Bluesky Repair Shed

James

so little time as of late but did a tiny bit more- I felt I needed to get going on the fence to start to enclose the yard or there was danger I was going to stall-out. I decided to make a few ersatz boards for "repairs" to the fence- shown here.

Ojaste

James, now why didn't I think about that idea? I just love it, its a very realistic added touch. Beautiful!

Marty

brownbr

That fence should look worked over judging by these boards.

I got the lights and roof installed and have dropped it into it's layout location. From here I will blend the scenery into the sawmill and machine shop. It is dwarfed by those 2 structures. Surely this little shop will never recover from having it's new neighbor move in.

The workbench area really turned out the way I wanted it to.

James

OMG that is awesome, Bryan. The bench with the return is indeed perfect. Very evocative, Chuck Doane territory! Can you post a close up of the back too? Looks like there's stuff going on there too. I struggled with the lighting/ wiring - hope it went better for you.

I'm moving so slow - really need a way to become independently wealthy. In any event, starting to enclose the yard- these fences aren't fixed/ finished yet. Making yard bigger than in the kit so I can fill it with more junk.

James

the large weird thin by the boat is some steel wool, I realize now…

brownbr

Even slow progress is progress.

Thanks James, that's quite a compliment.

I believe that I am nearly finished with this little project. I'll continue to add small details around the yard until I either run out or decide that it's enough.

I got the diorama ground cover blended into it's surroundings.

admin

You gentlemen are killing it. I am really enjoying watching how different you handle the various components and make this little shed your own!

Bill

Wow, you guys have got it goin' on!
James- those interior shots are terrific and I love the boat and your fence pickets.

Bryan-
Your tractor and that entire scene in the second picture above is awesome. It completely draws in the viewer. I also spotted the sawdust around the tree stump in that last pic!

Fine work, gents!

brownbr

Thanks Brett and Bill. It sure was a fun "bonus" kit to put together.

mayhaw9999

James,
That's one huge tumble weed you have there! Great job.

Bryan,
Beautiful work. Love the benches and the lighting really enhances the scene.

David

James

Great seeing the different approaches/ comments. Bryan, those figures are terrific- just the kind of blokes I'd expect to be "working" there. Love the tree trunk by the way at the back too!

James

fencing slowly coming together - rear shot of progress:



I re-did the wiring. Alas, I removed the two lights in the tractor area (kep the one in the smaller room). It's a long story but as Brent would say, not an interesting one. I may put them back one day. But I did get a fire going in the stove (it actually flickers):



It's a bit underwelming in this picture I took with my phone- but it's quite visible in real life. One day I'll do a proper "evening" shot. I redid the wiring at the back and used a plug for the interior lights - well, "light" now. The other wires will go the fire battery. Another little oversight re; LEDs- the pico lights I used for the lamps are rated for 3 volts max. The fire needs 6 - 19 volts- so its hooked up to a 9 volt battery but this would fry the pico lights so they are wired separately. Oh well. With the plugs I can remove the batteries etc. and in the future if this gets consolidated into a larger scene I can just wire in another plug (from Evans).

James

that would be my finger in the second shot- I didn't dump a bunch of chalk on the roof!

Bill

James-
A quick observation on your metal roof. It looks like it's getting some white chalky speckles on several of the panels. Did you use etchant on your corrugated sheets? If so, what might be happening is residual etchant is still on the panels and still "eating" away the metal. I had this happen on a roof of mine and several panels literally disintegrated!

James

Hi Bill - weird - but a good point. I used the Jax Aluminum Blackener - I like the etchant effect more but i wasn't in the mood for such a small roof. Jax is neutralized by water so there is no residual reaction - but now that I think of it, I didn't rinse the pieces afterwards! You could be right although I've noticed no change - might just break out the spritzer - the problem with the aluminum blackener is that if u rub off the oxidation, which is easy to do, the shiny aluminum is underneath - especially in the "valleys" of the corrugated sheets.

