Large Scale Central

In Need of Moonshine

Modeling Technical Modeling
#1

My friend and myself took our D&R Railroad trailer to the Nashville Convention, I took 2 small 6" wide and 5" deep diorama moonshine stills. Sold them and got orders for three more.

Got these three made and I will share pictures and some of the details in these dioramas.

The bases are built from Precision Board sign product. I cut and carved the three sided walls to make it look like an Appalachian mountain moonshine dug out.

I 3D Draw everything I print, So I printed the 2 tanks, The moonshine jugs, coffee pots, drinking cups, and the figure.

I used paint brush bristles for the grass/weeds. These little dioramas are quite tough, if they get exposed to some rain and some sun they will survive.

IMG_7017[1] by Dennis Rayon, on Flickr

IMG_7022[1] by Dennis Rayon, on Flickr

IMG_7018[1] by Dennis Rayon, on Flickr

IMG_7019[1] by Dennis Rayon, on Flickr

IMG_7021[1] by Dennis Rayon, on Flickr

Look for Dog behind the man

IMG_7023[1] by Dennis Rayon, on Flickr

IMG_7020[1] by Dennis Rayon, on Flickr

2 Likes
#2

I forgot to mention, under the large cook tank was the flickering flame lights, They are under the tank and behind a bundle of wood, preventing seeing the

LED bulbs, can be powered by 9 volt or 12 volt power systems. These are purchased at Evans Design

Hobby LED Lights for Models | Shop Miniature Lights for Models & Crafts - Evan Designs

#3

Hobby LED Lights for Models | Shop Miniature Lights for Models & Crafts - Evan Designs

#4

Can you print in different scales?

#5

John Bouck said:

Can you print in different scales?

I am sure can be, what scale are you thinking of?

Dennis

#6

Dennis;

Nice “shine” stills. Mine is a bit more fanciful. Shows a troll distilling Loughbrau Trollish Punch (packs the strongest punch in all of Middle Earth). I really doubt that a troll could stay focused on one task long enough to make “likker,” but it’s all in fun, anyway.

I simply used the foil wrapper from a Lindt truffle egg to simulate hot coals.

Best wishes, David Meashey

#7

David

That is for sure a sign of “Have moonshine will travel” or lets keep the Revenuers a looken for us.

Dennis

#8

Really good model work, thought technically it’s inaccurate. Still, I love the look of it.

Moonshine is a subject that hits home for me. My parents were both born in the Blue Ridge area in the 30s, and had relatives who made 'shine.

The story I was told as a kid took place at Stoney Creek in the 30s, the day to ‘revenoers’ showed up outside of Sadie, TN. The locals hanging around at the store they parked at said, “Don’t go up thar lookin’ for them boys, they’s all been across the water to France,” meaning they were all battle-hardened from the trenches of WW1. The officers laughed, grabbed their guns and walked over the hill.

Soon, echoes of shooting happened for a brief time from that direction.

Eventually, they all came back limping and bandaged (torn from their shirts and jackets) from going up against WW1 veterans with concentric trenches and wire, just like they’d used to repel German trench raiders in France. None were hurt very badly, but several had been shot and the rest were badly ripped up otherwise. The old men started laughing. “We told y’all not to go up thar!” they said as the officers slid into their cars without a word, heading back to Johnson City. They never came back looking for moonshiners again after that.

Now, as for me, I know that stills were expertly hidden there. Dad, one of the most prolific woodsmen I have ever known and practically lived in the woods as a kid, said he never once encountered a live still. Mom only ever saw one, badly busted up ages before. I model WW2 and moonshiners were seriously hindered in that timeframe due to rationing and mean again ‘across the water’ for the Second World War. You’d never see a still in the open, simply put.

People ask me all the time when looking at my layout, as to where the still is, as surely I must have modeled one. Some, I tell the truth about how well hidden they were and rare in the 40s, and others, I’ll point to the heavily-wooded back corner and say, “It’s back in there…”

#9

Lee Bishop said:

Moonshine is a subject that hits home for me. My parents were both born in the Blue Ridge area in the 30s, and had relatives who made 'shine.

The story I was told as a kid took place at Stoney Creek in the 30s, the day to ‘revenoers’ showed up outside of Sadie, TN. The locals hanging around at the store they parked at said, “Don’t go up thar lookin’ for them boys, they’s all been across the water to France,” meaning they were all battle-hardened from the trenches of WW1. The officers laughed, grabbed their guns and walked over the hill.

Soon, echoes of shooting happened for a brief time from that direction.

Eventually, they all came back limping and bandaged (torn from their shirts and jackets) from going up against WW1 veterans with concentric trenches and wire, just like they’d used to repel German trench raiders in France. None were hurt very badly, but several had been shot and the rest were badly ripped up otherwise. The old men started laughing. “We told y’all not to go up thar!” they said as the officers slid into their cars without a word, heading back to Johnson City. They never came back looking for moonshiners again after that.

Now, as for me, I know that stills were expertly hidden there. Dad, one of the most prolific woodsmen I have ever known and practically lived in the woods as a kid, said he never once encountered a live still. Mom only ever saw one, badly busted up ages before. I model WW2 and moonshiners were seriously hindered in that timeframe due to rationing and mean again ‘across the water’ for the Second World War. You’d never see a still in the open, simply put.

People ask me all the time when looking at my layout, as to where the still is, as surely I must have modeled one. Some, I tell the truth about how well hidden they were and rare in the 40s, and others, I’ll point to the heavily-wooded back corner and say, “It’s back in there…”

Ah. Good moonshine is NOT for everyone.

#10

Lee:

I tried to “hide” my backwoods still but I’m sure I didn’t hide it well enough to be realistic. Of course, if I did hide it that well, I wouldn’t have needed to build it in the first place!

A few things are 3D printed here: jugs (from a thingiverse design) and mash bags (from a Dennis design). The still is a mixture of an old tin can, some brass shim stock, some styrene, and some solid wire. Here’s the build: [link].

#11

Nice. Ya might “hide it” inside an old rough box car, then it could be moved around to avoid the reven-eewers. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)

#12

Back in the day in the hood !

#13

Lee That was a very interesting story, as a lover of history and particularly wars, WW1 battle scared boys from the hills would have been some really salty boys, afraid of nothing.

Thanks Jim for sharing your still. I had fun building mine, now have a couple more to build, CHEERS happy drinking

Dennis

#14

How did I miss this thread. Glad It showed up somewhere that I could find it at the bottom. These are great. Well done.

#15

Unless you are only making one kind of shine you can add pepsi bottles to the still scene as that is what was used to both clean the lines/tubes and add some color. I have the article from the paper where the Lynn Police blotter mentioins a raid on (my Grandfathers)Sulesky’s Elizabeth St. residence but nothing was found. (Having friends in the right places help)

#16

Well I’m truly late to the party. I did like the stories that were told.
One thing I have learned is that stills were well hidden. I thought of making a still and its accessories but I decided against it - after all there in little point in modelling something that is hard to see. Just as well to allude to the existence of it. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

#17

That really is the trick to this isn’t it. I like what Jim did. Make it hidden. . .right out in the open. His scene can be seen but it is not seen from the tracks. To do it it needs to be hidden from the eyes on the ground but not from the eyes above.