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A customer bought this older Korber kit off of Ebay. I am assembling it for him. Below are some construction photos of the work done so far. I am straying pretty far off from the instructions mainly because with the exception of the drawings identifying the walls and wall placement I find them confusing and the photos difficult to see.
I have abandoned the 3/4 inch base specified in the instructions in favor of internal flooring and need to add a second floor and a more rigid roof since almost all the walls are curved side to side and up and down.

If anyone has built this kit I would appreciate some input concerning attaching the office complex to the factory. I understand placing the office walls in the notches in walls A and B but placement of the two upper wall sections 11 and 12 (long narrow walls with notches at one end) is confusing.

Anyway below are some construction photos

I had to deal with some broken pieces first

Korber Lionel Factory [2)

Korber Lionel Factory [3)

Next came window assembly

Korber Lionel Factory [5)

 

Korber Lionel Factory [7)

The skylight windows were missing some vertical ?'Mullions'? so I cut out the corresponding mullions on the rest and painted a concrete color. It is hard to see but the skylight roof panels were painted black then oversprayed with 'aged iron' textured paint.

Lionel Factory 003

Lionel Factory 002

I assembled the walls for the factory and the office complex then cut and painted the internal flooring for ground level (concrete color) and second floor (black). I have started installing wood bracing for the second floor and roof in the office complex. Next up will be the factory.

Korber Lionel Factory 001Korber Lionel Factory 002Korber Lionel Factory 003Korber Lionel Factory 004

In the next post are pictures of the water tower.

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  • Korber Lionel Factory (2)
  • Korber Lionel Factory (3)
  • Korber Lionel Factory (2)
  • Korber Lionel Factory (3)
  • Korber Lionel Factory (5)
  • Korber Lionel Factory (7)
  • Lionel Factory 003
  • Lionel Factory 002
  • Korber Lionel Factory 001
  • Korber Lionel Factory 002
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  • Korber Lionel Factory 004
Original Post

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Alan:

Any notions about the wall sections 11 and 12 between the office complex and the factory?

"attaching the office complex to the factory. I understand placing the office walls in the notches in walls A and B but placement of the two upper wall sections 11 and 12 (long narrow walls with notches at one end) is confusing."

Thanks

Joe

Did some more work on the factory

Added some more bracing to the office complex

Korber Lioel Factory [2)

I decided to make the second story floors concrete also. I am using 1/8 inch hardboard. It is sagging a little in the center so I will need to add some bracing.

Korber Lioel Factory [3)

 

I stared gluing in the floors for the factory section. I also added partitions to the center section.

Korber Lioel Factory [1)

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  • Korber Lioel Factory (1)
  • Korber Lioel Factory (2)
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Did some more work on the factory, mostly interior framework for floors, flat roofs and the skyline / sloped roof sections.
I included pictures of the two narrow back walls for the office complex. As you can see there is a gap between the two that will be seen with the finished building. I am not sure what the design 'function' was but will need to figure out how to cover the gap up. I am thinking either extra wall sections which I really don't have or maybe duct work.............

I need to install lights so may have designed myself into a corner with the factory section since with the floors glued in and the skylight / sloped roofs to be glued in it will be almost impossible to get inside the two wings to change out lights.

Korber Lionel Factory 02_22 [1)

Korber Lionel Factory 02_22 [2)

Korber Lionel Factory 02_22 [3)

Korber Lionel Factory 02_22 [4)

Korber Lionel Factory 02_22 [5)

You can see the gap in the photo below

Korber Lionel Factory 02_22 [6)

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  • Korber Lionel Factory 02_22 (1)
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  • Korber Lionel Factory 02_22 (3)
  • Korber Lionel Factory 02_22 (4)
  • Korber Lionel Factory 02_22 (5)
  • Korber Lionel Factory 02_22 (6)

I gotta say for a kit this one is a struggle. Poor instructions (kit is from the 80's I think), warped plastic, broken walls etc is making it interesting. Without all the extra interior wood bracing it would be a nightmare to ship this structure.
I have discovered something new. I use Gorilla Glue (light blue cap) for plastic to plastic/wood joints and a product called 2P-10RT (wood super glue) for wood to wood. I have used 2P-10 for a long time in my woodworking. I contacted the manufacturer and asked if it can be used to bond plastic and the rep said sure. I used it on all the new wood bracing posted above and it seems to be working great. 2P-10 stands for two part 10 second cure though the 2-part is really the glue and an activator if you want to use it. The RT stands for rubber treated which makes it even better for plastic kits. Just be warned if you use the activator the bond is as advertised - INSTANT. The neat thing about the activator is whether you spray it or brush it on, even if the carrier evaporates the working chemicals remain so you can walk away and come back later and the part is ready to go.

Last edited by Joe Fauty

Ran a little experiment  - glued two walls with first the gorilla glue and then with 2P-10. After cure I dropped them on the floor. Both test samples broke apart. Alan Graz is correct in saying that something else is needed like hot glue to reinforce the joints.
If you are building for your own layout the hot glue is probably not necessary but shipping stuff is a different story. I like building Korber kits but I hate shipping them.

Joe

Made progress on this build.

I came up with a solution to covering the space in the back walls for the office complex. I used some wood to continue the roof ridge and cut up a piece of Korber wall I have used in the past for make up work. Hopefully when everything is painted it will blend in.

