"There's an old mill by the stream, Nelly Dean!"

[spanner570]

Thanks for all your encouraging posts, they make for great reading.

Thanks for the input regarding the wheel - dead or alive? It looks like it's a working wheel simulation then..It won't be actually moving, just giving the impression of movement...I hope!

Rather than do a bit more to the buildings, I have made inroads into the shaping of the river bank and the water itself. This can then be going hard whilst I do a bit more to the structures....

For this I used tile adhesive, but anything suitable can be used....polyfilla, plaster or anything similar.

Here's the 'Before', complete with that plunge pool! I've given the white polystyrene a coat of brown paint.

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...and the application of the adhesive to add some shape to the river bank, smooth the river bed and salmon steps out a bit, also generally fill in any unwanted holes......

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Also a bit of work down stream......The bridge is still a loose fit.

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We need a sluice gate to divert the water into the mill race. I made this from coffee stirrers and copper wire from some old electric cable.

Again I've tried for that rustic look and also cut some notches into the mechanism.....

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and weathered......I've modelled the sluice open, so no turning back now, the water is pounding down the mill race!

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Loosely fitted, ready for more painting etc.

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Next it's a bit more work on the river bed and also adding some more colour to it.

I hope you approve of progress thus far, and enjoying seeing it come to life....I'm getting a bit of a buzz on for sure!lol

Cheers all,

Ron

 

[Centurion3RTR]

Holy moly Ron, just catching up mate. This is awesome, and it's giving me ideas too.

Have fun, John

 

[monica]

superb, Ron, looking great, lov the sluice gate, nice attention given to detail,that makes it looks real,:rolleyes:

great work on the steam as well,its all fitting together nicely, cannot wait to see what you do next,

keep the great work and pics coming do look forward to the updates, :D

 

[spanner570]

Bit more of an update...

I've tiled the mill roof...As I've gone over my way of doing this on previous builds, I won't bore you again!lol Suffice to say I still make my tiles / slates in a single strip.

Here is the roof ready for painting. I purposely dipped the ridge line to make it a bit more sagged and old looking. Also, I am never fussy about getting the tile lines just so....it's an old building.

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I've started work on the stream. I use paints to convey depth to the water....Light to the edges and getting darker to the middle. This gives a sort of illusion of depth.

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Here a second darker coat has been added to the deeper middle.

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Here's two more views - before and after.

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You can just see the painted roof too....It looks bl***y awful and constantly takes the eye away from the wheel etc. I really don't know why I painted it like that....Logic says it should be about the same shade as the surrounding stone - Locally made and all that! Time to re-paint!

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This is the lower mill race and stream. I've tried to show how the race has scoured out the stream bed. Also the stream is deeper on the outer edges of the bend caused by the water always running quicker in this area.....

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You might remember that very early on in the build I removed the left hand side of the building. Here I have made another building and this will be stepped back from the mill, but attached, making a kind of dog leg, which I hope will help balance to frontage a bit better. Some might recognise the design - It's the derelect farm from my Group build 'Flush him out!' I always keep the paper templates, so I was able to more or less copy the same building again....

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I'm not too sure about this building, it might be a bit too big and dwarf the mill. I'll glue it together and see......

That's all for this post.

Thanks for looking in,

Ron

 

[colin m]

Looking great Ron, and thanks for the building tips as you go along. Really useful stuff.

 

[dubster72]

This is so inspirational Ron (sorry to sound like one of our cousins from across the water!)

Could you plonk something down in the next update to get an idea of scale?

Thank you!

 

[monica]

liking it Ron, you have done a great job on the roof, looking good,:rolleyes:

and what a good ide to dip it as well alot would not think off doing that, well done,

nice use of water colors also to show the water deaths,

just give the roof a few washers with gray/brown will bring down the toning alot, but to me its not over bright,

and is a nice color o_O

looking very forward to next update

 

[Ian M]

Still watching. Still fascinated. Still wondering how you make it all look so easy.

Ian M

 

[yak face]

Ive been piking through a knot hole in the fence at this one matey, I'm just amazed at the whole thing . Its a superb exercise in scratchbuilding and ingenuity , like most of your builds. Its a pleasure to watch ,I just hope i get to see it in the flesh sometime. Looking forward to seeing the water effects go on , cheers tony

 

[Alan 45]

Top work as ever Ron I still say this will be a master piece

 

[spanner570]

Brilliant posts folks, thanks ever so much. It really is great to read such compliments.....

Just a quick picture for our good buddy Patrick...I hope this is what you required. Not too sure whether you wanted a 1/72 figure or something lifelike to compare, so here is a mug shot!!

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Cheers all and thanks again,

Ron

P.S. As you can see, I've started to repaint the mill roof!!

 

[dubster72]

Cheers Ron! Just what I wanted!

 

[Deleted member 3568]

Ahh sweet little mug. Anyway back to the build this is great stuff teaching me anyway a lot you are a very skilled scratch builder and I look forward to seeing the next update

 

[flyjoe180]

Nice work Ron, lovely mug shot

 

[treyzx10r]

Ron great progress! Really nice touch with the color variations in the water areas,ca'nt wait to see the finish on this one!

 

[Gern]

If that's really your mug shot Ron, then who's that white-haired old geezer we see bumbling around Cosford every year?

Gern

 

[spanner570]

If that's really your mug shot Ron, then who's that white-haired old geezer we see bumbling around Cosford every year?Gern

Darth Vader with his helmet off!!!!

 

[Gern]

Can't be - he's not tall enough! Could it be a heavily disguised Yoda? Whoever it is, aren't you worried about identity theft?

Gern

 

[spanner570]

Can't be - he's not tall enough! Could it be a heavily disguised Yoda? Whoever it is, aren't you worried about identity theft?Gern

Dave, apart from anything else, the mould was well and truly smashed by my mum and dad after they made me!!!!

O.K., onwards and upwards......

I put together the building, and sure enough it was too big and swamped the mill. I cut a chunk off both gables, recut the pitch of the roof and re-glued it. I have cut the roof so it slots over the other roof and finally stuck it on the end of the mill. It looks more in proportion now......

Here is the building...far too big.

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....and here it is cut down, complete with roof overlap, far better. I've lost the gable door and window, the door looked daft anyway, just around the corner from the other one ( Don't know why I designed it like that in the first place!).............Never be worried about altering things.View attachment 82975


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Windows, glass and doors added. All rustic looking. The windows are from cocktail stirrers, the 'glass' is just clear thin plastic sheet. The doors are plastic card, again I've done a mini 'how to' during that 'Flush him out' diorama. I like to leave some doors slightly open...Don't know why mind!

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Here's the two buildings...Note the change in roof colour. I think it blends in far better than the harsh red. Plenty of weathering still to do......

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That's it for this stage...Time to sit back and wait for ideas and, or improvements to float along. (some pun eh?)

Also, I'll final fit the bridge and see if anything needs doing with it.....

Thanks for looking, and any suggestions or questions, please fire away.

Ron

 

[Ian M]

Looking very good indeed Ron.

How about a couple of figures fishing in the stream... Should be simple enough to find a couple of figures you can mod a bit. Or an 'orse and cart loaded with sacks of either corn going in or flour coming out...

Ian M