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The Shipyard at Foss' Landing - Build Log

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Comments

  • Peeling paint looks great! To really evaluate - temporarily place the laser cut trim on top of the base, placed properly on a wall. Helps to see everything together.
  • It’s of course just an opinion but to me that wall looks much better now. Perhaps it wasn’t a biggie but still! Personally I would tone down the peeling slightly but as Brett said, placing it on the door for a complete overview gives a better idea. I’m really enjoying to follow this and the way you go forward. I’m on the lookout for the next posts!
  • Thanks Bryan, Tom, Brett and Jeroen for the feedback - that again gives me confidence moving forward. :smiley:

    I've taken Brett's advice above and temporarily placed the trim on the base, in the wall.

    053 Doors 3

    I think I'm happy enough with that to move on, so I'll now proceed to attach the trim to the base and then move on to the windows.
  • Looking great Grant, the peel on the trim is nice and the door base colour fits well with the wall colour showing an appropriate age and matching degree of discolouration.

    A little tip for you to dull down the stark white of the trim and blend it down a little if you want to...
    Try on a scrap piece of white first, such as the backer sheet.
    Use a soft brush and very lightly dust some DRY 408.3 or 408.5 onto the white trim to dull it down and age it a little.

    Very nice progress so far.
  • Thanks so much for that tip Karl!

    I had thought the white did look a little stark, even with the peeling effect. So I decided to give your tip a try.

    Here is a "before" (on the right) and "after" (on the left) following Karl's tip advice.

    054 Doors 4

    I think I like that even more. Here are all four doors, with trim attached and blended down.

    055 Doors 5

    And finally, following Brett's earlier advice, here is one of the doors placed temporarily in situ.

    056 Doors 6

    Okay, now I'm ready to tackle the windows.

    Grant
  • edited September 2022
    gjdale said:

    Thanks so much for that tip Karl!

    It's possibly in your manual somewhere.
    I learnt it from Brett when working on BlueSky for the lettering.

    Your results look great.

  • Excellent! Looks just right.
  • Now I see how this is going together. Wonderful!!
  • Modification is a great improvement. Not such a contrast between the parts.
  • Just catching up with your build and I'm very impressed. The walls look great and I have also replaced many a board that just didn't look right. I've used the same procedure Bryan outlined except I have also used a #17 X-Acto chisel blade to help work the board off.
    I think the peeling paint on the door frames is well done. Hard to believe its your first attempt. I think they look great the way they are. But if I had to change anything, I might tone down the white with a little more weathering. It's been great watching the walls come together and I've really enjoyed following this build.
  • edited September 2022
    Thank you all for the encouraging feedback. :smile:

    The main windows were next and again I've done my best to follow Brett's instructions. We start by applying the same techniques to the all of the window components as used on the doors, including Karl's tip above.

    057 Windows 1

    Next is to "locate the sheet of laser cut mylar". A brief moment of panic as I rummaged through the box without finding it. Then I remembered actually seeing it before and sure enough, there it was hiding among the other "miscellaneous" items in Bag #5. Heart attack over, we are instructed to spray a light coat of Testors Dull Coat over the window pieces. I didn't have Testors Dull Coat to hand, but I did have some permanent matt spray finish for artists. As it claims to be suitable for all papers and boards, artwork, transfer lettering etc, I figured it must be pretty much the same stuff. And indeed it seems to have done the job just nicely. After allowing it to dry for a few minutes, it was again given a light dusting of 408.3 chalk powder to give the windows a "dull and muddy look, but not so much that it looks painted". To quote again from the manual, "you are looking to represent years of dirt and grime build-up". So here is the sheet after that treatment. (Three of the lower sashes had already been removed before I remembered to take a photo).

    058 Windows 2

    The lower sashes then have their mylar "glass" installed by peeling off the backing on the sash and carefully applying the mylar. Here is a close-up of one sash after receiving it's glass.

    059 Windows 3

    The remainder of the mylar "glass" was then installed and the sashes and "pop-out" windows installed. Following the instructions, I've placed the lower sashes in a varying degree of open positions. At this stage I haven't added any cracks or holes in the windows - as Brett notes, this is a working structure, so I'm inclined not to add these unless the consensus is that I should.

    060 Windows 4

    Now I have a question for the assembled brains trust.

    The next step in the instructions is to add nail holes to the Dormers. I have read elsewhere here on the forum, that adding nail holes to an HO scale model might not be the best idea as they would largely be invisible at this scale. Brett says to add them using the point of a compass or large sewing needle and I've read elsewhere where Karl (I think?) shows a way of doing this with a sharpened (very sharp) pencil lead, which gives both the indentation and colouration at the same time. So now I'm torn - do I add the nail holes or not? And if I do, do I go with just the compass/needle point, or the sharpened pencil method?

    I'd be most grateful for any and all opinions on this, recognising that I'll likely get as many opinions as there are people to offer them.
  • Great job on the peeling paint
  • A few nail holes would add a subtle look, but the size is important. They should be as small as possible and subtle. I use a dentist tool. It is a straight handle tool with a long straight very sharp point so it gives a small hole. I just asked my dentist for some old tools he wasn't using. He opened a drawer and it was full of an assortment of dental picks. He just gave an assortment to me. I suppose I have paid for those tools several times over, over the years. You can buy them but an ask won't hurt. If you don't have access to the detail tools the compass should work. In my opinion the problem with a pencil is you have to keep sharpening it as the point breaks and gets dull and then the size of the holes vary.
    Dental Tool Resize
  • i also use a dental tool for nailholes, and so far i think my nail holes look in scale.
  • Windows look great, you're going to be very pleased when you get your walls assembled!

