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Comments
Karl-
As always, thanks for the kind words. Your input is much appreciated and invaluable!
I wanted to share a few pictures and ideas that may be helpful with some of the remaining castings and details. First, when constructing the platform for the water tower I used double-stick tape along with straight edges. I built the support legs directly on the template. It's important to get these sub assemblies as square as possible. I used an angle plate when gluing the legs to the deck to further insure squareness.
Don't forget to touch up the ends with some A&I or dark stain. Since the water tower platform sits in the foreground, fresh-cut board ends will really stick out.
Before:
After:
For the little mine cars, the castings were initially painted flat black followed by adding the 4 wheels. I drybrushed my cars with a brownish-tan craft paint and then dusted rust colored chalk under the top edge, gradually letting the rust effect fade toward the bottom. Here's a "before, during, and after" pic of the color process:
And here's how I detailed them in the final scene:
Here's a technique that will make "glass" castings look more like glass. In these examples, I'm working with metal bottle castings--pop bottles and old oil bottles. After blackening and polishing the castings as usual, I used Gallery Glass paint to coat the 'glass' parts. It's an acrylic paint that leaves a glossy finish. It's odd to work with because it goes on pretty thick and begins drying unevenly. But, take a look at the results. Here are some oil bottles:
And some pop bottles:
The colors I found most useful are Citrus Yellow, Amber, Frost Root Beer, and Kelly Green. Since they're acrylics, you can add a bit of craft paint to get the Gallery Glass paint closer to the actual color you need (I needed to add darker green to 'Kelly Green' to get it close to looking like a green pop bottle).
Here's one more easy little addition that kicks up the realism a notch. For the air compressor casting, I cut a strip of the brown paper (left over from the duct work straps--pg 13) and made a small belt for the compressor.
Here's a look at the rest of the interior details:
Thanks for sharing...
Phil-wow! A special binder huh? I'm gonna have to get a copy of that!
We're just about to the end of the construction. Good news and bad news. The bad news is the memory chip for my camera got corrupted somehow and I lost ALL of the pictures from the construction of the mine. The good news is that 90% of the worthwhile pictures have already been posted. I also worked ahead a little bit and re-sized a few, but I still will need to re-shoot the final pictures. Such is life...
On page 88 of the manual you'll find the directions for creating the split wood scene. I did manage to edit some pictures of how I made mine. The area was first covered with sifted dirt which was glued in place (50/50 white glue and water) and allowed to dry.
Then, I wet the entire area with straight alcohol and added sawdust, wood bits, and pieces of split wood in a pile and also a nice stack. I found that taking some coarse sandpaper to a piece of my logs gave me really fine, dark "dust" that worked well to establish the places where the wood will go. I added increasingly larger pieces until I got to the point of placing the split wood into the scene. Everything was secured with another dose of alcohol followed by 50/50 water & white glue.
Once it all dries, the wood will be left with a slight shine, or wet look. That can be dulled down with a little tan chalk or, touched up with clear flat acrylic.
In between the tracks, I used un-sanded grout which is a really fine consistency (almost like flour) and packs tightly. The color is called "Summer Wheat" but I also added some darker brown chalks into the mix. I've added grease and oil drippings along the middle of the track and a fuel spill too. That's made from a thin line of black chalk blended in with mineral spirits and a little bit of gloss brown enamel paint.
The roof of the hoist house is one of the steps where I lost my in-progress pictures. However, there is nothing special or difficult about it. The manual gives very detailed instructions. You'll find that one of those "flush cut" toe nail clippers will come in really handy for trimming the excess of the truss cross-braces.
For the shingles, I followed the directions for the most part except I used solvent based FloQuil paints. I'm able to blend the colors a little better using solvent paint rather than acrylics. Personal preference, really. The specific colors I used: Grimy Black, Roof Brown, Earth, and Concrete. You will LOVE using the new roof card (which has adhesive already applied--just peel the backing strip, and place a row of shingles!). It makes this step go really fast. Once all the shingles and cap were applied, I darkened mine up with a combination of A&I and chalks until the roof looked like it fit the colors of the rest of the structures and their "age". I randomly lifted shingles here and there to break up the uniformity and perfection.
Finally, the tarpaper for the boiler house roof needed to be added. Also, the smoke stack guy wires. I used the thinnest wire I could find left in the box, blackened pieces and cut them to length. I mixed up a batch of epoxy which I colored by stirring in gray chalk. To glue the wire in place, I used a tweezers and dipped a tiny drop of epoxy on each end.
