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Duluth Company

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  • Hi John, Welcome aboard....looks like you may be used to that terminology! Thanks for the comment on Duluth. I have been following your build and I must say, you're going about it just right. Taking your time and getting a feel for your own style. Like I told David, you've landed, there I go again with the puns, in a great place with SierraWest. I love your work area set-up, you always do better work with a nice work area...I said nice not clean! Great progress on the wood, it's the key element as Brett preaches. It defines your model so hunker down with it. Keep in touch.....Ken

    All...I have been experimenting with some rusting and weathering techniques and the picture here is a steam pump that will be in my junk/clutter area of Duluth. I wanted a very textured and heavily weathered look to this metal casting. image
    This guy is only 0.5 inches wide.
  • That texture is absolutely amazing and was accomplished by using...??? (You gotta share this!)

    Mike
  • Hi Ken.

    Looking good. I like how the details all blend together without any standing out.

    Keep up the good work.
  • Fantastic weathering! How did you do it? You gotta share this technique like mike said! The cap looks like you did some polishing with a cloth or your fingers. Did you use Jax blackener?
    Jim
  • Mike, Wes & Jim...glad you guys like the results. I thought it worked really well. So here's the skinny:

    The technique comes from Chuck Doan who models in a much larger scale than 1:87 or 1:48 but he produces some of the best weathering of wood and metal that I have ever seen. I thought I'd try one of his methods on my 1:87 casting even though the results are very close, in reality you can't really see the nice detail with the naked eye, but should be really nice overall particularly in an old junk pile with lots of other castings. Here's what I did:

    Clean up the casting parting lines and other imperfections with a #11 blade and small file.

    Spray the bare casting with Floquil (or equivalent) Roof Brown from the can.

    When dry (I left mine for around 48 hours) apply a cover coat of Testors Dullcoat.

    After a few minutes when the casting no longer has the shiny appearance from the initial wet Dullcoat, brush on 70% Isopropyl alcohol and let dry. This will create a whitish random frosted look.

    With a medium brush, apply a generous amount of DRY chalk powder. I used the rust families 411.3, 235.3, 409.3 and some gray 704.5. This of course is purely subjective and you can use whatever you like to simulate rust and crud. Blow off the excess.

    Spray only a mist coat from around 8-10 inches away from the casting. You want just a mist to contact the casting. This is what creates the mottling and brings up the base coat through the powders.

    More later...Ken
  • Awesome tutorial! Mike Engler did something similar when he built the tank on the wood cutters shack for the Camp Chambers build.
    Thanks!
    Jim
  • Possibly one additional bit of information about the last step...a mist coat of what, more Dullcoat?

    Appreciative and still in awe,
    Mike
  • Hey Mike, Sorry bout that, yes a mist coat with the Dullcoat. You can keep increasing the amount deposited to suit how much mottling and effect you want. At first I was too far back with the mist and the part looked like it had rain drop spots. Just added more until it came out as you see. Ken
  • Wow! This just keeps getting better, Ken.
    That notebook/saw blade idea is killer. You've got a great eye for "potential"-- looking at ordinary every day "stuff" through the lens of a modeler.

    Castings are done to perfection, the corrugated on the shed is perfect and, I know it was mentioned earlier, but the NBW you added on the support wire is a terrific detail. Beats the hell out of my "blobs of tar" that I've been known to dab on.

    You've got an attention grabber in this one! How close is it to the finish line?
  • Ken, that is without precedent.
    John
  • Bill, there you are! thanks for the positive note on the saw blade idea. I'll get em in on the Duluth dio and see how they look. I was happy with the NBW on the support wires even though they are tough to see readily. Finish line?....I keep making more work for myself...working now on laying out the junk and clutter along the fence I'm putting in, I'll have a dirt road/drive crossing the tracks so that will be a mini scene...wait a minute!..what about you and Quincy?? haven't seen an update in geesh..forever maybe?

