Here is my gathering bucket and a very sharp and lightweight Japanese saw. It was a good day to gather because we had rain recently which helps to wash off any salt crust on the surface of the wood. I also do a freshwater wash at home. Most of the salt has leached out of this wood because the driftwood has been tossed high on the beach by storms, out of the reach of normal tides. My rail ties are also made from spruce but from trees on my property in Victoria Harbour on the Bay of Fundy. No salt on this wood. (I can also use birch from wind-fallen trees on my property.)
Two of my favourite wildflowers grow on this beach in the summer. The beach pea (Lathyrus japonicus) and the evening primrose (Oenothera biennis).
Several months ago I experimented with West Jeddore driftwood and made several walls with different treatments, timber frame interiors, even a round clock for the wall. Cut one stained glass window with a shale sill on the inside. The shale is from Walton, Nova Scotia and will also be used for roofing and bedrock.
Most of my scratchbuilds will be from designs published in MR and RMC from 30 to 60 years ago - old school. I hope to start one this evening as an example in this thread. DJ
There is a lot more to these walls than meets the eye. For example, take the timber frame wall. The outside is like the other two - small HO-scale planks of West Jeddore driftwood held together with fast-drying wood glue and cracks filled with red sandstone from Cape Blomidon, NS. Finally, a polyurethane coating. If the inside wall is not treated, the wall bends permanently. On the inside wall of the timber frame is a layer of gypsum from Windsor, NS (my invented HO version of Gyprock). This balances the stresses on both sides of the wall so it won't bend - even if there is no timber frame structure on the inside (like the other two walls shown). Takes at least two weeks to build one small structure but for me, it's the last hobby of my lifetime so I've got time.
The wooden clock on the wall is a small cross-section of West Jeddore driftwood and the hands are also driftwood. The black spots for the hours 3, 6, 9, and 12 are pieces of coal from the mine in Springhill, Nova Scotia.
I am much better at making windows today than that first attempt. I cut my own stained glass for all my structure's windows with the proper tools now, and I have read articles like Joe Kunzelmann's on windows: Model Railroader, Vol. 31(4), April 1964, pp. 51-53.
Each piece of driftwood is cut into 4" lengths in order to fit across a 12" mitre box.
Like this.
Then I use my belt sander to flatten one side of a log so it won't roll around in the mitre box.
All ready to slice off boards.
A little more sanding and then into The Chopper.
And there we are. One slice off one 4" log provided 12 boards ready for the wall. The thickness of the boards is sanded down to HO scale after the wall is fully glued together. This is how I make rail ties as well but not from driftwood as I mentioned earlier.
So, is that the world's softest wood or are you using a mono-molecular blade in that chopper?My chopper III, even with a fresh blade, would not make it thru a slab of wood that thick without skewing off noticiably (IIRC the instructions do specify a max thickness for material to cut).
It's well-aged spruce softwood. I have cut several hundred this thick with the same original blade. Hundreds more thinner pieces. When the blade wears out I'll sharpen it or get a new one. When/if The Cutter needs repairs I'll do it myself. Not a problem for me.
P.S. The cuts along the grain of the wood go through easily.
In the last 1 hour I cut the rest of that 4" log. The yield was 45 boards and useful scraps that I save up to puree in a blender for scenery material.
So that's it. Taking a break from this community forum for the rest of the summer. I have an RC aircraft to turn into an air-driven catamaran.
Outstanding !!!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
mobilman44 Outstanding !!!
Just kidding. You see, that's how my former defence and intelligence company worked. Easy to bring out the worst! Lol
You can look up my company - Intrinsic Defence and Intelligence Enterprises on Nova Scotia businesses. Gone only on paper. :)
I will build a simple utility Shed. I have chosen a thin piece of shale from Walton, NS as the bedrock. While I build the foundation, I'll cut more boards and load them on a BC Rail 60' bulkhead flatcar used by one of the trackside industries. This car and a second with different road number, were made by Roundhouse Products. I bought them used but they're in great shape.
It takes 40 minutes to bake my own plaster of Paris. While that is happening right now, I just cut another log by hand in 20 minutes. When I get my band saw set up, this hard part will only take 5 minutes.
