Trucklover's 2009 Resolution Challenge ~~ P1

[Trucklover]

So i have 2 new years resolutions that i would like to accomplish before this challenge ends May 30th, 2009

They will be documented in separate threads. This one will be dedicated to the CAT Rental Module and things that need to be done to complete it. I will place a date completed next to each as i complete them.

List of things that needs to be done are:

• 1. Repair the roads of damage **COMPLETED ON JANUARY 29, 2009**
  
  2. Fix CAT Rental Building Equipment Yard
  
  3. Finish Guard Rail work along the entire front of the module and also add dirt/weeds along the front edge where guard rails run **COMPLETED ON JANUARY 30, 2009**
  
  4. Assemble the Pre-cast Concrete Segments that came with the Great West Pre-Stress Building **COMPLETED ON JANUARY 27TH, 2009**
  
  5. Start Construction on the new Bridge extention. This includes setting up concrete forms and laying the "re-bar" using piano wire for casting the two bridge abutments
  
  6. Make one more Power Pole so i can re-route the Power Poles around the New Bridge Extension Area
  
  7. Paint the front edge of module brown **COMPLETED ON JANUARY 30, 2009**

Okay thats a list of things that need to be completed on this module Pictures to come soon

[Trucklover]

Just an update on this and My Part 2 thread,

Things are not going so well right now, my hobby budget has been driven down to $0.00 at the moment due to no job. Ive applied for 4 jobs in the past few days, so im really hoping that one of them follows through and i get hired lol. Not only do i need money to keep buying stuff but i also need money to spend on my girlfriend which i havnt been able to do so much in the past couple months and i miss it, she says she doesnt miss it but i know she does

With That said, progress has been very slow, hopefully things will pick up soon

[Trucklover]

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, im 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 countertop 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' pices 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, ive 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

[Trucklover]

Well crud, i thought i had the recessed circles filled in well, but when i just took some of them out for spray painting they were clearly visible still, in fact i think they even stand out more now then if i didnt even try to fill them in the first place

So ill try to spray some without filler in them and see how they look compared to the filled ones

Anyone suggest a good filler that gives good results when painted?

[tomustang]

but i also need money to spend on my girlfriend which i havnt been able to do so much in the past couple months

What comes around goes around, tell her to buy you some models

[Trucklover]

What comes around goes around, tell her to buy you some models

LOL she almost bought me one of my cranes that i got for myself....

[Trucklover]

So what do you think? Filled or Unfilled?





Filled recesses are the left panel and the unfilled are the right panel in the 2 pics above, which do you like better?

Either way, you can still see where the filler is, and that kinda sucks lol

[tomustang]

well you can always weather the filled areas, the bondo i tried worked good

[Trucklover]

well you can always weather the filled areas, the bondo i tried worked good

Thanks for the reply Tom. I think i found something that worked well this time 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






What do you think? Better?

[tomustang]

quick thinking, cant see them now

[Trucklover]

quick thinking, cant see them now

Sure enough, it worked well

[Trucklover]

Got all the wall panels done. And i was able to fit them all in the yard too lol

Here are some pics of the yard with the pre-cast segments in place




















Now the only think left to do is get scale 6x6"x8' pieces of lumber to put in between each pre-cast slab lol

[Trucklover]

So with the work of the panels out of the way, i began work on the road repairs for the module.

I discovered that the roads were worse then i thought, there were lots of cracks and such, so a large section was pulled up and filled in with new material. 2 Other dime sized spots were also cut out and filled in with new material. This should improve the roads so no more potholes lol

I also removed some of the striping. Once i get the new road completely filled with the second coat, i will paint it black again using the WS asphalt top coat. Once that is completely dry, i will lay down some masking tape and begin to paint in some lines on the new road

Pics to come soon

[Trucklover]

Okay so, here is the roads now. I have decided that road striping will NOT be necessary. This is because the road is closed due to the bridge expansion.

The road repairs were filled in. I left them a little rough, i wanted to show just a rough and quick patch, but after painting, you cant even tell the areas were rough lol

Here is a pic of what the roads looked like before the patching, as i said in my last post, i cut up quite a bit of the old road as i found out that more was damaged then i had thought



Here ae 2 pics after the areas were filled with new and improved "white asphalt"






After letting the patches dry completely over night, i painted them and added some details to the scene simulating a small stock yard of materials that would be used to build a new bridge. Some pipes for drainage, some sheet re-bar for the forms, sacks of concrete or mortar with a few pallets of bricks, a few tarped pallets, a stock pile of cones and barriers, and some other various small details. These were all stacked and set on the side of the road.

I also blocked off the road at the entrance for the CAT rental building and equipment yard so no traffic can come through to the bridge constructions site. Only truck traffic for the Great West Pre-Stress is allowed to come through the closed road..... Ive also put up some of the guard rails. There was a section that got broken in half, so i just used some cones and kinda made it looks like as if it needs to be repaired after an accident lol

Here are a few pics of the new patches, construction details and the new guard rails






















































Next up on the things to do is

• 1. finish the guard rails on the left and right side of the module
  2. add dirt/weeds along the bottom of the guard rails
  3. repair the CAT Rental Equipment Yard
  4. start the bridge expansion for the new bridge
  5. paint front edge of module brown

[Trucklover]

Okay so here are some new pics. I finished the guard rails yesterday and also glued the dirt under the guard rails. While waiting for the dirt to dry, i began planting tall "weeds" all along the front of the module where the guard rail is. I used Woodland Sceneics Field Grass in the Light Green and Gold Yellow colors mixed together. Some of them have more green, some more yellow, some about the same of each.

The guard rails are Rix Products kits that i assembled and made into long sections. The dirt under them is a sifted material i got from a bag of washed masonry sand. I got a few different grades from it, and it was a 50 pound bag, so i still have a ton left. It makes good river bases!!

The area on the left side of the bridge (8th picture) was just glued down this morning (the grass) so it is still white at the base from the scenic glue, but it will dry clear just like the others....