Scrounger's Scenery & Structures Corner

@third rail posted:

Thank you.  How about some scrap metal gondola loads.  Regular aluminum foil balled up then formed into a cube with a hammer.

Painted some with black and rust colored acrylics.

Thanks.  That's exactly what I've been trying to figure out for my Marx gondolas.  (I think Marx had more gondolas than any other railroad in the world....and maybe five road names total.)

When I was living on Long Island there was a LEGO store in the Roosevelt Field Mall.  There was a wall of loose bricks and pieces you could buy in bulk.  The store had containers, much like Chinese take-out soup containers, pints and quarts to fill with these loose pieces.  I used one of those containers, some leftover backer rod and leftover foamcore poster board and came up with this.

Here's another one. I've been keeping razor blade holders for a while thinking there could definitely be a use for them and here is one.  Some spray paint turns the blade holder into exhaust louvers for my power plant.

@coach joe posted:

Here's another one. I've been keeping razor blade holders for a while thinking there could definitely be a use for them and here is one.  Some spray paint turns the blade holder into exhaust louvers for my power plant.

Pure genius!!!  Wow!!! Coach Joe that building looks terrific!!!

@coach joe posted:

Looking good Joe

Was this a kit or have you been doing a complete scratchbuild ?

I'll have to remember the blade holders idea instead of using them to build up the local landfill

Looks great Joe, ingenious.

I'm gonna have to start changing my blades more often to get some. Looks like they would make good looking factory saw-tooth windows too?

Thank you guys. I posted the building in last week's Sunday Scenic Showcase.  I detailed a MTH Public Works Building into a power plant.  The louvers replaced windows in front of the Engine/Generators' radiators.

Here's another scrounge.  The little desiccant that comes in some medicine bottles.  I think they make great 55 gallon drums.  The silver drum on the end is a Lionel drum that came from my oil derrick for size comparison.  I've thought about painting them, I've seen a lot of black drums with white tops in my day, but I'm intrigued by the printing on the side.  The drums are big enough in this picture that you can actually read what it says but on a truck or loading dock on a layout you wouldn't be able to read "DO NOT EAT" and it would look like product labeling.  Any thoughts about painting will be appreciated.

@coach joe posted:

I've thought about painting them, I've seen a lot of black drums with white tops in my day, but I'm intrigued by the printing on the side.  The drums are big enough in this picture that you can actually read what it says but on a truck or loading dock on a layout you wouldn't be able to read "DO NOT EAT" and it would look like product labeling.  Any thoughts about painting will be appreciated.

Another great idea Joe.      I like the black with white lids.    The jury is still out on that "DO NOT EAT " lettering.....especially if they are going go be on a loading dock for crude oil........yuck.

I like the dessicant oil drum idea, Coach. Maybe a couple of thin o-rings glued on each one to make them stand out like oil drums (you can get about 200 assorted on the bay for under $10).

They're plastic so I think a little satin or semi-gloss black or maroon Krylon should do it. I'd paint the tops the same color, but that's a matter of personal preference.

You might even find some scale decals like Shell, Mobil, GM, etc. to put on them.

@coach joe posted:

Here's another scrounge.  The little desiccant that comes in some medicine bottles.  I think they make great 55 gallon drums.  The silver drum on the end is a Lionel drum that came from my oil derrick for size comparison.  I've thought about painting them, I've seen a lot of black drums with white tops in my day, but I'm intrigued by the printing on the side.  The drums are big enough in this picture that you can actually read what it says but on a truck or loading dock on a layout you wouldn't be able to read "DO NOT EAT" and it would look like product labeling.  Any thoughts about painting will be appreciated.

You can also use them to dress up your telephone poles.

@coach joe posted:

Here's another scrounge.  The little desiccant that comes in some medicine bottles.  I think they make great 55 gallon drums.  The silver drum on the end is a Lionel drum that came from my oil derrick for size comparison.  I've thought about painting them, I've seen a lot of black drums with white tops in my day, but I'm intrigued by the printing on the side.  The drums are big enough in this picture that you can actually read what it says but on a truck or loading dock on a layout you wouldn't be able to read "DO NOT EAT" and it would look like product labeling.  Any thoughts about painting will be appreciated.

Mask off the lettering a paint the top and bottom Joe. I like @Richie C. 's o-ring idea too.

Bob

PS- I spent many a rainy afternoon watching my son run around that LEGO store too.....

Okay so 10 months later they got painted.

Lots of great ideas here.

Okay so these aren't scenery or structures but they're definitely a scrounge.  Used Black and Decker edger blades repurposed as weights for rolling stock.  They were a little too wide so I used a grinder to get the correct width and a little flat black and eights for 5 cars.

Those are some great ideas Joe. I certainly took notes. Now for the interior of the plant, you could consider adding one or two of these for the steam generation. This is a Crow River Products steam boiler. It is offered in a kit. I have one put together and working on #2. They also have a generator kit. They offer a building to house them and I purchased one and had Stu Gralnik assemble and paint it for me. Bill

@coach joe posted:

Used Black and Decker edger blades repurposed as weights for rolling stock. 

Geez Joe...........what do these things weigh  ?

Dallas I haven't put them on the scale yet but suffice to say each one should be all the weight needed to bring even the lightest MPC cars up to NMRA standards.  The first one will be going in an auxiliary water tender.

So I weighed on my very accurate Health-o-meter 1 pound family scale.  As can be seen they are different lengths depending on how long I left then on the edger, usually a function of how deep I wanted to cut the edge, but on my very accurate scale they all weighed in at just under 5 oz to just under 6 oz.  Like I said more than enough to bring most light plastic rolling stock up to NMRA standards.