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Comments
Dave & DJ, glad you like these ideas. Hope you'll give them a try.
I still have a few more interior details to add, but I'm gonna have to switch gears before long so I don't get burned out! I needed another "parts bin" that will sit on the opposite wall from the first one I built back on page 6. This one needed to be about 3X as big as the first. I followed the same basic design that's outlined in the Loco and Service Shop thread: http://www.sierrawestscalemodels.com/vanforum/discussion/375/loco-and-service-shops-donkey-repair-yard-build/p18
The bins are made out of 1x12 but I went with 1x4 trim on the front edge. I filled all the bins with various items from my scrap box; pieces of brass sprues, tools, washers, and a lot of wheel hubs I got from a vendor at the Finescale show. The bin is weathered with chalks--mostly raw umber 408.5 & 408.7, but also a couple splotches of black here and there. I got a cool "grimy" effect on the outside of the cabinet just by handling it with my slightly sweaty fingers. Rub back and forth a little and it looks like something that's been collecting gunk in this shop for quite a while.
Love everything....well...except the water! Is that going to be the water modeling you'll be demoing at the show? A floating garage...awesome....Ken:)
Dave
Phil...welcome aboard. I'm humbled by your words and am certain you'll love building your kit.
I would absolutely advise following the manual verbatim for your first build. Resist the urge to build out of order or stray from the instructions. It's a recipe for success if you follow along. That was the best advice given to me for my first build.
Take advantage of Brett's years of experience that went into designing the kit and writing the manual. There will be plenty of time to experiment and try new things, but for your first build it's most important to develop solid skills that will be a foundation for your future modeling. You'll learn new and different techniques but they're all doable--no matter what skill level you're at currently.
When you begin, make sure to start a build thread and post good pictures. Many of us will be following along and available to help out if you need it!
I'm looking forward to it.
Bill
And here's a few from the outside looking through the garage doors:
Dave
Brett's manuals will guide and teach you everything you need to know to build the model as it looks in the pictures.
Every technique, every colour and every step that it took to build the pilot models in the pictures is detailed in the manuals.
Follow the manual. Not only is it a step-by-step guide of how the pilot model was built, it will also turn into a universal modeling guide for you that you can use in every aspect of your hobby and build your experience on.
Learn the techniques presented to you, (generally very little practice is required due to the excellent instructions and the three step rule),
Follow the manual and do exactly as it says, in the order presented.
Hundreds of hours are put into every manual alone, this includes detailing and explaining the techniques and sequences of each step for a reason.
I still have my first SierraWest manual on my desk from a build several years ago, and still refer to it on occasion.
Generally most questions and requests for help arise from NOT following the manual and deviation.
Sure there is a lot of great info and techniques out there from countless people who think they know better, and some do. But, follow the manual, learn how and why things are done the way they are. Then sit back and admire your work at the end of the build.
Along the way, you will have learned a lot from the instructions, one of which is confidence another is understanding. You will not have a better teacher than a SierraWest manual.
Karl.A
Looks nice Bill.
Removable roof and lights are in the plan. I'm in no way a lighting expert, but I'll get some in there.
"WOW" and "That's nice". Brett and Karl have spoken! Do NOT get either of these two on the phone unless you've got plenty of time blocked out!
LOL
Thanks guys! I'm gonna get that floor done this weekend. (However, it's gonna be 75 tomorrow. Might have to break out the skis for one last run!
That is just plain brilliant. What a reat job.
Ken-the missing support will get added later. I'm going to use a length of chain in place of the wooden support. Sort of a "quick fix" that the workers threw in to be done with it.
I can't put it in until the supports above go in.
Paul
John
I do not have the time patience or creativity to do what you do but your work inspires me to be a better modeler. To make all the details, which most people could not see anyway, so convincing in HO scale demands an attitude where good enough is not good enough. Keep posting so you can keep inspiring me. Thank you!
Best regards,
Mitch
Thanks again for all the nice words. It's very gratifying!
Before I let it all go to my head (and before anybody gets the idea that I don't make mistakes) I wanted to share something here that Brett caught and I totally missed.
So... let's try something.
If you go back and look at the last set of pictures I posted, can you see anything that isn't quite right? It can be seen in 4 of the pictures but is most obvious in the last one. It's one of those oversights that tells the viewer what they're looking at is a model and not real.
Can you spot it? (I'll point it out shortly)
Dave
I keep a little HO figure that's mounted on a popcicle stick on my bench to have as a reference. Obviously, I didn't bother to use it in this case.
Yikes! Looking at it next to the figure it'd appear to be off a battleship or something!
Dave
Re the large gear - two old-time, very common machines used rurally that would incorporate a gear of roughly that diameter (based on your HO scale figure) would be a hay baler (square section bales) and a water well drilling rig. Both these used a pair of large gears driven from small pinions to slow down the input speed and drive the reciprocating motion.
So, if the business is supposed to represent only auto parts, then I agree with Dave's observation.
However, if it handles all sorts of parts then I think the gear would be feasible (although in truth a little narrow across the tooth face) except that given the weight of those cast iron gears it would more probably be standing on the floor and leaning against the wall. Now if you really want to split hairs the teeth would still be loaded with old black grease gathering dust.
For me a much more difficult use case is the gear with very large (relatively) teeth lying on the top shelf under the hand wheels. I have not been able to come up with an application but there might well be one!
Mike! Good to see you checking in and thanks for the compliment! Trying to find new and different materials that scale easily/better/perfectly is part of the fun of doing this!
Okay...on to the floor of the garage. I followed the same board pattern that Brett spells out in the construction manual for the tractor repair shed. In the kit, there are some areas that aren't boarded over leaving exposed dirt (on the floor of the tractor repair side). Since the side walls are open, that would make sense. In my version, the building is fully enclosed and would probably have had a completed floor. So, I boarded it over 100%. I used 2x8 on the right side and work bench area and 2x12 for the floor of the two left garage bays. Just like in the kit, that adds a little variety and helps define those 3 areas.
After distressing all the wood, I used Hunterline Driftwood stain (mostly because I had some and hadn't used it yet!) on all the planks. The 2x12's got about 3 times as many coats of stain.
Another cool technique Dave Revelia shared at last year's Expo was using shoe polish as a floor treatment. To bring out the grain and give the floor a grimy shop feel, I went over the planks with black shoe polish. Just a little dab of the paste kind (Kiwi) rubbed into the boards. I added more in the service areas where vehicles would park.
After that, I added a couple shades raw umber chalk--mostly along the outside edges.
Next, I rubbed fine dirt into the cracks between the boards. That helps make it look less like a gym floor and more like dirty work place. However, the dirt I use is real light and looked too clean. So I added a small amount of black weathering powder to a cup of the dirt. You can kind of see some of the original dirt in the lower right of these next two pictures. All the rest is dirt with weathering powder:
After dusting off the excess, all the dirt was glued in place using white glue thinned with water (50/50). I used my finger and smeared a light film over the entire floor. Here's the end result after it dries:
The last step is to add some oil stains on the service bay floors.
Thanks again for your help on my build. Phil