1/2"-Scale Lumber Stacker

[NORCALLOGGER]

Hi Ken,
Beautiful, just beautiful.
Was this overall project visualized at one time or is it something that has taken on a life of it's own and just grown.

Well maybe I am just assuming there is an "overall project" based on some other postings and comments by you as well as others.

Whatever the case, the work and creativity are outstanding.
Rick

[Ray Dunakin]

The figures look great, Ken! I especially like the paint job on the first guy's blue jeans, very authentic looking.

[finescalerr]

This project is approaching fruition, the little Davenport is shaping up, and I'm still waiting for the article about the lumber carrier. I want to publish all three, of course, so please spend more time modeling. I can always phone you for the text and you can just send over the hi-res photos on a disc or by e-mail. Three top notch models. I'm drooling. -- Russ

[Ken Hamilton]

....and I'm still waiting for the article about the lumber carrier.....

Ooops....I KNEW there was something I was s'posed to do.............

[Ken Hamilton]

When I should have been writing, I was busy building.
Here's a quick look at the Base-In-Progress:



The three posts on the ground are going to be holding up a small shed.  The frames in the
back are permanently attached - the lumber piles will be removable.

[finescalerr]

Fer a car guy ya sure do good railroad. -- Russ

[Frederic Testard]

What a fine ground texture!

[RoughboyModelworks]

Agreed... very nice groundwork and trackwork Ken or shall we call it scale terraforming... I'm curious to know what are you using for a structural base and contouring before adding your dirt? The subtlety in grade change is very convincing.

Paul

[Ken Hamilton]

Thanks, guys.....
Paul, the base was made using rigid pink insulation that was rough-shaped with
a wire wheel in an electric drill, then smoothed out with coarse sandpaper. 



The contours are subtle to keep the scene from being dead-flat and to give the edges
some visual interest.  After the foam was formed I traced the contours onto fiber board,
cut it out and glued the edges to the foam base.  To make sure the foam wouldn't separate
from the edge (..and fall out...) I drilled pilot holes in the fiber board and pushed 4" nails into
the foam.

See that separate foam strip in the front? That was an afterthought extension added to provide more room
for a little shed and another stack of lumber in the foreground, neither of which were originally planned.

The ties are hand-cut pine and the rail is Code 100.  The groundcover is fine, sifted sand attached
in the typical fashion, then sprayed with Rustoleum American Accents "Sandstone", a finely textured
spray that tied everything together.

There's not too much going scenery-wise in a lumber yard, so I wanted to keep it "simple-yet-hopefully-somewhat-interesting".

[Gordon Ferguson]

Great progress Ken, ties/sleepers turned out well and the ground cover manges to be plain but interesting.

Can we jump back a few stages .... the figures you used are these modified from the Tamiya Pit crew? its always a challenge to find different figures in 1/24 and not just use the few available which you see in the models(and mine!)

do you have any other photos of the process you went through to modify these figures

[Ken Hamilton]

....do you have any other photos of the process you went through to modify these figures

Should'a, but didn't......

Basically, all I did was cut apart the figures at the joints, drill holes and insert wire-pin connectors to
reconstruct the figures and then bend them into the proper pose. Just remember to stick your wires where
the bones would be (IE: after cutting off the head, the neck wire should go into the back of the "stump",
not the middle, so the head will bend naturally)

[Chuck Doan]

....do you have any other photos of the process you went through to modify these figures

Should'a, but didn't......

Basically, all I did was cut apart the figures at the joints, drill holes and insert wire-pin connectors to
reconstruct the figures and then bend them into the proper pose. Just remember to stick your wires where
the bones would be (IE: after cutting off the head, the neck wire should go into the back of the "stump",
not the middle, so the head will bend naturally)

These sound like instructions for first year surgery interns! Next weeks lesson: Re-animation!

[eTraxx]

I had found a website (military modeling) that had an article that went into depth on this .. like that to bend a figure you can't just slice a wedge out of the stomach and bend it over .. that you cut a wedge from both front and back .. and so on. Would like to find that again.

[RoughboyModelworks]

Thanks Ken for the info and photo... pretty much what I suspected, works very well and subtly is the key.

I've made bases in a similar fashion using homasote and a router set to gradually deeper cuts forming a surface much like that represented on a topographical map... messy job but it worked. Tackling homasote with a router instantly produces clouds of paper dust, definitely a job to be done outdoors. I then smoothed the contour lines with a wire brush in a body grinder (again very messy) and finalized the contours with a plaster coat and then sifted dirt.

Paul

[Ken Hamilton]

Ed:  That's a good method but I like to cut the limb, etc. off entirely & use a wire connector
because it allows for more of a pivot motion than a simple up-or-down bend.

Paul:  I was a diehard Homasote Holdout until trying rigid foam one time.  I really love that stuff.