Project Update: Saw Pit Store by JL Innovative Design

I had some trouble adding side addition. Front and back walls were to tall and didn't allow any room for the roof. Unfortunately, I discovered that only after I had all three walls glued together. Trimming the excess by cutting was impossible and the assembly proved to be too flimsy for sanding. I ended up gluing addition to the main building and sanding the excess after glue dried. Newer edition of the kit may not have this problem. Mine is quite old. It is pre-laser and I had to cut out openings for doors and  windows myself.

Project Update: Wicked Wanda's by Bar Mills

I've got to play landscape designer a bit. My bushes had open bottoms what is not the case in reality. There is always something growing. I added some undergrowth to my  scene as well. I used two types. First I made of painted gray fish tank filter fiber and coarse foam. Second of supertree branches and coarse foam. I made quite a bit of  both so I have enough for few projects. Also I "planted" some tufts along the tracks and between. In my world it is abandoned branch so it has some vegetation growing.
Electrical installation and power pole have been on the list of things to do for a long time. Finally, I made them. The transformers at least in our region in general are in quite good condition. However, about twice every week I go past one that is very rusty. I didn't rust mine that much though.

Project Update: Finescale Miniatures JS-13 Elijah Roth & Sons

It isn't electronics side update this time. I haven't done anything in that direction since last post. Instead I painted diorama with Tobacco Brown, applied dirt to the stream bed and added few rocks. Perhaps a bit too many. I may remove some but for now I'll just let it simmer for a while. I am not adding water until the very end anyway. Also I completed few smaller steps that didn't make to the progress photos.

Project Update: Majestic Hardware by Bar Mills

The platform took me much more time to build than I anticipated. I haven't attached it to the building yet. I think it will be easier to place it when I make diorama. I have also applied some rust to the tower. I used turpenoid and oil paint for that. I have added some signs as well and may even add some more. I anticipate to have a lot of leftovers from The Pit Store build.

Project Update: Finescale Miniatures JS-13 Elijah Roth & Sons

I have made quite some progress working on lighting. I have identified all parts I need for it I have done initial version of the code. "Brain" for all of this is ATtiny4 microcontroller from Atmel. At least for starters. My code uses random number generator for welding light flicker. I hope it will look realistic enough. If not I may use predefined sequence which will need more program space than random number generator. If that is the case I will use ATtiny10 microcontroller. Actually, ATtiny9 would be sufficient but Mouser doesn't have it in  stock. LEDs will take some experimentation since it is hard to figure out what looks good based on specs. I could get some of them from Ngineering but that would take half of the fun. Plus I would pay separate shipping. Anyway, I will learn more by doing it myself.
My initial algorithm is as follows. 15 second silence; steady interior and exterior light. 0.6 second welding start; white and blue welding light on; interior and exterior lights dim quite a bit. 14.4 seconds welding; blue light is off; white welding light flickers randomly; interior and exterior lights flicker in opposite direction. I am certain it won't look correct right from the start but with some adjustments I hope to achieve believable result.
Now I need to order parts from Mouser. My biggest investment is microcontroller programmer. Hopefully, I will find more use for it in the future so it pays off.

Project Update: Sokol's Mattress & Furniture Co by Bar Mills

Finally, I am done with bracing replacement. Now I have all walls glued together and I am working on "concrete" foundation. Slowly moving forward...

Flashback: Booty Corner by Bar Mills

It has been about a month since last one. This time Booty Corner by Bar Mills.

Project Update

Here is another picture-less update.

Elijah Roth.
It looks like I am dedicating more time to this project than Wanda's. I don't know what but there is something in this kit that tries to consume all of my time. Possibly all of FSM kits are like this. I hate to admit but I may be changing from non believer in FSM to a believer. And all this started as the way of learning new techniques...
I wasn't quite happy with the color of water wheel so I dabbed on some red oxide. I didn't want to spend much time waiting for the paint to cure so I applied A&I wash over about  within an hour of dabbing. The solution removed the paint in some places and moved it to others what produced uneven appearance which looks quite nice. Something unintentional...
Then I glued in water wheel and its support, formers that shape up stream banks. Finally, I made stream banks out of Sculptamold.
I didn't do all of this as one uninterrupted procedure. I had to let epoxy to cure for about 24 hours twice. In between I shingled up two roof sections, made and weathered cupola, prepared wood for yet another platform. After using Mike Chamber's method of staining wood for some time and trying out Jimmy Simmons' way I have decided that both are quite time consuming. Therefore, I gave a shot to yet another which is very simple. After distressing the wood I stained it with diluted craft paint. Then I hit it with shoe dye and rubbing alcohol solution. The result is convincing enough for me. I am here for fun and not for a torture.

Wanda's.
After procrastinating for entire weekend I jumped in for some last 30 minutes. I sanded off a bit bare soil areas. I wasn't going to do that initially but decided to give it a shot after reading about it somewhere. I think it is a great idea. The soil looks more HO scale now. I planted few crabgrass bushes leftover from another project. I still need to add some underbrush to make that part of diorama hard to see through. This is what bushes are all about isn't it?

Saw Pit Store.
It is all mess. I have some walls that are braced and with windows and doors glued in, others just painted as well some castings completely painted, others just half way. It is all due the fact that I have limited number of weights to use while bracing is drying. Also many castings require several different colors and all colors have to dry before applying next one. I have been burnt on this before.

Majestic Hardware.
Small step at a time. After doing the drawing I calculated how much wood it would need. It turned out to be quite some amount for such small platform. I stained all of it using acrylic wash, shoe dye and alcohol method. Looking forward to actually building the platform. I really enjoy making things out of sticks.

Project Update: Sokol's Mattress & Furniture Co by Bar Mills

I expected to have all walls glued together at this point in time. However, one day the walls started bowing and couldn't do anything else but major surgery. I removed all 1/8  bracing and replaced with 1/4. The bracing itself was a culprit. I have no idea what has happened. Was it because we switched from cooling to heating? Rapid humidity change? Anyway, I have managed to glue three walls together. It is quite a monstrosity I am building here.

Project Update: Majestic Hardware by Bar Mills

My projects often get stuck if I have to do a drawing. I can't say that I don't like making drawings. I just kind of don't want to spend time at the computer when I can be cutting and gluing something. For some reason inspiration kicked in about two days ago and I managed to make the drawing of loading platform. It is working drawing that will be used as the templates. Finger like parts will be glued on chipboard, cut to pieces, and used as measurement tool for my chopper. It is more accurate than using ruler.