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The Backwoods Water Tank & Storage Shed

KKarnsKKarns
edited February 2013 in HO Scale Builds
Here's a real classic! Kit No. 202 Released March 1997 and long since sold out as most of Brett's outstanding kits usually become quite quickly. Let me preface this modest, but for me quite challenging, build with my thoughts on the subject of Brett's kits that are no longer available through SierraWest.

I called Brett and expressed my take on the subject as follows; just as Brett is committed to producing the finest scale model kits available on the planet, his customer base should be just as committed to do whatever we can to promote and help grow SierraWest. I told Brett I will never purchase a SierraWest kit from another source if it is one that Brett still has available or is planning to make available in the near future. I made this call as I obviously did not purchase the kit featured here from Brett for reasons already noted. Brett expressed his appreciation and this reflects my philosophy and, albeit small, support of SierraWest.

I wanted to put down a more structured thread on this build such as the ones I have so much enjoyed following. I'm starting out slow and featuring a few pictures of the kit and it's contents with a few comments. imageThe Backwoods Water Tank & Storage Shed Kit No. 202 March 1997imageShot of the strip wood bags, looks manageable!imageHere are a few of the main castings; The single piece resin cut stone pump house, water tank, and resin water tank roof.imageShot of all the castings. Note the lack of any metal castings and the emphasis on grouped resin castings.
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Comments

  • KKarnsKKarns
    Geesh! right out of the gate the thing messed up two of my pictures which I'm posting here, and they are now out of order......imageimage
  • ironmountainlumber
    Let the fun begin!
  • adminadmin
    that is an old one you found there bro! The resin water tank roof casting is from the original run... looking forward to this "old school" build!
  • LSNRwyAlLSNRwyAl
    I agree. If you want the manufacturer to be there for you, do not damge his business by buying under the counter, off a discounter, etc. - - if the manu. can supply your needs. The short term money saved will be long gone while the pain of a lost manufacturer will linger for years after they are gone.
  • KKarnsKKarns
    Brett, how many were in the original run? The quality of this kit is great with many unique features. How cool to be building a classic old kit from SW.....

    Jim, Should have fun with this one as it will be my first go at stone and brick work. The pump house will make or break this build!

    Alan, glad you agree and that you got what I was trying to convey. You put it down quite well and thanks for expanding on the concept.
  • KKarnsKKarns
    Well here goes! the cut stone pump house has been detailed.

    I decided to go with a deep backwoods feel where the cut stone would be damp and moss covered. The other builds I have seen, the pump house is much lighter stone giving more of a western look. I wanted this to look like is was tucked under some fir trees and heavily shaded and damp. Anyway, my first attempt at stone and brick work. A few more minor details are going to be added. On to the water tank....-Kimageimageimageimage
  • KKarnsKKarns
    Pictures are a bit small. Here is a larger picture(s)
  • KKarnsKKarns
    image
  • KKarnsKKarns
    imageimageimage
  • WesWes
    Very cool. There is a lot of resin in that kit and you've got yourself off to a great start.

    I like the idea of the stone being damp and moss covered. Keep posting those progress pics.
  • brownbr
    AK Interactive makes a "slimy green" oil wash.
  • LSNRwyAlLSNRwyAl
    May I humbly suggest a little more shadows in the cracks/morter lines ?
    Might give more definition to each stone.
  • KKarnsKKarns
    Larger pics must be a no..no..sorry

    Wes, the pump house and water tank are big chunks. Yea, seemed to me that it would make sense to be a damp area. Anyway, makes my dark pump house fit in better to that scenario!

    Bryan, thanks I checked out AK interactive but did not locate the "slime green" wash. Will look again.

    Alan, good suggest. Will try either some darker chalk run in with pra, or AI.
  • Karl.AKarl.A
    edited February 2013
    Looking great as usual Ken, the stone colouring is really nice and you have good definition without it looking like an ornate stone wall in a garden center.

    Larger pics were/are just fine. They are showing up for everyone and certainly were not removed by administrators. As long as the file size does not exceed 150k or so the image can be as big as you dare to show us !!!

    Elliot had the same problem last week not being able to see his own pics while we were all enjoying them.

    Keep up the great work and progress reports.

    Karl.A
  • MikeMMikeM
    Try looking at the dark and light slimy grime at http://www.ak-interactive-usa.com/weathering.html#EFFECTS They also have a set that includes both these and a fuel stain simulation; bought the set but have been so tied down with benchwork I haven't had time to try it out yet.
  • us_okrim
    Ken,

    Your work looks really awesome, its actually quite unbelievable how goog it looks knowing you just started doing this kind of stuff a little while ago.

    Could you give the real rookies out there a run down on who you got the stone pump house so nicley detailed. A step by sep scenario so to speak....

    Thanks a lot in advance. us-okrim
  • Karl.AKarl.A
    Ken if you really want a mossy look to some of the stones personally I'd stick with the Rembrandts you are already using.

