Still working on Little's Lumber Mill this time the wood chip loader. Supposed to be able to assemble the supports for the bin right on the template as it is treated so glue doesn't stick. However I have been using ACC so I have a small test drop on the end to see if it will come loose when dried, if not then I go to the old reliable Elmer's yellow carpenters' glue. And I have to apply a small wood strip where the two side pieces join. Now getting to the fun parts. The lumber warehouse in back needs a loading dock and a roof for the dock to be built yet.
Looking good. That is why my small batch of little 40 and 50 foot coastal vessels all have the same bow. Got what I wanted and did a number of castings and my larger 200 footers all used commercial hulls.
Now I just need to get one breadboard to start talking to the other and figure out how to log their conversations in a usable format.
The problem with bows is that you've got a concave curve in the vertical dimension and a convex curve in the horizontal. I actually "stretch" the styrene, but it takes a stout underlying structure, and an equilateral approach, working toward the bow on both sides, to get something that isn't warped or doesn't pull the hull off kilter. This is a "fat" 1970s ship, so the bow lines in both directions were more curved than normal, and took five plies to form. I'm not sure if anyone would notice if I substituted a more modern bow that does not have the pronounced knife edge. The modern bow is many times easier to build, as naval architects realized the knife edge bow really didn't do much but look cool. The below waterline bulb had much more impact in parting the waters efficiently.
Started assembly of the support structure for the wood chip bin and loader. The old NWSL Chopper got a workout this morning. Combination of styrene rod and wood structural members. Elmer's yellow carpenter's glue being used here. About a day to dry then I start the other one. Meanwhile I precut all the lumber and styrene rod for the next one seen on the left. Filled in the gap on the two part side of the chip bin and straightened up the roof eave joint. Nothing to do now except wait until I can start the next one so off to the rest of Sunday's Times and a nap.
Well all the components of the wood chip loader came together today. Besides being short of the metal roofing material I was also short of what was supposed to be the wood material for the concrete footing for the supports. Even If I had it to use my tallest wood chip car would not have cleared the lowest cross member. So it was dig into my wood scrap drawer and come out with something taller. Since I also wanted to be able to pull a loco through it and have the smokestack clear I went even a little higher. The car is based off an early SP&S prototype that started as an old boxcar that had the roof removed and a couple of sideboards added to the top and ends. Still have about a weeks worth of work with building yet some more ancillary structures.
View attachment 63152 View attachment 63150 I know someone else painted one of these, just goes to show you great minds think alike. View attachment 63151 Just some of my latest work. Not sure I posted these or not.
Neat work! Alliance, NE seems to be a railroad town pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I know there's Carhenge (I covered it for auto magazines back in the late 80s or early 90s or so), but what else is out there?
Thanks Shawn , Great work and I was merely referring to the lack of a signature in the post. I did not know to whom the compliment was to be addressed. Thanks Again Shawn. Mike
Yeah, that's what I say about Oxford, Ohio. We are in the middle of nowhere, and a long ways from other nowheres.
Here's a question related to something that may soon end up on my work bench: I have a few of the early Kato Dash 9's, and I've really started to dislike the nose mounted number boards on them. Never mind the fact that they have no numbers, anyway. I'm not sure if they are actually molded on, or not, but does anyone know if there is an easy way to remove the number boards and/or maybe fill them in?
You may want to check the shell from inside to tell. Kato has applied separate number boards in the past to some models, not all though. Should be a slight line if they are separately applied.
Continuing on with Little's Lumber now building the log decks. The log decks set either side of the green chain and feed logs to it. This type of operation is generally found with a cold deck log storage whereas with a pond the logs are floated directly onto the green chain. Next is to build the green chain itself.