1880's Floating Steam Donkey Pile Driver by Keith Black - FINISHED - 1:120 Scale

[clearway]

The shingles are growing on me Keith - i agree about black- apart from locomotives i now paint any iron and steel on my rolling stock with a thinned coat of Humbrol matt 67 German tank grey over a matt black primer.

 

The build is looking awesome 😁

 

Keith

[wefalck]

I can almost hear the poff-poff from the ram ...

 

Yes, pastels pull everything together and make models looking less clean and toy-like. I use a variety of old soft brushes and cotton-sticks to apply them and rubbing them in. Grime (unless oily) and rust are usually dead matt and that comes across very well with the pastels.

 

Another thing one can do is to set highlights with a soft black pencil, say on the edges of the water reservoir, on pipes etc.

[tmj]

The only thing that jumps out at 'me', with your shingled roof, is that it 'pops' considerably brighter than the rest of the project. Maybe those shingles simply need a bit of 'grunge' and more weathering to tone the shade down a bit...???  

[mcb]

The weathering adds realistic depth.  Well done.

mcb

[Keith Black]

 Thank you to everyone for all the kind comments, the likes, and for following along.

 

I was able to salvage the existing shake roof. I had a bottle of craft acrylic gray paint that's a close match to the Wild West shingles color. With a thin gray wash I gently added a bit of gray to those shingles that were a tad too white thus reducing the pop effect of the original. It's subtle, very subtle and many may think I've lost my sweet ever lovin' but now I'm not being visually hit between the eyes as I was before. I can live with this, now I can weather for effect.

 

 I did more research on corrugated roofing last night mostly trying to determine the lengths corrugated roofing came in. A vague "5  to 10 feet" was the only answer I could find but once again I kept getting the same answer regarding usage in the early 1880's. By all accounts usage was sparse till about 1910 so I shelved the thought of going with corrugated roofing.

 

 Before tinting individual shingles with a gray wash. 

 

 After

 

 Before

 

 After

 

Before

 

After

 

 Thank you so much to everyone for the support.

 

   Keith 

[wefalck]

Yes, the 'weathering' makes all the difference!

 

Once thing made me wonder though: normally, shingles are off-set by half the width of a shingle in each row, so that the row above covers the seam between two shingles in the row below. I gather your shingles came in laser-cut strips, with half-heigh notches between two shingles? So, when you lay out the rows, the row above should touch with its lower edge just the notches of the lower row and being off-set by half a shingle width. Perhaps you should try this arrangement, if you have any shingles left.

 

Re. 'weathering': a bit of soot (black pastel) around the chimney would be good and slightly greenish tint (some mid-green pastel, if you have it) here and there to simulate algae/moss would not be amiss.

[Canute]

The algae/moss is a great idea, especially for these work scows. They aren't  being run around the harbor moving cars, but sitting in a cove helping rebuild a pier. Roof looks better with your weathering, too.

[Keith Black]

3 hours ago, wefalck said:

Yes, the 'weathering' makes all the difference!

 

Once thing made me wonder though: normally, shingles are off-set by half the width of a shingle in each row, so that the row above covers the seam between two shingles in the row below. I gather your shingles came in laser-cut strips, with half-heigh notches between two shingles? So, when you lay out the rows, the row above should touch with its lower edge just the notches of the lower row and being off-set by half a shingle width. Perhaps you should try this arrangement, if you have any shingles left.

 

Re. 'weathering': a bit of soot (black pastel) around the chimney would be good and slightly greenish tint (some mid-green pastel, if you have it) here and there to simulate algae/moss would not be amiss.

 Thank you, Eberhard. Absolutely agree with you about the shingle lapping. I tried doing that by half lapping the shingle strips but the shingle length was too short for scale plus it was way to busy looking, that's why I went with three quarter lapping. It lengthened the shingles and it's less busy looking, IMHO. The die cuts are not based in reality, the die cuts are random and there's no way to align them where cuts fall in the center of the shingles below. The half lap exaggerates that discrepancy, another reason for the three quarter lapping. 

 

 I still need to install the waste steam exhaust pipe through the roof and once the flashing is added then I can add pastels. Now knowing I can add a light wash of color and not destroy the print below, if I were brave, I'd add a repair patch of seven or so shingles with a tan wash. I'm going to play with that idea on a test piece, we'll see. 

 

2 hours ago, Canute said:

The algae/moss is a great idea, especially for these work scows. They aren't  being run around the harbor moving cars, but sitting in a cove helping rebuild a pier. Roof looks better with your weathering, too.

 Thank you, Ken. 

 

Edited October 12 by Keith Black

[Keith Black]

 I try to respond to comments when made but the last couple of days have come fast and furious. I'm sorry that sequencing is a bit out of order.