    John, thanks a bunch for your nice comment. Anxiously awaiting your progress as you move along with your build. Nice that Paul has such a spectacular build going that you can refer to. His work is so meticulous and exacting it drives you nuts trying to emulate it...Ken
  • Sorry dude! Work has gotten in the way of EVERYTHING in my life here lately. I'm finishing up a non-SW project right now but I'll get back to Quincy's shortly. Meantime, I've been trying to incorporate a couple other structures here and there from the Railroad Camp to give Quincy's a slightly different feel. Not happy with what I've come up with so far but I'm getting closer.
  • OK Bill, you're off the hook for now! Added a skid under the steam pump...call it done.image
  • Still messin around with misc. additions to rusty stuff for my yard area bordering Duluth. I love old tanks and I have a bunch on order from Brett and my plans is to include at least one in each diorama I do. Brett includes cool vintage tanks in most of his kits which is great. This tank started out as a plain oval white metal tank (not from SWSM) with a fair amount of clean up required. I cut of the cast on "feet" and filed it smooth, added the straps made from styrene strips, drilled a hole an installed the outlet valve (not correct valve for this tank I'm sure) and will be attaching a solder wire hose later. Built the platform of course and added the NBWs. Freelanced for sure. Detailing the attached open shed on Duluth now...Kenimageimage
  • Thanks Jim, always nice to hear what you guys have to say. You mentioned you wanted more pictures? Oh, maybe you didn't but I took some anyway:) Update on the end of the loading dock and the back of Duluth. imageimageimageimageimage
  • Alright, you are definitely helping with my obsession. I am shure there is some diagnosis for this obsession with Brett's models. The pictures look fantastic. I really think you are hitting a home run with this one. Great job!. Ten thumbs up ( yea I am all thumbs at times) Now if I can just get back to the modeling bench.....
    Jim
  • The photos are magnificent Ken . . .
    John
  • Beautiful work. Love it all.
  • Hey Ken nice progress, I like the tank I really like the rust color how did you do it.
    The pump with the skid is also great, nice tutorial on thatone

    DJ
  • Hi I don't usally post but I have to thank you for showing us how to achieve the best out of a model. It looks so real !
  • Jim, glad to be a motivator of sorts and thanks for the thumbs up so far.. That is one reason I post a bunch of pictures as it AND you guys get me psyched up and it also helps to id flaws and where improvements can be made. What are you working on Jim?

    John, Thanks for your comment. I should be just about ready to put the dirt in and the rest of the detailing. The tank and pump will look allot better sunk in the dirt with weeds and other clutter...we'll see.

    DJ: Same treatment on the tank as the pump except I did the process a couple of times back and forth with Dullcoat then chalk and rubbed in the chalk well on the last round with a medium stiff brush dry, that gave it that built up rust look but a hint of smoothness if that makes any sense? I just stopped when I liked the look.

    Sahy987....don't usually post??? lets change that! Give us some details on what you're up to. Thanks for the note and you're certainly welcome. Everyone here is very forthcoming with techniques and methods... so what SWSM kits do you have?

    More later....Ken
  • Ken, I have been following along, although rather silently. You are doing an exemplary job on Duluth. I really hate that it is no longer available, would sure like to build it. I do have a friend here that has a room full of unbuilt models and he may have one of these. Must talk to him soon. Working on castings right now and want to thank you for the info you have put out. It will help if I can make it work for me. Keep up the good work and am looking forward to what you do next.

    Dave
  • Ken. I am working on the essentails right now and have a few more kits comming. I want to say thanks again for your posts, you help us achieve better results on our models.
  • Hello Dave, thanks for following along. I have been following your build as well. Your making great progress and things are looking good. I started out doing Duluth when I did as it had numerous new techniques and construct processes that I had not done before. As I got into the build I really liked the character and feel the thing was taking on and of course got hooked on it and now detailing way more than I had originally planned.

    Shay987, Nice! Essentials is a great kit and really defines Brett's Deer Creek Logging Camp empire. I have it, look at it allot, but haven't built it yet. Your most welcome regarding my posts and it's your kind words and the knowledge that someone may benefit from the things we post makes it all worth while and so much fun! Ken
  • edited January 2014
    Duluth update...I scratch built a tool board for the open shed on Duluth. A bit overboard for 1/87 scale but does add a nice touch to the inside of the shed. Brett's open shed design on the North end of Duluth just begs for special attention! I have spent a week now working on just it...couple of hours a night adding a few rusty pipes, scrap wood, etc to the existing arsenal of castings designed by Brett for the shed imageimage
  • looking forward to seeing your scratchbuilt details incorporated into the dio
  • Hey Ken that tool board looks way cool I build one (not finished) but close to this one same tools I guess ;) I think this tools are a great addition to the sierra west models I one's saw a window which stood ajar with a wrench between it great detail.

    I will be follow along

    DJ
  • Ken, that is fantastic!
    John
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