    A medium to dark green chalk will give you the tint you are looking for, plus you can build up a little texture with the chalks, kinda like heavy rust, but green, to show growth. Also work in some colour variation by mixing in some white for a lighter green to show highlights.
    There are a plethera of chalk colours, plus an infinite mixing ability/variety, if needed.

    Wargaming paint such as "Angry Troll Armpit Green" may be the perfect colour for the moss you need, but is easily reproduced, and with the bonus of texture.

    Keep us up to date...
    Karl.A
  • LSNRwyAlLSNRwyAl
    edited February 2013
    Wargaming paint such as "Angry Troll Armpit Green" may
    Now there is a paint colour name you can easily grow to love. :-)
    I agree with the use of the chalks. Colour, texture, and can add more later if you want more depth. Like what I did here on this truck.
  • LSNRwyAlLSNRwyAl
    edited February 2013
    Let us try this again.
    Wargaming paint such as "Angry Troll Armpit Green" may
    Now there is a paint colour name you can easily grow to love. :-)
    I agree with the use of the chalks. Colour, texture, and can add more later if you want more depth. Like what I did here on this truck.
    image
  • brownbr
    My bad. It's called "slimy grime" and comes in light or dark.
    http://www.ak-interactive-usa.com/product-ak026.html
  • KKarnsKKarns
    Hey us_okrim..Thanks for the comment. OK, really quite simple and follows Bretts instructions..I primed the pump house with Floquil Earth Spray and then let cure. Then I began dry brushings with increasingly darker shades until I had the general dark color I wanted. Then began highlighting each rock or rock groups. I wanted a cut limestone as my main rock type. I used a dry brushing of grey for the middle of the rock layer and darker on the sides. Dry brushed some green shades towards the bottom for the damp mossy look and that's where I'm now going to try for more texture. Hope that helps....

    Karl, Yup..I think that's the right path to get more texture. Didn't have the right greens so just placed an order for a palette of green Rembrandts from Dick Blick.

    Alan, as above...love the wheels on your truck..I assume your planning to "crap up" the wood truck bed! or did it just get replaced when the old one fell off on the road?

    Bryan, these names for the colors cracks me up! So it's "slimy grime", can you get a pic of where you used it?

    Here are some more pictures....The first is the resin shed roof pieces that are simulated wood shakes. Ditto for the water tank roof second and third, and finally a shot of the water tank.imageimageimageimage
  • MikeMMikeM
    Here is one of the best links I've found for online photos of mossy things: http://www.canstockphoto.com/images-photos/mossy.html#start:300 Note that in some cases texture is clearly what you'd want while in others you'd be looking at something more like a stain. I'm frankly not sure if the latter are actually moss or algae.
  • sfc
    Looks great Ken!

    sfc
  • brownbr
    Great job on the tank.
  • MikeMMikeM
    The tank looks fantastic! So what combination of materials/techniques did you choose to use on it (I love the NoSquint option for Firefox, you can really zoom in and see the subtle tints you got)?
  • LSNRwyAlLSNRwyAl
    Love the look of the roofs and tank body.
    Yes the bed of truck is new. The former (fired) employee backed into a rock wall and tore the metal bed to .....
    The company could not afford a new one!
  • us_okrim
    Ken,

    Thanks for the rundown on the stone pump house. This helps a lot.

    You progress looks great. I really like the water stains at the bottom of the water tank. And I agree with Mike. Could you give us a quick explanation on the water tank as well? I assume you started with spraying the entire casting with Floquil earth Spray as well. How did you build up the texture and what colors did you use? I can see some drybrushing in that picture as well ( Floquil Boxcar Red?)

    Again, thanks a lot Ken, for all your explanations.
  • Karl.AKarl.A
    Great start on the three roofs Ken.
    The tank really looks great, lots of definition and variation. Can't wait to see what you do to it next.....

    Karl.A
  • KKarnsKKarns
    Hey guys, appreciate the pos. feed-back, helps to know you're on the right track! Tank was done by a thinned down wash of Floquil Earth brushed on, not sprayed. Then I used Floquil Rail Brown followed by a light dusting, don't want to cover up the wood grain, with Raw Umber 408.3, 408.5 and then a bit of Grey 704.5. The tank bands are done with Polly Milw. Road Maroon and of course some rust chalk. Mike; don't get too close with your "NoSquint" you'll end up seeing where I had to repair the bands in a few spots as this casting has been knocking around in the box since 1997 and a few "chunks" of the bands were broken off in a few places.

    Karl, thanks and appreciate you following along as your wisdom is highly valued...

    I have attached pictures of my first batch of prepped strip wood. This grouping is for the shed walls. I used a stain mixed up on my bench from Floquil Dirt and hand applied and brushed rather than the soaking technique....still a manageable amount of strip wood in this kit. That will soon change as my next build will be much larger......slowly working up!imageimageimage
  • ironmountainlumber
    Hi Ken,
    The base of the water tank looks superb. I like the various colors of he individual rocks, the bricks, and the door. The door looks old and faded. This stone and brick is very natural in its color as well. The tank and shingles look like real wood. Excellent job! Do you use photos to color the resin castings to get your colors the way you want or are you doing this simply by eye?

    Jim
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