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Comments
Some of the machinery is installed as the floor to the mill is being laid down and the floor is boarded around the machinery.
More of the machinery is installed into the headers after the walls are built such as the cutoff saw and log turner.
The line shaft is also installed at this point.
There are some addition items included in the kit which supplement the line shaft kit to provide power to all machines. This is what we have been waiting on, so, now lets get going.....
Karl.A
I'm going to start with the metal details as that is specifically what we need at this point. I will however also go through and show the vast quantity of resin castings that are included in the kit.
The details come in the kit box as two separate boxes, one for resin and one for metal. The casting for the concrete boiler base is loose in the box wrapped in bubblewrap to protect it.
Opening the box of metal castings reveals four individual bags of castings. This is great as some specific items have been separated out for you to avoid searching through the large assortment.
The first bag contains the parts for the exquisite wheelbarrow, I love this casting.
The next bag contains the parts used to extend the original dead rolls that was built earlier in the thread. Doubling its length for installation into the mill.
The next bag contains the huge assortment of miscellaneous detail castings.
And when I say huge assortment I mean it !! A variety of tiny hand tools , bottles, clevises, wheels and many more up to the larger castings such as gas tanks.
And of course being SierraWest castings they are all beautifully cast, crisp and clean with no flash.
Finally the bag we have been looking for. This fourth bag contains items to supplement the "Line Shaft Kit" in order to get your mill up and running. It also contains the pipe connectors for the blower ducting to be installed under the mill.
As before, everything is crisp and clean, gotta love Bretts castings, unmatched quality.
Now I have what I need to move forward. I'll go through the resin castings in the next post just for fun, then box them back up till they are needed.
Karl.A
Emptying the casting box is like opening one of Brett's kit boxes, you take out and look at a bunch of stuff admiring it only to discover more great stuff underneath.
The top layer of the castings box is strewn with drums barrels crates etc. Once you start digging through this initial layer you start discovering the more intricate and exquisite details below.
Once the box is completely emptied it creates a danged impressive pile of resin on your desk.
Now we can spread them out and take a closer look.
Over 95% of the main resin castings in the Sawmill kit are brand new details mastered specifically for this sawmill project
The vast assortment of castings just seems to go on, this certainly wont be a project for a couple of evenings work.
More of the highly detailed details.
Time to pack these back up till later and move forward on the machinery install.
Karl.A
I go along with the idea of a DVD. I live in the Southwest and it would be impossible to attend the Modeling Expo in the East. Say YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!
I'm building my mill to be removable from the base for display purposes so I will be deviating slightly from Bretts excellent instructions in this part of the process.
The floor boards are applied in sections of the mill floor, placing the machinery as you go along for fitment. This creates a logical and very well thought out process which ensures everything fits perfectly.
The finished floor with holes for the saw, live/dead rolls, edger and blower.
Once the floor was completely boarded I went back and added all the cross bracing, extra supports, nbw's giving plenty of interest to the underside of the mill. This should have been done earlier per the instruction manual.
Now that the floor was done I could move on with installing the machinery.
Karl.A
Respectfully,
John
I notice that you did not accomodate an elevation change with your piers. How will you address the log rollway? Will this create any problems with the height of the boiler under it's cover?
I love the dock colors! Which chalks did you use?
Marty
John M, I will keep you informed throughout..
John 987, I'm certainly looking forward to doing them also, the variety, quality and opportunities keep me motivated.
Stuart, this is indeed a BIG kit, but don't let that daunt you, it has been so well engineered and designed for the modeler that it is a pleasure to build. The strip wood on mine so far is all 408.5 and 408.3.
Bryan, I used all the techniques as described in the manual in my build. I will get a close up of the boards for you in the next day or so, Brett's rubbed chalk effect is superb, well worn and smooth, depicting plenty of foot traffic and age.
My ground elevations will remain the same as designed, thereby not effecting the boiler area. Originally my piers on the opposite side of the mill did not accommodate the elevation change so that the structure could be removed from the base and stand alone on a flat surface (there would be holes in the contoured base to accept the piers). I have since decided this was unnecessary and cut my piers accordingly.
Marty, working on a level surface (glass work top) keeps it perfectly flat throughout with no problems, and yes, it is massive. The only chalk used so far is 408.5 and 408.3.
Thanks again.
Karl.A
Jerry
John
Indeed John I will hopefully be painting castings for the rest of my life, however they wont be for this kit...
Using the techniques I outlined in the detail painting thread the process will go quickly for this vast amount of castings. We will find out next week.....
Karl.A
The first shot shows the rail risers that the log carriage rolls on. Below this you can see the cable sheaves at either end and the drum in the center which connects to a drive shaft coming from the double husk saw. These components make up the carriage drive system.
Behind the carriage, incorporated into the floor joists you can see the drive wheel for the live rolls and the shaft leading to the friction rollers which power the live rolls.
The second shot you can see the blower and blower ducting which runs under the saw and other areas of the mill. This is also connected to and driven by the double husk saw on a separate drive shaft to the carriage.
The detail is starting to build up as one layer is added ontop of the previous layer in construction. The manual takes you step by step through these layers which are incredibly straight forward to build by themselves. But once you start putting them ontop of one another the intricacy and detail is amazing.
This layering philosophy is carried throughout the entire structure resulting in an incredibly well designed and developed kit which is very enjoyable to build.
The floor is then constructed in sections around the machinery and head frame.
Once the floor is completed the edger can be added over the hole. Ducting runs here under the floor. Sawdust from the edger falls into the hole and is sucked through the duct pipes to the sawdust bin. I don't have a pic of the edger in place unfortunately.
My live rolls and dead rolls were only lightly tacked in place while I was building the floor around them.
I did this so that I could remove the assembly and show here how the friction drive operates in conjunction with the rolls.
The rolls are now glued in permanently, and yes, I have since touched up the shaft where the black came off.
With the machinery now set permanently in place and the floor complete the next steps will be to build the walls and headers.
Karl.A
What a kit!
I'm not into O scale so I really look forward to getting my HO version of this mill and hope that in its own way it meets my expectations set by it's big brother.
I was really hoping that by taking some extra time and showing and explaining some of the not so visible aspects of this kit that modellers would be able to see and appreciate just how incredible it really is.
Your comments have encouraged me.
Brett's kits always exceed expectations, you know that.
Karl.A
Respectfully,
John
Karl.A
The walls are assembled over full sized templates and the use of Bretts cutting jigs ensures that all of the angles are nice and tight for the bracing and main supports.
Once the main walls are assembled the first wall is epoxied to the deck with the aid of more templates for positioning and the use of 'squares' to ensure it is true.
The rest of the walls and headers are based from this wall ensuring that everything will line up perfectly. A surprisingly simple and very effective system of construction.
The walls in place with the main headers installed.
Cross bracing and NBW detail is added to these walls during construction, this adds another layer of detail to the walls while they are easily accessible, building on the overall impact.
NBWs are also added to the backside of bracing to increase the realism.
Additional cross headers are added during construction which will support the belt drive system and drive shafts.
Cut off saw, shafting and more layers of detail to follow.
Karl.A
Marty
Did you use any pins on the joints where the main cross members intersect the wall header beams and where the stringers intersect the main cross members?
All I can say is absolutely FANTASTIC,just wish I had the room! Keep up the great blow by blow.
Scott
Karl.A