Haluku'ilio Water Tower -- Another Triple O Rehab Project

[Eric_Mueller]

As part of the reopening of the lanai yesterday, I dragged this project off the shelf.

I cut up the remaining sides, then mounted them with TiteBond III and toothpicks.

My original plan was to miter the corners, but for reasons that fail me now, I evaluated this as “too hard” and merely trimmed the sides to fit. After that, I sat the tank on top for a sense of perspective.

That is a solid core for whatever comes next…but first the MIK! The original plan was to see how well I could transform this to look like multiple materials, specifically a wooden framed stone structure. Stone, we can do. Wood…never tried…Alternatively, I could get lazy, countersink some door and window frames and “stucco” it with concrete patch like we did for our little house last year ( Rehabilitating a HardieBacker Home). I might begin with the first plan and use the second as the fallback.

The tank, too, will need some touch-up, especially banding and a roof. We deadlocked last year on whether to rehabilitate Grandpa’s peaked rook or cut it flat. We’ll see…after the MIK!

Eric

[Rooster]

Who is drinking the Folgers coffee?

[Eric_Mueller]

Work swill…cheap and comes in large quantities. On that shelf, each serves as a “project bucket” and contains some rocket / plane / train / PLAYMOBIL / etc. thing moving from pieces to piece!

Eric

[Rooster]

So your, you’re, you are stealing the work stash of Folgers for the containers then?

Makes sense to me!

[Eric_Mueller]

@Rooster

you are stealing the work stash of Folgers for the containers then?

My coworkers think I am doing them a favor!

Between thefts of sub-par coffee, I have been busy blowing off this project. I used Thanskgiving, Christmas, the Mik, a rocket, etc. as excuses to not take this on. I had a hard time visualizing the final project, to be honest, and I have spent a couple hours trying to figure out:

a.) what i want the end product to look like, and
b.) how to fill in the seams of my core.

Finally, last week, after having another “think session,” it dawned on me to see if I could find a water tank propped on a stone pumphouse. Other than a model of one, the answer was no. That being said, it seems water tanks came in all shapes and sizes and materials, so I figured I’d proceed. The model in question had the tank sitting on multiple timbers laid across the roof. I had many botched timbers from a lost battle with Saber Saw years back that clearly had no better use. I also had a SAFEWAY card and some tape to simulate a door. Minus the tape roll, it’ll look a bit like this:

Using wood violates one of the goals, which was to see how far I could go with just foam. I’ll give ground on that goal to make some progress.

The seams are going to be trickier.

The plan is to carve away and simply ignor them. After it is all done, I will back fill them with…something. If that fails, I will jam scraps of foam into those seams and brush and sand until they more or less disappear into the core. If that fails, I cover the lot in concrete patch and present unto the world its first stucco pumphouse with railroad water tower adornment.

I am still ideating on the tower’s rook. I am leaning towards cutting off the peak. Enough of the core tower will remain to honor the original builder, in my opinion.

Have a Great Week!

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

I got home a little early, so the 1:24 crew and I did some experimenting. On the picture below, you can see how we tried to figure out how to address those gaps.

Along the left, I soaked foam bits in TiteBond III, jammed them into the crevice, then, after the glue was dry(ish), hit it with the foam engraver. While I was waiting for it to dry, I looked at the foam bits, then thought back to our bakery ( Mik 2020 – Mama’s No Ka Oi Bakery) and our lighthouse ( 2021 Mik Challenge – Hale Ipukukui o Haluku’ilio), where we cut foam into individual stones. The guy in the hardhat did the same here to fill in a gouge in the wall. Finally, the foreman and Bach Mann tried scribing “stones” directly into the wall over the gap with the intention of filling these with putty later.

Of all these, I like the look of the separate “stones” the best. If this were a flat, I would go with it, but I don’t think I could bend one of these “stones” around a corner. I think I will go with the first method, plugging seams with foam scraps and carving later, as I have a feeling it will be easier to touch up any faults with dabs of glue or putty than to try and press putty into existing seams. It should also be less vulnerable to cracking going this route.

It took me months to ideate to this point, but at last there is a way forward. Sometimes, you just have to stop thinking and start doing.

