Building FSM Tribute Kit #1 by Bar Mills Pt.1

I am going through the backlog of the builds. I am trying clean the house so to speak before the end of the year. One is supposed to do that before Christmas, but I am late already. The best I can do is to clean it before the end of 2020.
Next up is Bar Mills FSM Tribute kit #1. I was asked to build T.J.Reiley's only, but since I didn't have it separately I built the one that came as part of the larger release consisting of three structures. In true Bar Mills fashion the kit contains minimal amount of the stripwood. Anything that can be laser cut is. That speeds up the build quite a bit. The only part that I built board by board was the water tank. The departure from earlier kits was the way the rafters are done. The kits from 5-10 years ago used to have them precut in a comb shape. Building T.J.Reiley's I had to cut the rafters by hand. The walls still had the slots cut in them so the length was not critical. The only requirement was not to make them too short. The slots also
helped keeping the rafters straight. Other than that, it was pretty much standard Bar Mills build. One building down, two more to go.

Building Bailey's Produce by FSM Pt.2

The other day I saw on eBay a built model of a small station. The siding was clapboard and the builder cut into the boards in several places to simulate the board ends. I use that technique almost on every model I build. The station, however, was very small. Perhaps 16 feet on the long side with the windows in the middle. That left not much space to have the board ends so the builder made few boards maybe 6 inch long. That is wrong on the engineering level as well the aesthetical. I keep my boards in the 8-16 feet long range when possible. 4 feet is the shortest I've ever done intentionally (I am human, I do make mistakes). Shorter than that just doesn't look right.
The main feature of the today's post is the FSM G.Beiley's Produce kit. Per request I split it into 3 separate dioramas. The limited remaining space on the layout being the reason. I skipped the track and turned the area that should have been occupied by it into the truck access dirt road. I didn't mind doing that. I don't like the ballasting. The main reason being the Woodland Scenics ballast I have is made of the ground nut shells and it floats. No matter how carefully I am applying it and making sure I have no ballast on the ties I still end up having plenty of the ballast on them or stuck to the track itself. I'll invest in the real rock ballast when time comes. As for now, I'll keep making roads.

Singer Watch Repair by BTS

I finished BTS Singer Watch Repair kit nearly a year ago. I almost forgot about it. In fact, I did. I was looking for the pictures of another unreported build while I came across this one. I don't have much to say about it. I draw blank when I try to remember something about it.

 

 

Oakwood Station by FOS

Another build from few months ago and yet another almost straight from the box. The kit was the "ballast" to get to $50 in order to qualify for a free FOS kit. FOS does not have any kits left in that price range that I don't already own. I could go with high priced ones. There are few that I don't have. However, I am less inclined to spend a lot of money these days. Therefore, I get a kit under $50 and then fill with the "ballast" to get to the required amount.
I replaced the station tarpaper roofing with the Bar Mills asphalt shingles. I think the station looks much better that way.

K Tower by FOS Scale Models

Yet another kit from the FOS Monthly Club series. This was straight from the box build. While I see majority of the other kits as part of some diorama the tower though is not one of them. I mean I could surround it with a bunch of track, but since the end goal is to sell it, the track would make it less desirable. I doubt anyone is buying my builds for the display. I think the intention is to have them on a layout. At least it was my reasoning behind it.

Sincere Towing by FOS Scale Models

Sincere Towing is one of the FOS Monthly Club kits. It is done as the structure. However, I am planning a larger diorama populated with the smaller FOS kits. For now, I call the diorama The Mechanicsville. I am not sure if the name will stick. Time will tell.
I have made few changes when building it. First, I moved the add-on from right to left. Then, I changed the signs to Boyd's Towing. And finally, I replaced the tarpaper roofing with the metal plates.
At the moment it is sitting on the shelf waiting for the companion structures. I would have possibly built them by know if not for the working from home situation. Before I had my lunch break and evening projects because it was more convenient to have them different due to different locations. Now the projects are right here all the time. 

 

 

 

Building Dead Horse Bay by FOS Scale Models again Pt. 2

I am continuing working on the remaining structures. Since they are mine to keep or do whatever I please I intend to do something different. After all I have built all of them once already.
First up is the two story shack. I've found that it goes well with Shaw's Custom Lures from FOS monthly kit club series. In addition, I have replaced second story board and batten siding with the shingles and the tarpaper roofing with the corrugated metal.
The next step is to redesign the dock and any part of the project that involves using a computer usually introduces a delay. After spending all day on a computer working I have very little interest in more of the screen time. Eventually though, it will get done!

 

Building Bailey's Produce by FSM Pt.1

This post is more of the flashback. I have made a significant progress since I took the pictures. At this point I am really close to be done, but instead of waiting until the very I've decided to share slightly older photos.

Bailey's Produce is one of the smaller of more recent George Sellios' kits. Despite being small it packs a lot of character. It has many different textures i.e. stucco, corrugated metal, shingles, clapboard siding. As for the size, I find it to be perfect. It is something I can complete in about two months. Just right for my level of patience.