Making copper flashing

Doug Foscale from FOS Scale Models has just posted following tip. It is really good one. Check it out here:

Making copper flashing

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

I mentioned in my previous post that I was going to pour Envirotex. So I did. First I tested it on scrap piece of foam to make sure it still cures. It did so poured the stream as well. I used grill lighter to get rid of bubbles while testing but I found out later that the best way to do it is to blow through the straw. There is no danger to burn something and bubbles come up and burst even faster.
The other lesson I have learned is not to put down greenery before pouring Envirotex. It likes creeping up. If I only had dirt banks then I would simply sand them a little, apply glue and some more dirt on top. Now I will have to carve off some tufts and scenery foam before. After I fix the stream banks I will add some  ripples using gloss medium and make little waterfall that turns the water wheel and I should be done with this part of diorama.

Project Update: Houligan's Alley by FSM

With Slim's out of the way I am attempting to finish Houligan's. I had to redo the diorama base. I made first one out of 3/4" insulation foam. I have no room to store foam sheets laying flat so I keep them sideways. Unfortunately they sag this way. I cut a piece thinking that if I put something under it the middle and weights on each end then it would straighten up. At first it looked so. I applied sculptamold left for three week vacation. When I got back my diorama base was U form again so I had to dispose of it. I made another out of two sheets of 1/2" insulation foam. They were U shaped as well but I glued them together with their pointing ends towards each other so they compensate. From that point standard stuff at least for me i.e. sculptamold, dirt, etc. This is where I am at as of last night.

Project Update: Slim's Dogs & Burgers by FOS Scale Models

As a last step finishing diorama I needed to weather couple of vehicles. Last year I weathered one F-150 for Fat Jimmy's with an intention of re-using it for other projects. It so happened that although it wasn't my original intention I had to give it up as part of the diorama. Perhaps it was for the better because looking back I realize that I did best I could with a skill set I had at the time but it still was quite crude work.  Therefore armed with AK Interactive weathering magazines and their weathering solutions, some experience of using them and techniques picked from the magazines I got myself another F-150 by Model Power. It wasn't smooth sail though. The little truck weathered itself by dropping on concrete driveway while spraying it with Dulcote. Then later I had trouble with Dulcote and subsequent layers staying on. Perhaps I should have scrubbed surface a little with Scotch Brite to give it some tooth as per weathering magazine instead of using lacquer but I sprayed everything before even opening the magazine. I had to go with what I had but I have learned my lesson. Despite all this surely I did way better job than year ago but I think I got carried away and overweathered F-150 a little. It resembles more construction than shop vehicle.
With this adventure over I'll be moving to the next. I am trying to stay on track and finish few projects that I have started but I have this bad itch to start something new...

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

I am back after quite long hiatus. Although I returned from my three week vacation about month ago for the past three weeks I've had guests. That has impacted my ability to work on models but I have managed to get few things done.
One of the tasks I have completed is almost two years old lighting project. In my last ER post I said I was going to build some mock ups so I don't mess up the kit trying things out. I made them while ago but never got around to do testing. I was planning on doing it as first thing after getting back to this project, then I figured that I could do few more things until I absolutely needed to install lights. Therefore I built two sheds and then got to the point where procrastination was no longer an option so I finally did it. I shot a video also. It isn't of the best quality. For some reason after awhile my camera lost focus so I had to trim off second welding sequence. Resulting video was kind of short in my opinion so  I cloned first sequence. The camera didn't pick up welding light color as well. It is very blue in the video. In reality the light is cool white which has some blue in it.


Although it is one of the last steps in the instructions I want to make a stream before any structures go on. I've heard some horror stories of Evirotex leaking and as well getting old and not curing. I think it is safer and easier to handle potential problems when diorama is just few blocks of foam as it is now. I hope next time to have a picture of nice stream without flies stuck to it.