The Assay Office

[OldMiner]

First the backstory. Back in October I was thinking about neat toys from the past and remembered something called the Big Loader that my kids had, long ago. I now have some little grandkids who would enjoy one of those I bet. It took me a while to remember what it was called and then succeeded in finding a mint condition set, made in 1977, on ebay.



I built the thing on a slab of 1” styrofoam and immediately decided it needed some ‘scenery’ and extras. That led to finding the proper scale people and starting some scratch built cardboard buildings.
Anyway, it snowballed. The first set of 200 people were too small. The next set, 1:48 scale are perfect. The plot thickens. That led to finding some paper models and printing them in the proper scale and that brings us to this build.

The intention was just to throw together the basic paper structure. But, NO, this can be better. I started accumulating textures, photos and all sorts of ideas and started the build. I didn’t take too many photos to start with.







So those are the original bits and how it was to look.
Next we look at what it is becomIng.

 

[OldMiner]

After a little work and some interior additions, this was the result.



A customer discusses his assay results with the proprietor.


I decided to add LED lights and ran a test. The giant black and red wires are just hanging in there for the test. Note the old guy in the background, working on some assay tests. He is viewed through the big side window I added.



Some new signs and more work on the porches.



This shows attaching the porch of the Land Office. Also in the foreground, the shiny stuff is the tin ceiling for the Assay Office. Aluminum duct tape makes a perfect medium for things like this. Easy to scribe and weather.
The porch roofs will get supports of course.

Oh, rumor says the Land Office was the first building built. It was rather run down when the Assay Office was built, so they were connected for added structural strength for the old building.

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

That looks GREAT!!!

 

[zathros]

I agree, that you found one is great too. There is a website called "Papermau", there are 100's of building that style on there, and it's all free! Check it out. Lots of other models there too.

Link = https://papermau.blogspot.com/

 

[OldMiner]

Thanks! I have lots of his stuff. Lots of fun for sure.

 

[mijob]

Thanks for showing your build it looks verry good. By the way what happend on your desk.

 

[OldMiner]

Desk? That is clean. I had to clean it up to take the pic!

 

[zathros]

Looks like most of my house after I've picked up a bit, yet I know where everything is.

 

[Chuffy70]

brought some memories back with that toy... Is that the one where the to motor unit goes under the dumper/digger?

 

[OldMiner]

brought some memories back with that toy... Is that the one where the to motor unit goes under the dumper/digger?

Yes, it is quite a feat of engineering. Even the gear train inside the motor unit is something else. Much fun to watch.

 

[OldMiner]

This isn’t finished yet, but it will be. I’ve done some more work on it, but WINTER has interfered. LOTS of snow to deal with along with the normal keeping warm when you heat with alternate fuels.
So, I am also working to get my real hobby area back in useable shape. I have a 6’ x 3’ wooden desk that I got at the thrift shop some years ago. It disappeared under layers of strata a few years back. It is now re-appearing. I also ordered some tools (tiny table saw, scroll saw and others) that will be set up for more play time.
Along with all that, Christmas is SOON. I bought a set of ‘army men’ for my grandkids and I to play with. That means there must be cannons (that shoot) to mow down the enemy hoards.
I’ve taken some paper models and modified them to suit. The design for the projectile (1/2 of a q-tip) launching is done. Now to glue up more paper.
Pics somewhere along the line.

 

[OldMiner]

So, a couple of pics. Note the little plastic ‘barrel’. It came from a pill bottle with instructions that it shouldn’t be eaten. So, I will make a barrel out of it.
The buildings will be mounted on a base for use as a diorama or part of a larger one. Still need lots of details, weathering, etc. And, if my Sculpy is still good, I will sculpt a little cat to sit on top of the barrel. Lights, lots of stuff like the back porches too, are still to be done.