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Comments
Moving right along....
The components for the Left Dormer Door are given the same "peeling paint" treatment as the windows.
The hinges, door knob plate and door knob all get a coat of AK11110 (Leather Brown) as a substitute for Floquil Roof Brown. We are then instructed to "dust a little rust chalk powder on them". Brett doesn't specify the colour to use for the rust chalk powder, but earlier in this log both Karl and Tom suggested that 411.3 was their "go to" colour in the rust range, so I went with that.
Here they are with the points of my tweezers for scale reference. These things are tiny!
Here they are attached to the door, with the mylar window glass also in place.
The door is then glued to the wall and the outer frame attached. I followed Brett's suggestion here and left the door slightly ajar.
The three walls are then glued together, taking care to keep them level and square.
The next step is to fit both the floor and roof pieces. The floor first receives a coat of paint (AK 11110, Leather Brown).
At this point I have a question that I'm hoping either Brett or someone else can answer for me.....
The instructions invite us to test fit the floor and make any adjustments before gluing it in place. No problem, it's a pretty close fit to start with. However, when it comes to the roof, it is a different story. The instructions (pg 18 step #20) tell us that it should sit flush with the top and back of the walls and to make any adjustments before gluing it to the inside of the assembly. In the picture below, you can see how much larger the roof piece is than the floor piece.
There is no mention that this piece is deliberately oversized, so do I simply cut it to size, or am I missing something here? I'm also unclear as to the purpose of the scribed line on this roof piece. Is it critical to keep this centred when trimming the piece to fit?
Grant
I haven't had the pleasure of building this kit, yet, or reading the manual, so I'll defer to Brett, and others that have, to answer your specific question.
But, I'll guarantee that there is a specific purpose to that scribed line and that the panel isn't oversized.
Check for pictures in the manual, on the website or here on the forum of other builds that are in a later stage than you are at, maybe that will make things clearer as to the fitment of that roof panel and help you along.
As I said, wonderful job so far. Keep up the great work and fantastic updates, we are all enjoying them.
With regard to my earlier question, I think I may have solved the mystery... I believe there may be a misprint in the instruction manual at this point. In Step #20 on pg 18, it says to "make any adjustments and then glue it to the inside of the wall assembly." Looking at pictures later in the build, the roof on this dormer overhangs on three sides, so it clearly cannot be glued to the inside of the wall assembly. I suspect that the instructions should have said "Leave the roof on the template for now", as it does for the next instruction set for the Rear Wall Dormer.
The next clue comes from reading ahead - a long way ahead - where on pg 40 we are instructed at Step #1 to "Remove the left wall dormer roof from the Left Wall Template". It then gets covered in tarpaper and glued to the dormer. In the picture on that page, it clearly shows the overhang on three sides. The scribed line is presumably a placement aid for the tarpaper, which would make perfect sense.
Taking Karl's advice again, I went back over Paul Smulders' log again (his is my "go to" reference log) and I can see that he has left the roof off of this dormer until much later in the piece (ie around instruction manual pg 40).
The only remaining puzzle is that there is a picture at the top of pg 17 that shows the completed dormer (minus tarpaper roof) with what appears to be an inner roof piece. This may have been to provide structural support to the assembly, or it may have been a part of the prototype build and subsequently removed from the production kit? Alternatively, this could simply be a trick of the light and there is actually nothing there in the photo.
I'd be most grateful if Brett could confirm my analysis.
Grant
The Dormers are completed by adding trim to the ends of the walls, inserting windows prepared as previously described, and then joining the walls together and adding a floor piece. In the case of the Right Wall Dormers, a rear wall is also added to these.
Here are the Right Wall Dormers. In these macro shots, the nail hole detail shows up quite well.
And here is the Rear Wall Dormer.
Our attention now returns to the main walls, starting with adding those tiny Hinges and Handles to the Freight Doors.
The Left and Right main walls then receive some end trim, and the previously prepared windows are inserted, along with their frames. To assist in placing the Freight Doors, a template piece is provided that allows these doors to be inset just the right amount (very clever design). Once glued in place, the frames for these doors is added to the outside.
Here is Right Main Wall, with there three Freight Doors and two windows installed.
And here is the Left Main Wall. On this wall, I opted to leave the Freight Door slightly ajar (as suggested by Brett in the instructions). I think this really adds interest to the final scene - it makes it look like it is actually in use.
Next up, we tackle the stencilling on the Front End Wall.
