Finishing the Mill

As noted in the previous post, the feed mill looked too desolate for my liking so I set out to add a small side structure. Working from the basic dimensions of the mill I constructed a simple office building – ensuring that I matched the roof pitch and basic form of the mill to ensure continuity. In two evenings I was able to complete the project (this scratch building stuff is getting easier!) and install it on the layout.

The suggestion was put forth that I attempt to reduce the thickness of the sandpaper by sanding the backing off of the paper in an attempt to make it thinner. The problem was the only sandpaper I had on hand was the 320 grit I was using to for the shingles themselves – after a minute of sanding I had barely removed the text on the backing paper so I cut my losses and quit (an experiment to follow up on later!). Despite this, the results were much better this time as I used CA to attach the shingles rather then white glue, and I was able to pinch the seams down tight against the building – improving the appearance dramatically. (I had used white glue for the other shingles so that if I was unhappy with the results I could remove the sandpaper and glue with just a bit of water.) I airbrushed the tarpaper roof and weathered the building, frosting the inside of the windows with a bit of paint to suggest dust.

I added the ‘Balinifad Feed’ sign to the office for a bit of colour, and to help reinforce the fact that this industry was not yet defunct. The sign was designed on the computer and printed to scale. I printed 6 copies of the sign and weathered them with the airbrush before cutting them out so I could select the best of the bunch. I believe weathering before cutting so prevented the paper from curling and the resulting sign sits quite flat against the building.

I’m very happy with how this turned out and I can now say that all of the structures are done!