Hey, what about..."I have an RC aircraft to turn into an air-driven catamaran."
That sounds like an interesting project. What size motor is in there? Is it 3 or 4 channels? I wonder if Kalmbach has a forum for planes and/or watercraft. If they do, and you follow thru and post, let us know!
mobilman44 Hey, what about..."I have an RC aircraft to turn into an air-driven catamaran." That sounds like an interesting project. What size motor is in there? Is it 3 or 4 channels? I wonder if Kalmbach has a forum for planes and/or watercraft. If they do, and you follow thru and post, let us know!
I'll post some info tomorrow when I have breakfast at the Diner If you are interested.
Two 4" logs cut and loaded on the flat car. It is a lot of building wood considering it's only from half of one of the pieces of driftwood I collected. Be much faster and neater when I use a band saw.
To make a concrete-stone-looking foundation, I am going to use gypsum in its satin spar form from a beach on the Minas Basin near Cheverie, Nova Scotia. Gypsum is hydrated calcium sulphate. What I will do is drive the water out of the crystaline structures by baking this piece in the oven at 450 degrees for about 40 minutes.
After baking (calcining is the thermodynamic term) the gypsum has turned a powder white colour.
And it easily crumbles into plaster basically. Tomorrow I'll make my special concrete formula and build a foundation on the shale bedrock.
Dehydrated a second piece of satin spar gypsum, crushed, and then sifted into two grades: powder and particulate.
Using fast drying wood glue as a binder I start to build a base layer that adheres well to the shale bedrock.
Continuing to build the base using various spatula tools to shape and level. Keeping this base 2"x2".
Just noticed that a lot of pictures have disappeared from my imgbb account. I'll have another look in the morning. DJ
My former intelligence community are afraid of what I can do with pictures. They should worry more about text -even better than pictures. Lol
Yea! Pictures are back. Go figure. Must have been a solar flare. DJ
One more application should do it. I use 1 g of gypsum powder, 1 g gypsum particulate, and 2 g wood glue.
This is the mixture. I give it a few minutes for the quick-drying glue to get a little firmer, then apply with a curved, pointed, stainless-steel spatula - an excellent tool for this work.
Tools and tray clean up easily with hot water. Will let this foundation dry outside in the sunshine and heat of the day.
Once this foundation has dried, I will lightly sand it smoother on top and then paint it a gray cement colour. In the meantime, I will draw the four wooden walls and begin to build them. Should be able to start this later today.
Recognizing the OP's penchant for doing things "prototypically" with methods and materials, I don't understand why the foundation/base/slab isn't done in the same mode.
In example.......
First I would put in forms, using stripwood or in the OP's case, some of those driftwood boards.
Having formed the level perimeter of the structure's base, I would mix up the secret formula and then pour it into the form.
Using any of various "trowel-like" tools, I would smooth out the surface, leveling it with the tops of the form boards
Lastly, I would let it set, and once done, remove the form boards.
Now I recognize that the preceeding methodology may not have been followed in the OP's timeframe or area, but it sure beats out the example given.
Another log cut in record time. 52 boards from one 4" log.
Mobil: My railroad, my way, my fun!
I'll need sandstone filler for the walls that I want to make. This piece of red sandstone from Cape Blomidon will be powderized using a sanding wheel on my hand drill.
Old School Scratchbuilder wouldn't be the first user of this Forum to come here to share progress photos of his projects. Nor will he be the last. If you don't enjoy such posts, stop reading and commenting on them. Carry on, OSS.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Lots of red sandstone powder to start. Sanded the gypsum and applied a first coat of flat gray paint.
Another coat of paint applied, and two loads of shale from the beach in Walton, Nova Scotia.
Guess the contractors couldn't wait to store their road-building shale near the shed. Foreman is going to have them move the pile further from the foundation! Contractors jeesh!
These large pieces of shale are for the roadway's retaining and security walls. Finer grade will be on it's way for the gravel road.
Congratulations, Scratch, you are being awarded a Gold Star for having achieved 600 posts faster than any human being who has ever been a member of this forum.
When all is said and done, you better have something special to show us for all this time and effort.
