The Lighthouse of Haluku'ilio - Yet Another Triple O Rehab Project

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

I used this weekend to have a “think.” I was really struggling with how to slow the degradation of the remaining cans, and I kept coming up with ways to lift the tower above the base to allow drainage without compromising structural integrity. Each iteration became increasingly complicated until I realized that it took five years for one can to rot out. If it takes the same amount of time for the rest to give out, three of four kids will be out of the house, with financial luck I’ll be partially retired, and I’ll have the time (theoretically) to build the replacement tower with hand chiseled-scale stones if I really want to do that. To boot, since we’ve learned to bring buildings onto the lanai, anyway, the rebuilt lighthouse won’t be as exposed to the elements, which puts me back in my material happy place of craftsticks. yay!

1. Fill or cover the hole with the rotted can. Epoxy the tower onto that, caulk it up, and wish it well for th next five year.
2. Place down some timbers radiating out from the center to hold the deck. The last deck was glued straight to foam, which, I imagine, means moisture staid pretty well trapped against the tower. The air space should allow some air flow and maybe even drainage.
3. Get out my craftsticks and start decking!

O.D. wants to keep the external tower braces. That’s fine. I also have to find a new base for the light. Maybe I’ll just make it out of foam, fill it best as can with wood filler, and call it good.

Next week, I’ll try to make some actual physical progress.

Eric

[Don_Howard]

I love the detailed pics.
The workers doing the evaluation add great focus, too:-)

What do you use for taking the descriptive photos?
Phone? Brand
Camera? Brand and lenses

[Eric_Mueller]

Don,

I have a Samsung A35 phone. I think being outside helps with the lighting, and the 1:24 crew helps set the shot. The camera lens is just a over their head level, do, on the railroad, I usually hold ghe phone vertically and as low as I can to get trackside views.

Staging the PLAYMOBIL not only helps to tell the story, but it also forces me to slow down and to critically view where I am with a project. I find this especially important in these reconstruction efforts, where decay of material and memory could lead to errors!

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update.

I had a bit time for surface prep, deconstruction, and thinking over the weekend. I have been fascinated by material durability throughout several rebuilds. This is no exception. As noted the base can and topmost lantern can totally rusted out, presumably from exposure to standing water. This is the bottom of the can after a bit of brushwork that sat just above roof level:

Rusted with pin holes, but otherwise sound. That extra elevation above the base helped.

That got me thinking that I should, indeed, lift the tower a bit to keep things dry. I remembered the “flying buttresses” of the lighthouse were largely in good shape, so I arranged a star pattern and sat the tower on top.

I can salvage the good wood, let it overhang the cavity with the remains of the foundation can, and notch those ends to receive the light tower. That should provide the right combination of airflow, drainage, and stability.

Next, I brought in a glaser to help with the windows.

The windows have the girls’ original artwork, the most irreplaceable part of this tower.

As you can see, the outer plastic is shot!

About half the windows got shrinky-dinked, but the underlying artwork was relatively OK. Less damaged windows like these will be left alone.

Sometimes, with preservation, you have to know what is fine as it is!

The last thing my 1:24 helper and I discovered was that some of the glue was still tacky!

Wow!

Next up, I’ll give the keeper’s hose a good scrub. That’ll get me time to clear some rocket projects before really focusing on this project.

Updates as progress merits.

Eric

[Rooster]

NO WAY …Playmobile guys come with a window suction cup tool!! I gotta get some of them.

[Eric_Mueller]

@Rooster

Playmobile guys come with a window suction cup tool!! I gotta get some of them.

The line of construction figurines is pretty awesome in its scope and breadth. They are always updating it with specialty trades, too.

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

The rains passed this afternoon, and I got my lanai back (see my last post in Hawaiian Volcano?). I found out that I far prefer tinkering on my lanai than I do playing computer games!

The 1:24 gang and I focused on converting the salvaged buttresses into supports for the tower’s bottom, first by carefully measuring how much we needed…

…then by chopping them to size.

I was impressed, really, how well the TiteBond III seal preserved all but the bottoms parts of these pieces, which you can see here:

The cores are pristine. Needless to say, lathering projects with TiteBond III will remain a Triple O best practice!

