Thursday, December 28, 2023

Old water wheel grist mill

 This model took a long time to build and I also had many other time consuming activities.  I had a photo on a calendar which was my inspiration for this model.  It is a flour mill with the grain ground by stones inside the mill activated by water flowing onto the mill wheel which then turns the grinding stones. 


The mill sides are made from commercial scribed wood with plastic windows mostly from Tichy.  The wheel and the water conduit over it are scratch built.  There are two figures  and a small goat.  The stone walls under at the base of the water equipment are plaster type material castings.  


This side view shows the entrance and a pile of flour bags on the walk platform.  The roofing is strips of painted paper to simulate tar paper. 


Above is a view of the other side of the mill.  

When I install this mill there will be raised surroundings.  






Friday, October 27, 2023

Wooden coal tower

 This is a relatively small coal tower,  all scratch built.  


This is a front view of the coal tower.  There are two figures on the top deck.  The ladder on the side is a plastic part.  The coal chute is made from wood and cardboard.  The cable hoist on the upper deck moves the chute up and down. 


Above is a view of the left side and you can see the coal dumping grate behind the tower where coal is dumped the be lifted to the tower bin by a chain of buckets inside the shaft at the back of the tower.  


Above is a view of the right side.  There are some small bushes at  the base of the shaft.


Above is a rear view of the tower.  At the bottom of the shaft is a hatch to access the interior of the shaft.  


Monday, September 18, 2023

Industrial Supply shop model

This shop supplies parts, tools and equipment to various small  industries. 


This is a front view. There will be no photo of the back of the building as there is nothing of interest to see there.  The loading dock has a variety of details and two figures.


Left side view.  

Above is the right side  showing the stairs and the second story porch.


Above is a view of the porch details including a figure sitting on a chair with a table near him with a bottle and a wrench on the table.  There is a small tool box to the left of the door.  

Next I will be constructing a small coal tower for my steam locos. 

 

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Small old water tower

 This old style wooden water tower is for being located next to a structure.  The figure was included to give an idea of the size.  There is a small roof hatch at the top of the ladder.



The figure is holding a lantern.


The tower tank was built by glueing vertical boards to a section of thick dowel.  


Thursday, August 17, 2023

Old shack model

I like building small models and especially those well weathered.  This model has a board by board exterior with a lot of exterior details.


Above is a rear view showing the shack at the back.  The main roof is tar paper style and the shed roof is corrugated metal.  This side details include short ladder, some shelves with various detail parts, and a pile of wood with an axe on top.
  

Above is a front view with the same side.   There are two figures in the front one lying down on the porch.
  

Above is a view of the other side.  The details on this side include some barrels, a hand cart, a wheel barrow with some tools on it and an old tire.  The cart and wheel barrow are scratch built.  Now I need to decide what to build next.   



 

Friday, July 21, 2023

Old brewery model

It has been a while since I posted anything.  This brewery model was complex due to the internal details and I had other issues that took my time.  The interior details are just things I built that seemed to me to look like what an old brewery would have.


 The photo above shows 3 buildings.  The one on the left is where the beer is brewed.  The one in the middle has large barrels where the beer is stored.   The one on the right is the office.     
  

Above is view of the brew house with the roof removed.  


Above is a view from above showing the interior of the brew house with the roof removed.  


Above is a view of the beer storage building before the roof was installed.  

The construction of this model was interesting.  



Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Small house with car port

 This small old house has a car port and a rear shed.  On the car port is a removable car, a trash can, an old tire, some shelves with stuff on them and a figure of an old guy who lives in the house.  


Above is the front of the building and there is a car in the car port.



With the car removed you can see the details.



Above is a view of the rear with the shed and the other side of the house. The stack was made using a section of plastic sprue.  



Sunday, April 30, 2023

Barn model with cows and pigs

 This barn has cows and pigs in the fencing outside the barn.  Then only commercial parts to the barn are the siding and the tar paper on the roof.  There is very little details inside the barn as they would be difficult to see but I did put some hay bales in the upper floor of the barn which has an inside ladder to climb to the upper floor.  There is a lift at he upper front opening to lift or lower hay bales. 


Above is a front view of the barn.  There is a water bin on the left side of the door and an open hay bale on the right side with a cow eating the hay.  There are two figures which are workers.  The front fenced area is for the cows.  On the right side in the back is the fenced are for the pigs.  


The photo above shows the two fenced areas.  Most of the fences are commercial plastic products.  


Above is a view of the pig area.  The pigs also have a small water bin and a tray of corn for them to eat.  


Above is another view of the cow area and the left side of the barn.

It took a long time to build this and I was also busy doing my least favorite task - taxes.



Sunday, March 26, 2023

Small restaurant model

 I had the sign and it was my inspiration to build this model.  The windows and front door are commercial parts.

The only interior detail is a figure sitting at a table at the window with a beer bottle in his hand.


The rear and side view above show the stove pipe, rear door and a wood storage box to fuel the stove inside.


Saturday, March 18, 2023

Hoisting machinery maintenance shop

 I am finally posting this model I finished over a week ago.  The delay was due to problems with my computer.  All the windows and doors are scratch built and the details in the shop shed are mostly made up with scraps I had.


You  can see the workman in the shed above.


The roof has commercial shingles.  



Above is a view inside the shed from the side attached to the building and was taken before it was attached.  One of the machines inside was made from an old model locomotive motor.  The barrels are rubber pencil erasers.  As usual it is hard to see interior details but I like making the anyway.


Friday, February 17, 2023

New model shelf background

I have set up a new shelf to display the models I build.  Below is a background of structure images for the display area.  


These structure images were copied from various sources which took a lot of time to get images that fit together and I added some sky and cloud backgrounds.

Now I will build some more structures that will go on the shelf in front of the background images.


Friday, January 27, 2023

Derrick attached to drive machinery

I have completed finally the derrick for the drive machinery.  It took me a long time because I had to scratch build the pulleys along with the wiring and it was complex.   


The derrick is on a wood platform made with individual boards and the derrick beams are wood.  The pulleys are card stock sides with a short piece of wood dowel between them.  The hook is a commercial metal casting.  The wires are pieces of brass wire painted black.   

The rear view above shows a ladder leaning on the shed, a wood pallet and scenery on a piece of card stock.