New Project Steel Mill Rebuild completed model pictures February 26, 2022

How did it wind up in that condition Alan?

Bob,

The customer picked it up from me and once it left me in 2009, I do not know. I got a call last year from the customer asking me if I knew anyone that may want to purchase it. I put my customer in contact with the fellow that bought it. This is the way he received it.

Very impressive structure.  How do you remove the dust before starting the repair and repainting if need be?

Unless the dust is an impediment to reconstruction, I think it adds to the authentic look. In that case, I would simply leave the dust. It is nature's weathering.

Must have got some water under the iron while tapping

I'll be watching the restoration closely!

Mike,

My neighbor gave me some makeup brushes and along with some long handled stiff paint brushes I am able to get the dust off without doing any damage.

The touch up painting will be pretty easy because most of the structure is various colored primers, some orange for rust, black and silver.

The lights are the hardest thing to deal with. If one is shorted out it takes out a whole circuit.

Billy,

I think this model was probably dropped and also jammed inside a car. If some water got under the iron I would only have repairs to the blast furnace.

Alan, it looks like the pieces came apart rather easily.  Did you use some sort of modular assembly techniques with disassembly in mind?  Did you have to undo any permanent bonds like glue joints?  If so how did you do that?

Alan, this is interesting. I hope you can give us updates on your restoration. Really neat structure.

tom

Joe,

I had to break some glue joints apart. The easiest ones to take apart are CA joints because they are brittle and break apart easy. Solvent glue joints can only be cut apart because they are like a weld.

I started repairing the lights , handrails and piping on the stoves, dust collector and gaswasher. I also repaired the rolling mill building and mounted it on a separate base. Here are some pictures.The new plan calls for re-arrangeing the stoves, dust collector and gas drier to the other side of the blast furnace.

Just about finished with the project. Here are some pictures

Wow Alan. That looks amazingly real!

Tom

Fantastic work!

Peter

ALAN - How do you ship these items or are they strictly picked up from your home?

Jim,

I have shipped items like this in sections in the past. The cost of shipping has been continuously going up, but it can be done.

Here are the completed pictures of the steel mill rebuild. Thank you all for your nice comments on this project.

Alan that is just fabulous.  Does the talent that produces these incredible models spill over onto the pool table supporting the steel mill?

Of course it does coach. If you like to play come over the next time you are in New Jersey and I will show you the finer points of the game.

Truly Amazing great job

Well done, Alan.  Getting the proportions right on an O-scale blast furnace is no easy feat.  Looks great!

George

Alan I expected as much.