Completing the roofing and smoke hood

I've been beavering away on a few smaller parts for the loco shed. The smoke hood and associated smoke stacks have been on the workbench for a while now. Then there's the shed doors to be constructed.

The last part of the building has been the extension of the roof. Yep, measure twice cut once, doesn't always get followed to the letter. Consequently the roof has been set aside for a while as I thought on the best way to move forward.

There are moments in this hobby, for me, where the fine art of procrastination seeps into the conscious mind, and makes the idea of moving forward simply impossible. That's the way it's been regarding this roof issue, for what seems like months. Well not seems like, it has been months. In the end the job ended up being easier than I thought. I had to remove all the iron and then cut it into two pieces. Then I extended the roof by the few millimetres it needed, then a reroof. The smoke stacks are made up of basswood with the top being made from cardstock that has had various paints put on to have it look like metal, somewhat weathered. Then it was simply a case of adding the curved iron for the top of the roof, and yep, there she was. I've gotta say I really like the mass of this building and what it adds to that end of the layout.

 So there she is weathered up a little bit, and set into the scene.

I've enjoyed the construction of this building, even though it's taken way too long. The finished product is something I'm happy with, can't wait to have built some steam to be in there!
The 'to do' list doen't seem to be any shorter these days.

Enjoy your week, model a bit, laugh alot!
Oorroo!
Geoff.

Locomotive Shed surrounds

Hi All,
I thought it worth showing you all what I've been up to. The next step in the completion of the loco shed was to weather the building then continue the scenery or greenery around it.

I enjoy weathering, however it seems that each time I have a crack at it, my technique changes. This is a good thing if you are after variation. This time though I made a few notes in my trusty notebook for future reference. I used three products for the rusting of the corrugated iron, two rust coloured washes and isocol. I began by putting on the lighter wash first, even dry brushing of this seems to work, as it doesn't take too much to be a little heavy handed. A second coat of the same wash I applied to give the rust some depth in a few areas. Next was the dark rust wash, not a lot of this was applied, but it is worth it.


After all this I had a break from it, did a few other things, then came back to it. It is surprising how your perspective changes after a break. The weathering was 'calmed down' with an earbud dipped in isocol. The high points of the corrugations are less likely to rust, so removing the rust from some of the high points really does make a difference.

The greenery is fairly run of the mill stuff, although I think that I need to reduce the colours that I've been using. A few extras have made there way into the mix. I need to reduce the number of colours, otherwise in my opinion, it looks too busy, and a little overdone. I'll have another look at it in a few days, and may need a touch up, as in I'll take some off or overlay with another colour.

On the workbench there are assorted spindly tree thingies that will soon find there way into the undergrowth, along with some sturdier ones as well. More on that next week. Yep! Next week, it has been ages since some modelling time presented itself, and I really haven't had much modelling mojo to get me back into it this new year. So yessiree weekly updates are the go! Here's hoping!

Have a great week!
Oorroo!