My FSM Collection - FSM25 Branchline Water Tower

[NEMMRRC]

Over the years I have been collecting Fine Scale Miniatures kits. My train buddy Bob Pieczyk (may he rest in peace) turned me on to these kits. He had built a few of them but he really enjoyed scratch building them from the magazine ads.


The very first FSM kit I tried to buy was Duffy's Coal Yard. I recall calling FSM as soon as I got my Model Railroader in the mail and seeing their ad. Alas, the kit was already sold out. That was one hard lesson. So, when I have a chance to buy an FSM kit I don't already own, I buy it.


The very first FSM kit I built was Yehuda's Heating Company. That was an undertaking. I had a blast. I've since built several others. I have many more to build yet.


I've decided to start building the kits in my collection in the order that they were released. The first FSM kit to be released was number 25 - Branchline Water Tower.





I wish I had paid $4.95 for mine. I paid a bit more than that.


Here is mine.








I don't recall how much I paid for it. Notice mine is in a yellow box. The first ones to be released came in a white box. The kit was first released in 1965. I was born in 1966.


Here is what came with my kit.





That is a lot for $4.95.


I am going to change something about it. See that red brick paper supplied in the kit. I am replacing it with some way cool brick embossed sheet from Foggy Mountain Models.





I'm using the sheet on the lower left. The other two sheets are probably more suitable for O Scale.


Here is a comparison of the brick paper supplied with the kit and the one I am going to use from Foggy Mountain.





And here is a closeup of the Foggy brick.





This is a small kit but it packs a lot detail into a small space.


The walls are die cut from thick cardstock. The cut lines are sharp and accurate.

I used some laminated cardstock gussets to give the walls some rigidity.





What is odd is that one builds the little structure with the glossy white surface of the cardstock facing inward.





Once the structure is glued one laminates the brick sheet onto it.








And then one cuts out the window and door openings.








The instructions suggest gluing "gravel" to the roof of the structure and to laminate some rows of decorative brick work to the outside surface. A "cap" for the walls is fashioned from strip wood.





Did any of you out there build this little kit from FSM?


More as it develops.


Jaime

[hairball]

Your going to find building the early kits, compared to the #100 and up, will require lot of crafting and updating of the materials, like you are doing with the brick.

Like the #35 2 stall engine house verses the later release again of it as #135, many changes and improvements.

If your going to build each one numerically, that's going to be extremely enjoyable to watch. Have fun.

mike lynch... MADMIKE3434... HAIRBALL

[NEMMRRC]

Your going to find building the early kits, compared to the #100 and up, will require lot of crafting and updating of the materials, like you are doing with the brick.

Like the #35 2 stall engine house verses the later release again of it as #135, many changes and improvements.

If your going to build each one numerically, that's going to be extremely enjoyable to watch. Have fun.

mike lynch... MADMIKE3434... HAIRBALL

I am enjoying how much detail these early FSM kits were designed to have once the modeler took the extra time to carry out the instructions provided.


On this kit the instructions guide on how to craft the ornamental brickwork on the structure (curved detail above windows for example). None of that is needed but it sure does add to the kit.


I decided why not build them in the order they were released. It ought to help one build one the experience George Sellios added to each kit.


Jaime

[PRR Modeler]

Looks interesting and I'll be following.

[S&S RR]

Jaime


Great looking build. I will be following along.

[Dave K.]

That's really great textured paper...you'll like it.

[NEMMRRC]

Thanks for all the feedback.


Here is an example of how the detail on this kit is made by the modeler. Let's take a look at the only door in the kit.





You see how the door is printed in two parts on the pale yellow card with the water tower's roof template. The modeler is to cut out the panels on the main piece of the door and glue that to the door's backing. Then a pin's head is used as the door knob.


Here is how that goes together.











It's actually quite satisfying and there was no need to prime and paint a metal/plastic casting. Is the detail as sharp as a casting? No. But with practice I am sure a dedicated modeler could come real close. Plus, if you screw it up all you need to do it is cut another one. With a casting if you screw it up you need to go buy another one lol.