Next, we laid out our network to see where the notches had to be to receive the tower.

It was at that point that I realized I had no idea how I was going to cut those notches!

The gang and I experiment with both the chopper and a mini table saw…

…only to discover that circular blades make circular cuts, so that what looks good on one said is totally kapakahi on the other.

Some epoxy putty fixed this…I hope.

I then switched to hand tools…

…which went a whole lot better.

After this, the lads and I carefully marked where the tower would need to go…

…aligned the timbers, and glued them in place.

We finished the day by weighting it all down while it dries.

Next, I’ll lather TiteBond III on the exposed timbers and use the same to make fillets to seal the gap between timbers and foam, borrowing a technique from rocketry. I also have a can of flat black exterior latex paint for the exposed foam. With the humidity, I don’t anticipate any of this will go quickly as I wait for everything to dry.

Updates as Progress Merits,

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

I got out to the lanai between squalls to make some small progress. The roof beams got their fillets late last week, and on Saturday, I laid on a thick coat of latex.

The big issue was getting the tower to sit level. Using my level, some wood scraps, some construction glue, and some patience, I finally got it more or less upright.

Once the glue dries, I’ll get in there and see if it needs more support.

Meanwhile, CINCHOUS found a can we can use as a lighthouse topper that fits the salvaged foam base…

…though I may go with Kid-zilla’s suggestion of foam wrapped in thin styrene.

The kids and I had a good discussion about how to plank the deck, with Kid-zilla and Y.D. suggesting scribed plastic and yours truly thinking craftsticks. I’ll mull over that as I brace the tower…

Updates as Progress Merits.

Eric

.

[Korm (Korm Kormsen)]

@Eric_Mueller

Kid-zilla and Y.D. suggesting scribed plastic and yours truly thinking craftsticks.

with your weather - wood fouling faster than plastic…
wood can look more realistic. but plastic is more in line with playmobil…

and don’t forget the standing order: it’s not your’s alone!

happy mulling over!

[Eric_Mueller]

Korm,

Plastic is probably the right answer. I have thin sheets of styrene that I was thinking of gluing together to about 1/8" thickness. Would this work? Thd hobby shop had nothing thicker.

Eric

[Korm (Korm Kormsen)]

@Eric_Mueller

Would this work?

i don’t know.
when i need thick plastic, i normally cannibalise household-items, like buckets or trays.

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

You might get ripples from the adhesive, but it can’t hurt to glue up some scrap to see. I also like Korm’s thought of finding a discarded or unused plastic item you can cannibalize for the plastic.

[Rooster]

Why not use both… { craftsticks & styrene } make the floor base out of the wood and then glue the sheet of styrene on top. Space the wood with gaps that way you can follow the lines on the other side.

Perhaps take the girls hairdryer to it and allow the plastic to fold into the gaps essentially making PVC covered wood. However you will want to have air space under the floor and you should paint/prime the wood before gluing.

It might give you a good couple years of service and it settles everyone’s thoughts. If the kids deny your thoughts then just go sit in the corner and sulk with your beer and take pics of the clan working.

Craftsticks are so old hat these days and it’s becoming time to let them go and think outside of the box Eric.

[Korm (Korm Kormsen)]

@JRad

a discarded or unused plastic item…

discarded or unused?

i trend more to unguarded.
always keep in mind, that asking for forgiveness has better chances than asking for permission…

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

After searching for suitable material in our scraps and coming to full agreement with @Rooster regarding craftsticks, I chose, well, crafsticks. The were ready to hand and fit with the more than toy / less than model area this tower occupies. Six panels like the one below await trimming, staining, and affixing…

When Kid-zilla finishes “Fudge,” we’ll challenge ourselves in terms of new materials on our next project which remains secret…

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

We finally got around to this project. I had stained all the “decking” earlier this week. Kid-zilla helped trim away some framing…

…and, after he left for the movies, the 1:24 gang arrived to shape it and hammer it in place.

I will note that Kid-zilla called me out for not wearing safety goggles! Good for him! Shortly after he left, the cutting disc broke free and shot across the lanai!

