Sign in to follow this  
Captain Dee

Dee Wheelworks of King's Harbour

Recommended Posts

Sir Dee was primarily interested in operating and expanding his small foundry, but his position as leader of the family's operations in King's Harbour meant that he occasionally took the role of supervisor or inspector of other works. Today he is visiting the newly-opened Dee Wheelworks Waterwheel & Treadwheel Factory to inspect a pair of giant waterwheel prototypes that have been pre-assembled before being dismantled into manageable sections for shipping to their final destination. If the designs prove satisfactory, future copies will be built as modular pieces that can quickly be assembled in the field.

2uz5b4k.jpg

The building is largely non-descript, with whitewashed walls, lots of windows to provide plenty of natural light for the workers, and a row of large cupolas atop the roof for ventilation under the heat of the tropical sun. A giant pair of doors allow easy access in the front:

ifvs7a.jpg

The wheel on the left is complete and has passed inspection, and the workers are applying the finishing touches to the wheel on the right:

27x2fqq.jpg

2m6wi3d.jpg

The so-called "big wheel", close up:

124efcw.jpg

...and the other wheel:

2lvlkw5.jpg

Meanwhile, Sir Dee speaks with the manager (on the left, with the red plume) and one of the senior workers atop the large central hub of the smaller wheel:

wa607l.jpg

Looking through the big front doors:

2zs2suq.jpg

11cfi49.jpg

The mighty King's River will provide the flow of water to turn these wheels, which will in turn power the mills of various industrial endeavors. Sir Dee needs these wheels... lots of them... :grin:

Game Notes: This will be licensed as a Large Factory.

Build Notes: I built the water wheel with the grey Technic brick outer rim a few years ago, and never finished the intended project. I really wanted to get on with it, but thought a water wheel / tread wheel factory would be a good way to show the design first.

I have 4 completed wheels, and I will show all 4 in this topic (plus a design breakdown of each) when the photos are ready. Building them was a fun challenge, but it takes a lot of parts! The biggest one has ~650 pieces and the grey-rimmed one has 500+.

In reality, it makes no sense to completely build them in a factory, take them apart for shipping, and then re-assemble them on site, but I wanted to show a production facility, and showing all the modular pieces, unconnected, would be an incomprehensible mess... hence the prototype designation in the story.

Thanks for viewing. :classic:

Bonus Pics show wheels in detail, plus their design breakdown:

 

Group shot, all 4 wheels. As water wheels, all 4 designs can be easily adapted to overshot or undershot use:

nd3l1x.jpg

Each wheel intact:

mwpc94.jpg

nqzj2a.jpg

2646d74.jpg

The smallest of the four wheels is shown as a water wheel, but the basic design was built specifically for a tread wheel, with people walking inside to provide power. Just remove the long plates on the outer rim and their mounts, and you have a tread wheel:

20zrbb5.jpg

Each wheel, design detail:

xqf1nd.jpg

25gdzjp.jpg

2iw7pep.jpg

fxxe8z.jpg

Edited by Captain Dee
Reason for edit: update photos

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It is a fine factory indeed ... I really like your floor treatment and your windows.   The wheels are impressive as well

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I really like the color combination. I was also not expecting to see giant water wheels. Those things are impressive and huge.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Magnificent build Captain Dee! I will admit, I was thinking the wheels would be able to fit out the doors when I first saw the building. Totally was not expecting those behemoth wheels on their sides!!! *oh2* Lol! Great build with great details! Keep up the awesome work!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 hours ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

It is a fine factory indeed ... I really like your floor treatment and your windows.   The wheels are impressive as well

I'm happy with the build, but not the photos. I just don't have adequate lighting for something this size. I wanted a good accent color for the floor, and medium dark flesh / medium nougat was handy, so I used it. I really like those black framed, pearl gold windows (no surprise there, right?). I struggled to build a suitable small wheel, but these bigger designs came together pretty easy. The trick is to design a workable segment and then replicate it. The big wheel looked better with its original 9 sections, but I downsized it to 8 as shown to fit the ship's wheel center hub.

9 hours ago, merc said:

I really like the color combination. I was also not expecting to see giant water wheels. Those things are impressive and huge.

I like white / black / gold for buildings, but the colors of the wheels were somewhat determined by what I had available. The big wheel would look better with black hinges, but I didn't have enough, so I used the flesh / nougat color instead. The whole project is about showcasing the wheels. I didn't measure them, but they would be pretty tall beside a minifig!

7 hours ago, LM71Blackbird said:

Magnificent build Captain Dee! I will admit, I was thinking the wheels would be able to fit out the doors when I first saw the building. Totally was not expecting those behemoth wheels on their sides!!! *oh2* Lol! Great build with great details! Keep up the awesome work!

No, the wheels can't fit through the doors. Everything started getting big - wheels, building, windows - so it had to have a giant set of doors to match. :grin: Technically I suppose you could roll a mill wheel to its job site, but it might be a bit difficult, and dangerous! I plan to use these wheels in some forthcoming builds, so you can see them in action then.

Thanks all for the input. :classic:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Marvellous new world, what a grand factory. Loving it!

