Just completed a project for my friend Allan Gartner's High & Anxiety RR. This Campbell Scale Model kit started out life as Bret's Brewery. I built it pretty much straight out of the box with the exception of using real rock for the boiler house instead of the plastic sheets provided in the kit, think it looks much better this way. I also made the RJ Dean Distillery sign on the computer. I will add more details such as barrels and such once placed on the layout modeled after 30-40's era Clinchfield RR in the hills of North Carolina. The brewery siding will have a couple of small silos, smalsl warehouse and hopefully a coal trestle once completed. I took inspiration from Londoner's thread on the Bourbon Whiskey Distillery.
Comments and suggestions for additional details are appreciated.
Really nice work, there Underwater Guy! And the stonework (ah ... "river rock" pebbles?) on what is probably the Aging Room walls is very nicely done ... do you make house calls?
Seriously, your friend should be proud to have that structure on his layout!
So ... how close am I to guessing on the rocks? Are they painted or stained and weathered as well? Looking that good on those walls, they can't possibly be plain old "river rock" like the stones (pebbles) they spread out and then coat with epoxy for pool decks down here! So what's the secret? :?: 8-)
biL
Lehigh Susquehanna & Western
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln
Thanks for the kind words guys...
Reinhard - the watertank was a pain, required making a 'wrap' out of the vertical pieces of wood and then wrapping them around the cylinder. I forgot to take a picture of the WS water inside...
Raph - considering that masterpiece layout you have created, your kind words are especially appreciated. The shingles were easy but time consuming, they came in a big roll that simply had to be cut and then it was 'lick 'em and stick 'em" for a couple of hours. Most difficult part was keeping the cardboard roofs from warping, a lot of steam and pressing them in a big book overnight. I then took some expensive crayons from the art store - burnt sienna, black, gray, brown and white and rubbed top to bottom alternating colors. Pure experiment, had no idea what I was doing, but it came out ok :mrgreen:
biL - original kit came with a molded plastic genuine simulated stone work walls, but looked to "genuine simulated" and was supposed to be painted. The rock is actually WS talus that was strained to get the smallest and most consistent size and shapes. Then the fun began - brushed Elmer's on the cardboard walls, sprinkled on the rock and weighted it down for DAYS until the glue dried. It was no fun, the cardboard kept sweating moisture, warped repeatedly and made me want to pull my hair out! After a week or so, it finally dried, then I shot myself in the foot again by trying to fill in the gaps and finally sprayed the whole thing with scenic cement mixture. Let the sweating and warping begin all over again. But eventually it worked itself out. No staining was done to it.
I don't know why the pictures made the tin roof look like a bad trip (as I've been told, of course ). The corrugated roof looks a lot better in person.
I have that kit (unbuilt as of this point, but examined) and agree that the vacu-formed "stone" walls would be fine if you were seven. I like what you've done, though. It's a good idea and great looking execution!
Down here in Florida, it was all the rage about twenty-five or so years ago to put a layer of these tan-to-burnt orange-to-brown pebbles spread out a half-inch thick on a concrete pool deck, and seal them all in place with epoxy. The premise was that it would let water drain (it did) and there would be no puddles to slip on (there weren't) ... but little pebbles would come loose here and there as the force of the Florida sun would work its magic. I remember my dad picking them up, keeping them in an empty pint-sized margarine tub and every couple of months crawl around with knee pads on epoxying them back in the little holes caused by them coming loose. (and people wonder why I'm the way I am!)
Anyway, all of that to say those little "river rock" pebbles might make nice rock work when I decide it's time to dig into Bret's Brewery! Thank's for the idea!
biL
Lehigh Susquehanna & Western
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln
Very nice job on the distillery, Richard. Your experiment with the Campbell shingles turned out well, too, as did the aged wood on the water tank.
That's also a neat effect with the stonework, but, for me, the thing that really ties it all together is your selection of colours for the siding and trim - perfect choices. Your friend will undoubtedly be pleased.
Allan IS a guru. He's been one of my dive buddies for a long time. We had no idea that we were each into MRR until a conversation after a day of diving in Belize several years ago. He has a bad to the bone 1100 sq ft layout that occupies his entire second floor of his house. When they had it built, he left the upstairs unfinished. He has an interesting approach to building the High & Xiety.....he has a small group of enthusiasts (including me) that come over for pizza and beer every Thurs night and work on his RR. He provides all the supplies, etc and we all provide the labor and ideas. He also has a large garden layout outside that is equally as cool. Check him out http://www.wiringfordcc.com/xiety.htmy
He's kinda like Gary - an electrical engineer who LOVES wiring stuff. If I can ever settle on a track plan, he'll be wiring me up in trade for all the buildings I do for him....BTW - if anyone is on the fence about DCC, he highly recommends Digitrax.
Londoner Wrote:Outstanding modelling. Now take a look at Ed's thread and see how to switch a distillery
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Ken
I must apologize to Ed for giving credit to Ken for the Bourbon Distillery thread for inspiration. I saved a bunch of pictures from that thread that Londoner, among others, had posted, so I mistakenly thought it was Londoner's thread. When it's time to plant this building on Allan's layout, we are going to do a version of all the ideas from Ed's thread. I especially want to model the rails that the barrels are rolled on. It will be a while, but I'll post the final product as it is completed.
Gary - just goes to show you, you never know who may come out of the MRR closet! As Allan put it, MRR is kinda like a moped, they're really fun and cool, but you don't want all your friends to see you riding it...