The Construction of the Ashland Iron & Steel Blast Furnace

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Steps 52-54 + Step 60

This latest progress report is for Steps 52-54 on the instruction sheet. I also jumped ahead and did Step 60. Steps 55-59 involve stairwells and railings which will be done in the next report.

These steps involved assembling the Dust Collector, assembling the Collector Pipes, and assembling the Upper and Lower Downcomer Pipes together. The Dust Collector and the Pipes for it were assembled, painted, weathered, then glued in place to the base and connected to the bottom of the tall Gas Washer Tank. The Downcomer pipe was assembled and connected to the top of the Dust Collector Tank and then fitted to the very top of the Furnace to connect the two Upper Downcomer Pipes. The joint connecting the Upper Downcomer Pipes and the joint connecting the Lower Downcomer Pipe were left loose so that i can dis-assemble the structure when handling. This will also allow me to ship this massive structure in two separate boxes to cut down on the shipping costs when it comes time to ship it to someone.

Up to this point, everything is weathered on the structure except for the railings and walkways on the tops of the Stoves. Here are some pics

Time spent on the kit build is now up to 44-1/2 hours. It is estimated that the kit is 85% completed

 

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Steps 55-59 + Step 65

As mentioned in my last update post, steps 55-59 were skipped briefly in order to assemble the Upper and Lower Downcomer Pipes and temporarily connect the Furnace with the Stoves Structure

Steps 55-59 involved assembling and gluing ALOT of railings and walkways. The Upper Elevator Walkway, the Trolley Support Walkway, The Upper Offtake Safety Cadge Ladder, The Bell Platform Stairway, the Hoist Stairway and the Cast House Stairway were among the parts involved in these steps. I also went back to Step 32 which was skipped a while back, this step involved mounting the railings around the entire Cast House Floor.

The reason for the large opening on the front of the structure where the Cast House Stairway is because the part that was supposed to go there got completely demolished. It must have been damaged during shipping or handling at the warehouse, because it was all broken up when i first opened the box. There were a few other railings that were damaged but i was able to fix them for the most part. I could not however fix this one, as most of the parts to this specific part were missing and not in the bottom of the massive kit box lol. I contacted the parts department at Walthers this afternoon and left a message, so i should be hearing back from the tomorrow to see about getting a replacement part....

Steps 61-64 were also skipped briefly and will be covered on the next progress report.

Here is a look at the kit with most of its platforms and railings assembled and in place. I have not decided at this time if i will be weathering all the railings, im kinda liking the way they stand out right now, but we will see, i think it might look better if they were weathered like the rest of the structure is. In the meantime, here are some more pics of the latest progress

Time spent on the kitbuild now up to 50-1/2 hours

 

[UP2CSX]

That's some really nice detail work, Josh. 50 hours would be starting to get past my limit though.

 

[stang_crazy]

Very very nice!!!

 

[jackn2mpu]

Beautiful work. Now if there only a way to have that very unique smell that comes from a steel mill!

 

[jbaakko]

That is some amazing work Josh!

 

[Trucklover]

Jim, Mike, Jack, and Josh, thank you guys for the nice compliments, i really appreciate them

 

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Steps 61-64 + Steps 66-68

Well, i finished the construction of the Ashland Iron & Steel Blast Furnace this afternoon. All that is left to do is weather the Skip Hoist, and weather the Highline Trestle.

As mentioned in my last post, steps 61-64 were skipped to jump ahead and knock out the rest of the railings, walkways, and stairwells. Steps 61-64 involved assembling the Skip Hoist and the Skip Hoist Buckets. Once this was completed, it was painted then mounted in place to the top of the Bell Tower Hopper. Steps 66-68 were the final steps of the instruction sheet and involved assembling the Highline and the Highline Walkway which connects the Highline and the Cast House.

I also modified a piece of leftover railing to replace the part that was broken that went on the front of the furnace. It wasnt too hard, and it doesnt look great, but it will do... lol

So without further ado, here is some pics of the Furnace. A final post will be made with more pictures once the Highline and Skip Hoist have been weathered. Hope you enjoy the pictures

Total time spent on the kit as of right now is 55-1/2 hours

 

[jbaakko]

What color yellow did you use?

 

[Trucklover]

What color yellow did you use?

Good Old Walmart brand yellow

They may look a little bright in the pictures, but honestly sitting here on the workbench and looking at it, i dont think they need weathering at all. They almost look like they have been sun-bleached lol. I think ill just weather the Skip Hoist and the Highline and call it on this kit

 

[UP2CSX]

Josh, that is going to be an amazing structure when it's done. The one thing I wouldn't do is have that can of lacquer thinner can on a shelf by your model. All it takes is a loose cap and one wrong swing of the arm and suicidal thoughts will enter your mind.

 

[Trucklover]

Josh, that is going to be an amazing structure when it's done. The one thing I wouldn't do is have that can of lacquer thinner can on a shelf by your model. All it takes is a loose cap and one wrong swing of the arm and suicidal thoughts will enter your mind.

LOL Jim that is some EXCELLENT advise, i just got up right after i read your post and moved the can of Lacquer Thinner as well as the Elmer's glue bottle WAY away from the edge of the shelf LOL

 

[IronBeltKen]

Josh that is one B-U-tiful structure , it sure looks a heluva lot better than the WKW blast furnace I assembled back in July 1996. It didn't come with half the details that your version has.

What are your plans - to store it in a safe place until you build a layout to put it on, or are you gonna sell it?

 

[jbaakko]

Good Old Walmart brand yellow

They may look a little bright in the pictures, but honestly sitting here on the workbench and looking at it, i dont think they need weathering at all. They almost look like they have been sun-bleached lol. I think ill just weather the Skip Hoist and the Highline and call it on this kit

I like them, they lighter white looks nice. I might have to pick some up for the railings on the Bakery that is to go on this current layout of mine.

 

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Fully Built & Weathered Furnace

Well after roughly 58 hours of work, the Blast Furnace has finally been fully 100% constructed and weathered. Here are some shots of the front of the Furnace:

And here are some shots of the rear of the furnace

 

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Conclusion

And that about wraps up this thread for my Summer Kitbuild Challenge

The next thing ill be doing with the furnace will be adding the Blower Engine House and the Piping on the other right of the stoves. After that, it goes up for sale

Questions, comments, suggestions are welcome on the build are welcome

 

[UP2CSX]

It'a an amazing job of kit buikding and weathering, Josh. I guess, with the amount of time you have in it, we can see why it doesn't sell in an RTR version.

 

[DaWolf85]

That... is awesome...
Nice job!

What did you use for weathering?

 

[Rico]

Very nice Josh, looks like a mill not too far from here!

 

[Irongrave]

just plain sick man