Alton Junction
Retaining wall going up. Started to apply primer to the shed's pneumatic and electrical conduits.
Conduits painted and drying.
Board selection for the first wall.
Boards are glued to eachother and the grid wallpaper which will be sanded off later.
Wall dried overnight and then sanded. Red sandstone from the beaches of Cape Blomidon, NS was mixed with wood glue and applied to the wall. When sanded off, the sandstone will have filled cracks and given the wall a unique look.
Once completed, the utility shed will be located just off the access road to the barite processing plant.
Gypsum paste applied to the inside wall.
Leaving the gypsum wall a little rough adds character to the inside of the shed.
Primer added to the gypsum surface. A second wall started.
Outside wall sanded and polyurethane applied.
The images on the first page no longer display for me (the images on the second page are fine), so did the prototype shed you show have those large conduits? For what purpose.Also, is the black CN tank car residing in the gondola in the background of your later images supposed to be a wreck/scrap, or is it a case of "I need a place to put this for now"...
chutton01 The images on the first page no longer display for me (the images on the second page are fine), so did the prototype shed you show have those large conduits? For what purpose.Also, is the black CN tank car residing in the gondola in the background of your later images supposed to be a wreck/scrap, or is it a case of "I need a place to put this for now"...
Several of my images mysteriously vanished from imgbb. They still show up in this thread on my iPhone and computer, but not on my iPad. It's bizzare. Don't know if anyone else has experienced this with the imgbb site.
There is no prototype per se. I am using several ideas from old articles I have read to develop my own utility shed specifically for my barite processing plant.
I am buying up small used tanker cars from Maritime Hobbies and Crafts in Halifax (you can see three so far) and converting them into land-based industrial tanks. I will try to repaint one of the small Canadian Pacific ones this weekend. It will soak in strong oven cleaner tonight and I'll see what it looks like tomorrow. Of coarse I'll remove the nice metal wheels, couplers and other components I don't need. The tanks will actually be used for animation on the layout, including one on this shed site.
I will run electrical wires through one conduit and forced air through the other - two independent systems. Between the two, they will run motors, fans, lighting, etc. DJ
One wall complete and one tank is now soaking in extra strength oven cleaner over night.
All of the exterior walls in my entire layout will be made with this '8-layer' technique. From outside to inside: polyurethane, sandstone, driftwood, paper, gypsum, primer, paint, and quick-dry wood glue.
Salvaging parts of the Canadian Pacific tanker I want to keep and the rest goes into the trash. Top part of this tanker has been air-brushed with white primer.
Second wall ready for sandstone treatment. I like to add pieces with knots - adds character.
OldSchoolScratchbuilderI like to add pieces with knots - adds character.
chutton01 OldSchoolScratchbuilder I like to add pieces with knots - adds character. Hmm, that's a rather large knot in proportion to the remainder of the plank it's in, large enough that it would cause some structural issues if translated to the real world. Gives you an excuse to put a wood 'patch' over it, though.
OldSchoolScratchbuilder I like to add pieces with knots - adds character.
Hmm, that's a rather large knot in proportion to the remainder of the plank it's in, large enough that it would cause some structural issues if translated to the real world. Gives you an excuse to put a wood 'patch' over it, though.
Lots of things won't be to scale or prototype on my layout. Stained glass too thick, sequoia sized knots, Kadee couplers that don't exist in real life, plastic trains and rolling stock, electric rails, etc. I'm not following rules, not entering contests, just having fun the way I want to have fun. DJ
Third wall under construction.
Primer applied to tank.
OldSchoolScratchbuilder chutton01 OldSchoolScratchbuilder I like to add pieces with knots - adds character. Hmm, that's a rather large knot in proportion to the remainder of the plank it's in, large enough that it would cause some structural issues if translated to the real world. Gives you an excuse to put a wood 'patch' over it, though. Lots of things won't be to scale or prototype on my layout. Stained glass too thick, sequoia sized knots, Kadee couplers that don't exist in real life, plastic trains and rolling stock, electric rails, etc. I'm not following rules, not entering contests, just having fun the way I want to have fun. DJ
Rich
Rich: My railroad, my way, my fun.
