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+--- Thread: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge (/showthread.php?tid=9623)
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - OBJack - 08-19-2023
(07-09-2023, 02:15 PM)TMo Wrote: More progress on scenery around the maintenance building. A little magic in 12 inches of depth from the tracks to the backdrop. Grass, Shrubbery, trees and then plant the building. On to the coal breaker!
Love the Transition here TMo, you nailed it.
You have come a long way in the 10 or so months since you started Todd, I love to see your progress here.
Also means I'm going to have to double my shifts now as you stoke my enthusiasm
Jack
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - TMo - 08-20-2023
Glad to stoke your fire, Jack! Got my own fire stoked by Glen's module work - decided to get the plaster cloth out tonight over the pier supports - the floor of the breaker is no longer pink! Once it dries out, Sculptamold on top.
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - tompm - 08-21-2023
Nice progress.
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - TMo - 08-24-2023
Sculptamold applied, painted brown, then some gray. I painted rails last night - note to self, two coats on the rails... I still have to paint ties (might be tonight). I've also started cutting for the exterior walls of the rest of the breaker - these came from the "Small Steel Mill" kit from Clever, and I'm going to join these together side to side and top to bottom to create this massive structure (with some interior support). I'll also ballast the rails and use the gray ballast and some coal dust to finish up the ground floor basic scenery before "permanently" mounting the piers and first floor. Getting there (slowly)....
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - Charlie B - 08-24-2023
That is looking great Todd. Gather up some of that good ole PA. coal dust next time you are out and spread it around.
Nothing like telling the teacher what to do.By the time you are done weathering it will look so real you can apply for miners disability pay.
Charlie
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - TMo - 08-24-2023
You read my mind, Mr. Bowyer! One of my coworkers buys bagged anthracite and burns it in his house. I've requested some coal dust from the bottom of each bag.... Should be perfect for throwing around the breaker property. If I do collect miner's disability pay, I'll donate all of it to Big Blue! Got the ties painted tonight, so tomorrow I should be able to put down ballast and other scenic materials.
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - TMo - 08-25-2023
The ground level is starting to take on some reality. After painting rails and ties, the track was ballasted this afternoon (still drying). I also had a small packet of coal dust (my supplier hasn't come through yet with refuse from his bags of anthracite) which I spread in amongst the gravel. Next will be permanently placing my piers and adhering the first floor to the backdrop. I'll be removing some of the gravel I put down to get a nice flat surface for each pier.
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - TMo - 08-26-2023
Last night was the night. Slapped a bead of silicone sealant on the edge of the first floor where it rests against the backdrop and let it set up in place overnight. Added the piers this afternoon and I also placed three hoppers on the track to nowhere. Roughly positioned "Plant #2" (sits in the picture behind the last hopper), and as you can see in the picture below, I think the entry to my storage level is now effectively hidden - that part of the mission I can now say is complete. I have a few things to add to the understory, but for the most part, the upper stories of the coal breaker are now my focus, which means a lot of printing and bashing of paper. I think the understory looks beefy enough to support a massive structure above it.
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - TMo - 08-27-2023
With the foundation built (and level), this job MAY get easier....
The basic exterior is nothing more than joining together sidewalls of the "Small Steel Mill" kit. I had 15 inches to cover on the short side, and each of the sidewalls is nearly 5 inches wide, so three sections were laid out, measured for overlap, and the edges folded over to accomodate the corner, and windows inset back from the front face. The kit comes with additional steel siding that you can overlap over the existing printout, but on something of this scale, I think it's overkill (I may change my mind). The section on the left was done with an ink cartridge that was almost expended, so I got a different color combination. I figure I can always adjust with paint or PanPastels if I think the transition is too harsh.
Pinned the first story in place to get an idea of scale and how many of these stories I'll implement vertically - I'm going one story at a time with only a basic concept in my head. After I get a full wall section together, I'll reinforce the whole deal with foam board supports which will join all of the walls and roofs together.
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - TMo - 08-28-2023
I haven't worked on the long side yet, but I have glued together enough sections to make the "2nd" story. In the picture below you can see it temporarily held at a jaunty angle by a couple of push pins. At the top of the 2nd story, I'm going to have a small roof section and the building will get smaller dimensionally (the third story will have a smaller footprint, and that trend will generally continue up to the top where I'll have a conveyer chute running back down into mine area. All of these plans are still vapor in my head and (of course) subject to change... heck, if I don't like it, it's paper... I wad it up and try again!
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - tompm - 08-29-2023
Coming along nicely.
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - TMo - 09-01-2023
Thanks for the encouragement, Tom!
More printing, cutting, joining. The photo below is the first two floors of the beast pinned to the floor without any integral supports (those come next). Not sure if that means this weekend or later. I'll also be developing the sloped roofs that run up to the (smaller in floor space) third floor.
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - TMo - 09-04-2023
Slow progress is still progress. You build something large with cardstock and you're asking for trouble if you don't reinforce it. I cut a couple of foam board panels that'll sit on the plywood first floor and get glued to the backside of the cardstock. Before gluing, I spray painted the panels black - thus eliminating any gaps between windows and window frames.
I also started on the roof that'll run around the north and west sides of the breaker, joining roof sections and then adding some depth by layering. Once I get those roof sections done, I'll be measuring for the third story which will be a smaller repetition of the first two using the same sections of the Small Steel Mill. That floor will also be supported by foam board panels that'll go all the way down to the plywood first floor.
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - tompm - 09-04-2023
It is amazing how this went for a blank corner to this impressive structure.
RE: Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge - TMo - 09-04-2023
I pay the elves well!