Just getting caught up here. Great stonework. Siding on the top wall beautiful coloring and so neat. Nice weathering on the tarpaper. Overall I'd say you nailed it Steve.
Nice progress Steve. I really like the weathering and color on the walls and agree with your HO scale paint peel thoughts. Look forward to your work as always...
I've been super busy lately with summer things, but I managed to make some progress anyway.
I finished the warehouse addition.
The kit instructions have you glue the structures down before adding the roofing, but I needed to see how everything fit together to set the scene on the layout.
The tarpaper roofing hasn't been weathered at all yet.
The loading dock is mocked up in place.
I build the main walls of the boiler and welding shop. I thought I had taken photos along the way but apparently not. I haven't added any detailing to the walls, I still need to do some weathering, and I didn't even paint the door hinges or knobs yet. This building definitely needs some details to contrast all this gray.
I did change out the siding shingles for ones that had a more staggered look, they are still SierraWest though, taken from E.J. Whiley's I think.
I have some wet plaster around the area I plan to set these structures, otherwise I'd try to mockup the scene so you can see what I'm thinking on the layout.
I'm not going to be able to fit all the buildings in one area, I think the boiler and welding shop will live on a different area of the layout.
Nice work Steve. Fun part of the build when you can start mentally laying out the scenes and details. Nice seeing your progress and top shelf modeling that we have all come to the expect from your bench!
Your carpentry, especially on the window framing, is meticulously done. The color variations and weathering on walls and decks is a pleasure to see. Thanks for taking the time to post your work.
Looking great as always Steve, That subtle weathered green 'pop' of faded colour on the siding looks so good next to your subdued colouring of everything else on the office building, such a great combination.
I also love the way your boiler/repair building is progressing, as you say, some definition will certainly make the different components come to life, cant wait to see what you do to achieve this, but, after following your work for so long, I know it's going to look great when you do it.
Thanks for sharing your updates, wonderful to see your progress.
Over the last couple days, I got the roof shingled. Using individual shingles always feels like a chore to me but it really doesn't take me too long once I get going. It's also one of the easiest modeling jobs to walk away from and pick up again if I only have a few minutes.
I haven't done anything weathering to the roof yet, the coloring is just the stain on the wood I used, I'll be darkening and adding more variation to it. In the past I've used the cedar sheets to do individual shingles but more recently I switched to using HO scale 1x6s. I found that since I didn't really want a cedar-colored roof, only the gray aged cedar look, I was spending too much effort to try to get the cedar to look like simple stripwood washed with A&I or chalk.
I have a few more little sub-assemblies to do, then I'll going to start putting the scene together here. Thanks for following along.
Got to hand it to you Steve, stellar job on the shingles. I agree with your decision to use the strip wood rather than fool around forcing it with the cedar to get the color and tone you want. Also, easy to get various width shingles , surface detail and weathered effects.
Ken, you're right about more flexibility and ease of weathering. I know red cedar colored shingles are prototypical, but the weathered gray looks way more natural to me and it's easier to achieve with basswood. With the cedar I was washing it with dark gray, followed by light gray, then adding chalk and drybrushing, sometimes followed by another wash of gray.
For this build I just used scale 1x6s because that's all I had on hand but if I was doing something in a larger scale or for a contest, I would mix it up with scale 1x4s,1x6 and 1x8s. I don't usually use 1x4s or 1x8s for much, so I don't typically keep a stock of it.
Shingles look outstanding, as does your progress so far. Couldn't agree more on the use of stripwood for shingles. I have never like the look of the cedar sheets. They often have an odd texture and don't stain well. Your shingles not only look right but have the correct coloration and weathering. Great job!
I'm starting to work out the area around where the office and truck repair will live, the welding shop will have to go someplace else.
I'm thinking the configuration will be something like this. No rails will be in this area, I plan on having a road coming from the front, not connected to the road behind it across the track. I'm also thinking about just having the green building in this area. Opinions? I'm going to move the truck repair forward almost right to the front of the layout.
While I was figuring out how I wanted to configure the structures, I started laying out the base ground cover around the area.
I had some free time today, so I started cutting out the fascia boards for the layout. I wanted to pour the water soon, and since it comes right up to the front of the layout, I needed the fascia the dam it up. I cut the rest of the layout also, but this is the only area complete enough to trace the elevations and cut out the profile.
