That is going to be one impressive elevator and mill complex when you get the piping and conveyors in Mike!
Another busy night at the RGW. Scott started the evening surprising us with freshly painted and weathered port-a-pottys that he subsequently mounted on a flatbed. He then headed to Maple Valley and reinstalled all of the trees that had been removed at the start of the mill project. Rey was busy running the SD60 around the layout when he came across a drooping Chooch wall in our exposed tunnel. He set to building and then installing braces to the roof area to hold the wall in place. As for me, I started by completing the repairs on the inserts inside the backdrop. This was a process of using course molding paste to fill in gaps/seams between the inlaid inserts. As you can see, it has been sanded and then repainted with both the concrete gray and charcoal on the upright. As the evening progressed I completed the install of the evergreen 291 L channel on the outer edges of the buried styrene. This completes this phase and allows me to mask and then paint the exposed edges of the "between track" inserts. It will be a rust color. Hopefully I can get to that this weekend. We'll see. Until next time, thanks for checking in. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
In addition to a few other things today, like forming a new base out of 1/4 inch plywood, I started routing the piping. The pipes will come together in the center and run through a pump that sends the grain to the elevator. I forgot that I had used a substantial amount of the Walthers piping kit on the lumber mill and the plastics manufacturer, so alas, I'll have to wait on the "resupply" kit I just ordered before I can finish this. Oh well. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
Here's a quick recap of tonight's progress on the RGW. I had a package on the doorstep when I got home, it contained 3 new RIX grain silos. Upon arrival, I asked Scott to start making them and he agreed. He was able to get one completed and a second started. Reynold continued track testing and found a pesky turnout that needed to be resoldered. After completing that, he found a second with a loose wire and repaired it. As for me, I worked on the grain mill piping before Scott arrived, then gave him desk access. I then spent the balance of the evening taping off the Boeing inserts for the next step in our process, painting the recesses a rust color. I'll be using Tamiya XF-79, Deck Brown, to simulate rust in the recesses. This weekend I'll paint the recesses so that next week I can start filling the styrene with course molding paste. That's all I have for tonight, as always, thanks for checking in. M RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
Spent some time this evening going all in to over engineer a scratchbuilt walkway between the two primary silos. I need to save some space, so I want to cut out one of the silo's ground access ladders. Logic, not that I ever exert any, dictates that workers need to get to both silos, so with only one ladder on the ground, there needs to be a connection between them. I'm making this template out of 010 styrene. The final version will be 030 styrene. As you can see on the left, I cut small pieces to fit between the silo seams. I'll do this for the other side as well. When I finally transcribe this to the actual piece it should fit just right. Crossing fingers all these paste and bail wired pieces will do the trick. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
That is looking good Mike! I want to pass on, Douglas Harding Iowa Central Railroad on YouTube has a very good presentation on grain elevators. It details elevators in Kansas on the Rock Island line. There are many nice photos of the different components that make up an elevator. The thing that caught my eye was the colors of the different components, that makes the structures very eye catching. I am looking forward to seeing the completed model.
Thx Dale. Just watched about 20 minutes of it. I actually have a few pages of that PowerPoint he was using. Rey found it online. I hadn't actually gone through much of it. Guess I'll have to now. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
Doug Harding is quite the talented modeler. I have been in contact with him through the Internet, for a good number of years. He has done many historical and modeling presentations and a very good job with them.
The part I found most interesting about Harding's presentation, is that it wasn't even his PowerPoint. And yet he talked through it as if it were. Clearly knew his stuff! RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
The River Rail guys do a Thursday night zoom meeting. I was lucky enough to get on the mailing list for it. Quite a nice bunch of guys. Dave Burman who hosts the zoom is putting together a presentation on grain elevators. There was some discussion about that and Doug mentioned his YouTube video. Dave informed me that my 2 Gavilon complex’s will be on the presentation. It’s nice to be noticed! Keep up the good fight Mike!
It's being noticed because of the craftsmanship. Take a bow my friend. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
Another step closer to completion of the Boeing buried tracks. Just finished spraying the rust in the open seams and on the exposed styrene inserts. Just for info purposes I used Tamiya XF-79, Deck Brown, thinned 90% with IPA (isopropyl alcohol). Sprayed with 20 psi. This was my first use of my new Grex AC1810-A compressor. It was absolutely silent, what a machine. I may give this a couple hours to dry and hit it with a second coat, but a quick inspection seems to reveal good coverage so we will see. One more checkmark on the to do list. Until next time, thanks for checking in. M RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
Not a lot of time today, so I hit the inserts with a second coat of rust and I was able to check off one more item on the Boeing to do list, retaping the inserts in advance of the course molding paste. If you look closely, you'll see I put down string between the inserts and the track, just in case I get sloppy. Not sure if I'll get to that tomorrow or if it will be Tuesday, but I very much anticipate that step. More soon... RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
Another work session is in the books. I started the evening covering all the Boeing inserts with course molding paste. As you can see, I gave it a few minutes to set up, then pulled up all the tape and the string to make sure the paste did not clog the rails. I'll let it set up completely and then give it a good sanding. It will probably mean masking again, but that's ok as I need to paint the inserts at some point anyway. Later in the evening I started to prep the main silos for painting. In this case I used 2mm Tamiya tape to cover the areas that need to remain bare so I can CA the parts together. I'll try and get that painting started in the next few days. Meanwhile Scott was busy putting together storage bin #2. By evening's end he had it in place and started bin #3. We are anticipating Doug coming back next week after a brief illness, so we look forward to that. So until next time, thanks for checking in. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
Bases painted and glued to silos. Now I can get back to working on the walkway. RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
Just completed the walkway platform in 030 styrene. Now to scribe in the walkway seams and start drilling for the posts. More soon..... RAINIER GREAT WESTERN RAILROAD
