Building a Module; CAT Equipment Rental Building

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Added some car stops in from BLMA for the parking lot for Great West Pre-Stress

 

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I added some roof top equipment to the CAT building. Some air conditioners and some roof vents scattered out across the roof followed with a coat of gravel

 

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I laid down the gravel for the CAT Rental Yard. I did the scene up as if there moving into a brand new building. There are a few trucks in the yard backed up like there unloading equipment, furniture..... from the old building and moving it into the new building. I also don't have enough equipment for the yard yet either so i added in a few gravel trucks and flatbeds. I kinda like them in there so I'm thinking about leaving them in there too as if they rent them out as well as the CAT equipment. I added in a storage container with some cones and barrels. Heress some pics:

 

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Next I did some work on the Great West Pre-Stress building. I sprayed the entire building a dark tan stone color. I glued on some rooftop details like vents, duct work, and air units and then added a gravel roof. I finished it off with some decals

 

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Now for the next step on the roads along the front of the module. I laid some stripes down. a nice double yellow line makes the road stand out. here some pics:

 

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For the small strip that was left along the retaining wall next to the Great West Pre-Stress building I added some grass

 

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Planted some trees ans laid some ground cover down. I also did the yard for the Great West Pre-Stress Building, which is still not done yet, the back half of the yard still needs to be laid out

Here's some quick pics, the white stuff around the trees is the glue that I used to set the trees which will dry clear:

 

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The rest of the yard was laid down, here's a couple pics:

 

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Added some shrubs in around the Bridge Abutments

 

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see next post

 

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After assembling a small section from my old old layout (layout i had before i started the shelf layout). This will allow me a 30"x6' workbench space to work on the M&ET modules. it also gave me a chance to bring down the CAT Rental Module and do some more work on it.

Upon bringing it down from way up high on the wall, i soon saw just how bad the module had gotten. It was COVERED in dust A very HEAVY and THICK layer of dust coated the entire module I need to build a cover type system to cover modules while there being stored on the wall so this doesn't happen anymore

I vacuumed the entire module off so now its better and no more dust, well I'm sure there is still dust caked in the scenery, but its a heck of a lot better then it was, and a little dust adds character to the scene and adds a touch more realism i think

ive also noticed that the CAT yard and the top of the CAT building have crumbled and lots of cracks appeared in the ballast. NOT a good sign. i will have to fix these. Shouldn't be to hard to fix I'm hoping lol

Things to do on the layout:

* Fix the cracks in the CAT yard and CAT building roof
* Touch up the paint and touch up the roads with some Smooth-It
* Take up the lines on the road and pant my own (adhesive backing on the lines is coming up....)
* Make the concrete slabs for the Great West Pre-Stress Yard and Building
* Finish the rest of the guard rails running the length of the module
* Do a Construction Scene on the bridge. The bridge is going to get widened

 

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So i decided to start with a little Bridge Construction

This is about all i can do for this part for now lol. I need to get some more supplies to finish the scene. Need to get some more I-beams, a big crane and some other scale wood to make some forms and such to pour the concrete bridge abutments

I removed the foliage and some of the big rocks and such in the path of the bridge extension. I also dug out a trench on the right side where the form for the extended bridge abutment will go. Still have to dig the trench for the left bridge abutment

Here is some pics:

 

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I finished digging out the paths for the forums will go when i get the materials. I also need to work on widening the road on either side of the bridge, this means taking some tress out on the left of the bridge. Don't mind the white foam showing lol, you wont be able to see it when I'm done, the area where the white is on either side of the bridge will be covered in new "concrete" and forms for the new bridge abutments

here are some pics i snapped off today, the first couple show the new wholes and the last couple was just messing around with the camera trying to get a good close-up shots lol

 

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list of things still to be done on the module

*Fix the CAT Equipment Yard cracks
*Fix the striping in some areas of the roads and find a sealer that will seal them in place
*Fix the cracks and potholes in the roads
*Get the crane in the last post lol
*Get scale lumber and scale plywood to make some wood forms for the concrete bridge abutment
*Get another bridge for the bridge expansion
*Finish the guard rails

 

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Here is some pics of the new cranes i got a few weeks ago

 

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Here are some more pics i just took because i was bored lol

 

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Well i decided since i cant do anything else right now, i would start building some panels for the yard of the Great West Pre-Stress Building

Here is a pic of what needs to be done to each panel, comparing sanded and filled panel to panel that has not been modified

As you can see, there is some work that needs to be done to each panel that came with this kit in order to transform it into a Pre-Cast Concrete Panel for the yard.

~~First, you must cut off the roof and floor mounting lugs on each panel. You can see the mounting lugs in the picture above on the panel that is on the right. To do this, I'm am simply using a sharp hobby knife to slice off the thin mounting lugs. Most of the panels only have a lug on the top, but some of the longer panels have lugs have them on the top and bottom.

~~Second, you must sand each panel down on the backs so that the area where the lugs were are not visible anymore. I am using 100 grit sandpaper first, followed by 220 grit sandpaper to finish it off and give it a nice smooth surface to work with.

~~Third, all panels must have the recessed circles filled with putty so that they are not visible. I am doing this with counter top filler and it is working very well lol. Just dab a bit on where each recess is and then use a putty knife to scrap off the excess leaving a nice smooth fill where the recess used to be. Recommended drying time for the putty is 72 hours, however, these are just slight in dents in the panels, and i did a few this morning, and when i looked at them tonight, they were pretty much dry and held up to sanding just fine, less then 12 hours later. After the putty has dried, another sanding with the 220 grit sandpaper and a final inspection. If any recesses are still visible, more putty will be applied and it will be set aside to dry again followed by another fine sanding.

~~ Fourth, Once the panels are filled and final sanding/inspection, the panels will be sprayed with a coat of gray primer to simulate concrete.

~~ Fifth, the final step will be to stack completed panels on 6x6x8' pieces of lumber and put them in the yard. 6x6x8' lumber allows a forklift or crane to pick up panels and either move them around or load them onto flatbed trucks to be taken to a building job site


Here is a picture of the panels that i have left that need to modifying work i listed above:

There are over 60 panels to complete, I've sanded and filled 11 panels, so i have a lot of work ahead lol. Plus painting and adding the 6x6x8' lumber blocks. More progress will be posted as i progress

 

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I think i found something that worked well this time though lol

While filling the lugs off the backs of some more panels, i saw the blue masking tape roll out of the corner of my eye lol. Then it hit me, lay the panels on the sticky side of the tape and cut around them so that it has a tape back that easily covers the recessed areas and hides any imperfections/dents that i did while cutting the lugs off lol

Its working quite well, here are a couple pics, one with the masking tape back and one of the finished panel