What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

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healey36
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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby healey36 » Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:36 am

Painting these with a brush, airbrush, or spray-can?

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G3750
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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby G3750 » Tue Jul 05, 2022 12:09 pm

healey36 wrote:Painting these with a brush, airbrush, or spray-can?


Spray-can. I am not versed in the use of an air-brush. Well, actually the last time I used an air brush was in 1978 painting steel samples with automotive enamel and lacquer for weathering studies. That was will a full-size DeVilbis air brush. Wow, haven't thought about that in a long time. It's a real skill and I'm not very good at it.

George
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healey36
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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby healey36 » Wed Jul 06, 2022 6:55 am

Yup, using the airbrush is an admirable skill, but it's also a mess to deal with (in my experience). If I can find a paint in the appropriate color and finish in a spray-can, I'm inclined to go that route.

What are you using for cement with Plastruct. I may have asked this before. I've had trouble getting Plastruct stuff to bond using various cements. I think the last time I tried it, I used Ambroid ProWeld and that resulted in me dissolving half of what I built.

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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby G3750 » Thu Jul 07, 2022 3:54 pm

healey36 wrote:Yup, using the airbrush is an admirable skill, but it's also a mess to deal with (in my experience). If I can find a paint in the appropriate color and finish in a spray-can, I'm inclined to go that route.


Absolutely agree there. I'm not great with spray can - my technique tends to be rushed and I put too much paint on the subject. But it beats messing with an airbrush. Patience is not one of my (few) virtues. :roll: :lol: :lol: :lol:

healey36 wrote:What are you using for cement with Plastruct. I may have asked this before. I've had trouble getting Plastruct stuff to bond using various cements. I think the last time I tried it, I used Ambroid ProWeld and that resulted in me dissolving half of what I built.


With Plastruct (ABS and styrene) I like several CA's:
  • Bob Smith Industries has a medium viscosity CA (10-15 seconds set time). Typically, you'll see these marketed under the hobby shop's name.
  • Bob Smith Industries has super thin CA (1-3 seconds set time).
  • E-6000. This has a high viscosity and takes a few hours (or even overnight) to set. I use this a lot for big jobs.

Bob Smith also markets a de-bonder, not that I ever make mistakes. :roll: :lol: :lol:

George
What is a 'Conservative'? "Someone who wants society and policy to recognize objective reality- economic, biological, and historical."

—Katy Faust

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healey36
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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby healey36 » Thu Jul 07, 2022 6:57 pm

Thanks for the tips on cements, George. I haven’t used much CA, so that will be a new avenue for me. I’ve been using a lot of GO2 by Loctite, a decent all-purpose cement that seems to bond most things (except Plastruct).

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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby Rufus T. Firefly » Thu Jul 07, 2022 7:09 pm

ABS can be a problematic material, but MEK will work for ABS, but it seems a little aggressive for simple styrene.

I've not had good luck with CA securing ABS long-term; styrene seems to have a little surface porosity that gives CA something to bite into and bind.

However, I'm not a fan of MEK -- flammable, lighter than air vapor, and has a bit of a nose.
Conservatism: The intense fear that somewhere, somehow, someone you think is inferior is being treated as your equal.

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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby G3750 » Thu Jul 07, 2022 7:44 pm

Updated 7/07/2022:

All 9 full trusses and the 3 half trusses have been painted. Phew! Consumed about 3 full-size spray cans of flat black.

George
What is a 'Conservative'? "Someone who wants society and policy to recognize objective reality- economic, biological, and historical."

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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby G3750 » Fri Jul 29, 2022 2:46 pm

Updated 7/29/2022:

I have assembled 11 outer columns and 6 interior columns. I am now in the process of painting them.

George
What is a 'Conservative'? "Someone who wants society and policy to recognize objective reality- economic, biological, and historical."

—Katy Faust

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healey36
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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby healey36 » Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:15 am

Is this a building with a "sheet-metal" exterior? I'm losing mental imagery without some pics, but it sounds like progress.