Second wall's interior painted and drying. Third wall under construction. Picked up another tanker at the hobby shop today. The first CP tanker has it's first coat of white paint. Valves, conduits, tanks, piping, and much more are parts of a geothermal plant that supplies electricity to the barite processing plant through the utility shed. The geothermal plant is located beside the shed.
Third wall's exterior complete. A door will be installed with hinges and manual magnetic door handle later. Fourth wall will be constructed soon.
The conduits - through which you will be putting wires and compressed air - apparently are solid. What will you use to hollow them out?
I've done a project in the past wherein I used a Dremel tool with a small size (1/16 inch or less) bit and worked it back and forth. The trick is to not bust through the sides/end of the pipe where there is an elbow. That takes skill and patience and care to not drill ones fingers.
Using compressed air to power animation is something I've never seen. I can only imagine the challenges in getting that into play - and I look forward to your display.
Mobil: they are not solid. They are t-joints for aquarium air lines. I have all the gear: specially-designed quiet pump, many types of joints, standard air hoses, and control valves. Many of these items are only available in Asia through Amazon.
They sure looked solid, but I went back to previous posts and enlarged the pic where they are mounted on a piece of green foam. The openings were apparent. I've had aquariums for decades, and a typical air pump and tubing will surely do the job.
Fourth wall treated with sandstone filler. Roof cuts and sanding next. Corner trims will be made soon.
Fourth wall's inside surface will be completed this evening. Black CP tanker now a white and black industrial tank with red lion rampant.
Fourth wall complete, working on the door.
Stained glass window installed. Although the glass is transparent, it distorts the view like the letters PSI on the tanker behind the wall.
Glass was scored and cut with special tools.
The scoring tool and large glass piece that I cut the window from.
In case you are wondering, the window is offset from centre to allow for equipment installation (inside and outside) at a later date.
Embedded a metal staple completely inside the driftwood door. Used a piece of brass rail as a door footing. Working on miniature hinges today. May use modified hinges from eyeglasses.
Found a few pair of wire eyeglasses at the community recycle store this morning. Hacked off the hinges and will see what I can do with the door.
Worked on the door hinges today and now have a way ahead for using eyeglass hinges. Also, from Cape Blomidon sandstone I have investigated flooring and foundation applications.
Brand new family graphics business recently opened up about 5 minutes from my home. I dropped in today to talk HO scale decals. They printed my Walton Rock & Mineral Railroad text decal (WR&MR) right then and there. They are going to do all my decal needs including the red lion, custom WR&MR mining logo, even all the road numbers that I want. I left them sample commercial decals and three rail cars to look at For ideas.
Working on the shed's roof and auxiliary equipment, both inside and outside.
Graph paper also useful for laying out the driftwood roof. Once the glue dries there will be sanding and finishing to do.
Decided to go with a Cape Blomidon red sandstone roof.
Starting to add detail and technology to the utility shed today.
Ground radio antenna array installed on the shed. Also experimenting with decal materials from a new family graphics business in my neighbourhood. They made a few sheets of WR&MR and I bought scraps of various colours to play with, like this white boxcar roof.
Used a different decal application method on this second boxcar.
Lighting for the entire Pidgeon Creek section will be controlled by the operator through the geothermal plant. In some cases, like the Barite Processing Plant's utility shed, a dedicated battery power source will be remotely controlled.
Getting ready to place a big order of MRC transmitter/receiver equipment for all lighting (Light Genie) and DC diesel locomotive sounds (Loco Genie). Will now have a 100% DC layout with all the sounds and special effect thanks to MRC's innovative solutions for HO scale.
So, is the premise that the processing plant brought tank cars to repurpose as storage tanks? Because they don't look like any purpose-build stationary storage tank I've seen.Also, what era was this set in again? Those boxcars date it to the 1970s or later.
The past, present and future.
Bought this today at the hobby shop because it looked similar to my converted tankers. Definitely close enough for me.
The National Oil tanks have been stripped, primed, and repainted White for the geothermal plant.
A few more tanks to paint and then I work on all the pipelines and support structures.
Road trip to our Bay of Fundy property yesterday to cut wood for rail ties. Our hay field was cut and bales loaded for feed.
