it's nice to have a couple builds going at once of the same kit. I'm always amazed at how different builds can look, even if the differences are subtle.
Great job on the castings. Seems very natural. All these great kits and scratch building you have done would make an awesome scene when placed together! Jim
I've been called a lot of nasty things in my life but never "quiet". Thanks for adding to my list of negative qualities.
As for the build it is one of my favourite designs ( although it seems every SierraWest kit is one of my favourites) and you are raising the bar pretty high.
In order for that to happen Jim I'd have to get my crap together.... who knows, one day. Yeah I know what you mean about favourites Joel, my favourite seems to be the one I just finished or the one I'm just starting, and then there's the one I'm planning next.....
Christmas over, back to the bench.... did a little more work on some of the castings, trying to ease myself back into it and show some progress.
Gotta love Brett's castings, clean, crisp and no clean-up
Karl- Is the green on that tank above the 'Christmas Green' or some brighter, different green? I'm waiting for a SBS on how you go from that shade to the dulled down and weathered color that will show up in a post or two from now.
BTW, I caught the wear marks on the end of the shovel. Nice!
Yes Bill it is Christmas Green. Handling while doing the chipping tends to tone down the green some, especially if you have 'chalky' fingers. More specific dulling is done with chalks dry on a 5/0 detail brush, such as the darker bottom now added. Further steps will follow as I proceed.
Speaking of stealing ideas - I've got to add a chain to my welding cart ! Looks great. And I love the wrench holding the window detail from the Duluth thread. Its always great when wrench and hammer castings (my favourites) are showcased.
Karl, well done as always! I love the truss construction and overall feel of that shed and of course can't wait to see you work your "magic" with the dio as it comes together. Ken
Thanks for the comments guys, modeling motivation is low hence the slow progress. A few more progress posts and a few more replies will hopefully get me back in the mood.
Time to paint the tarpaper and walk around the yard drinking coffee.... till later.
Karl....I hear ya...that's one of the great things about this forum and SWSM...we motivate each other to kick it up and do our best work. When I get unmotivated, I pull out an un-started SWSM kit, look through it, scan the manual, look at the castings, check out the SWSM web-site/forum, read through a few of the great builds you guys post, and bingo..I'm ready to go again! Your energy and modeling skill and productivity far and away exceeds what most of us can ever hope to accomplish so go ahead and take a 15 minute break..then get back to it! Ken
Hi Karl, Fantastic job! Ditto on Kens comments above. I don't know if you realize this but you are a great inspiration to us fellow modelers. I certainly have learned a ton from you and everyone else here. I am always looking to see what you are up to here on this forum and the Railroad Line forum. Always creative and supportive. So get to it! I can't wait to see this done and really want to see one of your builds in person someday! Jim
There's nothing wrong with walking around drinking coffee (if that's what you're doing instead)! Alas, my motivation is high but I have no time, which is why I like to live vicariously through other's builds. I lamed out on doing the tar paper roof on the shed. It is the only thing which I'm really nervous about doing now - tar paper roofs. So show us how it's done!
Re: motivation - there's a line from a song "how will I know I miss you if you won't go away"! Sometimes we all need a break from the things and people we love!
Karl, you ever think about printing out a gauge and putting a piece of acetate over to look like the real gauges. Tanks look great as they are. Just throwing out an idea.
Yep I thought about printing out the gauges when I was doing them on the horizontal boilers. A few things stopped me from persuing it too far. Print resolution being one, those things are tiny, about 1/8" diameter, Then there would be the problem of cutting out those tiny circles perfectly to sit within the rim. Also the paper thickness. Cutting a perfect clear edge that small in acetate would also be a problem. I could make a punch out of some brass tubing for the circle cutting but the tolerences are so minute to get the right size.
The compromise I came up with was the painted face. Incidentally the face also has a tiny drop of epoxy over the top of the gauge which gives it a slightly raised 'glass-faced' look which doesn't show in the previous pictures.
Hard to tell with the chalk on top, noticeable in person though, just.
Not much to it James, a little practice and taking a little time is all you need.
You could cut a piece of card the same size as the roof and use some printer paper painted black to practice with. That way you can lay it over the real roof to see how it looks and try a few different things out before you work on the roof proper.
So here we go...
Tar paper sheet material sprayed black (both sides) and then cut into strips. I have always torn mine instead of cut, I just like the rougher edged look. I use a grey or black felt tip pen to colour the white edges.
I'll tear some pieces to make it look more run down for this roof, again colouring the edges. Here I have laid them out while I am moving them around into a position I like.
Once happy I glue the pieces down. Make sure your fingers are clean of glue, any glue fingerprints will not come off !! If you do get some glue on the top side of the paper throw it away and get another piece.
Let the one side dry and then flip it over. Then trim the edges to about 1/8" overhang. Using a toothpick I apply glue to the overhang. Not so much that it's going to ooze out, just enough to stay wet for about a minute.
Leave the glue for about 30seconds, I find this softens the paper and allows for a cleaner easier fold. Fold the edge over and under and I then use a scrap piece of wood to clamp it evenly in place for a couple of minutes.
Work around the roof in the same manner for all edges.
Repeat the process for both sides and then add the cap.
I added some chalk shadows around the torn edges to make them look a little more worn from exposure. Nail holes added along the exposed edge of the lower tarpaper and also along the far right of the subroof where it was nailed to the rafter.
When Brett introduced me to the use of chalks I bought a cheap set of make-up brushes. These brushes work great for roofs.
I fade all of the roof with a dusting of grey to get rid of the harsh black with the wide soft brush.
Using the smaller brushes streaks are then added and blended with a lighter tone and the odd darker patch. The large brush is then used again to blend everything together and get rid of any harsh lines.
