Originally, I wanted to avoid using the Walthers New River Mining Co. for the coal tipple on my layout. Coal is going to be an operational focus, and I wanted either a very large tipple or two smaller ones in addition to a company town nearby. For awhile, I entertained the idea of purchasing the N Scale Architect Lackawanna Coal structure, but it's a $100+ craftsman kit. In the end, I decided to go with the Walthers kit because it is more versatile and there are many kitbash options available.

I've never made major modifications to a kit before. My supply of scratch building tools is somewhat limited, and there's always that hesitation before tackling something new. I remember reading about the Turtle Creek Coal kitbash posted on the MRR site. So I printed out the build instructions, took a deep breath, and got my feet wet with this kitbash. With a much smaller footprint, I will have enough room to add a second tipple later if I want.

Here I have already removed a serious amount of material from the walls. My pile of scrap is almost as large as what I'll end up using to build the structure!



This is how I have joined wall sections. After careful measuring, trimming, and sanding with my NWSL True-Sander, I marked lines near the windows in pencil (highlighted here in [COLOR="Red"]red[/COLOR]) so that everything will line up nicely. With a simple butt joint, I used CA to join the sections together. Next, I cut a piece of scrap to size and glued it down with CA to strengthen the joint.

I also clearly labeled all my parts with permanent marker so that I wouldn't get confused on where things go. Once I get all the new wall sections trimmed to size and joined, I will take another pic of the completed shell before paint. Wish me luck!

This looks good. I look forward to the next update!

Dave

I have the wall sections trimmed to size and decided to do a quick mock-up to make sure everything looks like it's heading in the right direction. So far, so good!

Good for you, Tony, for attempting your first kitbash. If I may, though, a couple of suggestions:

2-8-2 Wrote:.... My pile of scrap is almost as large as what I'll end up using to build the structure!

When kitbashing, try to avoid the creation of scrap - in this particular case, most "scrap" is actually spare structure parts.

2-8-2 Wrote:This is how I have joined wall sections. After careful measuring, trimming, and sanding with my NWSL True-Sander, I marked lines near the windows in pencil (highlighted here in [COLOR="Red"]red[/COLOR]) so that everything will line up nicely. With a simple butt joint, I used CA to join the sections together. Next, I cut a piece of scrap to size and glued it down with CA to strengthen the joint.

While your use of scrap (as opposed to "scrap" ) to splice wall sections together is a good idea, ca is not the best choice for cementing styrene, especially for butt joints. Much more preferable would be any of the regular liquid styrene cements, such as that sold by Testors. A joint thus made should last as long as the plastic itself and will be stronger than the plastic. Of course, you'll still need to use those scrap pieces as reinforcement. I use lacquer thinner, applied with a brush, as a cement for styrene: it works just as well and is much cheaper.
The shear strength of ca is very poor and certainly not well-suited to assembling styrene structures, especially with butt joints. About the only places I find it to be the best choice is for joints between metal and plastic or two dissimilar metals, and only if one of the parts is mechanically connect to the other with a pin or interlocking faces. If your structure happens to fall apart as you're working on it, you'll need to remove the dried ca before re-gluing using solvent cement, as the solvent has little, if any, effect on cured ca. Files, sandpaper, or scraping with the back of an X-Acto #17 blade may be useful for removing the ca.

Your mock-up looks good, with lots of different facets and roof angles, a sure-fire way to make any building look interesting.
Keep those pictures comin'.

Wayne

Thanks for the tips, Wayne!

I typically use Testors plastic cement to glue just about everything. I worry about oozing though. I wanted to be sure there was a good bond, but didn't want to have to try and scrape dried glue out of the detailing on the siding, so I used the CA instead...which requires a lot less glue. I'm not sure it makes a difference, but I used Zap-a-Gap CA+ on these joints.

Good work Tony you have started down a path that leads to satisfaction. as doc said ca is a poor choice no mater what type it is ,what type of testors are you using the thick or thin stuff ? the thin waterery is the best (laqure thinner , acetone, mek ) or any of the commerical ones (testors , tamiya extra thin, tenex r7, plastic weld).a butt weld with any of these is as strong as the orginal material.
jim

I have to concur with the sentiment that CA is really not the adhesive of choice for styrene panel butt joints. Doctorwayne said it best, my favorite use of CA, is to hold grab irons and railings in the holes drilled for them. I prefer MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone) applied with a fine brush. In all the liquid styrene cements, adequate ventilation is a must. MEK has the warning that contact with the skin can cause nerve damage. (not to mention all the finger prints permanently melted into the plastic surface......... capillary action is a real scientific fact).
As to the "scrap".........never throw anything away.....one kit's scrap is another kit's face lift.
I like the use of "mock-up". It helps keep the "final product" in view while figuring out "how to get there".
Looking good so far, keep up the good fight.

Here's the same view, only glued up this time.

Nice kitbash so far. My favorite glue for styrene is the Model Master glue that comes in the black rectangular plastic bottle with the needle tip. It is a thicker than lacquer thinner, so it works better on joints that aren't exactly perfect.

Tony, you are off to a fantastic start on this kitbash. As DocWayne mentioned, all the angles and different roof lines certainly make for an interesting structure. But be warned..... once you do a successful kitbash, it'll be very hard to build up a kit like it was meant to be. You'll be kitbashing everything!

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement guys!

I've been very happy with the progress so far. In this pic, I have trimmed this part as well, which completes most of the major modifications. Originally, the tipple had 3 loading bays, and now there are only 2 and it's much shorter as well. The support beams have also been trimmed down to 2 sections instead of 3. Most of the roof panels have yet to be trimmed and I will also be modifying the slack loader to be smaller.

Next, I will finish working putty into the corner seams and then giving the structure a good cleaning before paint.

That is already a very promising structure!
May I add a small remark. Might be wise to avoid flat black color at this stage but use some shades of medium gray instead. That would prepare a better base for later weathering with flat black for coal powder.

Looking good Tony, the New River Mining kit has been one of my favorite kits for a while now. Ive always wanted to kitbash the kit but never really got around to it. I see you have beet me too it and your doing a great job. Keep it up, and im looking forward to seeing some more progress on the Empire Coal Corp Mine

Wow, that looks GREAT!

I've got to build a col mine/tipple for my HO layout, & I get lots of inspiration looking at what you & a lot of the other guys here have done!

Keep up the good work & the photos!

faraway Wrote:...Might be wise to avoid flat black color at this stage but use some shades of medium gray instead...

The support superstructure is unpainted, these parts were molded in black plastic in the kit. I will be painting them either dark grey or red/rust primer, I haven't decided yet.

As for the kitbash, it's been pretty smooth sailing thanks to the great instructions on the MRR website. I had to supersize some of the images, but other than that, the process has been pretty straightforward. I would imagine that someone who has kitbashing experience would find this to be an easy build as opposed to someone like me, who has no idea what they're doing!