What's a lime kiln without an exhaust stack? Most stacks seemed to be circular in cross section, but the parts on hand were designed for HVAC and are rectangular. So, pulling out a few of these "printed" parts gave:
Blacktop Crossing
A 4'X~6' HO Gauge Train Layout -- Cotton Industry in the Deep South, circa 1956
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Not So Magic Kiln Addition
Saturday, September 6, 2025
The Magic Lime Kiln
Looks like the lime kiln just appeared out of nowhere, huh? Actually, a cardboard tube spray painted grey. Used one of the Walthers Sawmill Outbuildings building for one end of lime kiln with hole cut with Dremel tool:
Tried to add a little flat rust paint but probably should have done more dry brushing. Used more Clever Bros cardstock prints for cinder block supports.
Friday, September 5, 2025
Another Shack for the Lime Kiln
Although several photos of pulp mill lime kilns had a rather open structure for the higher end, without really knowing what to put in the open frame, the idea to enclose the high end arose -- before and after:
The rusted metal sheets came from a Clever Bros "kit":
The top in this case is a gabled roof and only three sides were enclosed. I did use colored pencils to darken the insides a bit, but maybe will still try to find what goes inside. So might still use an open frame structure but only if the "innards" can be understood. In the meantime, I like the more "finished" look.Alternative to Ground Goop + Start of Watson Bayou
and "earth" applied before a little ground turf and bushes. Mostly counting on wet paint and some hairspray to hold turf in place.
Sanded grout in two shades added to tan paint, again hoping wet paint would hold grout. Afterwards applied a water/alcohol spray.
Start of project: mostly pink foam insulation!
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
Water in the Pond
Here's a 1/4" weather seal painted a "concrete" gray for the main wall and double layer of aluminum foil for the inside of the wall! The aluminum was shaped over several 1/16" or smaller square plastic rods to give it some detail, so to speak.
Apparently we were successful in sealing the waste water treatment pond. We added a walkway and pipe from Tichy Train open grate platform, Walthers piping kit, and Walthers modern conveyor kit. A couple of layers of Woodland Scenics Realistic Water and we'll call it success -- no leaks!
Realistic Water is really slow to solidify and just when I thought it was going to always have a sticky surface, it harden a bit more!
Sunday, July 20, 2025
Next Step on Wastewater (?) Pond
A granddaughter helped with a little scenicking around a circular waste pond (or maybe we'll call it a water treatment pond). Now maybe it's time to move a little further toward getting "water" in the pond.
So, used the Kwik Seal caulk around the bottom edge in hopes of sealing between the pink foam and plywood base. Then added/painted some Titebond wood glue on top of sealant, plywood, and foam edges.
Monday, June 23, 2025
Exhausting Paper Mill
I'll have to check with some of my Pulp and Paper Technology Classmates to find out for sure, but I'm assuming the "exhaust stacks" on the Panama City mill might be from the steam heated paper drier cans. Doesn't matter too much, they are on every photo from this side:
So, I used a length of small PVC tubing cut to approximate length, heated, and bent to make a selectively compressed section similar to photos. I'm supposing these vents are between the Fourdrinier paper machine, itself, and the cutting and re-rolling sections of the paper mill -- that is, put them "in between" like this, with attempted right angle and uniform positioning!














