Project Update: Raglan Road by Bar Mills

I haven't posted a single Raglan Road update in two months!!! I have been working on it all this time. I have almost finished the factory. I took it back home few weeks ago to do final weathering but haven't done it all yet. The pictures are coming once I am through. It will be quite big step from what I have posted two months ago.
I have been working on other structures as well but the result is hardly noticeable. The reason for that is that I did little bit of this and little bit of that. I was about install Sinner's Salvage windows but realized that they were wrong size. There were actually windows for the pharmacy. I had no other windows left. I believe the kit has exchanged hands few times and somewhere along the line some windows have been removed. I ordered new set of windows and moved on to Hubcap Heaven. Then I realized that it had its windows missing as well. I switched to the pharmacy. It had one sheet of parts missing. Nonetheless, I continued working on it, i.e. shingling the walls, until windows for Skinner's Salvage arrived. I have been working on it ever since occasionally adding few rows of shingles to the pharmacy walls so I don't go insane doing it all at once.

Project Update: Wicked Wanda's by Bar Mills

It is Halloween time. Time to bring up to life some dead projects. I hope I will be able to go all the way this year and finish the project. The diorama is taking up very valuable space on my modeling room floor and collecting dust. Also although I am very careful about it it is all possible that our cat may get into the room. That most likely would result in some damage to everything that is on the floor. It is time to finish the diorama and exchange it for some cash.
I had just installed the fence before I put diorama on back burner. I wanted an outhouse and a dog house in the back plane which I planned to scratchbuild. After many months of procrastination I bought doghouse kit from Vectorcut and scratchbuilt the outhouse. I don't have any problems designing, engineering and scratchbuilding things. The bigest problem for me is determining dimensions. It seems all it takes is googling it up. Many times it works fine. However, in case of dog house I got this table of dimensions based on dog breed. Having no knowledge of different breeds meant more research and trying different variations to find out what looks best so I decided not to follow this path and purchased the kit. I think it looks pretty nice. After installing outhouse, doghouse and shed I planted tufts, weeds and such in the back while I had good access. Then I installed Wanda's. Now I need to add grass and tufts around the building and add details and little people. Sounds like not so much...

Project Update: Pop Gracins by Bar Mills

I have new project to report. It is Pop Gracins by Bar Mills. Well, it isn't exactly very new. I removed parts from the sheets back in August but due to all work on Truck Stop I didn't progress any further. With Truck Stop out of the way and sense of guilt I have put some serious effort over past week. The result is that I am quite close to finishing the kit. It won't happen this week due to coming weekend being busy but next week most likely Thursday of Friday I should be done. It means I will be able to squeeze out only two posts out of it...

Project Update: Truck Stop kitbash based on EF13B by RailroadKits.com

The last few modeling sessions felt more like work than fun. I needed to finish the diorama and ship it to Lancaster, PA before start of Model Railroad EXPO. Therefore, I felt quite a bit of pressure. The second I finished it I dropped all tools, walked out of the modeling room and watched TV for the rest of the evening although I could have done some work on other projects. I still haven't finished vehicles for the diorama. I started weathering them but had to stop because it became evident that I had to give more time between steps for paints to dry and cure. For that reason one of the pictures shows tractor trailer with blue masking tape over its windows.
Now that I am free I can probably push forward few other projects. Well, I am not exactly free. I have to finish weathering vehicles for the Truck Stop but with long drying time between steps I'll have plenty of time for something else. Perhaps I'll be able to do blog updates more often. I have few "What's in the box" posts to do as well as few reviews which I haven't done in a quite some time.

Project Update: Truck Stop kitbash based on EF13B by RailroadKits.com

Although I am in a state of serious sleep deprivation this week I decided last night to sacrifice 15 minutes of sleep time and take some pictures. I think the diorama still needs 6-8 hours to get it done. I am not sure if I will be able to dedicate that much time this weekend...
My experiment with telephone keys, some styrene, electronic components, and leftover window spue has yielded quite decent result. Some commercial shelves looks like are more detailed but nothing beats free. As well I get better satisfaction doing something like this than painting a casting. I will definitely make more shelves for other projects as well.
The canopy supports proved to be too weak so I needed something that would make canopy assembly more rigid. while wiring may look like it is just a detail in fact it keeps canopy from moving in depth direction.

Flashback: Laughing Moose Hunting Lodge aka Miller Gun Shop by FOS Scale Models

Based on number of posts this September is turning out to be least productive month. There are few reasons I haven't been posting much. As far as Raglan's concerned I have been working on castings for the most part. I have also added few vents to the factory and painted parts for the second building in between but nothing significant to justify a post. The Truck Stop has progressed quite a bit. I am trying to get it to Jimmy before the EXPO. However, it seems I am falling behind and in my desperate attempt to make it I am not taking any pictures.
With no new stuff to post about I resort to old. This time is the last FOS freebie I have ever completed. It was supposed to be yet another contest entry but the contest died off. Too bad. I think I have made pretty good job to finally win it. I have turned gun shop into hunting lodge, westernized it a bit, added a backdrop. For the backdrop I used pictures of Lake Tahoe that I took summer before. I named the lodge Laughing Moose Hunting Lodge. I believe no moose lives in Tahoe area but I liked the name. To make lone pine I used Paul Scoles(?) instructions found in RMC magazine. I exhausted all balsa stripwood I had on hand to make just one pine due to the fact that balsa is very soft wood and wrong move easily ruins it. The rock has been carved by hand. Not the best sculpting job though but I hope it blends enough and doesn't jump at the viewer.

Project Update: Truck Stop kitbash based on EF13B by RailroadKits.com

Earlier today I realized that it is almost mid September and I haven't posted any updates in about two weeks. I have been trying to take some pictures of the Truck Stop for a week plus. My modeling room is in a such mess that if I want to take pictures I have to move a lot of stuff. Therefore, I have started thinking again about cabinets and work bench I would like to have in the room. I had dropped that idea some time ago in anticipation of move. I thought of moving in about 3 years but I felt like it would be waste of money and time building cabinets and for such short period of time. However, after learning how much homes in my neighborhood are selling for we may stay in current house few more years longer.
The Truck Stop is moving along although at slower pace than I would like to. I have almost all parts I need for it. It took some time to get them from Jimmy. He is very busy man running his RailroadKits business and setting up upcoming EXPO show so the parts for this project aren't high priority. Then when I got the parts they weren't exactly what I expected so he had to do another run. The missing now are the only letters for roof top sign which somehow managed to escape from previous package with parts.
While building side addition I realized few things I didn't take into account engineering it. First of all, laser cut path isn't 0 width. While in some areas it may not matter it shrunk my restaurant front wall by about 1.5 mm. Secondly, the windows are so big that interior is quite well visible. At least somewhat detailed floor is needed which could act as bracing as well. It was too late for me since I already had bracing in place so I ended up painting bracing up and gluing tile pattern onto foundation.
I have used some airgun pellets to represent rooftop vents before. I have added isolated ferrules and  telephone keys to my arsenal. I bought few bags of ferrules that seemed to be right size for HO scale buildings about a month ago. The telephone keys I found next to a dumpster. I just couldn't pass up opportunity and picked up a whole bag of them. I am one step closer to earning my dumpster diver certificate now.