The shed looks great. As a matter of fact, earlier, looking at the roof planking makes me wonder if my unlimited supply of Starbucks wood coffee stir sticks would be useful from time to time. Once wire brushed and stained/chalked, does the wood quality count for much? Please comment.
hmmmm.......make up brushes? I think I know where I can lay my hands on a few....helps having 5 daughters plus my wife..........if you don't hear from me again you know I got caught.
thanks for another great tip and Karl the roof looks great!
Comments
Keep up the great work!!
Karl.A
Jim
As for the build it is one of my favourite designs ( although it seems every SierraWest kit is one of my favourites) and you are raising the bar pretty high.
In order for that to happen Jim I'd have to get my crap together.... who knows, one day.
Yeah I know what you mean about favourites Joel, my favourite seems to be the one I just finished or the one I'm just starting, and then there's the one I'm planning next.....
Christmas over, back to the bench.... did a little more work on some of the castings, trying to ease myself back into it and show some progress.
Gotta love Brett's castings, clean, crisp and no clean-up
Karl.A
This is breath taking . . . .
John Maguire
Seattle
Is the green on that tank above the 'Christmas Green' or some brighter, different green?
I'm waiting for a SBS on how you go from that shade to the dulled down and weathered color that will show up in a post or two from now.
BTW, I caught the wear marks on the end of the shovel. Nice!
Yes Bill it is Christmas Green.
Handling while doing the chipping tends to tone down the green some, especially if you have 'chalky' fingers.
More specific dulling is done with chalks dry on a 5/0 detail brush, such as the darker bottom now added. Further steps will follow as I proceed.
Good eye on the shovel...
Karl.A
Next will be to tarpaper the roof then it's on to the diorama base....
Karl.A
modeling motivation is low hence the slow progress. A few more progress posts and a
few more replies will hopefully get me back in the mood.
Time to paint the tarpaper and walk around the yard drinking coffee.... till later.
Karl.A
un-started SWSM kit, look through it, scan the manual, look at the castings, check out the SWSM web-site/forum, read through a few of the great builds you guys post, and bingo..I'm ready to go again! Your energy and modeling skill and productivity far and away exceeds what most of us can ever hope to accomplish so go ahead and take a 15 minute break..then get back to it! Ken
Fantastic job! Ditto on Kens comments above. I don't know if you realize this but you are a great inspiration to us fellow modelers. I certainly have learned a ton from you and everyone else here. I am always looking to see what you are up to here on this forum and the Railroad Line forum. Always creative and supportive. So get to it! I can't wait to see this done and really want to see one of your builds in person someday!
Jim
Re: motivation - there's a line from a song "how will I know I miss you if you won't go away"! Sometimes we all need a break from the things and people we love!
Yes, I know, I'll be changing out the hoses for something smaller at some point in the future.
Karl.A
Yep I thought about printing out the gauges when I was doing them on the horizontal boilers. A few things stopped me from persuing it too far. Print resolution being one, those things are tiny, about 1/8" diameter, Then there would be the problem of cutting out those tiny circles perfectly to sit within the rim. Also the paper thickness. Cutting a perfect clear edge that small in acetate would also be a problem. I could make a punch out of some brass tubing for the circle cutting but the tolerences are so minute to get the right size.
The compromise I came up with was the painted face. Incidentally the face also has a tiny drop of epoxy over the top of the gauge which gives it a slightly raised 'glass-faced' look which doesn't show in the previous pictures.
Hard to tell with the chalk on top, noticeable in person though, just.
Scary big....
Karl.A
You could cut a piece of card the same size as the roof and use some printer paper painted black to practice with. That way you can lay it over the real roof to see how it looks and try a few different things out before you work on the roof proper.
So here we go...
Tar paper sheet material sprayed black (both sides) and then cut into strips. I have always torn mine instead of cut, I just like the rougher edged look. I use a grey or black felt tip pen to colour the white edges.
I'll tear some pieces to make it look more run down for this roof, again colouring the edges. Here I have laid them out while I am moving them around into a position I like.
Once happy I glue the pieces down. Make sure your fingers are clean of glue, any glue fingerprints will not come off !! If you do get some glue on the top side of the paper throw it away and get another piece.
Let the one side dry and then flip it over. Then trim the edges to about 1/8" overhang. Using a toothpick I apply glue to the overhang. Not so much that it's going to ooze out, just enough to stay wet for about a minute.
Leave the glue for about 30seconds, I find this softens the paper and allows for a cleaner easier fold. Fold the edge over and under and I then use a scrap piece of wood to clamp it evenly in place for a couple of minutes.
Work around the roof in the same manner for all edges.
Repeat the process for both sides and then add the cap.
I added some chalk shadows around the torn edges to make them look a little more worn from exposure. Nail holes added along the exposed edge of the lower tarpaper and also along the far right of the subroof where it was nailed to the rafter.
When Brett introduced me to the use of chalks I bought a cheap set of make-up brushes. These brushes work great for roofs.
I fade all of the roof with a dusting of grey to get rid of the harsh black with the wide soft brush.
Using the smaller brushes streaks are then added and blended with a lighter tone and the odd darker patch.
The large brush is then used again to blend everything together and get rid of any harsh lines.
Karl.A
The shed looks great. As a matter of fact, earlier, looking at the roof planking makes me wonder if my unlimited supply of Starbucks wood coffee stir sticks would be useful from time to time. Once wire brushed and stained/chalked, does the wood quality count for much? Please comment.
You look really motivated now . . .
Respectfully,
John
thanks for another great tip and Karl the roof looks great!
Scott
I'm working on the oil platform now so hopefully an update later today.
Karl.A