Pam's Flour Build

[Jim Donovan]

Howdy Jim,

It's clever to use the 3D printer to gang print the rafters. Pam's is one terrific looking structure and it is not even finished!

Have fun,
mike

Thanks Mike;

I need to spend more time getting the fit and finish of printing rafters but it was a good first attempt and I plan on playing with the idea in future.

Jim

[Jim Donovan]

Jim,
 Your model builds are coming along nicely. The flour mill and waterfront structures are great.
Tommy

Thanks Tommy;

I've learned a lot on this one, getting a little better on each attempt.

Jim

[Jim Donovan]

Nice work wiring it up with pcb's! Such a time saving option.

Thanks Phillip

Yes I like what they allow you to do and it sure makes wiring easier.

Jim

[Jim Donovan]

With the main structures mostly done I finished up the necessary wiring. Why I am discussing my wiring is the use of buck convertors and copper tape. As I said prior I like to use buck convertors rather then putting resistors in line with each LED and wiring in serial or using a current limiter for up to three lights. However I did all three for parts of this project. The resistor was for an odd man out LED, the current limiter was for a three light area in the tower building. All other lighting was connected to a buck convertor for their power. It is controlling over 20 lights with no problem. I bought these convertors for $1.55 each and they come with a display to show input and output voltage.

Copper tape to create poor man circuits really helps in wiring the diorama aspects of the build. I use it on the underside of the foam platform and solder the various wiring to the circuits. Within each structure there are quick connect blocks were the wires from the board and the wires from the lights meet up. Using the connects allows the building to be moved if needed.

[Jim Donovan]

So with all the wiring run from the light boxes and warehouse roof areas we are able to show lights.



If you look at the bottom left you can see the buck convertor showing 3.5 volts as its set output. This area will have a cover when done of course. The shadow boxes with photos on them provide some deapth and a glimpse of what the interior would have looked like.

[Jim Donovan]

While I was working on the electric I was also printing out detail parts including burlap sacks for raw grain and finished flour, an awning frame for the back warehouse, barrels and other such stuff. I painted the sacks two ways, one group were painted using a textured paint in a brown color. I was hoping for a raw burlap bag type look. The other group were spray painted an off white  and had signs saying Pam's Best XXX. I will discuss the signs a little later. For the awning I used tracing paper and printed a strip pattern on it along with the Pam's Best slogan. I like the look tracing paper gives, it sags naturally, prints well and is thin. The awning was glued to the resin printed frame (painted black) and installed on the back tower building over the loading docks.



I noticed in the photo a wrinkle in the wall sign which I will need to fix. Cameras show every imperfection and my modeling unfortunately has many.

I placed some of the flour sacks inside the warehouse where they can be seen though the freight doors. Due to stability issues I decided to glue the roof to the walls so a bunch of my interior work ended up being just good practice. Here is how it looked prior to being closed up.

[Jim Donovan]

For signs I have tried just about every method since I started modeling. I have settled on using cigarette rolling paper made of hemp when the sign will be small. The hemp paper almost disappears when applied to the surface using canopy glue. For larger signs or if I want the white background to show I use tracing paper. It is thicker then the rolling paper but still pretty thin allowing for it to get into cracks and show the underling surface coming through if wanted.

To use either paper I first design and print on regular paper the sign(s) I want. I then tape the sign paper over the area on the regular paper that has the printed sign. I use regular office tape for this. I put the taped papers back into the printer making sure it faces the right way and simply print the sign(s) again. I let the paper dry for an hour and then place it where I wanted the sign to be.





The first photo above shows tracing paper and the second is the hemp cigarette rolling paper. I used the rollong paper to print out the 'Pam's Best Flour' signs you see on the burlap sacks of flour. The paper really is hard to pick out once applied.

[Jim Donovan]

So with the signs applied and the basic detailing done the back of this facility is done except for some weathering of the warehouse roof and the two brick buildings. The paint I used on the wearhouse seemed to catch every dirt particle around it as I worked so it does not need any weathering but will get some clean up. 

This is the first time I have used the textured paper to create complete brick buildings. It looks better frankly in person then it does in the photos. The tower building especially looks rather shinny in photos but is not. I have noted that hard as I tried I was not able to get the signs to snug into the cracks of the textured paper in a manner I am used to using laser cut brick wood. I guess there just is not enough texture in the paper so the signs look more like they sit on the wall rather then are part of the wall. It does take something away from the overall look. In any case here is how the back of the flour mill looks, in next report I should be able to wrap everything up.

[Zephyrus52246]

Wow.  That's impressive.  I think the textured paper looks great.  

Jeff

[Jerry]

I think it looks just fine.  That is one nice looking building.

Jerry

[Jim Donovan]

Time to wrap this build up. I added all the windows in either open, part open or closed positions. The arch push out windows are made so that they can be placed in any configuration. In the closed position the left window has an overlap over the right window to seal the contact point and gives a finished look. 

I added a railing around the tower building roof and a second water tower is located on the power building section. Drapes are added to the corner windows of the tower building. More odds and ends needed but here is how the facility turned out:









Hope you like how it turned out. I will post a photo once the facility is 'planted' and scenery in place.

[deemery]

Will you be doing any weathering on the two water tanks?  The ones I've seen have always had some amount of weathering, partly because they're so exposed to the weather    

dave

[Jim Donovan]

Will you be doing any weathering on the two water tanks?  The ones I've seen have always had some amount of weathering, partly because they're so exposed to the weather   

dave

I sure will, never seen a clean water tower. I'm leaving most weathering till all parts or in place and I want to add a bunch of things to the two flat roofs. Thanks for the catch.

Jim

[ACL1504]

Jim,

Very well done on Pam's Mill. 

Tom 

[deemery]

For the burlap bags, try "Unbleached Titanium."

dave