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

I finished plugging seams with foam scraps last night then discussed the roof issue with Youngest Daughter (Y.D.). Y.D. was not convinced we should abandon the peaked roof, but she agreed Grandpa’s idea of smashing a tin can to fit was not going to fly this time. We drew out our scrap metal “gemuckabucket” (family word for coffee tin full of crafting / modeling scraps) and weighed two ideas.

First, there was the thought of making new panels, then cutting an banging them to shape:

The two downsides would be the need to make more panels and the need to make a way to have it all come together a the peak.

We rummaged about a bit more, and we found smaller scraps we could layer around the tower:

This would prove easier to pound / bend / cut to shape, and would probably be accomplished with scraps on hand, but it would be decidedly non-uniform, appearing as though the roof was deliberately built by the 1:24 denizens with scraps on hand. I am OK with that, but that “cheap” roof would be on a water tank built on a decidedly robust pump house!

I’ll get to carving the stones later this weekend. Right now, I am experimenting with the appearance of foam sprayed with clear flat paint. Normally, we texture foam wit a wire brush, but I am curious to see if this chemical texturing might help “melt” the seams together a bit and possibly speed the process.

Oh, and we have to make a door. And perhaps a window. And I am still hemming and hawing on how to roof this thing.

Have a Great Weekend!

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

Kid-zilla and I rigged the railroad with his PLAYMOBIL today, and, after a pleasant morning and afternoon helping to direct his 1:24 firstresponders to points of crises, his buddy showed up so I could return to this project, which, while decidedly less fun, is in dire need of completion.

I got out my own 1:24 crew, and we set to work on a door. I had some basswood lying about from…a MIK? A rocket? Who cares! We cut it to shape using a hotel key as our guide, as these make good sized doors in 1:24-ish PLAYMOBIL scale. I wanted to try to scribe the wood in a poory copy of a techniqe @Matt_Hutson has used with brilliant results, and the 1:24 lads and I discovered you really need a straight craftstick to pull this off.

Ooops.

After flipping over the basswood and actually measuring and marking where the lines should be, we had much better results.

I framed this with some precut poplar left over from…something…and then stared at the pumphouse a bit to ponder “window.” Pondering led me to conclude it would be nice if the pumphouse was also the springhouse for travelers, crewmen, paniolo, etc., so why bother with a window that would let in the tropical heat!

Having wished away that detail, we grabbed a wire brush texture the foam, remove right angles, and blend in the seams.

The picture below shows two things:

1. The plug-with-scraps-and-brush-vigorously method pretty well hides seams.

2. The same result could have been achieved with far less mess by misting with rattle can clear flat as the 1:24 gang shows with the bit of scrap they are holding. That, however, would have cost me paint, which seems disappear rapidly round these parts.

I then sifted through my “gemuckabuckets” of annealed scraps of beverage can for suitable chunks for the roof, which will remain peaked (I couldn’t find enough photos of flat roofs to justify going againts Y.D.'s preferences). There were enough scraps from our sugar mill ( M&K Sugar Mill) to probably make this work. Now to figure out how to attach the metal to the wood?

The last step before returning to the Triple O to help deal with a chemical spill and a trestle fire was to sand off some old glue globs from the tank’s roof frame.

Progress, slow, but progress.

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

I puttered on this between Easter-related activities today. Pictures are locked on my phone, but, in short, I actually used a saw (SHOCK! For newcomers, wood defies me as a workable medium) today to shape those timbers. Then I went back to my happy place with foam tools and sandpaper to lower the roof a bit. That way, I can cut “notches” in the wall that will hold the beams that will hold the tank. I also did some thought experiments with the concept of “roof” and decided it would be pretty stupid to go through the trouble of making a stone pumphouse / springhouse in part to keep water cool only to cover the thing with black tar paper. Bring on the craft sticks!

All of the above will make more sense when I get my pictures off my phone…

I will also admit I am dawdling on this project, going no further than imagination and picture searches can take me for any given step. I think it was @Rooster who warned me when I first joined LSC that freelancing can actually be harder than working from a prototype. Trying to make a credible structure that preserves as much of my father-in-law’s intent with no clear example of what the end product should look like has been much more difficult than I imagined, even with my effort to keep this project simple in terms of materials and techniques.

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

My phone decided to synch with the internet, so I can get some pictures up.

