Some recent work on the In-ko-pah RR

[Ed Keen]

Exceptional modeling Ray. Always a joy to view.
ed

[Ray Dunakin]

Getting near the end on this one...

After painting the exterior with Rustoleum's "Cold Galvanizing Compound", I went to work on the weathering. I've noticed that even galvanized metal can become rusted and/or discolored when exposed to the minerals and chemicals that are often found in and around mines, so that's what I wanted here. I used a two-part process to create real rust. This is sold under the brand name Sophisticated Finishes. Part one is an acrylic paint filled with iron powder. Part two is a chemical solution that rusts the iron.

Applying this effect to only parts of the structure, and in varying degrees, is a bit tricky. And the zinc in the galvanizing compound seems to inhibit it, which adds to the trickiness. I had to brush the iron paint on, applying a thick coat in some places and thinner in others. Then apply the rust solution. A lot of trial and error was involved, and additional applications of both the iron paint and the rust solution were needed. Here's how it looked partway through the process:





And here's the finished weathering. Time and exposure to real weather will improve it, turning the rust to a more natural coloration:





I added a rain gutter over the door to the blacksmith's shop, and also added a wooden lamp post and exterior lights:







I still need to cement the concrete steps in place, and build up the "soil" around the base of the building.



For the interior of the powerhouse, I painted the ceiling black between the rafters, and drilled holes where the lights will be:





The industrial-style lampshades are from Plastruct. I drilled them out to fit 3mm LEDs, which will be inserted from the top. Then I glued them to the ceiling:









The diesel generator is still unfinished, but was installed temporarily for these photos. I also added lights to the assay office, on the level below the powerhouse:






Meanwhile... the fence along the east side of our yard was replaced recently with a nice, new vinyl fence. But removal of the old fence left one corner of the pathway at the bottom of the railroad unsupported. So I had to dig out a lot of gravel and soil, and build up a small retaining wall of concrete blocks and concrete. Here it is in progress. I still need to dig soil out from under the corner of the step at the bottom of the stairs, and back-fill it with concrete:








That's all for now. Enjoy!

[Design-HSB]

Hi Ray,

very nice and interesting, thanks for the continuation of the report.

[Bill Gill]

Good stuff, Ray. Real rust on real zinc ought to really weather further really well
The powerhouse is looking good too.

[Barney]

Very nice and well thought out - looking at a similar set up for Huffkins Mine -generator driven either by Diesel engine or water turbine - found a few ideas in North Wales - slab of slate for fuses and switch gear
and an open frame generator
Barney     

[Ray Dunakin]

Way back in January 2015, I finished the interior of a radio repair shop. That same building had room for another shop which was going to be a barbershop. By March of 2015 I had scratchbuilt a barber's chair:





Then the barbershop got put on the back burner while I worked on some other projects. Well, I'm happy to say that I've finally finished the barbershop, more than three years later!

I started by building a corner cabinet with a mirror. The parts were cut from thin Sintra PVC board:









The mirror was something I had bought from the craft store a few years ago. It had a thick, very oversized frame cast out of polyester resin. I had to sand off most of the frame to get it down to a useable size:






Once I got this far, I decided to add a counter extending to the left:







I added a couple strips of quarter-round rod to hold the mirror in place and hide the gaps:




After adding some styrene strips to represent drawers, and slices of styrene channel for handles, the cabinet was painted. Here's a shot of it temporarily in place in the building:





Then I started making all the little details. A coat rack was made from a strip of styrene and short sections of thin brass rod:




Various bottles were turned from clear acrylic rod and hand-painted. Vintage signs, posters, calendars, etc were printed on self-adhesive vinyl. The "glass" on the clock was cut from a cheap plastic "google-eye":







I wanted a simple wooden chair for waiting customers. I tried ordering one in 1/24th scale from a vendor on Shapeways. The first batch arrived and were too small. I notified the vendor, he made some changes, and sent me another batch. These were too large. Finally I just scratchbuilt a chair in the correct scale. Mine's the one in the middle:




I painted it to look like varnished wood:




More details were created to fill up the east wall, including a scratchbuilt magazine rack:




Here's an overhead shot, with the ceiling removed:




I made ceiling light fixtures from an acrylic "tulip" bead, a white fluted bead, and a plastic button. The bases of the lamps were painted with a metallic "steel" paint:






At last the building was finished and reinstalled on the layout. I also have added curtains and lighting to the Grizzly Bar Saloon:








The town of Mineral Ridge is really starting to look alive. Once I've finished adding interior details and lights to the remaining structures it will really be impressive:




















Enjoy!


.

[Greg Hile]

The town of Mineral Ridge is really starting to look alive. Once I've finished adding interior details and lights to the remaining structures it will really be impressive:

Uh, Ray, it's already pretty damn impressive. So glad to see you back at modeling!

[Design-HSB]

Hello Ray,

nice to see the magnificent construction progress. Only the braces of your home-made chair look even better. Otherwise just great.

[Bill Gill]

Ray, Great oak grain on the chair! And even the blue antiseptic for the combs. Another terrific interior all around.

[Lawton Maner]

I do hope that the magazines in the barber shop contain the latest copy of the Modelers Annual.  Also as per federal law none of the magazines can be newer then 7 years old.

[finescalerr]

Oh, is that a federal law now? I thought it still was only a Divine Law. -- ssuR

[Lawton Maner]

Not sure, but it must be the law as no waiting room I've ever been in contains any current magazines.   

[nk]

That is a great barber shop. And the grizzly bar is perfect...reminds me of what Sam Elliot said in the Big Lebowski..."A wiser fella once said, sometimes you eat the b'ar, and sometimes, well, the b'ar eats you"

[Ray Dunakin]

A brief "infrastructure" update...

I finished that small retaining wall that was needed after the old fence was taken out. It goes down about two and half feet, and extends under the bottom step of the concrete stairs:






Another bit of recent fence work...I had an opening put into the wrought iron fence along the front of the layout. Now there are two entries to the layout, one at each end. This is much more convenient, and will also alleviate the bottleneck that forms when we have large groups come to visit:




In the background you can see the new vinyl fence going up the hill. I used to have a handrail mounted to the posts of the old wooden fence. I need to figure the best way to mount the handrail to this new fence, since the posts are hollow PVC.


.

[Bill Gill]

Ray, All the "invisible" infrastructure improvements you did look good
Definitely do not rely on anchoring any kind of handrail to the vinyl. Could a railing be mounted to pipe posts between the vinyl fence and stone steps?