Ken, you are just like my wife, she can't stand any empty spaces when she is decorating our house. She has to fill every nook and cranny with something.
Ah you guys. Brett wouldn't leave a space empty. I think I have 20-30 castings to complete the scene, Mostly old cylinders waiting to be repainted but lots of other details. Stay tuned. My real debate is finishing the shed with all the details and then "Planting" it or should I glue down the building and then figure out how it interacts with the big picture later. I usually like to get to this point and then play with the various buildings and styrofoam levels and experiment. Don't think I'll have the luxury this time.
Thought I'd try Brett's technique to weather gas cylinders and barrels. It seems a bit hit and miss at first but some lovely results. I'd say I'm going to repaint about a third but hopefully I will improve. Did get my best cylinder ever out of this batch so not even slightly complaining.
Well it's been a long time since my last post. The holidays and family made me put away the model for a while but I'll be back at it again this week as everything gets back to "Normal". I finished about 30 various gas cylinders and a few barrels. I also found a small hole punch and made some lids for my paint cans from some thick tinfoil. I need to take a better photo so you can appreciate the rims of the lids. I need to find my macro lens.
Thanks for noticing the extra detail. That's what I was trying for on the one lid. A bit mangles from opening with a screwdriver and closing with a hammer.
Thanks for the kind words. The "Bristle" are all laser cut by you Brett so painting them was rather easy. One last detail I tried to achieve was the colour of paint on the lid. I used two different greens to try and simulate the unmixed/oily layer often seen on the inside of paint lids. The big problem everyone is so kind to overlook is the .006" handles that are not going into the paint can but sticking out. I'll have to fix that on some of the foreground models.
OK a busy weekend. I made my base out of styrofoam and painted it tan
then I covered the area where the building would go as well as where I put the concrete slab for the pump and the wooden boards for the side loading dock scene.
Then the first layer of dirt and glued down the build, the dock, the base for the welding shop and the stairs. After it was dry I finished the wiring for the first 8 lights and tested them. Just 5 lights more to go. The dirt dried a bit coarse but it'll all work out as I finish the scenery (hopefully). Now start the real fun of creating all the little scenes.
i really wish i had the wherewithal to mess with lighting, but at this stage in my modeling "career", lighting is above my pay grade. this looks really great lit up like this.
Even if you just put 2 lights in the welding shop it will make a huge difference to your completed model and it really is quite easy. The gooseneck lamps are a whole other issue.
Joel, this is such a great build thread! It is so good to see you modeling again and presenting your build here. I am with Kevin, lighting is way beyond my abilities. If I ever do another kit I may try it. Looking foreword to your next post.
i'm open to the idea. i checked out woodland scenics plug and lite or whatever it's called and they sure do make it look easy, but i think their gooseneck lamps look a bit balky. i may go with their streetlights in place of brett's light poles. i haven't decided that though....
I have the woodland scene stuff they are ok with a little work.... the resistor that controls the brightness is a little touchy. I just got the bulbs by themselves and was going to try to fit them into the castings so that I'm not limited to just theirs.
I use the power board I got from Microluminata. Great product and it allows for at least 16 lamps. The lamps can all be dimmed individually but I am a bit lazy and just connect groups of 4 in series. I think it adds a great level of interest to a model but more importantly allows you to see the interior after spending all those days detailing it. Sorry Mike I never got your PM please resend.
I agree with Joel that a lit model looks wonderful at night allowing to see interior details. I wish I had lights in my recent Freight house build. I put a lot of details inside but they are not visible. Some would have been with lights. Allan also presented a great tutorial on lighting here in the forum which I will review again should I build a new kit. Then I will contact Microluminata for the parts. At my age I'm not sure I can handle the fine wires and soldering. We will see....maybe.
Microlumina - not microluminata. If you Google the latter Lord knows what might show up considering it's the internet and all.
My website isn't the best so anyone can PM me if they're looking for something for lighting. I don't advertise because I want to enjoy this hobby too and don't want to spend my free time knocking out hundreds of gooseneck lights for strangers that are looking for sweatshop prices. Sorry if I sounded cranky there. I'm really not cranky. But my wife Lisa will disagree with that statement. Seriously though - I like working with folks on the smaller forums like this one or Modelers rather than with the masses.
I did a watered down version of my "Lighting the Sierra West [type of] Kit" at last weekend's show in Springfield. Folks told me they liked the clinic - but I doubt they were SW kit builders. I wish I could do this clinic on-line but it seems that if you want to stream presentation you need to subscribe to a service of some sort. Well, NNGC is always a possibility if I can figure out the logistics. In the meantime I'll see what I can get down on "paper" and uploaded.
Comments
I need to take a better photo so you can appreciate the rims of the lids. I need to find my macro lens.
Jerry
then I covered the area where the building would go as well as where I put the concrete slab for the pump and the wooden boards for the side loading dock scene.
Then the first layer of dirt and glued down the build, the dock, the base for the welding shop and the stairs. After it was dry I finished the wiring for the first 8 lights and tested them. Just 5 lights more to go. The dirt dried a bit coarse but it'll all work out as I finish the scenery (hopefully).
Now start the real fun of creating all the little scenes.
Geezerbill
Sorry Mike I never got your PM please resend.
Geezerbill
My website isn't the best so anyone can PM me if they're looking for something for lighting. I don't advertise because I want to enjoy this hobby too and don't want to spend my free time knocking out hundreds of gooseneck lights for strangers that are looking for sweatshop prices. Sorry if I sounded cranky there. I'm really not cranky. But my wife Lisa will disagree with that statement. Seriously though - I like working with folks on the smaller forums like this one or Modelers rather than with the masses.
I did a watered down version of my "Lighting the Sierra West [type of] Kit" at last weekend's show in Springfield. Folks told me they liked the clinic - but I doubt they were SW kit builders. I wish I could do this clinic on-line but it seems that if you want to stream presentation you need to subscribe to a service of some sort. Well, NNGC is always a possibility if I can figure out the logistics. In the meantime I'll see what I can get down on "paper" and uploaded.
Bill S.