Project Update: McGee's Hotel by Micro-Scale Models

I don't have much story to tell other than it is real pain in the neck to deal with all these ornate pieces. I am glad I am done with them although I still have few minor adjustments to do.

Project Update: Houligan's Alley by FSM

I have been gluing cedar shingles one at a time for the past week and half. It is very time consuming but end result is completely worth it. Besides it is very therapeutic.

Project Update: McGee's Hotel by Micro-Scale Models

I am working again on much neglected McGee's Hotel. I am at the point when all these fancy shaped pieces of stripwood come into play. I must say the road isn't without the bumps. Sometimes I wonder what goes in the kit designers minds when it comes to engineering. Take for example McGee's. Is it necessary to use angled and T shaped stripwood? Even better result can be achieved with regular 2 by Ns.
Lets take, for example, little appendix that goes on the side. Entire building is done using 1/16 stripwood for corner posts but instructions call for use of 1/16 angle for add on. It seems there is nothing wrong with that. Problem is that 1/16 is on outside. Inside is less than that and it doesn't cover completely the edge of clapboard wall. Easiest fix for the problem would be to trim one wall by 1/16 on each side and use 1/16 square. Unfortunatelly, with windows already in place the task isn't that simple. To fix this I sanded down the inside of angled stripwood as much as I could then I painted clapboard wall edges trim color. This way exposed clapboard edges blend in with the trim.
Basically, the same issue I have run into while making cornice. The instructions call for use of T shaped stripwood. The width of the top part is 1/8 but "leg" T is standing on isn't zero thickness. Therefore top part doesn't cover exposed roof tabs completely. I think regular 2x12 would have done better job. I didn't have any stripwood of that dimensions and I wasn't willing to do all painting again so I ended up cutting the "leg" off and essentially making 2x12.
Other than that kit is coming together fairly easy. The cornice is quite time consuming though with all those 45 degree angle cuts. I imagine all fancy balconies will take some time to do as well.

Project Update: Nemchik's Salvage by Bar Mills

Nemchik's is finished. I haven't posted much about the progress of this project and the biggest reason is that I've cluttered my modeling room badly and I have run out of room for setup to take pictures. The other reason is possibility of modeling fatigue. Otherwise how would I explain the fact that after being Bar Mills kit fan for few years I had constantly remind myself that I promised to build this kit. Had I been making it for myself it would have been shelved long time ago. I am glad I pushed it through though. I don't have any problems letting go of finished kits. Selling unfinished ones is another story. I have my own Raglan Road. I know that I won't build it one more time. There are enough other kits for me. It would take me at least 5 years to build the ones I already have. Still I find difficult to get rid of the Raglan Road I own. I am working on it though...

Project Update: Houligan's Alley by FSM

In my previous post I said I was going to try something new. I did. It worked and I am happy with the result. I used real cedar for shingles. The idea itself isn't novel at all. Laser cut cedar shingles are available from several sources. Eric from kitforums.com uses strawberry baskets. Unfortunatelly, in our part of the world strawberrys don't come in wood baskets. Therefore, I was looking for something I could use, something that was commonly available. I found the answer in our kitchen. I remembered having grilling papers in one of the drawers. I got them out but they weren't cedar so being cheap I bought cheapest cedar grilling papers I could find. They turned out to be Elizabeth Karmel's brand. I don't know if I would be able grill anything in them because they are very thin but they are just right for HO scale shingles. The biggest challenge was to cut the papers to strips and then cut strips to small pieces with a chopper. It was very time consuming. There is some room for improvement though. I may invest in paper cutter for cutting sheets into strips or possibly leave ends uncut, put some tape in the middle to keep strips together and feed several strips at once into chopper.
So far I have shingled up only walls of addition to the main Skootz's building. The manual called for shingles to be painted leaving some wood visible. It instructed to glue shingles first and then dry brush them white. That would result in "wood" in deeper areas being exposed and higher being painted over. I am not a rivet counter but I still didn't like it because it isn't the way wood siding weathers. Protruded areas are exposed to elements and start loosing paint first. Deeper areas retain paint much longer. My solution was to paint/dry brush every row individually applying more paint to the base and just a little or none at all to protruding part.  Gluing down process took ions. I used Brian Nolan's technique he showed in one of the Scott Mason's Building Craftsman Kit DVD series. Without it it would have taken me billion years extra though.
Next are two roofs... I wonder what media we will be using for blogging after I am done.

Project Update: Houligan's Alley by FSM

I have yet to post final pictures of Casey Woodworking. It still need its roof to be weathered. I am contemplating doing it in the nearest future but this task isn't my priority number one at this point.
Meanwhile I have started the R.J. Skootz Fishing Supply Co. It is smaller structure and should go faster. However, there is something I would like to try and it will definitely take time  to do it. I am not telling what it is yet. I am just hoping it will look good when it is finished.

Project Update: Houligan's Alley by FSM

When compared to previous post it doesn't seem like I have made much progress since then. I have been working full speed though. All small things like building the dock, the shed, corrugated metal weathering, etc. take some time to complete.
Following chipping articles in Weathering magazine published by AK Interactive I have decided to employ sponge method to create rust spots on corrugated sheeting. Although magazine articles reference scotch (?) sponges I have decided to use makeup one. Honestly, it was only I could find at that particular moment. I think this "happy accident" was a success. Most military modelers work in larger scales and therefore scotch with bigger holes is preferred. I think in HO scale rust spots (chipping) would be oversized. After applying chipping effect I applied rusty wash what I suspect magazine refers to as filter and then added some streaks.
I hope to have fully completed Casey's Woodworking building for next update. Give me another week or so.