Madill 071 Mobile Tower Yarder

[Beekster]

Weathering continues. The spar has had a couple of different tones stippled on, and dialed back with some white and orange. It will dry for another couple of days, then I will seal this with Dullcote to get a flat finish again. Then add some streaks.




With the spar looking suitably beat up, I naturally have to weather the rest of the thing. So the front superstructure cover, spar stiff-leg, and radiator cover have their first coat of old rusty spots:




I will add some lighter rust sparingly to these, then set them aside to dry before sealing them with Dullcote. And of course, I can't stop with these so the yarder itself got a first color applied this afternoon. You'll note is is rather lighter in coverage on the left side, since I was running out of the paint I mixed. Tomorrow I will mix a similar shade and keep going. Also, more of this needs to be applied inside the winch bay and that will require some creative tearing and shaping of sponges to get into those nooks and crannies.








Similarly, nothing has been done to the suspension bogies or the hull sides yet, but I will. In several of these images you can see glossy orange where I did touch up, and of course a flat finish will be applied over all of this once I have another shade or two of rust applied. The cab will get a similar treatment when it is ready. When I am happy with the rust, I think I will spray a dust layer on the hull sides and suspension. More dirt will follow by way of watercolor washes once the tracks are on (and those haven't arrived yet, either).

[Beekster]

Couldn't help myself and mocked it up once more. I am beginning to think that this will actually look like a real, well-used yarder in the end.

Will definitely have to set up the larger light tent for finished (and MoM entry!) photos when finished.

[JCON]

Oh yeah, I'm liking this a lot!!!

[RLFoster]

I would agree! It's definitely looking the part!

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

It's certainly adding to the realism. Will it be difficult to add the tracks, with all the delicate upper hardware?

[Dukemaddog]

Wow, I remember when you first started this thing, I was overwhelmed at the work you were going to do. Now it is very close to the finished line (compared to several months ago) and I am even more overwhelmed. I'm gonna have to go back and look to see what this beast was used for since I forgot.

[JED]

Great work Beekster

[Beekster]

Dogfish, getting the tracks on will be a bit interesting. The plan is to do that before the spar or cab are installed. I will flip it upside down on a pile of soft foam pieces that I use to cushion models in boxes when I take them to shows (remember when model shows were a thing?). The railings will stick down outside the pile of foam and the main mass of the model will be centered on the pile. I have gone partway through with this process while test-fitting the tracks so I know that it will work.

Duke, these machines are used for logging operations in steep terrain. They can yard logs down to the yarder from upslope, or haul them upslope from below. The latter is more common because it is inherently safer...if something breaks, the logs go downhill away from the machine, not downhill right towards it. Here's how it works: The Skyline is rigged out downrange and tied off to an anchor point, usually a tall snag left for this purpose. Suspended from the Skyline is a drop-line carriage, which has several choker lines that dangle beneath it and are wrapped around the logs to secure them in a bunch, called a "turn". The Main line is run out downrange, slightly offset, and run through blocks back to the front of the drop carriage. The Haulback line is attached to the back of the carriage. Operating those two winch drums moves the carriage along the Skyline back and forth. The Skyline supports it all, and tension on it can be adjusted to lower the carriage to make hooking up logs easier and raising it to move the log turn up to the landing where the yarder sits. Ideally, the Skyline is adjusted so that it carries most of the weight of the turn but the ends of the logs drag on the ground. That minimizes stress on the line and the winch; it is not recommended to pick the logs up off the ground for any length of time. It can be done to move the turn over an obstacle. The process requires a skilled operator to ensure that the lines, winches, and yarder itself are not overstressed. The photos above of toppled machines illustrate what happens when things go wrong.

[Dukemaddog]

Excellent! Great information Beekster. I'm going to have to search for some videos of this thing working as it sounds cool! Thanks again for the thorough explanation.

[DPNM]

It's getting close to the finish and it's looking great Beekster. It's not only been a tremendous joy to follow, it's also been educational. Kudos.

[Beekster]

Thank you, sir! Not much activity so far this week, pretty much just tweaking the shape of the new exhaust pipe. I've had appointments to keep in the mornings yesterday and today, and tomorrow I will likely have jury duty. The changes to routine have me leaving this one aside while the rust spots cure. But it won't be sitting idle for long.

[Beekster]

Not a good day today. After breakfast, I thought I would put hoses on the oil filter housing hanging off the back. Got one line on, then this happened:



Initial attempts to reattach the broken piece failed, and in manipulating the model another vexing issue cropped up again: The rear wheel on the left middle bogie broke, again.

This last is going to be straightforward; fresh .005" shim discs have already been added to the assembly and tomorrow I can put the thing together again. But the filter housing looks to be tougher. I think that I will have to use a file to carefully smooth and flatten the mating surface on the back of the model, and make a new piece with wire for the hose. That means more orange paint, but a small enough area that I can use a brush for that and the Dullcote too. But for the weekend I will leave this part of the project alone and look at it with fresh eyes in a couple of days. Among tasks yet to be completed are cutting windows for the cab, so I think I will get those taken care of and set aside.

[JCON]

Sorry buddy!!!

[reserve]

What kind of glue did you try? When faced with such an event in the past I've used a drop of slower acting LPC on both surfaces, waited 10-15 seconds and stuck the thing together holding it in place for about 30 seconds. Then I walk away for a couple hours to let the pieces take a good set. It may not result in the prettiest join but since this is part of the lubrication system you could hide whatever uglies with an appropriate oil leak/stain.

Sounds like you've already got the errant bogie sorted; but I hear you I hate going backwards myself

Regards,
Mark

[Beekster]

Mark, my standard is Testor's liquid glue, applied with a fine brush (never that monstrosity that comes in the cap!). Part of my problem is access for tweezers there with the radiator in the way adjacent and the filter housing assembly tight against the upright deck support. Once the wheel popped out again, I decided that I should be done with this one for a day or so to calm down, peer at it from time to time, and think about what the right path forward is. This isn't the end of the world, but it is a fiddly bit that will require some finesse. And I might have to alter the part so that the hose attaches from a different direction. I think the stress of bending that hose ninety degrees and down to disappear beside the engine caused the joint to fail. Perhaps I need to make the housing part longer, and have a second vertical attachment for the hose rather than horizontal.

[reserve]

Calm is always a good idea under such circumstances. What are you using for hose and how big does it have to be? I use electrical solder for hose quite a bit 'cause it bends easily and will not stress the plastic it's anchored in

[Beekster]

The hose is a real small-diameter hose intended for model cars. The center hole slips neatly over a stub of .016" brass rod.

[Beekster]

Breathing a bit easier now. Fixing the wheel was pretty straightforward, but this took more thought and effort. In hindsight, I did have a clearance problem here. I built this subassembly in isolation and the hoses fit just fine, but I failed to account for the stresses involved with bending the hoses to route down alongside the radiator. Some shaving of the housing, another shim added, and repositioning the hose fitting so that it angles backwards will solve the problem.




This will be left to dry for a couple of days, then I'll wash the sanding dust off and flow a drop of superglue in there for reinforcement. The upper hose doesn't stress this joint now, and the lower hose will now arc down and aft before disappearing into the hull. Once dry, touch-up with orange and Dullcote. At least the track sets I ordered have come in, so I can finish building the second track run and start the paint process on those.

[JCON]

Nice fix!!!

[JED]

Where there's a will there's a way!!