Sunday I had the notion to test my skills with Mini Table Saw…

…a gift of a few years back that fear of blades, wood, and humiliation led me avoid. I had just enough time before Easter Dinner (goose with Persian-inspired dry rub; seared shizo (spellng?) peppers and asparagus; and smashed potatoes with goose gravy) and sacrificial timbers from an earlier battle with Sabre Saw (currently lurking in “his” lair awaiting my next foray into woodworking) to see if I could salvage these pieces. A little patience, a little luck, and a quick reminder to open my beverage AFTER using the saw, and I think those strips came out pretty good.

The roof itself I slowly cut and sanded down about 14"-1/2". Then I placed some cratsticks to test the look:

That’ll do, but I need to get some silicon to seal up the edges first. I will probably stick some bits of 1/4"x1/4" poplar sticks come out of the sides to look like ceiling beams set into the wall. Once that is done, I set the door in place and then I can start carving the “stones” into the walls. That gives me another couple weekends to mull over what to do with the water tank roof, the last major “thought” obstacle.

Updates as progress merits!

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

This was the third micro-project I tried to tackle this weekend, beginning with, “How do I attach crimped beverage cans to the wooden roof frame?” I tried 3M adhesive spray, but, as the photos show, while it bonded aluminum to wood, it was less successful bonding aluminum to aluminum.

So much for that. I think I am going to have to tap holes and then tap in my HO scale rail setting nails to hold all this in place. That won’t be tedious at all! Luckily, some other project or errand or hobby called so I was able to set it aside until today.

Today, I opted for actual progress. Kid-zilla was LEGO-ing…

…so it fell to the 1:24 gang and I to ideate a way forward. We began by cutting down some scrap stripwood.

After measuring along the top just below the roof line, we bored holes into the foam and glued the wood bits into the holes.

The result could, in my mind, credibly look like roofbeams coming through the future stonework.

We next prepared to cut the wall where the heavier timbers that will hold the water tank will fit, but mark, measure, and test as we could, nothing seemed to line up. That’s when the 1:24 foreman had the notion that the base of the tower was not square, so we checked.

Nope. Not square. I realized the only way to make this work will be to mount the tank to the timbers, tapping holes and carefully inserting nails or screws. With no desire to even try that at the end of a busy weekend, I opted to let the crew go…

…crack a beverage, and just run trains.

[Korm (Korm Kormsen)]

@Eric_Mueller

I think I am going to have to tap holes and then tap in my HO scale rail setting nails to hold all this in place.

if it was my problem, i would do two things.
first make corrugated sheets that are longer, but not so wide. (with inclined sides?)
second use a tacker to fix them to the roofbeams.

[Eric_Mueller]

Korm, a belated “Thank you!” for that suggestion. It didn’t feel like annealing aluminum cans over the weekend; it was too beautiful to be inside!

In the meantime, I have decided to mount the tank to the support beams by drilling a single pin, aligning everything else and fixing those three points with TiteBond III. The pipe from the pumphouse can then serve as the other fixed point, and I can leave the tank as a removable item. Next week…

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

Desultory progress continued last weekend. I first tried to tap some small nails into the tanks supporting posts. Nope. Some of the pre-existing holes were too big and too fragile to risk it, so I selected the most solid post, had the 1:24 crew pound a nail into the horizontal beam…

…cut the nail head off and lined it all up to mark where the tank supports need to go…

…and then moved the whole lot to the pumphouse to mark where I wanted to make cuts in the pumphouse to accommodate those beams.

The 1:24 lads and I were not ready to bore a hole to accommodate the pipe that will also serve to align and fix the tank in place, so we stacked up some timbers and used the square to keep things…square.

For the record, yes, I am deliberately avoiding the tank itself at this point. I am still dithering about the roof, and I have yet to even think about some visual improvements I’d like to make, like a level gauge, better bands, improved counterweights, etc. Slow and steady on this project that was SUPPOSED to have been my easy project this year…and last years…

Updates as progress merits!

Eric

[David_Marconi_FOGCH (David Marconi CHHNNG)]

@Eric_Mueller

Slow and steady on this project that was SUPPOSED to have been my easy project this year

Seem that slow and steady wins the race every time.
Happened to see this on a search:

Liked the straight bottom edge and flat sections between. Could be done with metal instead of shingle.

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

First, @David_Marconi_FOGCH , my apologies for my late acknowledgement of the post above! They are binned in the reference column of the brain housing group!

