Extreme weathering -- prototype structures

[Ray Dunakin]

Here are some cool examples of extremely weathered structures, photographed during my recent Nevada trip...

The first two pics are from an abandoned miner's cottage in Ruby Hill, NV. I'm planning to model this building someday. It has a fabulous mix of materials and textures:








Here are some from Tonopah, NV...



Note the faint traces of green paint:



Here's another great old ruin that I'd like to model sometime:




I don't think I can ever get styrene to look as good as this, but it's something to shoot for:



Here's one from Goldfield, NV. Note the crude manner in which the porch was enclosed:

[mobilgas]

great pictures, the color's of the wood on these building are great, like the building with the closed in porch.....lots of ideas....   Craig   Mich

[chester]

Thanks for the photos Ray. Great modeling subjects. It's interesting to see just how differently things weather in a dry desert environment compared to what I'm used to seeing in the relatively wet Northeast here. Much less of the silvery washed out look on the wood there.

[Chuck Doan]

Beautiful shots Ray. I could just do that one knothole.

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks for the photos Ray. Great modeling subjects. It's interesting to see just how differently things weather in a dry desert environment compared to what I'm used to seeing in the relatively wet Northeast here. Much less of the silvery washed out look on the wood there.

Yep, the hot sun and arid conditions really make a difference. Also, notice how on that little house in the first three photos, the wood on the east and south sides is very brown; while on the north side it's mostly gray.

[MrBrownstone]

hello Ray,

Wonderful photos,

What is that bucket for? (the one with the wire on the handles and looks like a pipe connected to the bottom of it)

I also was noticing the lack of silering of the wood (as chester was saying)

heh and I was just thinking about chuck when I was scrolling past that knot in the wood....

and then to find his comment .... too funny chuck 

Mike

[NORCALLOGGER]

Mike,
If your asking about that galvanized container in the window of the seventh picture that is a washtub.
The wire bales were the handles.  This was good for washing cloths, it could be filled with water and heated on top of the stove, throw in a washboard and you had the original Maytag.  They were also handy for the  Kids Saturday night baths, watering live stock and hauling feed or truck from the garden.

Later
Rick Marty 

[MrBrownstone]

Hey Rick,

I have seen the washtub/pale of the likes before...this image just don't look right 
I mean the pale looks like it was split open on the bottom and is connected to another object below as well as it is also hanging from wire attached to the pales orig handles...

educate me please... 

Mike

[Ray Dunakin]

What is that bucket for? (the one with the wire on the handles and looks like a pipe connected to the bottom of it)

It was originally a washtub, however it has been turned into something else:


As you can see from this photo, a large funnel has been added to the bottom of the tub. This goes down into a wooden box, something like an old blacksmith's forge, filled with what looks like sand and ashes. I think the pipe on the right of the photo was supposed to come out of the side of the box. I have no idea what this contraption was supposed to be.

[MrBrownstone]

Hello Ray,

Thanks for confirming what my eyes see... 

I am interested in more interior photos if you have more...
(I think they tell us more about the conditions of living...explains more about why the stuctures are constructed in the manner they are as well as maybe hinting at what the occupents apperence might have been.) i.e. longevity of the structure vs. materials used vs enviornment.

I think it is amazing how some materials (that were common in most construction in the same geogrphical enviornment) out performed the same materials in the same enviornment just based on how and where those materials used... and in not just one type of structure but in a variety of structures.

the darker wood in the deplicted dryness of the eniornment... you might even think there was some kind of sealer/petrolium based product/resorce applied. (with visual of more silvering/aging wood underlying the darker wood)

Is it a different type of wood or a less porus harder wood? (not really versed on wood knowlledge)

sorry for the type-O's (ask me to resurect a dead computer... no problem....but ask me to pass a spelling test...heh forget it..)

Mike

[chester]

Aside from an entirely different environment, I believe we most likely are looking at a different specie of wood than what one might find in the northeast too. And you could well be right about some  attempt at a preservative having been applied to Mike.
   Here in Maine we see the use of "Maine stain" quite often especially in remote areas like this barn below in the western mountain area. I see a similar color to what is shown in some of Ray's photos. Oh, what is Maine stain? Used motor oil.

[Ray Dunakin]

I'm pretty sure that the dark brown tones on these desert structures is just the result of direct sunlight and dry conditions. Every (aged) stick of wood I've seen, from fence posts to mine structures, to cabins, looks like that -- and always grayer and lighter on the north facing side.

Of course there may be cases where some structure used stain or something at one time, but that would be the exception to the general rule.

[jacq01]

     These buildings are no prototypes........     they are proven originals.

     Jacq

[HOn3_rr]

Since this is a miner's shed, could the bucket have been used in some type of casting process? Perhaps a sand casting?