I started working on the castings last night, this kit has the largest number of castings of any kit I've built, I think. Lots of work ahead but once the castings are done, I can start the interior of the truck repair, then I can start putting things down.
Thanks for following along everyone, I appreciate the feedback as well.
I always enjoy the views of your amazing layout Steve and it's always a pleasure to watch you perfectly blend in a new structure or scene into the existing scenery. Great to watch your creativity and skills in action and then to see the fruition of your work. It's most enjoyable to see and appreciate you sharing the steps with us all.
Love the structures on your layout. Placement of the new structures will really show off your excellent work. Addition of the details will really make it show off your work.
Comments
Overall I'd say you nailed it Steve.
Jerry
I've been super busy lately with summer things, but I managed to make some progress anyway.
I finished the warehouse addition.
The kit instructions have you glue the structures down before adding the roofing, but I needed to see how everything fit together to set the scene on the layout.
The tarpaper roofing hasn't been weathered at all yet.
The loading dock is mocked up in place.
I build the main walls of the boiler and welding shop. I thought I had taken photos along the way but apparently not. I haven't added any detailing to the walls, I still need to do some weathering, and I didn't even paint the door hinges or knobs yet. This building definitely needs some details to contrast all this gray.
I did change out the siding shingles for ones that had a more staggered look, they are still SierraWest though, taken from E.J. Whiley's I think.
I have some wet plaster around the area I plan to set these structures, otherwise I'd try to mockup the scene so you can see what I'm thinking on the layout.
I'm not going to be able to fit all the buildings in one area, I think the boiler and welding shop will live on a different area of the layout.
Thanks for following along.
Jerry
That subtle weathered green 'pop' of faded colour on the siding looks so good next to your subdued colouring of everything else on the office building, such a great combination.
I also love the way your boiler/repair building is progressing, as you say, some definition will certainly make the different components come to life, cant wait to see what you do to achieve this, but, after following your work for so long, I know it's going to look great when you do it.
Thanks for sharing your updates, wonderful to see your progress.
Over the last couple days, I got the roof shingled. Using individual shingles always feels like a chore to me but it really doesn't take me too long once I get going. It's also one of the easiest modeling jobs to walk away from and pick up again if I only have a few minutes.
I haven't done anything weathering to the roof yet, the coloring is just the stain on the wood I used, I'll be darkening and adding more variation to it. In the past I've used the cedar sheets to do individual shingles but more recently I switched to using HO scale 1x6s. I found that since I didn't really want a cedar-colored roof, only the gray aged cedar look, I was spending too much effort to try to get the cedar to look like simple stripwood washed with A&I or chalk.
I have a few more little sub-assemblies to do, then I'll going to start putting the scene together here. Thanks for following along.
Jerry
Ken, you're right about more flexibility and ease of weathering. I know red cedar colored shingles are prototypical, but the weathered gray looks way more natural to me and it's easier to achieve with basswood. With the cedar I was washing it with dark gray, followed by light gray, then adding chalk and drybrushing, sometimes followed by another wash of gray.
For this build I just used scale 1x6s because that's all I had on hand but if I was doing something in a larger scale or for a contest, I would mix it up with scale 1x4s,1x6 and 1x8s. I don't usually use 1x4s or 1x8s for much, so I don't typically keep a stock of it.
I'm starting to work out the area around where the office and truck repair will live, the welding shop will have to go someplace else.
I'm thinking the configuration will be something like this. No rails will be in this area, I plan on having a road coming from the front, not connected to the road behind it across the track. I'm also thinking about just having the green building in this area. Opinions? I'm going to move the truck repair forward almost right to the front of the layout.
While I was figuring out how I wanted to configure the structures, I started laying out the base ground cover around the area.
I had some free time today, so I started cutting out the fascia boards for the layout. I wanted to pour the water soon, and since it comes right up to the front of the layout, I needed the fascia the dam it up. I cut the rest of the layout also, but this is the only area complete enough to trace the elevations and cut out the profile.
I started working on the castings last night, this kit has the largest number of castings of any kit I've built, I think. Lots of work ahead but once the castings are done, I can start the interior of the truck repair, then I can start putting things down.
Thanks for following along everyone, I appreciate the feedback as well.
Very nice work a great looking layout keep going. .......Carl........
Amazing work Steve.
Jerry
Great to watch your creativity and skills in action and then to see the fruition of your work.
It's most enjoyable to see and appreciate you sharing the steps with us all.
I enjoy this layout scene so much.