I have been asked to post some information about the Newell Steel yard that is on my layout. Newell Steel and Alamo Iron Works are two similar businesses on my layout. They also actually exist in close proximity to each other within San Antonio. Here is an overhead shot of the layout Newell Steel: The large green building is the main structure you see when you drive by it on Highway 90. On my layout, that is the only structure on the property as I have done a lot of selective compression. A track runs through the building and into the scrap yard. This is the only siding serving Newell Steel. Newell Steel facility is located between the "run around" for this switching location. If you follow the tracks, you can see the run around on the top and bottom of the Newell area. It is my intention to build an arc welder flashing light module to be hidden inside the building. (To do list item.) There are two main structures that I made for this industry. One is the fence. It is made of corrugated steel and is all scratch built. The brass fence poles are set into a styrene strip and the horizontal members are CAed to them. Here is a view of the fence under construction. The corrugated steel is a large sheet, spray painted and the pieces cut from that. Each piece is individually CAed to the fence structure. I have selectively left holes and "damaged" areas in the fence. Rustall was used for weathering here. The "ground" and track still needs to be painted and weathered.
The other scratch built construction is the various piles of scrap sitting around in the yard. This begins with collecting anything and everything that comes off of your workbench. I don't like large items for this scrap pile, so sometimes I cut things up. It can be a whole axle or just the wheels. It can be a styrene runner from a kit (cut this into small pieces) or a mangled piece of brass. Anything. I save them all in a small bowl. Next I go to my scrap yard scene and decide where I want the scrap pile to be. I cut a plain, white sheet styrene piece to fit this. If you have a large area, I suggest dividing it all up into smaller pieces of sheet styrene. Then I paint the sheet styrene with Elmer's white glue. It will be thick as it covers all the sheet. Just drop your scrap pieces into the glue and cover the styrene. It is okay to have pieces sticking over the edge. Let this dry and begin stacking scraps on top of the previously glued section. When you have the pile like you want it to look, glue these pieces like you are gluing ballast. Wet it first and use a 50-50 water-glue mix to drip down into the pieces. Let this dry completely. After all this is dry, paint it all a rust color with a rattle can or airbrush. Cover everything. Don't worry if some areas of the styrene is not covered. This is going to be such a pile of scrap that no one will notice. After the paint dries, you can add various paint colors or chalks to highlight the individual pieces in scrap pile, but I don't suggest too much of this. You want to have a general blending appearance. Here is the result showing a small pile of scrap and the place where it will be located. Small scrap pile in place: If you look carefully at these scrap piles, you can identify some parts and not others. That is the idea. You want a uniform appearance of an irregular shaped mass. I think that you should practice to get it as you wish. You can always pile more trash on top if you don't like it. In fact, as I view this photo above, I think that the trash pile in the middle should have a little more trash added. More later.
That is the nose of the last E-7A shell that Atlas had from the original run of E7 units back around 1977. I called to get one in 1990 to kit bash an E7B unit and the only one left was in someone's desk drawer. The only thing new is the history you don't know.
Alamo Iron Works is another location. Here is a photo showing different types of scrap. Beyond the crane on the right side are more of the scrap piles that I made. The scrap pile right next to that crane is made of all truck frames. I have another one that is all wheels. There are model pieces that have all been painted a rust color. In fact, painting most any piece a rust color makes it a candidate for the scrap yard. The automobile stacks (Fine N Scale) in the left foreground were given to me and need to be either rusted or painted and rusted. The blue dumpsters and the pile of tires are from Burt Industries. I'm not sure the pile of tires is appropriate for a scrap pile. Half way up on the left is an old steam tender filled with wheels. Also a rusted caboose shell in the back. Almost anything you can think of is fair game. It just takes time and you immediately have a lot of that. Just start saving stuff. More and more stuff. It will eventually add up and there is your scrap yard.
My so far un-named junk, scrap, recycle and fluid waste disposal company. Still a work in progress, as is everything else on my layout.
This is a Google Earth picture of Newell Steel. In this photo, the upper right corner with the nice lake and gardens is Lone Star Beer. The rest of the photo is Newell Steel. You can see the curved siding coming into the facility from the top. It covers several blocks as the company has many processes for recycling steel and other metals.
Flash I appreciate you doing this tutorial.It gave me some great ideas as well did SD90 for my future scrap yard.The best part is the corrugated fencing...That is awesome...
I guess I'd better start looking through all my bins of small parts. Or better yet, just dump them and paint them rust. After all these years, I've certainly got a big collection, in multiple bins. Thanks for the inspiration, Flash.
I's suggest closing your eyes, reach in and pull out whatever feels interesting. Open your eyes and chop it up.
Nah! I'd rather dump it all on the floor and stomp on it. I can hurt myself either way, but stomping results in less blood.
Nolan- tough soles Flash- It looks real, but that is not a rust color in the photos. It looks like dirt with a purplish hue. Very effective.
No, surplus Army boots. Or the construction boots I bought--gasp!--43 years ago, and still haven't worn out. That, of course, may mean I haven't done much construction in 43 years.
Flash, Thanks for the pics and the inspiration. We have a section on the club layout that we were thinking of doing very similar to this.
Fotheringill: You know, I looked at those photos and I know you are right. I think some of the hue may be lighting effect as that is an old picture. There is definitely purple in it and the Testor's Model Master rattle can is labeled "FS 30140 Light Earth." I would use any close rust color. Probably good to vary the color slightly. I think the modified rust color in the Alamo Iron Works is better than the rust color in Newell Steel. Rustall should make Newell Steel look better.
