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Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Building The Magic Shop by FOS Scale Models Pt. N + 2

I am wondering if I have a problem with math, or my vision, or perhaps both. I saw on eBay today that someone is willing to pay $57 before shipping for 100 feet of 1x8 HO scale stripwood. Northeastern Scale Lumber sells 12 pack of 11 inch long pieces for $3.50. That is $3.50 for 11 feet. A little more than 9 packs make 100 feet. It is about $32. Now if you get fifty 2 ft. long pieces then they are $0.38 per piece. 100 feet would cost you $19. Perhaps shipping would be a bit higher but $57... Someone must have really deep pockets or very big ego.
Back to the build... I needed more sidewalk for my Ideal Hosiery diorama than it was provided in the kit so I made it out of 1/16" thick matboard. The advantage of using it instead of sheet basswood is that matboard is cheap and easier to work with. The down side is that it tends to swell and warp during scenery application phase which involves a lot of liquid, i.e. wet water and matte medium. This time around I have decided to soak sidewalk edges with CA. Guess what? I didn't observe any swelling or warping so I used the same technique when making a boardwalk as well. First I cut out the boardwalk base out of matboard 1/8" narrower than I wanted the boardwalk to be. Then I soaked the edges with CA. After CA had dried I glued 1/16" square stripwood on each side and then covered the top with 2x8 striwood. I believe this sandwich method is easier and more durable than traditional real life like.



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