 

 

23 hours ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Keith, your work with the pastels is amazing. What a difference they make!

 Thank you, Paul.

 

23 hours ago, mbp521 said:

Holy cow Keith! It’s amazing the amount of realism the pastels bring out. You also have me convinced the shaker roof is the right decision. I think it looks great. However, if you are proceeding with the metal roof I will be anxiously awaiting those results as well. 
 

23 hours ago, mbp521 said:

This is such a true statement. When I first started painting my Cairo, I chose black for the topside color. I found out real quick that it was not the route to go. After several attempts I found that the dark bluish-gray was perfect. It gave everything the perfect depth and helped highlight certain features. The same holds true with your build. Fantastic work on the weathering!

 

 Thank you, Brian. When I opened my Wild West order I was immediately sold on the shake roof. I still want to do a review of my Wild West order, I'll go over the corrugated roofing as well. 

 

22 hours ago, clearway said:

The shingles are growing on me Keith - i agree about black- apart from locomotives i now paint any iron and steel on my rolling stock with a thinned coat of Humbrol matt 67 German tank grey over a matt black primer.

 

The build is looking awesome 😁

 

 Thank you, Keith. Thank you and thank you, Brian for the tips on painting "black". I have so much to learn, we get better as a group with shared information.  

 

 

22 hours ago, wefalck said:

I can almost hear the poff-poff from the ram ...

 Hear it? I can almost feel the thud that goes through your body when standing next to the hammer as it strikes. 

 

21 hours ago, tmj said:

The only thing that jumps out at 'me', with your shingled roof, is that it 'pops' considerably brighter than the rest of the project. Maybe those shingles simply need a bit of 'grunge' and more weathering to tone the shade down a bit...???  

 Thank you, Tom. The "roof pops considerably brighter" was my exact thought. The gray wash did the trick but weathering is in the offing. 

 

14 hours ago, mcb said:

The weathering adds realistic depth.  Well done

 Thank you, mcb. 

[wefalck]

4 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

 Hear it? I can almost feel the thud that goes through your body when standing next to the hammer as it strikes. 

I only ever experienced this standing at the quay ...

[Keith Black]

2 minutes ago, wefalck said:

I only ever experienced this standing at the quay ...

  Were you able to feel the hammer strike in the soles of you feet? A pile driver in action is a pretty trippy experience, the noise and the violence. It's almost like some ancient war machine turned loose. 

[wefalck]

To be honest, I don't remember, as it is many decades ago since I last saw one like this in action in a harbour. I was a small boy or teenaber at best then. Modern sheet-pile drivers in civil construction seem to work at higher frequencies and sound very metallic.

[Keith Black]

 Thank you to everyone for the kind comment, the likes, and for following along. 

 

On 10/12/2024 at 1:04 PM, wefalck said:

To be honest, I don't remember, as it is many decades ago since I last saw one like this in action in a harbour. I was a small boy or teenaber at best then. Modern sheet-pile drivers in civil construction seem to work at higher frequencies and sound very metallic.

 Isn't it funny how somethings from our childhood we remember clear as a bell and others not so much. I have vivid memories of certain occurrences when I was three years old, then there's last week. 

 

  The shed roof is done except for maybe some minor tweaks to the weathering. I'm ready to hang doors and weather the outside of the shed. 

 

 

 

 

 Thank you to everyone for the support;

 

   Keith

Edited October 19 by Keith Black

[Jim Lad]

Keith, I've been following along on your build, but sadly not commenting (my oversight). I think you're doing a great job on this piece of nautical infrastructure.

 

John

[Keith Black]

2 minutes ago, Jim Lad said:

Keith, I've been following along on your build, but sadly not commenting (my oversight). I think you're doing a great job on this piece of nautical infrastructure.

John, thank you for the kind comment and for following along. It means a lot to me. 

[Cathead]

I'll chime in redundantly to say that your pastel work is great, and shows why they're such a good tool for finishing work. So glad you tried them.

 

I had the same thought as tmj, that the roof's only possible issue was being too bright compared to the rest of the model. Your darkening helped, but if it were me, I'd darken it even further as to my eye it still feels like it stands out just a bit and looks fresher than the rest of the model. In the photos at least, there's a sense of "shine". That's solely a personal opinion and it could certainly be left as it is! You've done marvelous work on this.

[Canute]

It's all looking good, Keith.  👍  Will you apply the pastels to the walls, doors and windows? They have a slight sheen right now. The wood/coal burned would leave a fine coating of soot on everything. Then, you get the rain runoff around the windows and doors, leaving wispy trails of soot behind.

