Building Delabarre Tap & Die by South River Modelworks Pt.1

South River Modelworks Delabarre Tap & Die kit is my next big kit. Since I am building it for someone else I don't feel like I am stepping away from my quest to finish all started projects. I have done quite a bit of work on it. The pictures show just masonry part of it. I have painted all wood walls, but stopped short of adding windows. This mix of plaster and wood may require some adjustments. I have built the largest dock/platform as well. The nice part about this kit is that it has no castings. I needed a little break from all the detail parts and it is not that the castings are missing. According to Bob VanGelder himself he did it on purpose as a statement.
As far as the construction of the masonry walls, I intended to follow the instructions, but then I realized how hard it would have been to align the walls with all different heights, separate sections and gaps. The base I was supposed to build would have helped somewhat, but I wasn't going to take a risk. It is very hard to unglue the plaster if something goes wrong. Therefore, I glued two front sections together, added foam core to the bottom to match the height of the side walls. Then I glued a piece of balsa wood between the sections of the back wall to match the length of the front wall. As a result I had to deal with only four walls which were also of the same height. That was much better. I had to modify the base as well though, but it is just a foam. After the structure is built it will be mounted on a larger base and filled with foam and scenery.

Building Execution Rocks by FOS Pt.3

It has been a long journey for the Execution Rocks. I built what I call part A quite quickly, worked on part B for a bit, and then abandoned it. It was hard to get back to it because a smell of laser burnt wood is so addictive. Partially built kits don't have it. Regardless, I got it done and I am glad I didn't get sidetracked this time.
As a side note, eBay has announced that it will start collecting state sale taxes from the buyers starting November 1, 2019. I bet it is going to do a damage to the kit prices which are already the lowest I've seen. If you are thinking of selling some or all of your kits it might be the time.

Building G.Wilikers Machinery Wholesale by Fine Scale Miniatures Pt.3

FSM kit #7 is done! It has taken me roughly 8 months to build. At this pace I will have to live until I am 100 if I want to build all FSM kits that I want to build. There is no other way around it. OK, maybe not that long. I just finished perhaps most complicated FSM kit. The rest should go together faster although the Brambell might be close contender.
For the next few months I will be working on the shelf orphans aka started and unfinished projects. Ideally, I would like to complete them all before starting anything new, but that isn't very realistic. Cutting down to 30 from 38 would be nice. I'll be starting South River Modelworks Delabarre and Tap kit soon but it doesn't count because it isn't my personal project.

Dead Horse Bay by FOS Scale Models

It so happens this is my first and last post on Dead Horse Bay build. This was one of my shelf orphans. I started the kit on impulse. The excitement faded away and like many others it got shelved. It has been so long since I got back to working on the kit that I don't remember when exactly. Was it before New Years, or shortly after? Anyway, Dead Horse Bay is no joke and it has consumed a large number of lunch breaks. I persevered though and didn't orphan the kit second time.
The Bay is looking for new home. If someone wants it or knows someone who would like to have it please use contact form and let me know. It isn't free, but I won't hurt your wallet too much. The window of opportunity is small though. It goes up for sale on eBay Sunday afternoon.
The next kit that I will get finished is G.Wilikers. I have some progress photos on my FB page at Vilius' Workbench Chronicle. As for the lunch break projects, I'll do yet another shelf orphan.

Building G.Wilikers Machinery Wholesale by Fine Scale Miniatures Pt.2

Let me start with some bad news first. If you are FSM kit owner and thinking about selling you are out of luck at the moment. The prices on eBay are at historic lows. If you are looking to buy one then it is great news for you.
I am feeling exhausted. G.Wilikers is such enormous kit. Not only in size, but in complexity as well. It rivals Swakhammers for sure. I don't think there is another FSM kit like that. G.Wilikers is also very deceiving. I thought I would be done by the end of April, then May. I am still working on it. The target now is end of June. Fingers crossed.