Build a beer bottle water tower
placement of the vertical seams in the bottle. The vertical seams should be staggered between each layer. Since you have been handling the bottle, give the bottle another wash and dry before applying decals. Using the circumfer- ence measurements of the bottle, cut strips of rivets from the decal sheet to length and apply them to the bottle us- ing Micro Set and Micro Sol to settle the decals into place.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COLLECTION: HABS IL-1230-3
In the early and mid-twentieth century, man- ufacturers would sometimes use their wa- ter tanks to advertise their products. Con- structed in Collinsville, Illinois, in 1949, the top of the Brooks Catsup eye-catching steel tank towers 170 above the ground.
overspray of Glosscote. This will give the model a better surface to apply the decals to.
Before adding the rivets, I marked on the bottle where they should go. I divided the body of the bottle into four equal segments, the neck into two equal segments, and left the transition section between the neck and body as one segment. Using a scale ruler, I marked the spacing on the bottle for each segment. To mark the circumfer- ence, I wrapped masking take around the bottle at each of the marks I made with the ruler. Then, using a blue Sharpie®
pen, I traced around the edge
of the masking tape. Since the rivets are black on the decal sheet, using a blue marker will help when you apply the decals. The rivets will be difficult to see if you use a black marker for lines. To measure the circumference of the bottle,
I wrapped a piece of paper
around the bottle and marked it where it overlapped the start of the paper. I divided this measurement by three, since I wanted to divide the segments of the bottle into thirds. Using the same blue Sharpie pen, I marked the
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Finishing With the rivet decals in place, I re- placed the grab irons on the bottle, se- curing them with cyanoacrylate. I used strips of .040″ styrene to evenly space the grab irons away from the external surface of the bottle. A toothpick was used to apply the cyanoacrylate to the grab irons from inside the bottle, since it is difficult to reach, otherwise. Once the glue set, I removed the styrene strips and it was time to begin painting. Using an airbrush, I applied Polly Scale Roof Brown to the bottle. The riv- ets will look like part of the bottle after applying the paint, hiding any decal edges. Once this dried, I gave the bottle an overspray of Glosscote. I think having the undercoat of Glosscote helps blend the label decals into the model better. I applied the two label decals to the
bottle, spacing them evenly apart. The rivets were used as a guide for place- ment. The decals were applied using Micro Set and Micro Sol setting solu- tions. Once they were settled in and dry, I gave the bottle a light overspray of Glosscote to blend the shiny decal surface into the rest of the model. Once that dried, I finished it off with a light overspray of Dullcote.
The top of the bottle needs a lid. And,
the liquor bottle came with a screw cap made from very thin metal material. I noticed that the cap had a knurled edge around the top edge. I thought this would be perfect to mimic the crown cap on the prototype. But, I needed to re- move the threaded portion of the cap where it screwed onto the bottle. Using a sanding disk, I slowly removed all the material containing the threads, leav- ing only the top of the cap and the knurled edge. I glued one of the hatches from the Tichy water tower kit to the top of the lid, near its edge. I airbrushed the lid Polly Scale CP Gray and applied Rustall to weather it. I then glued the cap to the bottle using cyanoacrylate.
Final assembly With the bottle complete, it was time to turn my attention to the support structure. I built everything according to the directions in the model with the exception of the platform. Since the bottle I used was slightly undersized
Bill of materials Misc.
50 Milliliter bottle (plastic)
Tichy Train Group No. 7019 Small water tank No. 3021 18″ Straight grab iron
Evergreen Scale Models No. 9020 .020″ Styrene sheet
Micro Mark
Clear decal paper No. 84985 Rivet decals
Polly Scale No. F414137 Grimy Black No. F414251 CP Gray No. F414275 Roof Brown No. F414320 Aged Concrete
Kuras Design Group Rustall
Bragdon Enterprises Black weathering powder
when compared to the base cone in the kit, I decided to improvise as to how to attach the bottle to the cone. Using a compass with points locked in each arm, I continuously scribed a .738″ ra- dius round disk from .020″ styrene. I glued this disk to the underside of the platform using Tenax 7R. I left off the platform supports from the model. I as- sembled the rest of the support struc- ture as instructed. When completed, I now had three subassemblies: The bot- tle, support structure, and the base. I painted the support structure Polly- scale Grimy Black and the base Polly- scale Aged Concrete. I weathered the base by dusting it with black weathering powders. To finish assembling the model, I glued the support structure to the base using Tenax 7R. And, I glued the bottle to the model using cyanoacrylate. After a few enjoyable evenings of working on the model, it now sits on the layout as part of the Stegmaier Brewery. The Tichy kit was a beautiful kit to use as a starting point for the model. It looks delicate, but is actually very easy to put together. Its size com- pliments the bottle tank. And, when it is done, you will have a model that rep- resents a unique piece of Americana. And, if you fear it may appear toy-like for your layout, I found it does not over- power a scene because of its size. With it completed, I am waiting for
the day when Gerry asks for help with his model railroad project. And, since I know the project he has in mind does not involve working at the workbench, I am sure an adult beverage or two will be consumed to complete it!
JANUARY 2014
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