Jay's First SWSM Kit - The Foundry

JayNSmith

Thanks to everyone for the help and encouragement! Almost every technique is new to me. I may get stuck in a day or two, depending on when my paints arrive from Blick. Getting the paint only on the surface seems like the most intimidating aspect so far, but what I have learned is that there is no substitute for just jumping in and trying it. My sense is that mistakes can be corrected with a wire brush.

admin

Off to a great start! Wood looks fantastic.

Robert.G

It does.

In doubt, the forum has all the answers, .....or almost...

Mountaingoat

Right on target. You can't learn without doing and so far you are spot on.

Rick

Karl.A

Good start so far, you are right, just jump in !!
Anything is fixable or redoable, its the best way to learn.

Keep us posted.

kebmo

fun, isnt it?

JayNSmith

Indeed. I remember reading the word "addictive" on the forum often.

brownbr

Off to a nice start.

kebmo

let me put it like this: if i didn't have a job, or a family, i would be at the modeling bench all the time. it's like crack.....

tomtom

Hello Jay, let me add my welcome to you. I mostly observe from the sidelines because it’s rare that I can add anything of value (I also like kebmo to worry he’s being watched). Thing is, you are in the most capable of hands, whether Joel, Karl, Kevin, the Boss, or the rest of the tribe. There is no place I can think of with such great support.

Your beginnings are great and I must posit sir, that you are no longer a Rookie. If your fingers are so stained with C&A that you cannot activate the thumbprint security on your phone – you are on your way.

I shall watch your thread with admiration. I am 1/3 of the way through O’Neil’s, planning to put it together with the Foundry. Following a step or two behind the masters always improves my attempts.

Karl.A

TomTom, jump in my friend, the sidelines are great but the builders would love to read your support. I cant tell you how much a simple "Looks great" comment means when you are posting a build.

Thanks for your comment on Jays thread and we sincerely look forward to reading many more.

JayNSmith

I appreciate all of the encouragement! I hesitate to post something trivial, but my latest order from Blick arrived today. I bought all of the recommended colors that they had in stock. No excuse now for waiting to try the "just on the surface" painting technique on the Blacksmith Shop.

Mountaingoat

Woohoo!! This is exciting!

Rick

Karl.A

That's a great selection, we look forward to seeing what you do with it.
(great colour pallet)

Robert.G

Seeing these kinds of materials, always stirs up my creativity. And.... nothing is trivial here. There is always an interest in the posts..
I love to follow every build made here on the forum.
You are doing just fine!!

brownbr

I hate to break the news to you Jay...you're hooked.

kebmo

i concur with the esteemed dr. brown's diagnosis....

admin

nice pick up - you're well on your way now!

TomMich

Ready, set, GO! You're stocking up. Actually you inspired me to purchase a 1,2,3, machinist block set on Amazon after you posted the link. I have other 2" blocks that I use extensively to square up structures but I wanted something smaller thus the 1,2,3.

Also I went to your link for Shapeways posted on the thread about figures and perused some of the details. Don't know if anyone has purchased any of these 3D printed parts and are they of a reasonable quality.

TomH

Hi Jay,
I can tell you first hand, take your time and follow Brett’s directions you can’t go wrong!
You’re off to a great start!

Karl.A

TomH, that's the best advice anyone could give.

MuddyCreekRR

As several have said....take your time.....read those great instructions.....watch the videos here....and you have lots of people on the forum more that willing to answer any and all questions.....Enjoy your modeling......

Joel

I too agree with TomH. First the first few builds just follow the directions as closely as possible and enjoy the process.

JayNSmith

Thanks - I was really impressed with your truck repair shop!

JayNSmith

This plastic organizer was in my goodie box from Blick on Saturday and I'm using it for chalk sticks and powder. I found that scraping is not my strong suit so I tried a slightly different approach today for a few more pieces that needed to be stained. I made a makeshift mortar and pestle using an allen wrench and a plastic tub and ground each of the three chalk colors into a powder and stored them in individual compartments. I used the palette knife to bring a tiny amount of the powder to the wood. There is still the danger of using too much, but that is partly mitigated by using the knife. I might get a real mortar and pestle if I decide to continue that approach. The box has moveable dividers and seems perfect for the chalk sticks and powder.

Karl.A

My opinion for doing it this way is that you loose the randomness and control on stripwood, mostly the randomness as its way too easy to use too much chalk and not get the varied effects that make the technique so beautiful/natural.
That being said, I do have pre-scraped chalk for casting work, but that's a whole other ball game...

JayNSmith

Thank you. I am continuing to learn!

Robert.G

You will find your own way in the end..

admin

Yeah, definitely do not pre-scrape the chalk for wood staining. Bad idea as Karl states. For weathering castings, great, no bueno for wood... I'm going to be more specific in future manuals about this.

JayNSmith

I realized later that I was dealing with two issues: first, how to scrape the chalk while somehow preserving the label, because otherwise I would have no idea which color I was holding. The divider box solves that problem. Even with no label, I know where to find raw sienna, etc. I assume the scraping - no chunks, getting to the right area - gets easier over time.

kebmo

jay,
it gets to a point where you don't need to refer to the label on the stick. you'll recognize it by sight. i have a similar box for mine and labeled them all in the beginning, but these days its just a mish mash of sticks and the labels don't help at all. the umbers are in one compartment, the rusts in another. it's helpful, but not required.
by the way fellas, it turns out that jay is about 30 miles from me, so when the corona scare is finally over we're gonna meet up somewhere and discuss our membership in this cult......