Since I am starting on my replica of the Reverberatory Furnace Building, I thought it might be interesting to document my structure building process. So - here goes.
First, I look over any original photographs and plans I have been able to obtain of the structure I am modeling. While measured plans are preferable, photos can give some great clues of relative size and hints as to how it was likely constructed. This first photo shows the entire Quincy Copper Smelting Complex as it appeared from across the Portage River in 1906. The Reverb furnace building is the large structure to the right of center with the four stacks emanating from the roof. (Note that you can click on the image to significantly increase its size.)
Below, is an enlarged and cropped version of the prior photograph showing the reverb furnace building in greater detail. The building in the foreground which is blocking a good portion of the furnace building is the warehouse, which was the first structure of the complex I built back over Thanksgiving weekend.
From these two photo, we can deduce the following:
1 - The structure was built of the same Jacobsville sandstone as the Cupola Furnace.
2 - The four chimneys were brick.
3 - The clerestory had opening doors to allow air circulation, but no windows.
4 - The windows were double hung and in pairs.
5 - the arches and lintels were similar to those on the cupola furnace building.
6 - The structure appears to be about 80% the height of the Cupola Furnace Building.
7 - The structure appears to be about 120% the height of the warehouse.
The photo below is also from the Library of Congress, but is sadly undated.
However, it shows us that there were numerous ventilation doors along each side of the clerestory and that at one time some of the narrow gauge line which moved materials through the complex was covered to protect the cars and workers from the elements. However, this is not something I intend to model in my interpretation of the complex.
The photo from the 1980's below, shows the sorry shape into which the building fell after abandonment. The cement blocks at the upper portion of the wall reflect an enlargement that was undertaken at some time when the original roof line was modified to a mansard style. The concrete structure in the center is the scale house that was added in 1907. All narrow gauge cars in the facility were numbered and their tare weights recorded. Loaded cars were weighed as they passed across a scale in this structure so that accurate production records could be maintained. The corrugated structure at the right houses an elevator which took narrow gauge car loads of coal up into the structure to fire the furnaces within.
Below is a close-up photograph of the concrete block scale building. Since this was in place during the period I will be modeling, I will be including this structure.
Below, is a close-up of the coal elevator, which was also added as part of major improvements undertaken around 1907. This, too will be included in my interpretation of the structure.
This sketch below, from a 1976 HABS survey of the smelter complex is the only "plan" I have been able to locate of the structure. Sadly, there were no dimensions recorded on the drawing.
You will notice that the windows in this structure consist of pairs of double hung twelve over twelve units. Not having any such units on hand, and not wishing to spring for the cost of ordering them, I decided to modify the nine over nine Tichy exterior mount windows I had on-hand shown below.
In order to prepare them for serving as pairs for mounting within masonry openings, I removed material with an Xacto blade from one side of each window where they would be joined, to thin the frame at that point. I then sanded the outer face of each of the windows to remove the window sill detail and to flatten the entire outer face as seen below.
Finally, I joined the window pairs together with solvent and gave them another sanding after the solvent had cured, creating the finished windows seen below. I made ten windows of this type - five for each end of the structure. Each of the two sides of the building will be outfitted with 10 over 10 Grandt line windows I had on hand in my parts stash.
Now, I needed to figure out the dimensions for the finished model so I could cut the resin wall material for the gable ends. By importing the HABS image shown previously into into a graphics programs, I was able to re-scale it in actual inches to match the amount of space I have available on my module, as shown below.
Once the above proportions had been determined, I added a layer in my graphics program and traced the outline of the HABS drawing on that layer. I then placed the windows using a single rectangle sized to match measurements taken directly from one of my windows as seen below and duplicated it four times for the other windows. The doors will be cut to fit, as I will be scratch building the doors from styrene. I will be modeling both front and back ends of the structure as the rear will be visible from the end of the module. (This was not the case with the Cupola Furnace building I recently completed because it will be located sufficiently far from the front and end of the module that views of the resr will be obscured. While some may consider it Cheating or lazy, I can see no pont in finishing something which cannot be seen!)
Finally tonight, I transferred the above template onto two resin wall casting and headed out to my workshop through the 12 inches of snow which fell this evening to cut out the two end walls on the band saw. I then chucked a 3/8" spur bit into the drill press ad drilled srater holes in the centers of the window openings, as shown below.
That's it for tonight. Tomorrow, I will accurately mark the locations for all the window openings and remove most of the material using the sheet metal nibbler.
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