Here is my first struture built from scratch. These are concrete silos for the storage of corn. These will make part of an ethanol plant complex, The structure was made out of 3" and 4-1/2" PVC tubes. Elevators are from walthers and rix. Railings and stairs are from Tichy. Other details from plastruct, pikestuff and my scrap box. Paints are Floquil concrete, rust, dust, grimmy black, and Revell enamels, specially steel and anthacite.
Well done!
But to clarify your terminology, what you have done is a kitbash. Building something from scratch involves no commercial parts. Kinda like making a cake…the moment you use a mix or an icing from a can, you no longer are in the scratch category.
But it makes no difference…well done.
David B
What ever you want to call, looks great!
Great job! Eric
Good job!
I wish I had a photograph of my first scratchbuilding/kitbashing–whatever–effort from thirty or more years ago. I too tackled an elevator complex although mine was from the twenties and I attached a feed and grain store to it. I’m not sure exactly what it looked like when I got done but I’m sure that had I showed it to someone they would have reasoned that it really didn’t look much like a grain elevator nor like a feed and grain store. My more recent (N-Scale) efforts show considerably more promise.
Good-looking kitbash, Red.
I know what you mean R. T.: I scratch-bashed this 'phone booth, but it didn’t come out anything like the drawing:
Wayne [;)]
My first scratch build structure was a yard tower at my then German railroad “Hennen”. It’s long gone.
My first US style structure was a wooden bridge following an article in Model Railroader, I’ve built it in 1991.
Wolfgang
I once scratchbuilt a phone booth; surprisingly mine came out identical to yours–we must have used the same plans!
Just curious…If you design a structure, buy raw materials (plastic strip, sheet, door/window castings) and build your model, is this not scratch building? I know it is a fine line, but I think this could be called scratchbuilding.
However you want to categorize it, great job on your model!
Tom
That is most definetly a scratch build! There are bits and pieces of non modeling materials used like the pvc pipe and sheets of styrene. You are allowed to use manufactured doors, windows, awnings, ect. to still be called a scratchbuild. Kit bashing is when you use the parts of two or more kits to create another unique structure. Good job i might add!..chuck
The two larger silos are the first model that have the typical horizontal weathering I saw so often on the prototype of concrete solos. Could you explain how you did that part of weathering please.
Stunning job for a first time build.
Keep up the good work!
Mark Gosdin
Excellent work! That pvc pipe is great for scratchbashing, I’ve used it in my blast furnace stoves and my cement distributor silos.
I agree, it’s “scratch built”. To be kit bashed you have to start with at least 1 kit. I only ever made 2 structures without any commercial parts, & that was before I knew better. Jerry
I too would like to know how you created the seams and weathering on the larger silos.
Dan
Scratch or Scratchbash, it doesn’t matter what you call it to me, it’s still a very VERY good job!!
Thank you all for your comments. It was really fun to build.
The “seams” effect was really easy. It’s an old technique called Preshading. First the PVC tubes were scribed using a scribing tool every 4 in. for a total of 10 horizontal scribes. I used the tape used by those labeling machines as guide. This tape is excelent for the job, since it is autoadhesive, flexible and strong enough to support the scriber, just like a flexible ruler, and it is cheap, I use it very often on my model airplanes. After correcting some scribes with putty and rescrabing I painted the tubes Floquil concrete. When the paint was dry I used a mixture of 50% thinner and 50% Floquil Grimmy Black and painted over the horizontal scribes. The horizonat lines doesn’t need to be perfect. When dried I then applied different shades of the concrete color mixed with small amounts of white or dark gray to each of the horizontal spaces between the “seams”. I tried that the shades were very subtle. After everything was dry I then sprayed a final coat of Floquil concrete in a 70-40% thinner/paint mixture to blend everything. I kept srpaying the very thin paint until the shades and black lines started to blur and give the desired effect. Then I weathered the struture with more grimmy black to simulate grit and algea produced by rain, spraying in a downward motion from top to buttom, some dust and brown shades at the base, and rust for the railings and stairs.
The seams in most concrete structures may vary depending on the construction system used. In concrete silos generaly a ring form made of steel (in some cases of wood) are used for construction. The concrete is poured into the form. Then after the concrete is dry enough to stand by itself the ring is raised and more concrete is poured, repeating the process until the required height is reached. The seams are produced where the “old” concrete meets the “new” c