And as I said before: Amazing to see you stick with your unique personal style.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
12 hours ago, Elostirion said:

Marvellous new world, what a grand factory. Loving it!

And as I said before: Amazing to see you stick with your unique personal style.

It would be a lot more "grand" if the photos weren't so bad. I'm trying to correct this. As for style, it's nothing special, and perhaps even a bit lazy. I like a textured look as much as anyone, but it doesn't make as much sense for a new building. Neat and clean is usually pretty easy, and with my lack of building time I have to compromise somewhere.

12 hours ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

@Captain Dee ships center wheel.... Are you building a riverboat/paddle boat?

No, I'm not building a paddle wheel boat. That would be beyond the technological realm of BoBS. I was just referring to the use of the ship's wheel for the center hub of the water wheel. It has 8 handholds, which limited the wheel to 8 spokes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

thoses wheels are amazing, and the factory is great... however, I'm not fond of the floor (sure there's a lot of medium flesh round plate, I'm jealous and what a throng of nice windows) The floor would have looked better if full tiled (IMHO and just IMHO)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
50 minutes ago, Professor Thaum said:

Thoses wheels are amazing, and the factory is great... however, I'm not fond of the floor (sure there's a lot of medium flesh round plate, I'm jealous and what a throng of nice windows) The floor would have looked better if full tiled (IMHO and just IMHO)

I'm not fond of that floor technique either, and I agree, tiles would look a lot better. I wanted to use the flesh / nougat color, and I don't have anywhere near enough tiles in that color, so I used the round plates instead. It's... tolerable. Those pieces work better for other things. :classic:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

magnificent build Dee. The wheels are fantastic, and very period accurate. I must say, however, you should have made the doors bigger! :pir-laugh:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good news!! I finally got the rest of the photos posted in the original topic. Here's one:

nd3l1x.jpg

On 3/10/2018 at 2:44 PM, Mesabi said:

Magnificent build Dee. The wheels are fantastic, and very period accurate. I must say, however, you should have made the doors bigger! :pir-laugh:

The doors are about the right width, but they're a lot taller than they need to be for wagons loaded with components to fit through. But I tend to think big, and a big building needed big doors. :grin:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What I love about this is that there are gold domes on the roof. :pir-laugh:  I don't think the word expensive is in Sir Dee's vocabulary!  Great job on the wheels themselves too!  Might we see one or two of them in operation someday? :pir-wink:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Absolutely impressive, this factory is huge! The golden domes on the roof are very eye-catching, the wheels are cleverly built and I like the floor tiled with round plates.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 3/16/2018 at 4:35 PM, Kai NRG said:

What I love about this is that there are gold domes on the roof. :pir-laugh: 

Those are supposed to be copper domes, not gold, although the story doesn't specify. Check back in a few decades, and the patina should give it away. :pir-wink:

The cupola domes weren't originally planned, but that vast expanse of CMF baseplates looked too plain and barren without some decor.

I suppose the window lattices are copper-based too...

On 3/16/2018 at 4:35 PM, Kai NRG said:

Great job on the wheels themselves too!  Might we see one or two of them in operation someday? :pir-wink:

Oh ye of little faith! Why do you think I built them?! :grin:

On 3/16/2018 at 7:51 PM, Bodi said:

Absolutely impressive, this factory is huge! The golden domes on the roof are very eye-catching, the wheels are cleverly built and I like the floor tiled with round plates.

I should've stopped with the first 48x48 base, really. It would've been so much easier to move and take photos, especially after I decided to show all 4 wheels separately. Oh well - too late now!

If you find the domes to be eye-catching, then their late addition to the build was a success - imagine how bland that roof would be without them. The wheels were fun to build, not always so fun to keep intact, but overall they're pretty sturdy. As for the floor plates, I like tiles better, but I don't have enough in that color. It does make an interesting texture though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Fantastic factory building, Captain Dee, and even more fantastic wheels! I am impressed how round you have managed to make them combined with them looking utilitarian. I will be studying your technique.

Your buildings have a very recognisable style, while still showing a new take on it each time. Very nice!

And I wonder if not the wheelworks will be the talk of the town during the coming ball?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Bregir said:

Fantastic factory building, Captain Dee, and even more fantastic wheels! I am impressed how round you have managed to make them combined with them looking utilitarian. I will be studying your technique.

Thanks. Making the wheels round was pretty simple once the basic designs were established. I was sorting parts, got distracted, started tinkering and after a trial-and-error process the two Technic-brick wheels were the result. But... study my simplistic techniques at your own risk! :grin:

3 hours ago, Bregir said:

Your buildings have a very recognisable style, while still showing a new take on it each time. Very nice!

I like this basic color scheme, but I like many others just as well. Hopefully I can try something a little different on some smaller builds.

3 hours ago, Bregir said:

And I wonder if not the wheelworks will be the talk of the town during the coming ball?

Oh no! I hope not! :pir-wink: I mean, surely the ladies and gentlemen attending the ball will have more stately things to discuss than a bunch of waterwheels! :grin: Send them to the gardens!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.