Meanwhile, I am again learning a lesson about building to common angles and sizes. The decking needs to carefully match so that errors don’t propagate from “pie piece” to “pie piece.” Basically, each deck needs to be laid down, marked, and cut so that it comes at least close to abutting the neighboring bit of decking and still has enough slack on the other side to be glued to the roof beams. Someday I will learn to accurately use a ruler…perhaps when I start a new - rather than rebuild an old - building!

Professional clobber inbound, so progress will likely halt…again. Kid-zill and I really want to move on to the secret project, so I need to get cracking.

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

I finally got back to this project. I screwed up the final section of deck…

…largely because I forgot to get the 1:24 gang and rushed. I got out some cutters, cut the sticks to length, and got it done.

To be frank, I should have done each section like the last one rather than making decks I tried to cut (nominally) to shape. It’ll meet the standards of 1:24-ish PLAYMOBIL scale, but barely.

My power supply for my foam cutter arrived, so the light cupola is next.

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

I finally got around to this project again. Kid-zilla cut and glued the new light holder:

Later, the 1:24 gang helped shape this with some sanding.

I remembered @VicSmith had tried to use woodfiller on his Vic’s 2026 Mik Challenge Darjeeling Streamliner and found it less than satisfactory, but I had some on hand that was in danger of drying out, so I gave it a try:

The results are good enough, per Oldest Daughter.

I agree, so we’ll move on. Next, we have to bore out a hole to snug this over the tower and then fit the basswood support timbers. The cupola will get a coat of black latex paint, too, to seal it all in.

Creeping along…

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

The rains have made it a struggle to keep the plants back and trains running…

…and last weekend was the first all year we had the road up and running in full! MOW always takes priority over projects!

Excuses aside, Kid-zilla lent-to to hollow out the pedestal for the light, using a hot knife to make the cut.

Interestingly, the TiteBond III, as you can see in the picture on the right, was still wet in the central part of the pedestal!

We then took turns, alternating between MOW and sanding, to shape and fit the pedestal on the tower.

That’s when disaster struck, and the cans gave way…AGAIN!

We tried to support this with construction adhesive, but it is far from secure, bringing us to Question #1:

• Should we fill the hollow core of the building with expanding foam and affix the tower to that?

We set it aside and decided to run trains. This is never a bad idea.

Today, O.D. took a crack at mounting the support beams, which, do the aforementioned breakage, will now be more than cosmetic! She lined things up and prepared to cut into the pedestal…

…when we both decided we’d better think this through. That brings us to Question #2:

• Should we cut into the pedestal, forming a notch for the support beams to fit, or should we create a wedge or use a few timber braces and run the beam to the top along the outside?

We like the looks of the latter idea, but, Question #3:

• How would we make that wedge?

Light was failing, dinner was ready, and, at O.D.'s suggestion, we decided to sleep on it and see if the community had some suggestions.

Updates as Progress Merits!

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

OK, Kid-zilla called me out today as we were preparing to host visiting large scalers from Oregon. “Dad, I’ve never seen one of your projects last so long! Do like building rockets better?”

Oy! The SHAME!

In actuality, this project has, for some reason, not been enjoyable. Besides some issues of “What next?” I think I am just ready to move past the rehab projects that seem to be my bread-and-butter these days. That being said, O.D. and I did discuss it on Saturday. We came up with the idea of using a string to get the measurement for the timber braces then sanding as required to lean the brace against the light cupola. This was instead of making a wedge, which we rejected as impractical.

This evening, I decided that pre-cut timbers from the craft store were for crafting, so the 1:24 gang and I put O.D.'s and my plan into motion. First, we cut and taped in place the String of Beam Measuring.

We deliberately left it long, as cutting things shorter is easier than making it longer.

For a moment, I was hopeful that, byhappy accident, this was a 45-45-90 or a 30-60-90 triangle.

Nope. Not so lucky. This meant hobby saw and disc sander came out of storage for an iterative process of cut, sand, test, repeat.

That’ll do! I will use this brace as a template to shape the other five. Progress at last! I think once I have these braces in place, the project should start moving along. Now, I can go back to guilt-tripping Kid-zilla about Fudge!

Updates as Progress Merits!

Eric