Grant
there isn't a kit manufacturer out there that is as good as brett. none. not just the quality of the kit/end product, but the customer service is untouched by anyone.
there's manufacturers with cool looking kits, but i've sent joe foscale a couple of questions about two of his kits, and i never heard back from him. if your going to state right in the (shitty) instructions to email any questions, i'd damn well answer them when someone does. brett answers ALL. THE. TIME.
I was somewhat dreading the stencilling on the Front Wall, but it turned out to be easier than I'd expected - thanks in no small part to Brett's clever design features.
I practiced on my "crash test dummy" wall first and then dove right in. Here is the result after application of the paint.
Then I toned down the paint with a light dusting of 408.3. The instructions then direct us to "use a small detailing type brush to streak a little white chalk powder down the lettering and face of the wall". I was quite nervous about this step too, so back to my test wall for practice. I was glad I took this step, because my first attempt was way too much white chalk. With that as a gauge, I tackled the real thing and am fairly satisfied with the result. Brett emphasises in the instructions that for this detail, "less is more here." Here is the end result, complete with attic window fitted.
We now return to the Rear Wall and start by making up and installing the windows and doors. As this process is exactly the same as previously described, I won't repeat the details here.
We now get to install the Dormer on this wall. Another of Brett's clever design features is the laser cut holes used for alignment of the Dormers. Rather than using a pointed object to punch the holes through the siding, I used a small drill to avoid the risk of splitting the siding. I also followed the example of others who have gone before me here and added a piece of scrap strip wood to avoid having a gap at the bottom as the dormer will sit on the siding along it's sides.
With the Dormer safely installed, it's time to add the floor joists for the Dormer. Brett provides a paper template and gives instructions for using this to create the Floor Joists. I opted to use the template to mark a scrap of wood and then cut this and checked it against the template again before using it to set a stop on my Chopper. That quickly gave me the eight required joists of identical length and all with perfectly square ends.
I used the soft jaws of my Proxxon vice to hold the wall upside down while I attached the joists. In this photo, you also get a glimpse of just how messy my modelling desk is at the moment!
And here is the wall at close of play today (minus the background clutter).
Another terrifying task awaits me tomorrow when I will tackle the Signs...
C'mon man, you're killing me here - "terrifying"? You have been following the instructions and doing a terrific job, the results speak for themselves. Signs are very straightforward, you'll have no problems.
You are following the manual, completing the steps, and, as far as I can see, because of that, everything is coming out perfect.
So, just keep on doing what you're doing, you can't go wrong.
I'm looking forward to seeing your next steps on this great kit
If I have any concerns/fears, it's only because this style of modelling is all new to me. So when I say "terrifying", what I really mean is, "another new technique that I've never done before". I'm sure if do as you say, and just follow the instructions, all will be well.
Thanks again for continuing to look over my shoulder - it really does help.
Grant
Looking for some more guidance/opinions on a couple of things please.
I've prepared the signs, sanding them as thin as I dare and dusting with chalk. Before I proceed with attaching them to the boards and slicing them, I'm wondering if the look is too homogenous - do I need to try and add some darker stains in places? In the photo below, they are just placed on the wall for context for now.
I also went ahead and prepared the tar paper with some streaking, but I'm afraid I've really overdone this. If that is the case, how do I remedy that? Would it be best to re-spray them with the base colour and then re-apply the chalk (with a lot less vigour), or will re-spraying cause more problems than it solves? My inclination is to re-spray but as there are no "spares" for this, thought I'd check in here first.
Thanks in advance for any and all opinions/guidance.
Grant
You'd be surprised how after cutting the strips the weathering will blend in nicely. I think the top sheet looks good the lower one may have a little too much coloring. You can try to wipe the chalk with a rag to blend it in a little. Or you might try coloring with chalk that comes close to matching the background color.
Good advice Tom, I agree with you completely.
Grant
I had another go at the signs, using some rust coloured chalk to dirty them up a bit. I also tried to add a little streaking - not sure how successful that was though. Anyway, I was much happier with the result, so went ahead and glued them to the backing boards, then cut them apart and glued them back together again. Here they are just placed on the wall for now.
I tried wiping the tar paper with paper towel dampened with alcohol, but wasn't happy with the result. In the end, I re-sprayed them with paint and went through the whole process again. I think this version is a little better, though still not perfect.
Unless someone tells me to go back and do it again, I think I'll move on and cut the papers into strips now.
Grant
The tar paper right now is perfect for what it is, ie, just a varied base colour to be chopped up giving an uneven roof which will be finish weathered later.