shed and wall of the upper shed.






I used that as a template to cut out two sides (front and back) for the conveyer.  I decided to make the profile square so I cut a top and bottom 15mm minus the thickness of the two sides.  In order to keep things square I cut 3 pieces of thick balsa to fit inside the conveyer.  I then attached the balsa guides to one side at each end and in the middle and then applied the other sides.



The black marking ensured that I kept the balsa guides in the same orientation.


Here is the marking template, a balsa guide and the finished conveyer.




And here is the conveyer set in place between the two equipment sheds.




Next up will be the roof for the upper equipment shed and deciding on how to cover the conveyer.  I'm considering the same planking as on the barn and upper shed with rolled roofing on top.

[S&S RR]

I just caught up with your build - looks great. I'm enjoying the thread.

[ACL1504]

I'm really enjoying following along on this thread.

Tom

[Random]

I decided to cover the conveyor in rough plank like the lower equipment shed so that it would have a more "rustic" look.  This uses a sheet of balsa and a wood stripper to make planks.  Because I can't pull them though perfectly they have varying thickness which is what gives it the rough look.  Since we all love pictures I'll let them do the rest of the talking.























Next step is to use an ink wash to gray the boards before dry brushing with whitewash.  I've learned to allow the canopy glue a couple of days to fully cure before hitting it with the wash. 

[Random]

Today's easy project, a coat of ink wash, some drying time, and then a dry brushing with acrylic "white wash".  A bit of rolled roofing on the top and the conveyer will be finished.

[ger deguelle]

Great work

[postalkarl]

Hi Random:

That's A very cool building and it's coming along well. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Karl

[Random]

Thanks guys.

I've made a bit more progress on it.  The next major bit is the roof for the upper equipment shed.  This is to be a simple hip roof.  A few measurements, some Trigonometry, Geometry and a calculator later and I made a template.  And kids think they will never use this stuff.




I cut the pattern out in heavy card stock (Chip board they seem to call it now.)  I then taped it to shape and fitted on the shed. It came out pretty good so I flipped it and liberally applied canopy glue to the seams.




Once that had dried I flipped it over and applied more canopy glue to the seams from the top.  This time I scraped the glue down into the seams so that I wasn't left with big lumpy ridges.  This will be a rolled roofing roof.




And here it is perched atop the shed.




And now a couple of gratuitous beauty shots.







And an arial view from Thatcher's own hot air balloon




Next up I need to locate my supplies for making the rolled roofing.  Much of my modeling supplies are still jumbled into plastic bins since the storm.  It's getting close to done but there are still many details to add.  Augments to the front of the powerhouse (right) and several porch roofs are the most obvious.

[Rail and Tie]

Looking very nice.

Lots of visual interest going on in this. Dave would be proud.

BTW, where is Dave these days??

[Random]

I'd love to know where Dave is these days.  I always love his stories.

I've managed to move this build forward but I did a lousy job of taking pictures.

I decided to go with rolled roofing for the remaining roofs.  I acquired some black tissue paper (which is harder to do than it should be this time of year) and cut it into scale 3' wide strips.




I then marked guide lines 2.5' apart on the roof sections and applied the strips from the bottom up using regular Elmer's glue, applied with a small paint brush, to give more working time.  The extra water content wrinkled the paper more which added to the texture.  I allowed the paper to overhang the edges enough to fold down and cover the roof edge which is just bare card.  (This would be the bit I failed to photograph.  Sorry.)

Here is a shot with all of the rolled roofing applied.  I put on a light coat of gray weathering powder just so that the paper shows better.  Its not really finished.  I may go back and pull some edges and add some tears but this is modeled as a working facility not a derelict so there won't be too much.  (Roof leaks in Maine are bad for moral, even for guys who have to work with fish heads all day.)




Oh, and because the main building is built to be opened up in the unlikely event I decide to put in an interior or the more likely event that I derail a car deep within the structure, the roof comes off.



I think the very best thing about using the tissue paper for the roofing is that its so thin that I can go back and add any other roof I like if I decide I don't care for of this result.  Wow, that's a lot of I's.  How about:  The best thing about using tissue paper for rolled roofing is that its so thin it can be easily covered with a different roofing material should this look not remain satisfactory.  Yup, that sounds better.   Maybe its time for a nap.

Cheers!