Tucker Bro's Machine Shop - Starting Something New


twforeman

Certified Great Northern Nut
A while ago I was gifted a couple of large boxes of model railroad stuff by a friend. It had belonged to her husband and he was no longer interested in it. Most of the stuff inside was junk, but there are a few buildings I might repurpose and a couple of old wooden boxcars that would make good maint buildings.

Also in the box was a complete Woodland Scenics Tucker Brothers Machine Shop cast metal kit. The copyright on the instructions is 1980 but you can still buy these.

This will be a new thing for me. It's the first metal kit and the first one with lots of cast-on small details to paint. We'll see how it goes.

So far I've cleaned all the flash and parting lines off with files. I've washed and scrubbed the parts with dish soap. Today I'll hit them with some primer and then start painting details.

This kit will probably take a while, depending on my patience level. I want to do a good job because I have a nice place for it front and center on the layout.

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I primed the major parts a couple of days ago and last night I started painting. I had some dark green that I thought would look good on the outside.


Then I figured the inside would be lighter color - at least I'd want my shop to be a light color. So I painted it with some light grey.


I was going to do all the beams a different color, but then I thought to myself "If I was going to paint the inside of my shop would I spend the time to paint all the beams differently? No."

Yesterday I cleaned up all the little parts - pillar drill, lathe, anvil mounted on a block of wood, etc and then washed them. Today I hit those with some primer.


Should be interesting painting all the little details. I'll need my opti-visor and a steady hand.
 
The FDM printers that change colors can't print super-fine detail. None of the FDM printers print what I think are really good finely detailed parts. I don't think they make resin printers that change color.
 
Well I worked in machine shops for 30 plus years, Most were painted gray or green, and not too well, unless things were slow. a medium gray or
a medium green were the colors I saw.
I worked in a machine shop for about 15 years. You're right, a couple shades of green, some greys and lots of dirt. :)

Considering the state of the outside of the building, the machines will be pretty dirty and rusty.

I hit the outside with a very thin white wash, almost like a reverse india ink wash. It didn't quite give me the effect I was looking for but I think I like it. Then I added a bunch of rust, and since I had the rust out, I started painting the detritus on the outside of the building. Since it's outside, it's going to be rusty.


Still lots of paint to go, but I can only to so much small stuff in one stretch, and I need some better brushes.
 
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I worked in a machine shop for about 15 years. You're right, a couple shades of green, some greys and lots of dirt. :)

Considering the state of the outside of the building, the machines will be pretty dirty and rusty.

I hit the outside with a very thin white wash, almost like a reverse india ink wash. It didn't quite give me the effect I was looking for but I think I like it. Then I added a bunch of rust, and since I had the rust out, I started painting the detritus on the outside of the building. Since it's outside, it's going to be rusty.


Still lots of paint to go, but I can only to so much small stuff in one stretch, and I need some better brushes.

Really liking the look of the paint on those. Subtle weathering, looks good.
 
Slow but steady progress. Inside and out. I have to do this in short stints, otherwise I get a crick in my neck and shaky hands.


And of course as soon as I start another color I realize I missed some things I wanted to paint with the last color. Oh well, there will need to be touch-ups when I'm done.
 
Time for a photo dump. The walls are all finished and I sprayed them with DullCote. Took some closeups before assembly.

First the interior shots.

Left Wall Interior


Right Wall Interior


Back Wall Interior


Inside of the doors
 
Now some exterior shots

Left Wall Exterior


Right Wall Exterior


Back Wall Exterior


Exterior of the doors


I'm pretty pleased with the way the painting came out.

Unfortunately now I'm stuck for a little bit. Like the caboose I was upgrading now I have to wait for the window glazing material to arrive. It should be here in a day or two and then I can move on. I don't really want to glue the building together before I glaze the windows.

All the machinery is painted too, but I just hit it with some DullCote so I'll have to take photos later.
 
Great looking work!
Before gluing the thing together, yo need some chalk writings on the wall along with a couple "girly" calendars? Maybe even an old photo or two?
Thanks. That's a great idea. I went and found a 1958 pinup (pretty mild one actually) calendar here. I stole the photo and scaled it to HO scale. That makes it about 3/16" wide. :)

This is what it looks like printed on 4x6 photo paper. It looks really tiny. (Because it is.)


But cut it out and glue it up and it actually looks great!
 



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