You know, I drove by it every day for 5 years on the way home from work, and the pictures I have of it are mostly background shots - I was so focused on shooting the SP, I didn't think about taking pictures of it for reference, and didn't have a layout then. Thankfully there's Google Earth and Bing... You're a lucky guy in my book
I'm finally ready to start painting this beast! Here's how it looks now, with all of the major assemblies in place (but not attached to each other or the base yet). There are 9 different structures built separately, hopefully to make it easier to paint. From the 9th street side: And from trackside:
This has to be one of my favourite scratch-build pieces I have ever seen. The detail right down to the ladders and catwalks is phenomenal. It is builds like this that are inspiring me to try my hand at a scratch build... although I think I will try something much less complex than this first.
Ditto what everyone else has said Dave! I hope you plan to leave the base detachable from the layout so that you can take this model to shows. This one will win awards with out question!
WoW Dave I've followed this thread from the beginning and You have done some really awesome modeling here. Thanks so much for sharing. All of the details when painted I know it's going to look just like the Prototype. And I must agree with Mark leave the base detachable so you can take this one of to shows, because you've got a sure Winner there.:thumbs_up::thumbs_up: Glen
Me being a hardcore scratchbuilding buff, I am simply overwhelmed! I just went through all the 12 pages and I really love the exquisite detailing and overall execution of this project. I believe it's been colored and weathered already in last couple of months... I am dying to see the complete thing... Again... excellent work...:thumbs_up::thumbs_up::thumbs_up:
Yeah, see? Isn't it better to have 11 pages of 'here's how to do it' than 'why won't anybody make a decent modern milling facility..blah blah whine & moan..'? And even if they did make this as a kit do you realize what it would cost? Or somebody would complain...'it's still not quite right....'..... So yeah, get out the stock and etched materials and eat the elephant one bite at a time. This is how it's done. And this is why scratchbuilding in N scale can be so satifying. You can do a complex this size, to scale, and you don't need a minivan to move it around. Landmark thread and well done, a credit to the scale. Really like the way this leaned on Google Earth as a tool for modeling as well, without getting anybody arrested for trespassing!
Awesome!!! The painting is going to be equally as challenging. Can't wait to see the finished model. Excellent work!!!!
Thanks for the kind words guys. Yes, nothing beats the satisfaction of scratchbuilding in my mind - it's fun, and you can make unique pieces and match prototypes. Nimo - No, I haven't painted it yet. It turned really cold here quickly, and since I do my airbrushing outside or in the garage, it's on hold the weather warms up, which could be springtime . With all the time I've got in it, I don't want to risk shooting it in too cold of temps. That's ok, I've got other projects in the hopper .
Dave, If you get anxious, you can bring it over and paint it at my house one evening. Heated basement with a ventilation fan/paint booth. I've sprayed many an RC car body in the dead of winter with a lot worse paint that we use on trains. Either that or we need to break you of the solvent based paint and teach you how to shoot with acrylics one of these days. After I learned how to use them, I think they work soo much better for styrene at least. Too many people are hanging on your next step...
Well, I understand that... I can surely wait a couple of months and DEFINITELY don't want this beauty to get spoiled...
Oh my. I haven't checked in on this thread for a while, but that mill is just ridiculously fantastic! I'd love to see a panorama of Modesto now with this mill, the depot, the cafe, the welcome banner, and the street running. It's shaping up to be one of the most distinctive urban scenes in all of N scale. -Gary
Thanks Gary! The panorama is coming, but for now here's an update....it was warm on New Years Eve so I was able to put some primer on it. Unfortunately it's turned cold again so it'll sit in primer till the weather warms up (thanks for the offer Tony, if I get too anxious I may call you...just shooting it w/ primer took the better part of an afternoon due to all the pieces and angles).
