Drew's Feb. Layout Party - HO Sawmill

D

Drew1125

Active Member
Jan 28, 2001
2,975
0
36
Well, I hope this isn’t going to be a problem, but I did already post some of this in my layout construction thread… But it is in the narrow gauge forum, & there isn’t a whole lot of traffic over there…
My chosen project for the “Layout Party” was to construct a small HO scale sawmill…this will be a departure for me for a couple of reasons…
*I’ve never modeled a sawmill, or logging theme before…
*Although I’ve modeled in HO scale before, it’s been a few years, so I’m having to get a feel for this scale all over again…
That said, let’s get the “party” started!
I had kitbashed a lumber mill kit previously for this project, but I just wasn’t quite satisfied with using it for the sawmill…I think I’ll have a better use for it elsewhere…
For the sawmill, I decided I wanted something small & “backwoodsy” looking…
I had this IHC Transfer Pier kit, that I thought might be a good starting point for me…
(The buildings shown here on the box cover are not included in the kit…it only includes the pier itself…

als.jpg




I cut pieces of the pier deck to form a floor roughly 60’ long, by 25’ wide…I cut the support posts to a height of about 4’, & used the excess post material, along with some strip styrene to make some roof supports…I used scrap pieces of the deck to make a platform for a log transfer track…

alt.jpg




I airbrushed everything with a light coat of Floquil Engine Black…After that had dried, I airbrushed some light coats of Polly Scale Mud…I was trying to get a weathered timber look…

alu.jpg
 
The next step was to construct some type of log transfer system…I need to preface this by saying that I now very little about sawmills, & logging in general…I’ve just kind of picked up a few things by looking at photos, & doing some reading…So if anybody is expecting any kind of prototypical accuracy, they’re probably not going to find much here…



I built this log transfer carriage from scrap box pieces…ingredients include HO ladder, N scale I-beams, 2 N scale auto chassis, & a couple of other bits & pieces…

alv.jpg




Here’s a closer view…

alw.jpg




The next step will be to make a steam plant to power the mill…I’m still toying with that one…picture to came later…
 
Drew, just a plea: Could you please use the normal letter type, because for me those tiny letters are quite difficult to read. (Or do I have such an outdated monitor? :D)

Your sawmill model is coming along nicely. You did some ingenious scratchbashing, and I'm looking forward to see you do the rest of the sawmill machinery. I love those sawmills, but so far I never had the heart to try to build one! (So I banned logging altogether from my layout... :( )

Ron
 
Thanks for the nice comments guys! :)

RailRon said:
Drew, just a plea: Could you please use the normal letter type, because for me those tiny letters are quite difficult to read. (Or do I have such an outdated monitor? :D)...

Ron
Click to expand...

Ron,
My sincerest apologies!! :oops:
If anyone can understand the frustation of microscopic text, it's ME!! :rolleyes: :curse:
What I do is type some of these up off-line on a Word document, & then paste them in (that way, it appears to my boss that I'm actualy doing some work! :D )...I also have zoom text on my computer, because of my poor eyesight, so what looks like small text on your computer is roughly the size of a billboard on mine! :rolleyes:
I went back & did a little editing, so hopfully, that's better...?
Thanks for pointing out the goof...I'll try & avoid doing that in the future! :wave:
 
OK...here's the begining of the steam-powered saw...

Got pieces from an N scale oil refinery kit, an N scale steam engine, bits of styrene & sprue...
I know it's kinda crude looking, but it will be inside the sawmill, & won't show that much...& besides, it was free! :)
amf.jpg
 
Well, I FINALY did some work on the sawmill...:rolleyes:
I've gotten side-tracked by too many other projects...(some RR, & some not)

I've gotten the steam plant done & in place...& now I've started on the roof...it's just cardstock at this stage...I'm planning on covering it with some corrugated metal...
amh.jpg


I don't know if I'm gonna get it done in time or not, but I'm gonna try! :)
 
Looking good my friend. :thumb: :thumb: Now that I'm finished with my party project, I'd send over some of my LGM to help, but unfortunately, they are all N scale and wouldn't be much help to you.:rolleyes: :D :rolleyes: stooges8
 
ezdays said:
... I'd send over some of my LGM to help, but unfortunately, they are all N scale and wouldn't be much help to you.:rolleyes: :D :rolleyes: stooges8
Click to expand...

Thanks Don! :D (Hey, what's a little scale difference between friends, huh? sign1 )

I got more of a close-up picture showing some more of the interior...
ami.jpg
 
Great job, Drew! You are really doing a great job capturing the back woods ambience of your logging operation. I can almost smell the sawdust from here. Can't wait to see more. Stuart.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom