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

Some progress here too. I've added this fan prop but now I am having second thought about its placement and color. I'll have to live with that though.  Experience is telling me any attempt to fix would most likely result in greater mess and dissatisfaction.

Project Update: Houligan's Alley by FSM

The R.J.Skotz building is finished. Now I am working on Perkin's and Watson's at the same time. I want to get footprint of both structures as soon as possible so I can start making a base. I would like to finish the kit before vacation season starts. This way I am sure this project will be completed. During vacation I may get different ideas what I should do next and as a result Houligan's Alley may get shelved.

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

The McGee's Hotel is ready to leave for its permanent home now. Adding tarpaper roofing turned out to be not so pleasant task. The material provided in the kit is black regular construction paper. As I learned building Dubois store my weathering technique doesn't work on it. Powders get absorbed into paper and disappear. The other "feature" I have observed as well is that black construction paper tends to turn pink over time if exposed to the light. Therefore, I painted roofing material with craft paint first. I used lighter gray which was a part of the problem. The paint chipped off along cut line exposing black. It didn't look good at all so I painted roof over but next time around I will replace this paper with masking paper that I really like and use original for interior screen.
Overall it was quite pleasant experience. I may consider obtaining few of Microscale kits myself. They have interesting line of waterfront structures and they have dropped their kit prices a little as well.

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...