Jim's Craftsmen Kits - Twin Mills at Lost Canyon

This kit is from SierraWest Scale Models.

Construction Photographs

When you first open this kit you see how huge it is! The trucks and couplers I bought separately because it came with some bonus cars.

There is quite a bit of lumber in this kit!

Plenty of castings too.

The final details including some pre-cut rail and laser cut windows.

Floor plans and other drawings
A-Z and then some!

The instructions suggested that the first five bags of wood should be stained by a soaking method. The rest uses a swiping method because the wood is thicker

Here are some of the pieces soaking in a stain made up of several colors. (Get the dish back to the kitchen and wash it really good and it won't even be missed.)

I let the pieces soak between 6 and 24 hours then set them out to dry.

I started with the floor of the New Mill instead of the walls. I want to get the footprints of the buildings because I'm interested in getting the track in. It will have lots of switchbacks and steep mountains really close to the mill.

Here is the main floor of the new mill and the sub floor too. Also, the sorting platform and the first wall of the old mill.

I made copies of the floor plans so I could get an idea of how the buildings are going to fit.

The front and back walls of the old mill are being framed then the siding will go on top. I put the plans under a thin sheet of Plexiglas and build on top. When the walls are done they easily come off because the wood glue does not have a strong bond to the Plexiglas, just enough to hold it while I'm building.

The old mill is completed! (Except for a little extra weathering with washes and chalks.) The roof is done later because it attaches to the new mill too.

Here you can see the mill with the paper templates for the other buildings in place. This kit will take up a lot of space on the layout!