Then, I stuck one end of the wire under the collar of the smoke stack and let the other end simply rest on the roof. While the epoxy was still wet, I added a large pile of gray chalk on top of the epoxy blob. That helped dull down the shine. After I was sure the epoxy had dried completely, I blew the excess chalk away.
I also went back and changed the tarpaper on the shed roof of the tipple. Dustin correctly pointed out that my final row was too wide compared to the others:
I adjusted it using pieces left over from the boiler house roof.
So that about does it for construction of the Deer Creek Mine! Thanks to Brett for the opportunity to post the official build of an outstanding kit. Also, thanks to all of you who followed along offering encouragement and second opinions.
As soon as the weather cooperates, I'll get the model outside and take some final pictures. Those will get posted in the "Finished SW Build" section of the forum. In the meantime, any of you building the mine who have questions, feel free to ask them here or shoot me a pm.
Thanks,
Bill
No, Quincy's is close, but still has work left. I want an extremely FULL scene of lots and lots of cars, engines, doors, differentials, and STUFF. In order to match the vision I've got, a lot of those things need to be bought or made (either from old Jordans or by casting).
The next project is finishing my new 1:1 work shop and getting back to work on my layout.
Looking forward to what you come up with for the mine and sawmill!
http://www.sierrawestscalemodels.com/vanforum/discussion/631/210-the-deer-creek-mine
Great diorama
I am currently working on this build.
I screwed up in the beginning and forgot to lay down wax paper on the first Tipple Bent and paper stuck on the back side. So I scrapped and started over. Very difficult to remove the glue and paper
The glue still appears on the backside and a pain to remove even on wax paper.
I try not to use too much glue but still leaks out on the bottom and have to use a blade to scrape off and expose raw wood then add chalk to blend in.
I am using Elmers Wood Glue Max and seems no matter how little I use, the glue still leaks out on the wax paper and have to remove which is not easy to do.
What glue are you using or can you share your method.
Thanks again for posting this beautiful build.
Chris (Pappy)
Jerry
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058EDPAK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Pappy-
It seems counterintuitive, but your glue may be TOO strong. That’s one reason I shy away from wood glues: cleaning up blobs or undoing mistakes is really difficult. They’re intended mostly for furniture or full scale construction projects. The other reason is once you get a leak, wood glues can discolor the wood.
I use Pacer Canopy glue for almost all the wooden pieces. I like it because it’s plenty strong even though it remains slightly flexible once cured.
Using a minimal amount of glue is key. But, small amounts of oozing happens. Before it sets (in areas where I notice it and can get at it), I use an Exacto to pick and remove the excess. The idea is to avoid smearing the leaks when cleaning them up.
The spots I notice after drying, I do pretty much the same thing. With Canopy glue, it’s more forgiving and comes off easier. When I find a bigger dried glue blob, I’ll dab a little clean alcohol on it, let it soften up, and pick it off.
But, I think switching glues will make a difference for you.
Or damp it, sand it and touch it up with chalk, it's all water soluble so a little C&A takes care of things.
Funnily enough Bill, I actually spent quite some time last night rereading this amazing thread, familiarizing myself on this amazing kit and your outstanding build of it.
I've been looking for my next project, and this thread and your incredible build has me inspired.
Thank you Bill for all of your time spent posting the updates, processes and modeling help and advice throughout this thread.
But wait...my wood glue advice was lame!!! I had some Elmer’s carpenters glue that frustrated me constantly. I think I was using a pair of pliers and a nail to loosen up the cap when I gave up on it permanently.
Thanks for the kind words, Karl. You’ve inspired and helped me out many many times over the years and if I returned the favor this one time...I still owe you a few more!!
different folks, different strokes.
This time, and many others you've inspired me. Two way street my friend, now, I'm gonna follow your lead on this build.
Keep up your fantastic work!!
Jerry
Actually, I’m still finishing up the O scale sawmill. After a dozen variations, the smokestack is finished and in place. The water still needs turbulence, I have a couple wiring issues to sort out, and then I can detail the side near the loading dock.
I hear you on the 'cleaning up' (as I glance over at my bottle of glue with the still open cap from yesterday) haha
The 243.3 chalk is unavailable or doesn't exist or I'm brain dead..lol
LOL
(Pretty sure it was a typo)