Hank's Machine Shop

[Philip]

 

[Larry C]

Update time:



Started with dirt for ground cover then added some assorted weeds as well as some ballast at the very end of the track. The water tank is an older one from Sierra West made of resin with some great details. Spray painted the entire tank with flat black and let set until dry. Used some brown chalk with clear alcohol for weathering. When dry a used a few cotton swabs to take off the excess until I achieved the look I wanted. Lastly went over the details with some rust chalk then removed the excess to only look a little rusty around the rivets and the fill port. After rummaging through my stuff I finally found some thin solder for the water hose which looks soooo much better than wire. Actually the solder had "Archer" stamped on the almost empty spool....can anyone say Radio Shack?



Here's the other end of the hose attached to the boiler valve. The solder really didn't take coloring very well so I opted to leave it natural. Also these are a few details I'll be finishing and using in this cameo scene.



Added some overgrowth along the cement slab and finished this section with more dirt; this area is just about finished. Next I'll finish up the details for both this end and the other one as well before thinking about the front of the diorama. Thanks for stopping by and take a look.

[Jerry]

Very well done Larry.  The tank came out really nice great coloring.

Jerry

[PRR Modeler]

Great coloring on the tank Larry. I love the hose connection between the boiler and water tank.

[Michael Hohn]

The tank looks real.   

Mike

[Larry C]

Jerry thanks; I'm very happy with it.

Curt thank you; I really like using solder since it just lays so nicely.

Mike thanks; that's the ultimate compliment when someone says it looks real.

[Rick]

Looking good Larry.

[friscomike]

Howdy, Larry, you are blowing steam now.  Congrats on the water tanks and stand.  They look great!  Have fun, mike

[Larry C]

Rick thank you.

Mike thanks; now I just need to get the belt hooked up from the steam engine to the belt-line.

[Philip]

Wowsa! 

[Larry C]

Philip thanks.

[Larry C]

Moving along:



Looking at the diorama from the front I knew It needed a little something something. Decided on a couple pieces of fencing with an opening left for the LP's to get to the power plant. This was constructed from 6x6's for the posts, 2x10's for the back to have something to glue the actual fencing on, and 1x6's for the fencing. Everything was grained, colored with chalk & clear alcohol then given a coat of A&I before gluing in place. Also I made a belt to connect the steam engine to the belt line using a scale 6 inch wide length of Tyvek (mailing envelope) painted with raw Sienna craft paint. Once dry I glued it in place then cut off 2 scale feet of extra rod to make it look better.



This end I'm calling done. Most everything was colored with a combination of paint and/or chalks. The pulley on the cement and the gas can were soaked in blackening, buffed then weathered. I tried to include enough detail items to tell a story but at the same time not look overcrowded.

Next I'll start working on the other end before tackling the front, which will take some planning to get the look I want. Thanks for stopping by with all your great comments and/or suggestions; they do help.

[PRR Modeler]

Outstanding diorama Larry.

[Rick]

Larry, those are very nice additions.