[LateStarter]

Walthers SceneMaster kit
"Blast Furnace".

Plastic-palooza!
The main industry on my railroad, (and by far the biggest structure) is a quasi steel mill... an abbreviated affair, squeezed into a particular section for maximum visual effect.

This Walthers kit was (I believe) introduced in 1999, and has gone through a few evolutionary changes over the years.
The final assembly config doesn't fully match the box photo, but at least the evolved instructions correspond to the current parts.
It was 'fairly' easy to assemble, but required an enormous amount of patience.

As it sits now, it's basically a diorama on a Homosote base that'll be set into a jigsaw cutout.

Lots of CA glue and Tamiya cement. All acrylic paint over enamel primer. The dominant color is a Vallejo earthtone with a little gray added.

It has a large footprint. There isn't enough room left over for much more than a lead-in track and a few small outbuildings, but it'll have the desired effect. It'll be trimmed out with a short string of Athearn RTR ore cars.

The kit has gotten quite rare, but wherever it's found the price has nearly doubled.

 

[Riggzie]

Wow Nice...

when i move, ill set mine up and im goin for oil and coal o gauge)..

seems i love those 2 industries...

 

[Andy57]

Oh how I would love to have that kit. Never saw it before.
Andy

 

[LateStarter]

As usual with some injection-molded kits, the many large flue pieces are molded in 'halves' which must be glued together.
Several of them were very slightly cold-warped, which required a heat lamp, and a great deal of jigging, clamping, and banding (and cursing).

 

[Big Ed]

Look like a lot of work assembling it.
I found cuss words always help.

Be care full moving it, don't trip.

Looks like it came out nice. :thumbsup:

 

[Andy57]

As usual with some injection-molded kits, the many large flue pieces are molded in 'halves' which must be glued together.
Several of them were very slightly cold-warped, which required a heat lamp, and a great deal of jigging, clamping, and banding (and cursing).

I don't think I have the talent for that jigging, clamping and heat lamp stuff.
Andy

 

[telltale]

What is the footprint ? My guess is about 24"x 10".. Do the (is it ?) slag cars roll ? And if so, what is the coupler situ / track situ. ?

 

[LateStarter]

What is the footprint ? My guess is about 24"x 10".. Do the (is it ?) slag cars roll ? And if so, what is the coupler situ / track situ. ?

Lit says 14x28". I left off a small annex, so it's a bit shorter.
Slag (etc) cars are not included.

 

[LateStarter]

I don't think I have the talent for that jigging, clamping and heat lamp stuff.
Andy

No 'talent' needed...
A simple jig was just a square-foot of 3/4" plywood with some nails driven in.
Elastic banding was stretched from mated parts to the nails, (without glueing) to apply opposing tension. A heat lamp was set in place, and left on until mating surfaces matched up without gaps.
Out of an abundance of caution, I didn't allow the lamp into close proximity, so it may have been a longer process than it needed to be.
I didn't use a heat gun or a hairdryer because it's too 'local-focused', and I didn't feel like standing there waving it around for an hour or so.

 

[LateStarter]

You absolutely shouldn't attempt a kit of this magnitude without a good sprue cutter.
There are over 320 parts here, with about 2,500 sprue points.

 

[LateStarter]

Thinkin' about putting an aircraft warning light on a short mast on top of the scaffolding.
The mill furnace near where I grew up had one.

 

[LateStarter]

Holman Steel, (dba Holman Coil & Casting) owns several gondolas for hauling scrap-metal and limestone.

Accurail:

 

[Eilif]

Walthers SceneMaster kit
"Blast Furnace".

View attachment 529300

Fantastic work!
Did you put that off-square cant to where the buildings meet the stacks? It adds a nice bit of realism.

 

[LateStarter]

Fantastic work!
Did you put that off-square cant to where the buildings meet the stacks? It adds a nice bit of realism.

All I did was follow the directions.
I had no ambitions to get 'cute' with anything. It was complicated enough already.
It's my understanding that this kit went through four different evolutionary configs. I don't know if this is an early '99 version or a late '06(?) one. Can't find a copyright date.

 

[LateStarter]

The prototype structure near where I grew up was painted a 'forest' green.
What I remember most about it was seeing it at night from the highway, with all the interior lights on... looked almost like a city on a mountain.

I never had a chance to visit it, and to be honest, my knowledge of steel mill operations is very limited.
But I do think that this structure alone can signify its presence, and since I have very little room left over for other mill accoutrements, hopefully it'll create the ambience I'm looking for.
I badly wanted to have staging tracks for coal hoppers, but there's only room for a lead-in track with a weigh scale (mostly simulated & static).
Alas, the limitations of a modest home layout.

 

[Eilif]

All I did was follow the directions.
I had no ambitions to get 'cute' with anything. It was complicated enough already.
It's my understanding that this kit went through four different evolutionary configs. I don't know if this is an early '99 version or a late '06(?) one. Can't find a copyright date.

Well, it looks great, and I think it will immediately read Steel Mill to anyone who sees it. If you later feel it needs "more" you could always add additional installations via a scenic backdrop.

I'm in a similar situation with a Power plant. I've only got room for the Walthers "Northern Power and Light", but I'm hoping that signage, plus putting some detail on top and beside and maybe a bit on the backdrop will suffice to get the point across.

 

[MichaelE]

I think it looks great. Definitely adds a heavy industrial feel to that area of the layout.

 

[LateStarter]

I've only got room for the Walthers "Northern Power and Light", but I'm hoping that signage, plus putting some detail on top and beside and maybe a bit on the backdrop will suffice to get the point across.

I was thinking of getting that very same kit... along with the separate interior. It'd be an additional coal user for the hopper drags I'll be running.
But alas, there's no room for that footprint anywhere.

 

[SantaFeJim]

Excellent work. Have you tracked the number of hours you have into this project?

 

[Krieglok]

Great looking mill. I grew up near Bethlehem Steel’s Lackawanna plant. You certainly have the look and feel down right.

It was amazing how huge these complexes were in real life. Fortunately, some of the related structures were saved at the old Allentown PA plant, though, a mere shadow of what was originally there.

You model work is making me homesick! Lol.

Tom