Cut a load of wood from the woodland section of our property.
Down on the shoreline the Fundy tides have reshaped the caves at the bottom of the rugged cliff. It was a great day for our 38th anniversary.
Today I cut all the wood into 4" logs. The logs in behind are West Jeddore driftwood for structures.
Tanks for geothermal power plant stripped and primed.
Recently bought over 1000 pieces of used track for the metal rails. These rails and tracks will be used in several applications including support structures, truss bridges, high power transmission towers, gondola loads and much more. The bundle to the right in the picture contains 100 brass and nickel rails.
I suspect I already know the answer, but I might was well ask anyway...I looked at a number of different geothermal plants on-line (iceland was definitely over-represented), and could not find any using repurposed railroad tank cars. Do you have any prototype facility of this type in mind, or are you completely winging the design using the "rule of cool"?Also, you own property near the Bay of Fundy, and you are NOT modeling a Tidal power plant? Sad.
chutton01 I suspect I already know the answer, but I might was well ask anyway...I looked at a number of different geothermal plants on-line (iceland was definitely over-represented), and could not find any using repurposed railroad tank cars. Do you have any prototype facility of this type in mind, or are you completely winging the design using the "rule of cool"?Also, you own property near the Bay of Fundy, and you are NOT modeling a Tidal power plant? Sad.
I'm a physicist. I'm designing my own freelance plant using my third year physics text.
We have a geothermal plant on the waterfront right here in Dartmouth. All I need to do is design two turbines, two generators, two transformer substations, two scrubbers, two cooling towers, and a lot of piping.
I will use two double flash cycle designs so from the production well-head there will be four vertical separator tanks, two horizontal turbine 'tanks', two condenser units, two sulphur scrubbers, several valves and pumps, and pipes of various diameters to connect all components properly. The transformers at the electrical output will feed electricity to high voltage transmission towers which will span out in different directions from Pidgeon Creek. Today I found the ideal scrubber housings in the back room of the hobby shop - cylindrical loads on old Life-Like gondolas.
In my geothermal plant design, two rails will enter the facility. Covered hoppers will supply the plant with limestone for the scrubbers, and transport synthetic gypsum by-product from the scrubbers to wallboard manufacturers. Have to add these tracks to the layout so a few adjustments will be required. I bought a Walthers Mainline 59' Cylindrical hopper (Procor) this week. Will buy the other two road numbers by the end of the month.
OldSchoolScratchbuilderWe have a geothermal plant on the waterfront right here in Dartmouth.
Geothermal energy is used to heat and cool five buildings on the Dartmouth waterfront.
Assembling the primary double-flash separator this weekend. It consists of two vertical flash tanks which are now joined together. Next I will connect the input of the high-pressure separator tank to the production wellhead (not shown), and its brine output to the low-pressure separator through a throttling valve (Not shown).
The primary separator will be mounted on a foundation consisting of modified Life-like and Tyco train components: two cylinders filled with Nova Scotian gypsum 'concrete' and two railcar weights, plus a shortened gondola with two flat metal weights. Applied primer to the cylinders, will also paint the gondola.
First layer of gypsum 'concrete' poured, more primer applied to various parts, shortened gondola having it's paint stripped in heavy-duty oven cleaner overnight, and holes being made in the primary separator tanks for piping and also to run pneumatic lines to animate (really turn) the turbines.
Painting and fitting progressing nicely.
Working on the production wellhead and pipes to the primary high-pressure flash separator and exhaust silencer today.
Lots of work to do as I continue to design/build the geothermal plant's front end. The wellhead will be housed inside a structure made from sections of a CN container, currently being primed for painting. Pipes and supports being fitted, primed and painted. Plenty of rails cut for structural supports, towers, even electrical conductors. Having a great time!
Main rain water holding tank and overflow tank painted white. Water pump parts selected, drainage pipe primed, base plates primed, and another piece of CN container cut for the water pump platform. Ordered a 4' x 8' sheet of PVC foam board which will be cut and ready for me to pick up in a few days.
A model aircraft carburetor makes for a nice-looking geothermal wellhead.
Added pumps and rainwater to the reservoir. Realistic water layer should cure clear by tomorrow.