    So the subject of nail holes... There's been a lot of discussion over the years on this subject. (A LOT!) Like many things in modeling and life it's a personal choice. I know many talented modelers who swear by them, and many who do not. Who's right? Everyone is right, pretty rare occurrence for sure! I don't use them often but it's nice to have some variety so they are included in the instructions on some kits like the Shipyard.

    I would recommend, like most techniques, testing the various tools suggested out on some scrap wood and see if you like the resulting holes. The one place things can get derailed is if the row of nail holes wander a bit and are not perfectly straight. Wavy rows of nail holes looks awful. That is something I think everyone will agree with!
  • edited September 2022
    Really looking good Grant, the chip/peel on the frames is really nice and you've nailed the dulling down of the stark white perfectly.

    Talking of nails, as Brett says, as with everything, practice on similar scrap boards you have left over. Also as he stated it can go really wrong, really quick.

    As you are working in HO I'd personally back away from adding them, even in O scale I add them minimally. Usually just at points where boards butt together.
    I actually just messed up my current build and am not happy with them, so I'll need to adjust them as they stand out too much for my liking.

    The viewers eye is naturally drawn to these areas of the wall anyway so if the nails are done right it adds an extra level of detail, the viewer then subconciously thinks the rest of the wall is detailed that way, because they dont really look.

    For me, nothing ruins a beautifully modelled structure quicker than rows and rows of blatantly obvious nail heads/holes.

    As Brett says its definitely a matter of personal choice, and each to their own.
    My personal choice is not in HO except for specific areas, if at all.
  • edited September 2022
    To nail or not to nail, that is the question........

    Thanks everyone for your input on this - as expected, there are a variety of thoughts and no single "right" answer. Brett's advice was to test the results on some scrap first and see what I think. I couldn't really tell from just one plank, so I built a little "test wall" from some of the leftover strip wood.

    In the picture below, I've made some nail holes with just a needle point tool - these are on the right, and towards the centre of the picture - and they are barely visible. Then, on the left I've added a couple of rows made with the sharpened mechanical pencil technique describe by Karl elsewhere (I found this technique on JohnM's shipyard build log, dated 2014 - http://www.craftsmankituniversity.com/vanforum/index.php?p=/discussion/335/request-critique-on-my-shipyard-build/p2)

    061 Nail Testing

    My personal inclination is to go with the pencil nail holes, but I'm not wed to that idea. What do you all think - needle point nail holes, pencil point nail holes, or no nail holes?

    Grant
  • Whichever you like best is the way to go. I don't find the pencil marks overly done and I think with a wash of IA the needle holes will pop.
  • i'm with brett. i only put the nail holes where two boards butt up against each other. i use a dental tool for my nail holes. the nail holes on the left side of your test wall look great. subtle, and they look to be in scale.
  • Just use nails.
  • Nail holes in HO scale are considered to be out of scale. I like the subtleness of the needlepoint. Try a light wash of A/I as Brian suggested and see if you like that. It is after all your model and you should go with what you like.
  • Hi Grant.
    I do floors with a lighter look just how I like them you can see what I am saying on my thread Machine Shop AKA Ewell Milling.
    This is what I use for the nail holes.

    P1050131


    P1050133
  • Seeing those things is like nails on a chalkboard!
  • Did you steal those from your Dentist Carl?
  • Yes I did when he retired I got al of the picks like these so be kind to your dentist.
    They renew them quite often. ......Tooth Acres...........
  • edited September 2022
    If you are doing the whole wall, I like the ones with just the needle, just the way they are, they're there if you look for them and subtle like they should be.
    I think if you do the whole wall with the pencil ones they will over power the wall and will be too obvious and distracting.
    If you are just doing board ends and but-joints I would still use the needle, if you think it needs a little more visibility just give the needle a slight wiggle to enlarge them very slightly.
  • Thank you all once again for all the feedback and sage advice. I have prevaricated about this for a couple of days now and must have changed my mind at least 15 times! In the end I decided that "less is more" and so followed Karl's advice to just use the needle holes.

    Here is my "nail gun" alongside a mechanical pencil for scale - it is a home made scribing tool, turned from brass and with a large sewing needle epoxied into the end. The weight of the brass gives quite a heft and makes it very easy to use for this purpose.

    062 Nail Tool

    And here are the results on some of the walls.

    063 Nailing 1

    064 Nailing 2

    065 Nailing 3

    The nail holes are there if you look for them, but they aren't immediately obvious. I believe that is as it should be and is what Karl and Brett were trying to get across to me - the art of subtlety.

  • Well done!
  • Thanks for the feedback Karl and Tom. :smile:

    Moving on now with a little more confidence, albeit still very slowly.

    The windows for the Left Dormer Wall were prepared in the same fashion as the main windows, including the final stage of dusting with dry chalk powder to tone down the white paint.

    066 Left Dormer Windows 1

    We are then instructed to make some window blinds by painting some plain paper with Floquil Depot Buff and then dirtying it up with some chalk powder. My substitute paint choice was AK 11033 (Dark Sand) and again I used some 408.3 chalk powder for the "dirtying", applied in the same way as the final stage of the window frames (ie a dry dusting).

    067 Left Dormer Windows 2

    The strip was then cut to length for individual window shades of varying length and glued in place on the inside at the tops of the windows.

    068 Left Dormer Windows 3

    The outer frame, headers and ledgers were then added to complete the windows on this wall.

    069 Left Dormer Windows 4

    The door for this dormer will be next - quite a challenge ahead with those tiny hinges and door knob.

    Grant
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