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Eureka Springs Boiler House Build
The Eureka Spring Boiler House finally rose to the top of my projects list. Brett released this kit in 1996, almost 30 years ago. I found this kit at a train show for the original price of $21.00. I've seen them go for $80 on ebay, so I definitely got my monies worth.
As usual the first thing I did was read the instructions and then inventory the kit. The castings are absolutely top notch. I'm especially impressed by the oil tank and the water tank. The detail is amazing.
I model the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in the late 19th century. Everything runs on coal in my little piece of Colorado, so the boiler will be coal fired. I currently have a two stall engine house that needs steam generation, so an attached boiler house suits the project.
I'll use the boiler with base as built, but the rest of the structure is mostly redesigned. I started with flat black spray paint in a rattle can. Most of the coloring is done with Rembrandt pastels and dry brushing highlights. More weathering will be done down the road. The pastels are protected using Krylon Workable Fixatif. It is designed for use with pastels and doesn't change the color or texture of the pastels. I've abandoned Dulcote and use the Fixatif for all my clear flat use.
The kit contains strip wood to build the wall framing. I drew up new wall framing in CorelDraw and cut them from MDF on the laser. All the walls have changed except the wall with the wide door. The building will now have four walls, and a removable roof. I incorporated notches in the header of the walls to accept and align the roof rafters. I want the workers to have some natural light, so I incorporated three windows. To supply interior light, a section of PC tie material will be used to simulate a beam running the length of the boiler house. It will reside in the notches at the top center of the narrow walls. The tiny LEDs will have lamp shades from Titchy.
Because the high country gets cold in the winter, doors are needed so I drew and cut them from four layers of .015" laserboard. The window glass will be sandwiched between the middle two layers. The doors will be mounted using Grandt Line hinges.
A coal fired boiler needs a bin for coal storage. A small scratch built one will serve that function indoors. A larger one will be built for outside storage. Coal and details to follow.
As usual the first thing I did was read the instructions and then inventory the kit. The castings are absolutely top notch. I'm especially impressed by the oil tank and the water tank. The detail is amazing.
I model the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in the late 19th century. Everything runs on coal in my little piece of Colorado, so the boiler will be coal fired. I currently have a two stall engine house that needs steam generation, so an attached boiler house suits the project.
I'll use the boiler with base as built, but the rest of the structure is mostly redesigned. I started with flat black spray paint in a rattle can. Most of the coloring is done with Rembrandt pastels and dry brushing highlights. More weathering will be done down the road. The pastels are protected using Krylon Workable Fixatif. It is designed for use with pastels and doesn't change the color or texture of the pastels. I've abandoned Dulcote and use the Fixatif for all my clear flat use.
The kit contains strip wood to build the wall framing. I drew up new wall framing in CorelDraw and cut them from MDF on the laser. All the walls have changed except the wall with the wide door. The building will now have four walls, and a removable roof. I incorporated notches in the header of the walls to accept and align the roof rafters. I want the workers to have some natural light, so I incorporated three windows. To supply interior light, a section of PC tie material will be used to simulate a beam running the length of the boiler house. It will reside in the notches at the top center of the narrow walls. The tiny LEDs will have lamp shades from Titchy.
Because the high country gets cold in the winter, doors are needed so I drew and cut them from four layers of .015" laserboard. The window glass will be sandwiched between the middle two layers. The doors will be mounted using Grandt Line hinges.
A coal fired boiler needs a bin for coal storage. A small scratch built one will serve that function indoors. A larger one will be built for outside storage. Coal and details to follow.
Comments
Jerry
The model is progressing well, just a bit slower than I wanted with all the holiday activities.
The boiler house will be attached to an existing two stall engine house. The walls of the engine house are grey stained board and batten. The story is that the boiler house was added at some later date and is just wood boards without battens. Access between the boiler house and the engine house is needed, so I cut a hole in the back wall of the engine house to match the cutout in the rear wall framing of the boiler house.
The laser leaves burn marks when it cuts. By partially sanding the burn marks from the wall framing, the framing has a grungy appearance. The frame was then colored with a brown shoe dye / alcohol mix.
The wall boards are stained with a shoe dye and alcohol mixture and when dry, glued to the frame. The inside is not exposed to the Colorado weather and has a brown patina. Some 0000 steel wool rubbed on one side removed a little of the color. Then a brown art marker colored the inside of the boards. Finally a 30% black art marker is touched to the end grain on the bottom of the boards. The color wicks up the wood for a short way and gives a weathered appearance. The photo has a blue tint that the model does not.
The foundation of the boiler house is elevated above grade so a ramp will facilitate access. A jig holds the 1/32" plywood supports in place during assembly.
I wanted to check all the parts so far for fit, and am pleased.
The kit comes with a rooftop water tank. That'll be the next step in this build.