Bar Mills Tribute Kit 1

[PRR Modeler]

Beautiful modeling George.

[Bruce Oberleitner]

Love how your kit is turning out.   Keep up the good work.

[Opa George]

Thanks, Curt and Bruce!  I'm really enjoying this kit.

All walls are now braced and trimmmed per the instructions. A few notes on that. There are 14 pieces of 1/8 inch interior bracing supplied. I used ten to fully brace per the diagram, so plenty of material there. On the trim (1/16th inch for corners and freight doors), plan your cuts to get maximum use of the supplied material. I thought I was going to run very short until I remembered there were two full trim pieces leftover from the link and chain building. Even using that and making stretegic use of it, I had less than an inch of material remaining.

Second point is bad planning on my part. Typically I would distress the walls either before bracing or certainly before gluing on the corner trim. I got ahead of myself here--I think the 22 wall sections got me thinking only of bracing and trimming--and I completed those steps before distressing. Now I will not be able to go at the walls with complete abandon with my file card, as usual. That's ok, it will just force me to slow down and take more time so that I don't mess up the trim.



--George

[dick green]

I would try putting a layer or two of masking tape on the trim to protect it should be OK

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looking good, George.

it really looks like a fab kit.  I love the next one too!  Is that one in the Christmas stocking?

Cheers, Mark.

[Opa George]

I would try putting a layer or two of masking tape on the trim to protect it should be OK

Dick, thanks for that suggestion. Certainly worth a try.
--George

[Opa George]

Looking good, George.

it really looks like a fab kit.  I love the next one too!  Is that one in the Christmas stocking?

Cheers, Mark.

Hi Mark. Yes, it is, to date, the most enjoyable kit I have yet built.  No, Tribute kit #2 is not in the Christmas stocking--although not for lack of interest. It does look like a beauty. But...Doug Foscale's "The Terminal" kit is wrapped up and hidden somewhere in the house. That will be a joy to unwrap on Christmas morning!

--George

[Opa George]

Here are all the walls distressed and with a heavy treatment of A + I. I used a card file on walls without the trim pre-attached, and a small razor saw blade on those with trim. Other tools used included a t-pin (random holes, insect damage) a sanding stick (dings and gouges on freight doorways), a pounce wheel for nail holes, and a straight edge razor and #11 blade to cut board joints and to lift and occasionally break random boards. Although every surface received nail holes and A + I, I took the time to identify a few walls or portions of walls that would be hidden, and did not add extra distressing there.


And below are the walls painted to match the first two buildings--that is, with a dry-brushing of acrylic white. Two of the walls (lower left) received no paint because they will be entirely hidden in the installation.


I also assembled the cupola, but the picture came out blurry. I'll show it next time.
--Opa George

[jerryrbeach]

George,


Once again, I'll be following.  Looks like you're making good progress.

[PRR Modeler]

Looks good George. Whenever I apply A&I or paint I put the parts in a folded sleeve of aluminum foil and weight applied on top to try to minimize bending of the wood, also the dried paint or A&I does not stick to the aluminum foil. Just what I do.

[Opa George]

Thanks for the comments, Jerry, and for the tip, Curt. I got lucky this time and had no warping of the walls after the A+I. The bracing on these walls was pretty complete without me having to add more.  But I like your tip and will certainly keep it in mind for future builds.

Artie offered several "routes" for construction. I chose to assemble all of the peel-and-stick windows/doors at once, since there were so many. Below are the various components for one window, with an assembled window at the bottom. Overall I had no problems, and liked the flexibility in being able to position the bottom sashes. 


It took about two hours to complete all the assemblies. They are lined up below. On the freight doors, I found it helpful to number the parts on the reverse side to keep them straight--not just for assembly, but also for installation.  I installed two of the windows in the walls to check fit.:


Below are the walls with all windows and doors installed. At this point the window and door colors need adjustment in order to blend with the wall color. I need to tone down the white windows and dry brush white on the freight doors. I'll let them all dry well before that step.


All for now.  -- Opa George

[PRR Modeler]

Windows and doors look great George.

[Lynnb]

The walls looked great, weathering looks just terrific. I have of lately been trying thinner with floquil weathered black rather than an A/I mix for distressing and weathering on more delicate wood, seems to allow more weathering without the potential for warping.

[Opa George]

Windows and doors look great George.

Thanks much, Curt! --George

[Opa George]

The walls looked great, weathering looks just terrific. I have of lately been trying thinner with floquil weathered black rather than an A/I mix for distressing and weathering on more delicate wood, seems to allow more weathering without the potential for warping.

Thanks, Lynn. Great tip.  I believe it was from a craftsman kit I built in the early '80s that I picked up the tip to use "dirty Dio-sol" to simulate aged wood. I have done that, and still do for smaller expanses of old wood. Your tip gives much more control of the final color, of course--George