Here is a look at the ornamental brickwork. I need to redo the curved detail above the windows. The band of brick around the building looks ok. This little guy is ready for the tank to go on top.





To get started on the tank one needs to stain the strip wood provided in the kit. The instructions suggest a stain made of turpentine and lamp black oil color. I've tried that method in the past. It yields great results. However, it smells up your modeling area some kind of awful. So, I decided to try something different. I've seen on the YouTubes where cool wood workers use a stain made of white vinegar and steel wool to age wood. So I gave it a try. Basically you take a wad of 0000 steel wool and you dissolve it in about a pint of white vinegar. It took 5-6 days for my concoction to finish brewing. You then take the resulting "brine" and you can either use it full strength or you can dilute it. I made a batch of 1/2 diluted "brine". Basically I took a cup of the "brine" and to that I added a cup of fresh white vinegar.


Here is what I got.





That length of strip wood was stained with the vinegar/steel wool brine on either end. The middle is left "virgin" from the kit. Here are my observations:
- it leaves the wood with a warm brown tone
- it smells up your work area but not as much as the turpentine suggested by the kit
- it takes much longer to dry than rubbing alcohol and India ink stain
- it makes the grain on the wood pop better than alcohol and India ink
- it does not penetrate as deep as alcohol and India ink so you basically have to soak the wood with the vinegar/steel wool brine
- I like it as an alternative to traditional model railroading stains


Here is a comparison with the middle of the length of strip wood stained with alcohol and India ink.





And here is a batch of more strip wood stained with the vinegar brine.





You can see where I missed a couple of spots when applying the brine.


Have any of you tried the vinegar and steel wool stain either on models or full size wood working?


More as it develops.


Jaime

[GPdemayo]

Looking forward to this build and your FSM series Jaime, I'll be looking in. 


Better choice for the Foggy Mountain brick. It looks much better than the paper that came in the kit!

[deemery]

I'm using transfer tape these days to laminate brick sheets to subwalls, putting the tape on the subwalls and then lining up and pressing the brick sheets.  You have to be careful things are in alignment, but so far the attachment has worked well, even in the 14" long walls of my mill buildings...


dave

[Oldguy]

Glad to see you finally getting around building the kit.  I believe it cost you $16.00.  And oh, looking good.

[Opa George]

Jaime,
That is looking very good. I do remember the steel wool in vinegar technique from back in the 80s, I think. If I recall correctly, it was covered in Model Railroader as Sweet and Sour Weathering!     I did try it, and am pretty sure I liked the results, although do remember the strong smell, and probably for that reason did not stick with using it.

--Opa George

[Jerry]

Jaime a very nice job on this one.


I'll be following along.


Jerry

[NEMMRRC]

Jaime,
That is looking very good. I do remember the steel wool in vinegar technique from back in the 80s, I think. If I recall correctly, it was covered in Model Railroader as Sweet and Sour Weathering!     I did try it, and am pretty sure I liked the results, although do remember the strong smell, and probably for that reason did not stick with using it.

--Opa George

Sweet and Sour. I like that. You have to keep the container shut tight and do the staining deed real quick.


Jaime

[hairball]

that's what outside decks are for .......opening floquil paint and cracking the cap on sweet and sour staining mixture.

I made some and used it once then stopped.  Am pretty sure I went to FIEBING LEATHER DYE and 99% pure isopropinal alcohol.  Tended to stick to USMC black as giving me exactly what I wanted to achieve, I also believe I was experimenting with Fiebing in various shades of browns, before I laid down tools in 2013 and started building 1935 Chevrolets full size HOT RODS.

3 of them, 2 done and roadster under construction in garage still in 2020
mike

[ReadingBob]

This is a really neat idea for series of build threads Jamie.  It'll be great to see some of these older kits put together and the steps that involves.  Thanks for sharing!