Dyeworks building

Finally I have more or less finished the major dyeworks building.  I am still tinkering with it and will be adding more details including signs.  The basic building is brick using a variety of brick products including one side wall from an old Downtown Deco kit, one side wall from CC Crow, and the front wall from brick laser engraved wood by Monster Modelworks. The back which will never be seen is embossed cardstock brick from and old SS Ltd kit - I have an extensive collection of spare parts.  The upper story is wood.  All windows and doors are commercial parts from my collection of windows and doors.  The water tank is wood - the first tank I built for my tannery but found it to be too small, but it fits here.  The left side of the building has some piping (made from plastic sprues) that will be connected to a set of tanks yet to be completed.

The small wood shed on the right is an entrance to the building.  As usual this building bears little resemblance to my original rough sketch, which is why I don't spend time drawing plans.  

This took longer than I expected as I was doing work in the yard due to the unusually warm March weather.  The plants are blooming early and the weeds are rampant.

Dye works concept

I have done some research for my dye works and formed a concept.  I do not have the resources available that I had for the tannery project, but it is adequate for my purposes.  Local dye works thrived in the late 1800s and early 1900s but by the mid 1900's they were mostly eliminated by large chemical companies.  Prior to the late 1800s dyes were mostly made from natural products such as wood, roots, berries, leaves and bark.  Then the discovery of synthetic dyes became prevalent and essentially eliminated the market for natural dyes.  Since I model the 1939 era my dyeworks uses synthetic dyes, and thus is essentially a small chemical plant.  The use of synthetic dyes created a vastly wider array of colors for dyes.  Below is a photo showing a moderately large early natural dye works that apparently used wood to create their dye products.

In the photo you can see stacks of logs used in the dyeworks.  Since I have not yet found any suitable prototype dyeworks photos for my era I have extrapolated how it might look based on the typical elements found in small chemical plants.  My dyeworks only develops and sells the dyes.  Many of the dyeworks both made the dyes and did the dyeing of cloth.

Different types of cloth require different dye material.  Some examples are silks, cotton, wool, etc.  each has their own properties. The dyes are essentially colors in a solution and require chemicals called mordants to enable them to adhere to the cloth.  Some examples of mordants are tannic acid (from bark for example), sodium chloride and a variety of metal salts.

I made a few rough sketches of structures for my dyeworks and am well along on the first building.  I plan to have a number of external tanks in my dyeworks to add visual interest though most dye tanks would likely be located within the structures.  There will of course also be lots of piping.  I hope to have this first building complete in a few days.  I am not aware of this industry having been previously modeled though it may well have been and I just never saw the models.

Tannery scene

Well, I have the tannery in-place and sceniced.  Will probably do more detailing over time.  For me nothing is ever finished.  Since the tannery sits on the outside corner of my layout it is hard to photograph without getting an aisle.  When you look at something like this in person the eye filters out things that are not part of the layout.  The camera is not that accommodating.

If I get any better photos or different angles I will post them but time to move on to the next project.

The barn and the farm

A while back I posted the dilapidated barn that I built.  It has now been installed on a very small farm on my layout.  The poor farmer that owns the farm had most of his land confiscated when the railroad went through so he sits on his porch and recalls the glory days.  The railroad however, did compensate him so he  actually no longer needs to work.  The farmhouse is a scratchbuild from my late father's Troll & Elfin railroad which I added to my layout for sentimental reasons.  It has been upgraded and modified a bit.  There are a number of animals running loose on the farm including cows, pigs and chickens.  The farmers wife is hanging laundry in the back yard.  She tries to get it dried between passing trains but usually has some soot to deal with.

I am now installing the tannery structures and scenicing around them.

My next industry project will be a dyeworks.  I am doing the research and making sketches.  I will probably post the tannery installation before anything on the dyeworks.  The challenge for me on all of these industries I build is to create some credible model while severely condensing what were usually fairly large industries.  Since I like the variety of industries I need them to be quite small in order to get them all on my layout.  Even though the layout room is about 17' x 25' the space is easily taken up.  Then, on the other hand since I have a very high structure to layout ratio it has been quite time consuming filling up the layout.

It is all fun which is what the hobby is about to me.

Tannery acid tank

This acid tank model was patterned after one I found on the Internet that was located at the Wilcox tannery.  It can be seen at http://www.jonestownship.com/history/Collapse_of_Acid_Tank.tif

My HO model was formed from two small hydrocal tanks joined end to end.  The supports were formed from wood.  I added a dome on top using a hollow pressed metal piece of unknown origin which was in my scrap box.  Since it has an open top I made a lid propped open for visual interest.  There is an interesting wood platform on the prototype which I copied.  I have seen similar platforms on other tanks so it is not totally unique.  I added a figure, a small jug, and a sack to the platform, and a dirty rag on the railing.  There is a wood ladder for access to the platform.

This completes the elements of my tannery.  Now I need to install them on the layout, adding piping and scenery.  Once that is complete I will post a few photos of the tannery complex on the layout.

I have decided on my next industry to model and am researching it and sketching a few ideas on what it should look like.  I will have something on this next week.

UPDATE:  In response to the question, to make and finish the tank supports I first coated them with sanding sealer then sanded them smooth.  Then I sprayed them with gray primer and let them dry.  After they were dry I painted them with sandstone colored acrylic craft paint - not totally opaque.  Next I carved a few cracks.  Then I gave them a wash of india ink and alcohol to age the supports and make the cracks stand out.  Last I put on some very wet red-ish brown craft paint streaks.  Hope that helps.

Tannery water tank

I finally finished the tannery water tank.  It is about 36 feet high or 5 inches.  The tank is stripwood glued around a dowel.  The rest is all stripwood except the roof shingles which are Campell shingles applied one at a time - very tedious.  As usual, all of the wood is stained with india ink and alcohol.  The ladders were made from small stripwood glued using a template I drew.  There is a pump house under the tank structure.  The finial on the roof is a metal casting from my parts boxes.  I painted it copper then dry brushed it with light green acrylic for aging.  I installed a figure at the top of the lower ladder just about to get up on the platform - it adds a little interest.

The water tank will be at the rear of the tannery near the boiler house.

Now that this is done I will construct the acid tank, then all of the main components will be complete and I can complete installation on the layout and scenic around it.

While I am doing this I am trying to decide what my next project will be.

Tannery water tank inspiration

The photo below is part of my inspiration for the tannery water tank I am building.  The tank is almost complete but work has been interrupted for cataract surgery on one of my eyes.  All went well and I am back to modeling.  The tank shown here is considerably larger than what I am building - the tank shown here is a 125,000 gallon tank on a 50-foot wood tower, but it contains some of the features I am including in my model such as the design of the platform.

The model will be posted in the next day or two.  As usual I have continually made modifications to the design as I went.  It seems that as I build I see changes that I find appealing.  That is why I don't take the time to draw any plans - just sketches and where needed framing templates.