ocalicreek's kitbash summer '09 challenge
#1
Looked over the fodder tonight...some really tight brick work on an HO LifeLike 'Fairhaven Bottling Company' No. 1355, and similar dimensions (but more crudely cast brick) on LifeLike's Engine House, No. 1354.

I'm going to stick with the bottling theme, but just what they're bottling up in the Blue Ridge, well, officially it's 'Spring Water' or Tonic Water. And cleanliness is naturally the reason the loading area is enclosed...and trade secrets the reason the whole place is fenced...and just coincidence the county assessor and plant manager are cousins...well, you get the idy.

I like South River Model Works stuff. Their NE themed mills built on different vertical levels sited on a fast moving river are neat to look at, and knowing they base their stuff on prototypes as much as possible is nice. I'm borrowing inspiration from that style of structure, only a bit more Antebellum in geography and style. Maybe even a little Haunted Mansion (DisneyWORLD Florida version) thrown in for fun.

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#2
Kitbashing work began late last night...pictures to follow soon!

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#3
Here we go. These images show the offices & bottling building taking shape. These are parts from the Fairhaven bottling kit. The peaked roof sides are unmodified. The connecting wall (as will be one opposite completing the box) is just over half a longer wall...the extra length is the corner pillaster section. The shortened bits will be used elsewhere in the complex.

[albumimg]1147[/albumimg]
[albumimg]1146[/albumimg]
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That's it for now. I'm adding a few 'new' images to the layout thread today as well.

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#4
More bits from the Fairhaven kit. This time it's the shipping/receiving doors for trucks. Not sure if I'll put a loading dock on there or just bumper ties on the wall. I swapped a couple walls on this section: the short wall with the door and the short wall with the two small bricked-over windows. They are the same size, although I had to bevel the door wall to fit up against the long loading door wall, and file a smidge off the beveled egde of the solid wall to make a good joint. They'll all be braced eventually anyway, but why not start out solid.

The large receiving doors didn't make much sense to me, unless they were intended to be roll-up doors or lift-up garage type doors, possibly sliding freight doors, but then why would they fit flush in the wall? SO I rectified this with a few bits of scale 1x4 to resemble two framed doors. I left one unmodified for photo purposes, plus it was really late and I was tired.

Where the little bricked over windows are located will be a coal chute for the boiler.

[albumimg]1151[/albumimg]
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Inlaws arriving today...we'll see how much I get done this weekend.

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#5
I like what you did to those doors. Nice solution.

LOREN
I got my first train when I was three,
put a hundred thousand miles on my knees.
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#6
Thanks, Loren. The close-up photos makes me realize I could have been a bit more careful on the brick corner joints, but so far it's early days yet. Much more to go but it sure is fun.

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#7
Since I last posted I have done very little on this structure. Cut the 4th wall for the main building the same way I cut the first wall, by shortening it just over half to include the pillar for the corner.

Also assembled the basic walls for the little 'add-ons'. A picture will explain better than a description there.

Photos later...

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#8
As promised, more photos, just not of the intended subject matter. Maybe this is more interesting...we'll see.

I tried a technique Art Curren espouses in his Kitbashing book. I've seen it in pictures but never given it a real try myself. This seemed like a good opportunity.

You are looking at the roof material that comes with the Life-Like engine house. As you may notice it is originally from Heljan. Basically the idea is to hold a single edged razor blade at a 90 degree angle to the underside of the lower edge of the roof. Then using a straightedge as a guide, begin slowly shaving away until the desired thickness (or thin-ness?) is achieved. You can also highlight the gaps between shingles with a file or the same razor blade. Hopefully these pictures demonstrate the difference.

First is the underside with the upper piece being the modified version and the lower piece unmodified. Next is the view looking end-on. Finally a view from above.

[albumimg]1166[/albumimg]
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I'm not sure if these will be slate or composite or what. Probably slate, so I can have a little fun with coloring and shading. We'll see. At some point I will be doing a similar thinning job on the windows that come with this kit. From black shaving mess to green dust...ugh. Better wear a mask for that.

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#9
I quess that's why your structures look so good Galen. All the little stuff. I would never have the patience for that.

Loren
I got my first train when I was three,
put a hundred thousand miles on my knees.
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#10
ocalicreek Wrote:You are looking at the roof material that comes with the Life-Like engine house. As you may notice it is originally from Heljan. Galen

Remember those "snap-together" buildings Walthers offered a few years ago? They were actually from Kibri.
Does look good.I'll have to give that method a try.
Torrington, Ct.
NARA Member #87
I went to my Happy Place, but it was closed for renovations.
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#11
Thanks, Loren & 88fan. The method is neat but the reason I had avoided it in the past was because I was scratching my own roofs with Campbell shingles or some other material. The technique isn't that hard and once you get the hang of it doesn't take that long but it does create LOADS of shavings. Had I thought of this before I would have made more room or done that part on a separate surface to make cleaning up easier. Maybe there is where you can learn from my mistake! 35

Forgot to mention I also added the stripwood detail to the other door, but used a file card to distress the plastic boards first this time. May not show up but I find sometimes these little touches aren't noticed unless they're missing.

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#12
Earlier today I managed to do some interior bracing (good old bread clips!) on the main distill er, bottling building :? I'm preparing the brick walls for a coat of georgia clay or some orangy-brown brick color. The windows & doors will be an aged white, almost a light tan color.

I am also thinning down the windows for the loading building (former engine house). I have found that if I sand down the back side enough, it thins the mullions nicely. It's a bit more time consuming, but they already fit the openings and I don't have to purchase any from Grandt line or Tichy, etc. then wait for them to arrive in the mail, or be back-ordered from Walther's.

It's another step like the shingle thinning that makes a plastic kit that much closer to looking like a craftsman kit, and that's one of my goals when kitbashing. I am willing to trade time and skill for the price and prestige of owning an FSM, SRM, etc. (No judgement implied, just a rationale for doing an insane thing to achieve a result! 357 )

Maybe I'll get some pictures of before & after on these winders.

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#13
Galen, all is looking well! And if you're not too fond of the way the joints came out with the bricks, hide them with some "ivy"
-Steven-

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#14
Images of the window thinning. Hopefully you can tell which is which.

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I think it's really noticable in the first shot; even more so in the second looking at an angle. The last is the tool I use to clean out the flash after sanding. It's not hard, just tedious. Call it meditative, if you like.

I've filed all the windows I think I need for that particular structure. The kit-supplied windows for the main bottling building are already pretty nice, so this thinning work is also making some quality consistency between kits.

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#15
Sure, the thinned ones aren't attached to the sprue's. Goldth
It will be interesting to see how much difference there is when they are in place. I haven't seen or heard of anybody doing this before.

Loren
I got my first train when I was three,
put a hundred thousand miles on my knees.
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