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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby G3750 » Sat Jul 30, 2022 12:53 pm

healey36 wrote:Is this a building with a "sheet-metal" exterior? I'm losing mental imagery without some pics, but it sounds like progress.


Yes, it is. Nearly all the major buildings of Weirton Steel date from the early 20th century and were built with this very heavy duty vertical channel siding. They were painted black and had large ventilator openings at the top of the roof.

George
What is a 'Conservative'? "Someone who wants society and policy to recognize objective reality- economic, biological, and historical."

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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby G3750 » Fri Aug 05, 2022 10:51 pm

Updated 08/05/2022:

I revisited and corrected my large Visio file of plans. In the process, I identified several columns I had not constructed. Over the past 2 days, I built those and painted them. So finally all the major columns have been constructed and painted. There will also be 14 minor columns, but they are simple, single "H" beams.

Tomorrow I will try to start the floor jig (template) and maybe start painting part of the floor.

More when I know it.

George
What is a 'Conservative'? "Someone who wants society and policy to recognize objective reality- economic, biological, and historical."

—Katy Faust

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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby G3750 » Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:05 pm

Updated 8/8/2022:

Floor work has begun. I painted the 0.060" ABS gray sheet (after scuffing it with a scrubber) with Aged Iron (a texture paint). Looks pretty bad (I mean good :lol: ). Also began laying out and gluing down the supports for the floor. This is really the place for measuring twice (or more) and then cutting out notches for columns in the flooring.

George
What is a 'Conservative'? "Someone who wants society and policy to recognize objective reality- economic, biological, and historical."

—Katy Faust

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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby G3750 » Fri Aug 26, 2022 3:36 pm

Updated 8/26/2022:

Floor painting and installation was suspended to allow me to focus on a prerequisite - getting the furnaces themselves correctly built. This project is proving the adage: "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." :lol:

Three sides of the furnaces were already built when I decided to raise the charging floor by 6 scale feet (1.5"). That forced me to extend the furnace sections visible on the pouring floor by that amount. And it required that I construct the front and roof of each furnace. To do that correctly, I had to clean-up the drawings so that components and measurements are right and the order of assembly is determined. I ended up with a slightly revised drawing of the front of the furnace and 3 top view drawings. That's because the roof is layered.

I'm getting there, but it's not a quick process.

George
What is a 'Conservative'? "Someone who wants society and policy to recognize objective reality- economic, biological, and historical."

—Katy Faust

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healey36
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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby healey36 » Sun Aug 28, 2022 2:30 pm

One furnace per building, or multiple furnaces to a single building? I can’t remember what the plan looks like.

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Re: What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

Postby G3750 » Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:07 pm

healey36 wrote:One furnace per building, or multiple furnaces to a single building? I can’t remember what the plan looks like.


The prototype Weirton Steel open hearth mill was the biggest in the world in 1950. All told there were 14 furnaces running oldest to newest from north to south. The "mixer" part of the building, where hot iron from the blast furnaces received additives and was poured into a transfer ladle for moving to a specific furnace, was at the north end. I am modeling the south end of the building and furnaces 11, 12, 13, and 14. The model structure is turned 45 degrees to the backdrop to allow me to model it, the Blooming Mill, and the Strip Steel (rolling mills) in a limited amount of space.

All furnaces run roughly along the mid-line of the structure. Oven doors facing the right side of the building (as we look "north") open onto the charging floor, where the furnaces are "charged" with materials (hot iron, scrap, chemical additives). The other side of the furnaces features a trough which empties into a ladle; this is the pouring floor, which is about 20+ scale feet lower than the charging floor. That ladle (called a "teeming" ladle) is then lifted by an overhead (bridge) crane. Ingot molds sitting on small, heavily built flatcars are filled by it; it has a bottom discharge port.

Probably more than you wanted to know. :lol:

George
What is a 'Conservative'? "Someone who wants society and policy to recognize objective reality- economic, biological, and historical."

—Katy Faust


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