Not So Magic Kiln Addition

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:

A little glue and some dry brush "rusting" and you get

Even included something that might have contained a blower or exhaust fan!

On the end of the kiln, it looked like this:

A lot of work on the kiln was really just delaying start on the recovery boiler!

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:

Used more of the 1/4" door insulation to wrap lime kiln for big gear plus a couple of zip ties for bearings.

A couple of "trees" from 3-D printing looked to match a photo of "the real thing"!  [Later, or earlier in the blog, the trees were enclosed with corrugated metal building!]  Scrap wood for supports.

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.

Gratings on top of cinder blocks along with stairs and railings from Tichy Trains.

Now we can move on (or back) to installing the shed at the high end of the kiln.

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

 

Working backwards and with help from granddaughter, custom mixed acrylic paint for "water" in 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!

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!

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. 

After a couple of days of dry time, it looks like both materials have dried pretty hard.  Maybe time to add a little Woodland Scenics "water" but will probably wait to figure how to install a wall that looks halfway industrial. . . .

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!

Turning upside down while gluing ensured all stacks were the same height.  Looks OK on the layout.

Ignore the windup steam loco, of course.

Oh, and the orange peel grapple might look good when the woodyard is completed.  May need to "selectively compress" the debarking drum (it's out of the picture frame!?!).

Orange Peel Pulpwood Grapple

I recall from youth seeing something that might be called an excavator with orange peel grapple moving pulpwood from the woodpile to the conveyor.  When I passed by a display of construction equipment at Tractor Supply, I thought I saw something similar AND it was 1/87 scale!  The similar items at HO scale supply shops seemed to be a lot more expensive, so I picked up the Tractor Supply excavator.

OK, so maybe a little too "new" but it says "Cat" and most of the others I saw were some other make.

A friend had pointed out to me that Model Tech Studios had what looked like a grapple, so I went online and ordered one.  A bit of Dremel tool work to cut off the bucket and grind down the arm, a few logs glued in the grapple, and the grapple was installed!

Model Tech had an N/HO grapple and an HO/S grapple.  I might should have gone with the HO/S, but at least it's "representative"!!

Besides, by the time I had paid for the Tractor Supply excavator, the Model Tech grapple, and shipping for the latter, I had gone well over the price of a ready made grapple crane.  BUT, I would have missed the fun of adapting the excavator AND it would not have had the CAT nameplate.

I'm satisfied. 

More Goop

 Always good to have help from grandkids when they visit.  With a severe thunderstorm predicted in the afternoon, Grandson and I decided to work inside and add some more ground goop, a la Lou Sassi, to the layout.  

We used the usual, standard formula:

• 1 cup Vermiculite
• 1 cup Celluclay
• 1 cup latex paint (preferably earth tone; we were a little dark for Panama City, FL, but it was what we had!)
• 1/2 cup white glue

Mixing was accomplished:

Then the goop was spread:

Grandson took the narrow strip between the "outside" rail and the edge -- we'll add some sand for a roadway for pulpwood trucks.  Just a little bit too narrow, but we'll get the point made.

Granddad took the other side.  Together we made some progress.  Grass and weeds, along with the sandy road, to come:

Imagine That Laser Art Pulp Mill Building

 A modeler featured in Model Railroading had used some ITLA (Imagine That Laser Art) products for his Southern pulp and paper mill, so I thought I would take a look at it.  The York Industries kit came close to what I was looking for in the way of a pulp digester building.  Many mills seem to have their digestors (or digester, if continuous) somewhat out in the weather:

This is the arrangement for the four digestors at Allied Paper Company in the late 1960's.

But, the International Paper Company mill in Panama City, in the mid-1950's seemed to have the digestors in a building "behind" the paper machine.  The building was a bit taller and might have been constructed of different brick in a different architectural style than the paper mill building:

Maybe the building just to the left behind the longer paper machine building, not far from the right smokestack.

Besides, a laser cut kit was not something that I had really tried before -- the company store was close. . . .  Just after I ordered the York Construction kit, Trump started messing with tariffs and ITLA is a Canadian company.  So, the order was held up several days at the border!!

The ITLA kits tend to yield OLD, worn buildings with a good bit of "character" -- not what I was looking for but by placing the panels carefully, most of what is in view looks fairly nice.

Started with painting some of the concrete, windows, and cider blocks; then installing windows; followed by test-fitting the four sides:

Looking OK.  Added pilasters then glued cornice pieces on.  It wasn't obvious until cornice pieces were cut that there needed to be some allowance for thickness in cutting the length!  The Wife had already asked how the water was going to get off of the roof so that was enough of an excuse to fabricate a couple of downspouts to fill the gaps in the cornices.

Not the final edition, yet, since ITLA included a number of details like vents, and HVAC unit, and ladders, and trash cans, and rooftop access, etc.  Waiting until piping is installed for pulp and chemicals to put on the details.  A couple of views on the layout. Mocked up chip chute -- oops, someone blocked the chip entrance with a window!?!?

Again, missed a little planning ahead; don't know why you'd need doors on the same corner of the building?!

Bottom line, the building meets the expectations with some other equipment to be customized and installed.