Work and family events finally slowed down enough for me to consider this forever project…again…I wanted to have a nice, level, watertight top to affix the roof. I thought, “Aha! I have FlexSeal!” Guess what I found out…

FlexSeal melts foam. Now I have a watertight but still irregular surface. Ugh. At least I can now use whatever glue I want to affix my craftstick or scribed plaster “roof” to the top of the structure!

Live and learn…

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

With Kid-zilla happy at the 2/3 point of Triple O – Bachmann 10-Wheeler Salvage Campaign - Modeling / Motive Power - Large Scale Central, I had to return to this project. It has become an albatross. I have held all other RR projects of my own hostage to its completion…

I finally decided to score a piece of styrene for the roof. I began by measuring along both edges and drawing the lines in pencil.

Boy, am I glad you can erase pencil! I got that squared away, literally and metaphorically, scored in some “boards,” textured it by drawing an old saw across it, and took it to the Palm of Spray Painting for some brown paint. This paint being gloss, I waited a day, hit it with clear matte paint of the same brand (Rustoleum), and, of course, the paint bubbled.

Sand and repeat. I’ll let the paint cure for a week or so and try again. I am using this roof as a subgoal with carving the “stone” walls of the pumphouse, something that should be fun, as my reward…

Meanwhile, employing advice from @David_Marconi_FOGCH and others, I sanded the beams of the water tank roof flat to allow for a better gluing surface. I then grabbed our bottomless barrel of craftsick leftovers and planked two faces.

The plan going forward is to Dremel away the excess, plank, and repeat. I figure I can leave it like that. sheet it with beverage can bits, or cover it in “tar paper” (old t-shirt painted black). This is not the project to test my patience on shingles! Once I have this mounted on the pumphouse, I’ll take it out to the RR and see what seems “right” visually.

That placement will also determine the level of effort I will put into the other improvements I mentioned in my previous post. To that end, I have been kicking around the idea of using zipties for the bands, with the lock representing the turnbuckles. I am not sold on the idea, but they would be easy, cheap, and at least no worse than what is there.

Eric

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

When you WANT that effect, it’s hard to get. Always happens when you don’t!

I’ve done a lot of rattle can painting and Rustoleum is famous for this re-coat failure. The can usually states re-coat time as under 1 hour or 48 hours, but as you found out, that sometimes isn’t enough.

[Eric_Mueller]

@JRad

When you WANT that effect, it’s hard to get

Yep…we’ve found that out with a rocket or two. Strange, though, as gloss-on-gloss and gloss-on-matted seem to work fine after 24 hours. Anyway, letting the paint cure for week seemed to do the trick. After a coat of clear matte dried, I smeared black acrylic over the lot of it, wiped off the excess, then wetted it a bit to let it get into the cracks.

It is not that shiny in real light! I will hopefully glue it on the roof tomorrow, and, when that dries, I can start carving the “stones” and install the door.

I also continued to plank around the roof. This will, in fact give me a nice, flat working surface, but it will progress at the speed of TiteBond III. I am still debating the roof covering, and I have to find a topper of some sort, but this, at last, is progress.

Updates as merited!

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

This interminable project lurched forward. You know it is interminable, because NO ONE wants to help me with it. Good thing I can always count on the 1:24 crew!

The roof is slowly taking shape.

O.D. and I discussed the best way to finish it, and we agreed that “tar paper” from old t-shirts painted black held down with battens made from broken sabre blades are the way to go. I will look for a small funnel to serve as a topper. It will be the first time I’ve repurposed sabre blades for anything other than plant stakes. Yay.

The 1:24 gang helped me turn foam into rocks, gouge out a puka for the door, and test fit it all into place.

!

It was Saturday, and I was tired of paying weekend pay, so I sent the 1:24 Triple O gang home, masked off the exposed roof beams myslef, and gave the lot a good bath of black latex.

It’s finally starting to look like something more than an ugly piece of foam! It’ll get another heavy wash this week to hide any pink spots, after which I can start dry brushing this to make it look like our other “stone” structures. Then I can start fiddling with getting the tank on its new pumphouse even as I contemplate how to detail the finished project to the exacting standards of 1:24-ish PLAYMOBIL scale.

I am almost excited about this project now. Almost…

Eric