The Old Mill, Part 2
Having built the basic structure and water wheel mechanism of the old mill, I had only to add the details—windows, doors, and trim—and apply finishing. The roof must remain until the very last, as I need access to the interior all the way through to final installation.
Once the windows, doors and trim were on, I sprayed the structure with grey primer, then brushed on two shades of ruddy red powdered chalks to achieve the weathered barn red finish. (Applying chalks directly to raw wood is all the rage these days, but I'm not thrilled by the results; I prefer starting with primer first.) Since this structure will be illuminated, the water wheel mechanism had to be painted black so that its bright parts wouldn't be visible through the windows.
With that, I'd arrived at the task of fitting it into the scene; this meant building the dam. John Allen's original is a stone rubble/earthen dam; I elected to go with random stone for the "fussy" areas that needed to be precisely fit around the structure and, in particular, the working water wheel.
To give it an appropriately rustic look, I relied on my favorite stone material, Chooch's discontinued N Scale random stone. I sliced and diced a bunch of scraps to create a shape that fits snugly around the back of the mill, as well as the small bit of wall on the opposite side of the water wheel. The top edge was sloped back by cutting thin strips of stone and offsetting them horizontally in layers, as well as hand-carving the tops and backs. Everything was painted Floquil Earth, with random stones highlighted in Depot Buff and Primer Gray, followed by an India ink wash. Wetness around the water wheel was created with acrylic gloss medium.
Finally, the dam was permanently merged with the mill structure to make a single object to retain the critical alignment of the stonework around the water wheel. The last items to come are the roof (obviously), the support for the outboard end of the water wheel axle, and the flume over the wheel.
Ultimately much of the dam will be buried in earth in order to evoke the style of the original; loose rock and vegetation will help add to the effect. Because the mill is an integral part of the dam, and the dam is an integral part of the scenery, the mill will have the distinction of being the first structure to be installed on the layout.
Original Gorre & Daphetid image courtesy of Peter T. Prunka.