Quinn Ball Bearing

[Drew1125]

Hi Gary!
The building looks fabulous! Can't wait to see how it progresses!
I like the way you've got the siding curving around the end of the structure...your trackwork always amazes me!

Originally posted by Gary Pfeil
... One question remains unanswered: Were forklifts in use in the early 50's?

I found this little item, & thought it might help...?
http://www.ttt-services.co.uk/truck_history.htm

 

[Gary Pfeil]

Cool link Charlie! Haven't finished it yet but have enjoyed what I've seen. Nice to know fork lifts were in use, now I'll have to look into what era forklift models are from. But I won't be too particular! That can come later. Thanks for the kind words. Funny you can see that trackwork as nice even tho its unpainted and unweathered. That lead that curves around the back of the bldg. is actually the lead from the runaround track. The siding doubles as a switchback for the other diverging route, which serves a stone/gravel dealer, well soon anyway. That track comes up an 8% grade with a 15" radius curve at the top, into that turnout. When scenicked I'll post photos of it. thanks again!

Gary

 

[Woodie]

Originally posted by b28_82
How'd the car get on the roof?

Oh.... there is too....... hmmmmmmm.... Musta forgot to turn left at Alberquerque.

 

[Fred_M]

Originally posted by Gary Pfeil
Were forklifts in use in the early 50's?

My first job out of High School was at a machine shop and lots of the equipment there, including a small Yale forklift, had Department of Defense labels on them from WWII. So yes. It had a flat head 4 holer in it and a manual clutch and you had to push the clutch in and rev it up to lift anything over 10 pounds . It also missed most of the time and smoked like a chain saw. Everybody hated using it. FRED

 

[RailRon]

Hi Gary,
I took the liberty to modify your first picture a bit, using a few suggestions of our fellow Gaugers and adding one of mine.

Robin proposed a wide opening (which could be closed by rolling shutters mounted above) - I didn't draw the additional cross beams and post for strength.

For unloading open cars I added the I-beam which Fred proposed. An overhead hoisting gear could roll along this steel 'rail' from the narrow loading dock into a storage area inside.

And finally for that dented brick sheet in the corner, here's what I would do: Cover the whole area with ivy (of course this could be repeated on other parts of the building).

What I left out: I didn't draw a forklift!

Ron

 

[Gary Pfeil]

Well, we lost a page of posts but we'll just pick up from here. Progress is slow but some is being made. Finished casting all the arches and applied to one wall. Here's the wall.

 

[Gary Pfeil]

A close up. Can't see any detail on the arch, should be visable when painted, hopefully.

 

[Gary Pfeil]

A pile of 84 arches waits to be glued to the long wall. Not to happen till I get back from vacation. See you when I get back.

 

[Gary Pfeil]

could've sworn I attached this.

 

[Sir_Prize]

Are you here yet!?

 

[Gary Pfeil]

OK, It's been awhile, not much gets done during the summer, but some progress has been made. The dentel cornice, or whatever it's called, has been cast and cleaned and attached to the walls. Here is a raw casting and a cleaned up one.

 

[Gary Pfeil]

And here it is applied to the wall with window arches and painted the base color. Now comes the terrifying process of painting/weathering and adding motor, where all my hard work can go down the drain. Stay tuned.

 

[sumpter250]

Now comes the terrifying process of painting/weathering and adding motor

Gary,
Boldly go where others have already gone! Nothing succedes like success! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
Pete

 

[MasonJar]

Gary,
Boldly go where others have already gone! Nothing succedes like success! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
Pete

That reminds me of The Sphinx from the goofy comic book movie Mystery Men. He ran the super-hero training camp, and came out with such gems as

"When you can balance a tack hammer on your head, you will head off your enemy's attack with a balanced approach"

But I think this is most in the spirit of Pete's quote:

"If you do not master your fear, fear will become your master"



Andrew

PS - Gary - looks great!! :thumb:

 

[Gary Pfeil]

Well guys, I'll tell you what, I'll admit to a bit of, well, not fear but perhaps trepidition about the addition of mortar. Because I've had a few goes at it and haven't impressed myself. In honesty, most photos I've seen of mortar jobs don't impress me, they are usually to heavily done or uneven. There have been some that look very real and since the stated "how tos" were the same as the methods used by others whose work wasn't quite as good, I can only assume it's a matter of skill, and patience. Well, experiece and the associated "feel for it" I guess. Being severly nearsighted, I tend to work with my glasses off and get my eyes within 6 inched of my work. The attached photo shows that perspective on a section of wall I've done.

 

[Gary Pfeil]

From that close up I'd say it looks ok, but here is what it looks like from a couple feet away. To say it looks like crap would be too kind. I'll still be plugging away at it but if anyone has suggestions I'll gladly hear them!

 

[Dave Farquhar]

I read a suggestion not long ago to fill in mortar using wall spackling instead of paint. It looks more realistic and does seem to do a better job than paint of getting into the crevices and staying off the surface of the bricks.

The owner of my local train shop uses white shoe polish. I haven't tried that, as I have spackling on hand but don't have any white shoe polish.

 

[philip]

Overall the project is looking great. I really like the way the building starts at the basement and then has another entry on the next level :thumb: This link may help .....kind of a tutorial on mortar & bricks.



http://www.cccrow.com/how-2/brick.html

 

[Gary Pfeil]

Hi Dave, and welcome to the Gauge. Spackle is in fact what I used above. In the past I've tried thinned paint with a bit of detergent added to aid in wiping off the brick surface. Spackle does seem like its easier to work with but I think that if one gets used to either method they have a chance at decent results. I also tried mixing in a bit of color to the spackle, I tried to get a creamy color rather than white, I also tried adding a touch of the brick color to "soften" the contrast. The brick material I'm using is Holgate and Reynolds, it's possible the mortar lines in it are a bit more pronounced than in some of the kits around. On a scrap piece I've tried to tone down the white mortar by lightly airbrushing more of the brick color, this may hold promise. Using a slightly different shade may help add depth. I need to clean my airbrush and practice a bit more at getting a very fine spray, as it seems too easy to completely hide the white mortar. And with the mortar lines already filled with spackle, I won't be able to redo. Who says model railroading is fun? Just joking, some aspects are frustrating, I really want to move along with the next steps but have to get the mortar issue resolved first. And with the weather so nice, it's way to easy to put off frustrating things in favor of, well, anything outdoors!

 

[Gary Pfeil]

Thanks Philip for that link. I have some Durhams putty, I may try using that. Because the Holgate and Reynolds brick sheet is vinyl, I've got some concerns about how vigourously I can rub in an effort to remove excess mortar. On test piece, I did remove the brick color by rubbing hard. The color you see in the phots, by the way, is red automotive primer applied by spray can. It is intended as a base, I have several colored pencils I will use to vary individual brick colors. The slight difference in tones I was looking for looked good on a test piece prior to applying mortar, afterwards it wasn't noticable, my thought is too use the pencils after completing the mortar, then a very light weathering should blend everything. Any thoughts on any of this?