Korber Lionel Factory 003

My second major issue was the skylight panels. I had use interior bracing to strengthen the roof panels but could not figure out how to brace for the skylight panels. These panels were in pretty bad shape wrt warpage and breakage. My solution was to glue wood square rods to the bottom of the panels. Turns out the wood straightened them up just fine and will add stability to the panels once glued into the walls. If i need more glue support I will use some corner bracing as each panel is glued in place.

Korber Lionel Factory 002

This building is now ready for paint!

Korber Lionel Factory 001

Joe

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  • Korber Lionel Factory 003
  • Korber Lionel Factory 002
  • Korber Lionel Factory 001

Started to wipe down the mortar from the bricks. As mentioned before my technique is to use a stiff brush to clean the mortar off the bricks. This technique was developed in making quite a few building fronts using OGR panels. I could never develop a technique with a damp cloth on these panels without wiping away the mortar from the mortar lines.
For this Korber kit I started out brushing but decided to try a damp rag for clean up. the damp rag worked on these panels.

Korber Lionel Factory 001

Korber Lionel Factory 002

These are the walls with the initial coat of Robert's Brick Mortar

Korber Lionel Factory 003

These are the brushes I use. The bristles start out a lot longer but wear down with use.

Korber Lionel Factory 004

This is after using the brush. If you are looking for a weathered look you could probably stop here.

Korber Lionel Factory 005

This is after the damp cloth. Don't attempt to clean out the corners with the rag. Instead leave them for a damp micro-brush later on. Some areas of missing mortar can be touched up with another application of Robert's or light weight Spackle (I use my finger for Spackle).

Before using any kind of weathering wash be sure to spray the mortar with Dullcote or equivalent otherwise the wash will move the mortar everywhere!

Joe

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  • Korber Lionel Factory 001
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It has been a while since I posted on this build.

Since I cleaned up the mortar I have:

1. Sprayed several coats of Dullcote to protect the mortar.

2. Used a combination of India ink wash and powders to tone down the white mortar and take the shine off the paint. One thing I have learned here; even with several coats of Dullcote if the India ink wash is made with alcohol the wash will go through the Dullcote and push the mortar around. So it is best and no issue with plastic to use the ink mixed with water.

3. I painted all the details. I stuck with dark gray so I could match the window color.

4. The lettering on the main entrance was highlighted using a Humbrol wash. I just basically dipped a needle nose brush into the jar then barley touched the letters. Capillary action took care of the rest.

Next up is to clean up some spots with touch up pint then a few more coats of Dullcote. Then I will install the lights and windows. Since the interior is wide open I plan on using vellum for the window panes to give a 'frosted' appearance.

Joe

Korber Lionel Factory May 2018 001

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Korber Lionel Factory May 2018 007

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  • Korber Lionel Factory May 2018 001
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  • Korber Lionel Factory May 2018 006
  • Korber Lionel Factory May 2018 007

Needed to figure out how to let customer get to lights in case replacement is needed. So far I have come up with the following for the two sections with the skylights and angled roof sections. I crafted a removable 'light bar'. This will mean angled roof section immediately above the light bar will need to be loose or glued with rubber cement. I will mount LED light strips under the removable sections and run wires through the holes and then down the sides. The bars have already been painted red oxide over black to blend in with the walls.

Korber Lionel Factory [2)

 

Korber Lionel Factory [1)

Korber Lionel Factory [3)

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  • Korber Lionel Factory (1)
  • Korber Lionel Factory (2)
  • Korber Lionel Factory (3)

Along with making the light bar re-movable I needed to figure out how to make the LED strips also removable without resorting the cutting wire or using a solder iron. I found some pigtails that fit the LED strips. This is a mechanical attachment. So if it becomes necessary to replace a strip the customer need only open the socket remove and replace the strip.

I did some more work  - will show photos tomorrow.

Korber Light pole

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Images (1)
  • Korber Light pole
Last edited by Joe Fauty

Got the lights installed - still need to drill holes in floor board.
I had some issues with connectivity since I did not solder the LED strips into their sockets. Ended up using 'shims' on top of the metal fingers to press them down onto the strips.
Next up is to attach window panes. I am going to use vellum to get a frosted window effect.

 

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Korber Lionel factory 003

Korber Lionel factory 005

 

 

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Images (6)
  • Korber Lionel factory 001
  • Korber Lionel factory 002
  • Korber Lionel factory 003
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  • Korber Lionel factory 005
  • Korber Lionel factory 003
E-UNIT-79 posted:

How are you going to ship that monster of a building.  ?? Its absolutely beautiful and so much work you put into it.

It was a big box! I fashioned foam cushions and used plenty of peanuts. One fear I have with Korber structures is that since super glue is needed for assembly it's inherent brittleness makes shipping dicey. I try to pack so the structure is held rigid in the box to keep it from moving and banging around. Even then I always tell the customer to alert me to any shipping damage.

Alan Graziano has a technique where he adds a bead of hot glue to all joints to further re-enforce them.

coach joe posted:

Joe I know it has been a while but do you have any info on the LED pigtails?

Joe - don't laugh - The company is called WE HONEST. Ebay
Don't know how they do it but they are cheaper than dirt. A friend of mine uses their light poles and never has had an issue. Same with me for the LED strips. I bought a couple of their dwarf signals but have yet to try them out.
As for the pigtails I do have some issues with the metal inside the pigtail lining up with the metal tabs on the LED strips.

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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