[Keith Black]

 Thanks guys for the likes and for being part of the journey.

 

1 hour ago, Cathead said:

I'll chime in redundantly to say that your pastel work is great, and shows why they're such a good tool for finishing work. So glad you tried them.

 

I had the same thought as tmj, that the roof's only possible issue was being too bright compared to the rest of the model. Your darkening helped, but if it were me, I'd darken it even further as to my eye it still feels like it stands out just a bit and looks fresher than the rest of the model. In the photos at least, there's a sense of "shine". That's solely a personal opinion and it could certainly be left as it is! You've done marvelous work on this.

 Thank you, Eric. I'll tone down the roof shingles some more.

 

50 minutes ago, Canute said:

It's all looking good, Keith.  👍  Will you apply the pastels to the walls, doors and windows? They have a slight sheen right now. The wood/coal burned would leave a fine coating of soot on everything. Then, you get the rain runoff around the windows and doors, leaving wispy trails of soot behind

 Thank you, Ken. Yes, the shed walls with get a heavy dose of weathering once the doors are attached. 

 

 Thanks to everyone for your comments and support. Sharing your thoughts has/is helping me get this little project to the finish line. 

 

   keith 

[Keith Black]

 A big thank you to each of you that have followed this build for the past three months and two days.

 

 I'm not normally a speed demon but the work has flowed easily and the end for this little ugly duckling is near the finish. Today I finished the shed completing the four elements of the project, the barge, pile driver, Steam Donkey, and shed. I still have rope coils and other props that will be staged on the deck and final deck weathering. 

 

Unless someone thinks differently I'm prepared to permanently attach the shed to the barge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Thank you to all for your support.

 

   keith

Edited October 14 by Keith Black

[Desertanimal]

Simply stunning work. 

[TBlack]

It doesn’t seem to matter whether you are working on ships or something else. You’re attention to detail and commitment to making the best possible is very evident.

[Knocklouder]

 

Awesome work my friend,    

Bob  M.

[mtaylor]

Just wonderful, Keith.  A feast for the eyes.

[Jim Lad]

An ugly duckling, perhaps; but a beautiful ugly duckling (if that's possible)! 🙂

 

John

[PvG Aussie]

Bloody ripper Keith!

(Translation: Amazingly great Keith!) 🦘

[wefalck]

Perhaps it has become merged in my memory over the decades, but I seem to remember also to have seen one of those helmet divers at work then, perhaps to inspect that the piles were set correctly. A small barge with a handpump and crew, a diver on the ladder into the water, etc. could be a nice complement, but would be a real challenge in 1/120 scale 😁

Edited October 14 by wefalck

[Keith Black]

 Thank you to all for the likes and for the support.

 

11 hours ago, Desertanimal said:

Simply stunning work. 

 Thank you, DA.

 

10 hours ago, TBlack said:

It doesn’t seem to matter whether you are working on ships or something else. You’re attention to detail and commitment to making the best possible is very evident.

 Brother Tom, thank you. Very kind of you to say so.

 

 

10 hours ago, Knocklouder said:

Awesome work my friend,    

 Thanks, Bob. You and yours feeling better? 

 

8 hours ago, mtaylor said:

Just wonderful, Keith.  A feast for the eyes.

 Thank you, Mark. 

 

 

5 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

An ugly duckling, perhaps; but a beautiful ugly duckling (if that's possible)! 🙂

 Thank you, John. Maybe next I'll try to model a garbage scow. 

 

4 hours ago, PvG Aussie said:

Bloody ripper Keith!

(Translation: Amazingly great Keith!) 🦘

 Thank you, Peter.  

 

 

4 hours ago, wefalck said:

Perhaps it has become merged in my memory over the decades, but I seem to remember also to have seen one of those helmet divers at work then, perhaps to inspect that the piles were set correctly. A small barge with a handpump and crew, a diver on the ladder into the water, etc. could be a nice complement, but would be a real challenge in 1/120 scale 😁

 Eberhard, I wish I had the time left to me take that on but alas, I'll have to pass. You're  the small scale wizard, sounds like something you should tackle. You should be about ready to start a new project?

Edited October 14 by Keith Black

[Rick310]

Just a magnificent model Keith!!  What a fun project!!  Incredibly well done!!

Rick

[Glen McGuire]

5 hours ago, PvG Aussie said:

Bloody ripper Keith!

I can't top that compliment, so I will repeat it!  This project is bloody ripper! 

 

Such a cool build to follow and every aspect of the work was exceptional.  Congratulations, Keith!!  

[mbp521]

13 hours ago, Keith Black said:

little ugly duckling

More like a beautiful swan Keith!!

-Brian