Bill

I hear you on that, buddy! There's no happy medium: it's either nicely blackened and eaten away too much or kind of blackened from one angle…with shiny spots from another angle!
It could simply be the lighting or angle of the camera in the above pictures, but I wanted to mention it to hopefully save you some heartache a few months down the road. If you find it is still "eating" away at the aluminum, you may want to take a look at my Deer Creek Mine thread and the new non-etchant weathering method Brett is suggesting for corrugated.

Bill

Karl.A

Such great detail work, unrivalled, and then the added lighting, just superb modeling.

Karl.A

James

great comments! I'll check that out Bill-I kind of dig the oxidized look but it is a bit robust I must admit. No change so far. I've been watching it. Here's another ad-hoc thing- I decided to add a derelict gas pump - old 1930s kind. I've poured a base- the Bluesky instructions recommend plaster- this is actual concrete so I'll see what it looks like. This is kind of an experiment.

it's going to go here (a few other unfinished bits shown - I took some stuff up to the ski cabin so actually got some more done…

James

FAIL!
at least I'll have some cool looking "gravel"

Ojaste

Try using PVA instead of water when mixing it.

Marty

James

Thanks Marty- I'll make sure I try that. it just fell apart!
BTW there's been a discussion on blackening on another thread. Here's an idea I had. YOu know those K&S bags of off-cuts? I selected a few of the right size and wall thickness, painted them, scratched them, and blackened them…

The one on the far right is aluminum (with Jax), the others brass (with Blacken-it)- also filled with some of my new "gravel" (as per above. I then added a bit of Sophisticated Solutions in limited areas. No other paints here - these are all just incidental colours from the various chemical reactions (perhaps a bit alarming..?). I'm going to use these as buckets/ drums.

brownbr

Nifty looking buckets. What are K&S cutoffs?

MikeM

Did not know these existed, not sure if there's anywhere else to get them:
http://www.grainger.com/product/K-S-PRECISION-METALS-Metal-Asst-6HCU3

Just found these:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/40924395?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227028531607&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=61184930169&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=96579585369&veh=sem
http://www.ebay.com/itm/K-S-PRECISION-METALS-747-Metal-Asst-Cut-Offs-Various-Sizes-Shapes-/221574700336

James

i get them from a local hobby store but also see them in the Micro Mark catologue. Small bags of various sizes of metal tubing cut offs. Also some square sections too.

MikeM

Not sure they are totally identical but the Micro Mark assortment is about half again as expensive as Walmart or Fleabay. I have a ton of stuff I've purchased over the years from Micro Mark (and will get more) but probably not this at this price.

James

Micro Mark has good deal on K&S stuff. But whatever one gets, make sure they are the small end cuts. The packs I buy are pieces from a few mm to about 1/2 inch in length (sorry - Canadian, we use both imperial and metric - unfortunately). Here's a product I've been grooving on - for peeling paint (complete with airbrushed thumb - whoops). There are numerous methods - the hairspray method as per the SW instructions, rubber cement (too goopy), and the salt method used by the military modellers (a bit fussy).

The V. product goes on easy: here are some cans for the Shed scene I just did (these are all resin castings): spray paint Rustoleum Dark Brown Cammo (my favourite base coat which Brett has recommended), dab on the V. product, paint with water based paints. When dry, dampen under the tap then peel off bits with your nail or tool. Then add rust streaks etc.

James

a bit more work. Back to the fun stuff (well it's all fun of course, except the $#$@#$! wiring). I've put a wood chopping area by the side of the shed. Just starting this area. I've decided to just put a rusty pad down for the pump [unfinished]. Lesson learned: if you're going to add a poured pad for the pumps (like in some of the other SW kits and for the Bluesky store), do it BEFORE you add the ground cover. This will help blend it in and keep it level (i.e. attach right to the base).:

Added a bit of rusty junk to the other side (more junk and blending coming):

brownbr

Fun stuff indeed. It's looking very good.

admin

Very convincing effect James...

Karl.A

Looking great James, the barrels look terrific.

Karl.A