Building Dead Horse Bay by FOS Scale Models again Pt. 1

The word "building" is probably not very accurate in the context of this post. A part of this kit has been built, delivered and "planted". However, I have few structures that the owner wasn't interested in. I will be posting the progress under the same title so the word "building" seems appropriate.
I delivered the project some time in June. I was amazed at the speed the owner "planted" the structures. FedEx dropped off the package around 3:30pm and around 6:30pm I had the pictures. I am adding them to this post. If you wish to see more of the layout please go to Backwoods NE in Florida. 

 

 

 

 

Building Delabarre Tap & Die by South River Modelworks Pt.4

I finished Dalabarre & Tap 2+ months ago and then I jumped on a plane and went to Europe. Right before all hell broke loose. I managed to get back few days before the restrictions started. Others may call it luck, but I see it as good planning. I've been working from home ever since.
Here are the final photos of Delabarre & Tap.

Building Delabarre Tap & Die by South River Modelworks Pt.3

I am doing second update in the same month after I said I was going to do fewer of them. It must be something happening. Moons, stars, alignments ... you name it .
Over the past week or so I built up the landform out of insulation foam. Although I didn't have much room but I still managed to squeeze in a rock face. I have been wanting to use Sterling Models rock molds for quite some time, but never had an opportunity. Finally, it presented itself. The rock face it isn't fully done yet. It will receive a coat or two of a wash. Unfortunately, the liquid pigments I used while back for staining the rock base for a lighthouse I built have dried up. I'll see if I can recover them. If not, I will have to come up with a different kid of wash.
On another note, I like the snowy look of the diorama. I must build a winter scene some time. Should be fun. If anyone is curious, the white stuff is Sculptamold.

Building Delabarre Tap & Die by South River Modelworks Pt.2

At least two people pointed out that I stopped updating my blog. I don't have an excuse. Maybe it is a point in life when I abandon one activity and move to another? Just like I stopped making scale paper models and started doing structure kits? Or is it pending change of a platform? For a long time I disregarded Facebook as a platform for sharing my work, but it turns out I can easily create a post on my phone, snap few pictures, and publish it. Blogger app allows me to do the same thing, but I see my blog as higher quality then my Facebook page. I tend to write something, edit pictures for my blog while my Facebook posts are one or two sentences and few photos without prior setup or editing. Am I just another victim of instant gratification, high pace lifestyle? I don't want to abandon  this blog. After all I've been blogging for almost 9 years. However, in the future I might be only posting pictures of completed models.
I expected the Dalabarre to go together much faster since majority of it is plaster. Here I am few months after I started it and still not done. I have slowed down considerably. Instead of working on the models until 4 am on the weekend nights I quit at 12am or even 11pm. Nonetheless, I still moving forward and that is perhaps the best news today.

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.