The Mik behind us, a rocket lost to a tree, a rocket ready to launch, and it is time to hit the next item on the Triple O - 2025 Plans & Objectives, Mama’s Bakery No Ka Oi. This was the result of our 2020 MIK ( Mik 2020 – Mama’s No Ka Oi Bakery ). It happens to be one of my favorite projects, because it was still an all hands, all the time, effort, something that proved to be painfully fleeting.
Equally fleeting was the bright and cheery nature of the bakery. What began looking like this example from the 2020 Mik’s Build Challenge Entrants Photos for voting…
…had crumbled to this…
…and similar scenes of decay as shown in or 2025 goals list.
I had been hesitant to start, as artwork from a bygone time decorate this little building. I was prepared, as @David_Marconi_FOGCH had suggested, to carefully preserve those sections of the wall and mount them on a framed collage, if necessary.
First, though, Kid-zilla and I had to remove the bakery from the railroad and inspect the damage up close.
The building itself is pinkfoam core, clad in craftsticks, painted in exterior latex paint, and trimmed with whatever paint the kids had on hand. The roof was clad in crimped, unannealed beverage cans with broken epee blades serving as toppers. The interior used a mesh from an old chair back, scrap foam, more crafsticks, and paper mache “cakes.”
We had expected the local insects would have burrowed into the base. As the pictures show, no, they did not!
Surprisingly, the cobblestone deck, which is actually meat packing trays, took the worst damage.
Clearly, some of the damage is Act of Dogs. Many of the “stones” seemed pushed in, and we can only guess what property of meat packing tray led to that.
The foam core of the walls and roof were solid with no observed damage. We will reuse them in their entireties.
The roof was a mess, with cans peeling off, so we removed all that cladding and set it aside.
The interior, however, with the exception of the cakes, was pretty clean after four years.
We noted that most of the damaged wood was on the roof, where water could seep down and around it or facing Lake Inferior, where Acts of Dog through up tidal waves that lead to water seeping in and around the window.
In most other places, the crafsticks held up pretty well. We peeled off the rotted ones, however, as well as rotted trim, and added them to a “gemuckabucket” for some future, unforeseen use.
Finally, we decided to see what was left under the dreck, so we got some old toothbrushes and a bucket of warm, soapy water, and set-to. As this last shot reveals, the artwork popped back to life.
Removing 5 years of dreck showed that what we have is a touch up, and not a rebuild. Phew! Furthermore, and most importantly, the artwork can be preserved in situ. What a blessing, as that is what locks this building in time and place, if not for Hawaii railroading, at least for the Triple O.
We discussed our way forward. First, we will modify the base to let us bring this building inside when the railroad is in cold iron. Second, we will use our standard roofing material, scrap 1:1 shingles, turned upside down, and painted black to emulate tar paper. This has proven the most cost effective and durable way to roof our buildings, and it will make Mama’s Bakery consistent with the Triple O’s world. We will let the roofing material overhang the ends of the roof a bit to protect the craftstick cladding from the elements. Of course, old boards, frames, doors, and windows will get replaced, sealed, and repainted. Then, I hope the girls will finish it off by adding their graphic talents.
Updates as Progress Merits!
Eric