Some recent work on the In-ko-pah RR

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks guys!

Greg, good luck with the surgery, I hope you'll be feeling much better real soon.

[Ray Dunakin]

The other incomplete model that I'm trying to get finished is the power house for the Mineral Ridge mine and mill. When I last worked on it, I had been in the middle of constructing the large diesel generator for the interior. That part of the project is still on hold, but I'm currently working on finishing up the exterior of the structure. Here's what it looked like when I left off:





I built two different smoke stacks for the building. One is for the generator and one for the blacksmith's forge. The generator stack is made of brass and has a conical cap:











The forge stack is a bit shorter and has a simpler design:





I also decided that the building really needed a pair of ventilation cupolas. I built these out of 6mm Sintra, with styrene strips for the louvers. Since I had already covered the roof with corrugated metal, I had to mount them to the metal with Dynaflex 230:











That's about as far as I've got, for now.


Enjoy!

[finescalerr]

I remember that building. It's going to be another gem. -- Russ

[Bill Gill]

Looks good, Ray.

[Ray Dunakin]

A little more progress...

Four strands of fine copper wire were soldered to the large smoke stack. The other ends of these wires were tied to tiny eye hooks, which I got from the jewelry section in Michael's:




I sprayed the entire exterior of the building with self-etching metal primer. Then I sprayed a bit of white primer onto the "wood" portions of the cupolas and trim:




I painted the doors and window frames, beginning with a coat of white primer. Next I applied various shades of brown and gray, to simulate the appearance of old wood. When that was dry, I liberally brushed on some Testor's enamel thinner. While this was wet, I added the white/green color coats, using a modified dry-brush technique. The enamel acts as a "resist", and this effect combined with the dry-brush technique results in a look of worn, peeled paint:








I also painted the removable interior of the building's main room. It's a bit rough, but doesn't need to be perfect. Much of it will be obscured by the generator and other items, and most of it will only be visible from one angle when seen through the windows:






The "wood" portions of the cupola and exterior trim were painted in a similar manner to the doors and windows:




Then I had to mask off these areas in preparation for the next step. I will be spraying the building with Rustoleum "Cold Galvanizing Compound". This will give the building a realistic appearance of galvanized metal:






That's all for now, more later. Enjoy!


.

[Bill Gill]

Looks good, Ray. Is the texture of the cold galvanizing compound fine enough for smaller scale models?

[Ray Dunakin]

Looks good, Ray. Is the texture of the cold galvanizing compound fine enough for smaller scale models?

It might be. I'm sure it would work for O scale, at least.

[TRAINS1941]

Nice work Ray.

Jerry

[fspg2]

Ray,

I enjoy your progress again and again!


Frithjof

[Ray Dunakin]

I used this photo of the control panel at the Diamond Tunnel mine in Nevada to create the electrical control panel for the model:





I started by importing a copy of the photo into Photoshop, where I retouched it, cleaned it up, straightened it out, and cropped it. Then I printed it onto self-adhesive vinyl. I mounted this on 6mm Sintra. I also printed a second copy to use as a guide in making some details that would stand out in 3D. I mounted these on 1mm Sintra, and cut them out:





I added some thicker pieces of Sintra as needed, and sanded them to shape. Then I glued the details to the main panel:





Next I cut out the slots for the switch levers, and removed the remaining vinyl. I also added some dials made from slices of styrene rod:





The switch levers were made from brass and glued in place:





Next I made a frame for the control panel, using styrene strips and a piece of heavy brass screen:





I painted the frame, and also painted the switches and other details to match the photographic print. Then I glued the control panel into the frame, and glued the entire assembly into the building's interior:







.

[Design-HSB]

Ray, that's a great combination of modeling and photography.

[Greg Hile]

Very impressive, as usual. I'm sure you've addressed this before but I couldn't find it. What do you do to protect and preserve your detailed interiors, especially the vinyl prints?

[finescalerr]

I don't know how it looks in person but the photos are absolutely convincing. -- Russ

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks guys!

Greg, after printing, I spray the vinyl with a couple coats of Krylon UV-resistant clear matte. And then the complete assembly is also sprayed with the same stuff.

[Bill Gill]

Definitely a good start on the interior, Ray.