Laserkit Dabler Mill & Supply

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looking great, Bob.

I really like the exposed framework - a very cool feature.  Your making great progress.

Cheers, Mark.

[Oldguy]

I spent the afternoon on the office and tar paper shack.

The office roof is a bit different as the roof pitch is formed by 2 triangular  formers attached to the underside if the roof.  In the photo one can see where the roof would need to be cut off if the office is to be attached to the main mill building.  The tar paper roofing is pre-cut, in order and was a breeze to install.  I did add the barge boards first as the roofing paper was a couple of thousandths short.

When I test fit the roof, the overhangs were neither equal nor square.  It seems that the placement of the tabs and notches were off for one corner.  The upper left hand one.

Then it was on to the tar paper shack.  Again, fairly simple.  For the roof, I did add pencil lines to make adding the battens much easier.  Since I had glued the side together, these went  littler slower, but not too bad.  I just need to weather this a bit to knock down  the shine.

One thing I wish that kit builders would do if corner trim was to be added, is to make one wider than the other.  i.e. make one a 4" and the other a 6".

[Oldguy]

Now it is onto starting the main building rear section.  There is a add-on to which the tar paper shack attaches to on one end.  It also takes the last two sets of sliding doors, with one side having a dock.

A fairly straight forward.  Start with the pitched roof and adding rafter tails.  Really different method, but it seems to work.  Then one adds the interior formers and let dry.

The loading dock was the typical laser cut decking adhered to a wood base.  Again fairly straight forward.  The main thing is to dry fit the cut support pieces into the wall as they are tight.  A little bit of filing was needed on every cut out.  They all got glued on and while that was setting up, I added the dock.  And that is when disaster struck.


The dock supports have two tabs and I checked one.  On the wall.  The other fit into a cutout in the dock base.  The tabs are too tall for the dock to set down flat.  I didn't do a dry test fit on this piece.  Big mistake.  The grain on the support pieces run vertical and it doesn't take a lot of pressure for these to disintegrate.  Only 2 of the 7 made it through in one piece.  Luckily, the support system was basically 6x6 and 2x6 sizing, so I made replacement pieces from the fragments and stock shapes.

[postalkarl]

Hey Bob:

This is coming along very nicely. Can't wait to see more.

Karl

[Oldguy]

Whoo hoo, starting to get the min building out together.  First up the addition.  It's not all that often that I can use these magnetic corner jigs.  I used the next building section to aid in keeping it square.

Then, finally, got a start on the main building.  I might just run out of work room to get this all together.  Meaning, I need to clean my desk top.

[Oldguy]

With the expectation of large scale rolled roofing on the horizon, I cut the provided pieces into 33.3 foot lengths.  Once I start the roofing process, any cut offs from one row will be used to start the next row.  Here I just used a piece of tape as a stop and marked the cut off point on the mat and dove right in.  All end pieces are darkened with a black Sharpie.

Main building assembly continued. Here is the rear "train" loading bay.  This whole are will be inaccessible once a roof goes on, so any track work and ballast will need to be considered now.

My stopping point this pm  I am making good use of the provided corner braces and for the first time using Aileen's Tacky Glue.  Thicker than everything else that I have used.  I found one unfilled window opening.  Thankfully, it is to be a boarded up window, so that shouldn't be all the bad to add. 


Ever notice how one's work area slowly shrinks to the point it just barely accommodates the project one is working on?  I am using an old Sauder computer desk and my working area is a little over 2 sq. ft.

[ACL1504]

Bob,

Wow, that is one large structure and it looks great. You are doing a fantastic job on the build.  Looking forward to the rest.

Tom

[Janbouli]

Great Job , don't you just love all the corners and rooflines , such a great kit.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Really coming together nicely, Bob.

I love the little tar paper building.  That came out very well.

Cheers, Mark.

[PRR Modeler]

Very nice so far Bob.

[vinceg]

Man that looks like a complicate kit. I have it, too but haven't touched it, yet. I'm glad you're blazing the trail, Bob. I'm enjoying watch you bring it to life.

[Oldguy]

Thanks for the support all.

Started on the roof, but did the main front loading dock.  There are 8 parts that'll all et covered over by the roof.  I did make a mistake on labeling these parts.  It is hard to see, but the right hand bracket actually goes to the left.  It has a wider notch to accept the slanted support piece.

The on to the roofs.  They all fit really well with a couple a bit fiddly.  It was more of a matter of figuring out any overhang and them paint it before gluing down.  The first photo is from the rear.  It should be noted that the upper left roof piece isn't glued down yet.  It is used to help a funky front wall section set up in proper place.

The last photo is from the front and now, all roof cards have been glued down.  This building is as I thought, huge.  Basically 12" square and close to that tall, and I have two additions to go on the rear.

By now the instructions call for the other front dock door canopy to be installed, but me being as ham-handed as I can be at times, I'll wait a while to install it when I should be apt to knock it off.

[MAP]

Really coming great Bob.  Thanks for all of the construction pics.

[Oldguy]

With most of the roof sections in place, they made a point of adding this precut bit of roofing.  Then there are these pieces that are to simulate the lap siding. 


The head house is added along with a bunch of small bits and bobs here and there.  And while those are all drying, I added some stiffeners to this small bit of roof.  There is a bunch of parts such as this throughout the build.

Then while that is drying, I moved on to the elevator.  Be careful as it has a slanted base that will sit on a side roof.  I am not a fan of these multi-layer bits as I can never get them square.  I also waited to color this piece as I needed to ensure that I didn't foul any overlays with powders.

[Oldguy]

Now the roof is done.  First up, the right front quarter.  The open gap is to be covered with a canopy.  Strange that there is no all/roof piece for this gap.  Chances are one will not be able to see the missing bit, unless one wanted to light this area.  Then it would need to be filled in.

Next is the left front quarter. 


Then the left rear quarter.  The raised "house" right hand section was a bear as you had to add the little square lover section to the wall, the wall has to meet with the rear wall notches and notches in the roof.  Then add the little roof bit.

The right rear quarter is perhaps the plainest part of the mill.  The little bit on the "house" roof is just sitting there in it's notches while the glue is drying on the four piece that make it up.  It is the surest way to ensure that it is square and will fit as required.

Now, I get to start laying tar paper.