New Build - Builders in Scale - Final Post

Joe do you know if this will be used as a background, forced perspective type building or just a large HO structure being used as a smaller O structure, say like an HO factory being used as an O garage? 

I'm under the impression the customer is an HO scale model railroader but will ask.

The customer has decided on painting. I like Jason Jenson's and AXD ASD's (YuoTube) techniques but will also paint the inside of the structures.

Joe

I started building the ore bin superstructure. I made copies of the schematics since they are 1:1, applied double sided tape and to orient and hold the posts while I glued on the cross bracing.

The customer wants the trestle on the opposite side of the ore bin. I assembled the ore house thinking I could just turn it around however forgot to take into account only one side wall has windows so they would be facing the wrong way. I pulled off the one end with the small window (came off in pieces). I built a new wall with wood stock I have and enlarged the hole on the opposite side.

The new window hole is not as good as laser cut but it will work.

Started working on the side posts for the bin superstructure. The photo may be misleading. The post structure on the left is not wider than that on the right.

Joe,

Those ho structures are tough on the eyes to build. At least for this old man lol.

Alan I'm not much of a fan of the thin wood sidings especially when making HO product. The wood tends to split easily. I buy blank sheets and where ever I can I laminate to the back of the exterior siding.

Did a little more work on the ore bin. I decided to paint the inside of the superstructure before gluing it together. I started with a gray enamel spray. I will try some shades of brown diluted washes to give a weathered look.

Looks good Joe. Keep posting.

MELGAR

I put the bin house together. During the course of the build I decided to change from painting first then gluing to gluing a structure and painting. I can do this since the first coat of  enamel will cover any glue spots.

The kit came with a thin sheet of 'corrugated Al' roofing. I did not like it all mostly because it looked more O scale than HO scale. I opted for a 'tar paper' roof using a method I saw on a Jason Jenson Youtube video. It is black construction paper painted dark gray. I then sanded with 120 grit paper to remove spots of the gray and fray the edges. there are various shades of weathering powders applied.

The structure was painted dark gray then washes were applied using burnt umber, burnt sienna and raw sienna acrylic paints followed by weathering powders.

Next up is the trestle deck structure.

Gluing the individual post structures together was somewhat of a pain but it got done. The kit instructions called for board by board building of the ore bin. I opted for a  scribed sheet instead. As can be seen in the above photos it came out just fine.

Started working on the trestle deck. Again I used double sided scotch tape to hold the two chords in place. I placed a piece of plywood on one side to act as a stop then used a spacer to place the deck ties. The kit plan calls for two HO rails to be glued in place however I have none so will ask the customer to glue once the structure is delivered. The rails are supposed to guide 3 or 4 ore cars that came with the kit.

Started building the trestle bents and the abutment. Again I used double sided tape to hold the wood on the templates.

I still need to place the cross braces on the opposite side of the bents.

Joe, that is an excellent job you are doing, B&SC makes some terrific kits, I think you'll enjoy this build.  If I remember correctly, the guys who started B&SC were named Pete Smith and John Calin, really nice guys and both were tremendous Sn3 modelers.  I think they ended up selling the line to Bill Banta.  I have some of their Sn3 kits and really like them.

Joe,

I think that the building of models in 1:48 scale is enjoyable because most pieces are large enough to work with easily. Seems to me that working in 1:87 might be more difficult and not as enjoyable due to everything being smaller. But, I can't say for sure since I have never worked in 1:87.

MELGAR

Not only that but since the 'lumber' has to be to scale the wood structures are shall we say 'delicate'................

I have to pack to survive shipping which is a challenge.

I finished the cross bracing for the trestle bents (no image). I added the remaining NBW's, windows, the ore gates plus added chutes. For some reasons chutes were not part of the kit design.

The trestle deck is finished. also the last of the details have been applied to the ore bin. Not shown is the bulkhead. I did not glue it to the end of the trestle deck since I do not know what the customer intends to do.

Great project and photos, Joe.

And THANK YOU for editing the thread's title to show the date of the latest update.

I have started work on the second kit shown below

I started the superstructure in the same manner as the earlier build using double sided tape on the kit template.

The customer also sent a separate mine hoist and ore skip that is supposed to go inside one of the buildings so I am building this at the same time.

Joe very nice work

Nice! What are the metal blocks next to the angle plate?

Trainman2001 posted:

Nice! What are the metal blocks next to the angle plate?

123 blocks w/o holes - I found on ebay. They are quite heavy since they have no holes

Thanks! Took a look at them… Maybe...

Did some more work on the super structure - gluing the sides together was relatively easy but adding the cross bracing was a bear.

I will be struggling with the hoist assembly - instructions are real fuzzy plus not any good diagrams. I read the instructions twice, stared at the drawings and decided to move on to the hoist house...............

The hoist house is shown below. Since it would be real difficult to access the inside for paint I decided to stain the inside first then glue. I will leave the insides alone and paint the outside. The ore skip is put together (sits inside the hoist house). I will leave the door part open so one can see the ore skip machinery inside.

Since the ore skip assembly is included I am adding a floor to the hoist house. I still need to add bracing to the floor since it warped after applying the stain. A weight on it over night reduced the warp considerably. Right now I am thinking instead of adding bracing inside place it on the bottom so the building looks like it is lifted off the ground. I had to place a weight on the roof also but once glue to the rafters it should be ok.

I conducted an internet search looking for photos of the mine headframe and lo and behold the Builders in Scale site had a bunch of them - http://www.builders-in-scale.com/bis/kit/616.html! Once I saw the photos every thing became easy.

I need to add some cross bracing for the angled support poles. build the head frame shed and the ladder then this project is ready for paint.

Excellent work.

The structures are assembled. If one looks closely they can see the wire supports and NBW on the hoist structure. I did a background stain in preparation for painting this time around. I included the finished ore bin as a comparison. You can also see where the glue lines did not accept stain. The rods were easier than I thought they would be. I envisioned having to drill holes on both ends but ended up drilling one hole and since the wood is so soft I merely pushed the metal rod into the opposite end.

I will start sponging on browns today.

Looks nice Joe.  What did you use to stain the wood, I see some bottles in a photo is it a mix of these?

Rich - the grey/brown (Micro Mark)

The final detail work is complete. This project is ready to ship.

JoeThe finished product looks real good. Nice work

Joe, wonderful project thread; your customer should be very happy.

Thanks for taking us along.

What a great addition to any layout...well done

Thanks for all your comments

Next up is an O scale kit from Blair Line

Looking forward to the posts on the next build.

MELGAR

Joe Fauty posted:

Thanks for all your comments

Next up is an O scale kit from Blair Line

I think this is the same one, which I built.  Matt

Yep! It's beautiful!

Joe

I was once in HO but have built  many more structures (kits, scratch) in O.  Interesting to see a "pro" make mistakes (l have made a few!), and to use scribed wood versus individual boards....done that.  Wasn't that kit also offered in O?

Very nice work.  Thanks for sharing.

colorado hirailer posted:

I was once in HO but have built  many more structures (kits, scratch) in O.  Interesting to see a "pro" make mistakes (l have made a few!), and to use scribed wood versus individual boards....done that.  Wasn't that kit also offered in O?

If you mean the Blair Line kit - yep

If you mean the Builders In Scale kit - According to their web site no unless sometime in the past they did