Hi guys.

Just have to try to get my head around adding photos again.

So here is a photo of the kitbash coming together. You can see the internal 'fin' of white styrene. This was added to get the warp out of the wall. The factory 45degree edges seem to be put on these walls with no thought of addressing warped walls. This means that when you do address them you end up with an edge with curve in it. I filled this straight and then doctored the 45degree bevel. Of course, if you were building this as per instructions and did this, the kit would no longer go together square, as the wall(s) you doctored would be shorter.


More soon, cheers, Mark.

Hi again.

Sweet - that was easy!

Thanks, Frank.

Yes - it is a very economic kitbash and essentially doubles the size of the kits appearance. At the end I had very little left over material. Personally I like the bash far more than the original design.

Here is the bash from the front at this stage. I added all the horizontal window mullions before assembling the walls. For this I used .56mm square styrene. I cut small rectangles of styrene slightly shorter than half a window height and used these for spacers for getting the mullions in the right place. I used my chopper to cut to size (slightly bigger) and then cut/ sanded until they were a tight fit. (its very easy to go slightly over and have to start again. Sometimes one window would take 15 minutes, other times I would get 6 windows done in that time). Holding the wall flat on the mat, I used tweezers to put the mullion in position and push down hard against the spacer. I then carefully knocked out the spacer, turned the wall over and added AC glue to the back of the wall next to the mullion and kind of very gently brushed it across. Capillary action does the rest. The window fan was added strategically to straighten a very warped vertical mullion.


Here is a close up of the back. I added plastic rod to the vertical seams where there was a factory 45degree angle and then added Medium Zap AC. This is an easy way of strengthening these otherwise fragile joins. I'm pretty liberal with my glue application here.


And here is the bash with the back added along with one of the internal walls. I used 1.5mm styrene for the back and the base. I cut my base first, and first use it as a template to mark a second base on a piece of styrene. This can then be used for internal floors if needed, or for roof pieces. I cut the base the thickness of the walls smaller than the structure. The walls are then added to the edge of the base. I do this with the base pressed flat on my desk with a piece of lunch paper on my mat, to stop gluing my structure to the mat! The bash just peels off the lunch paper. I usually do a 90degree corner first, and then add these two walls to the edge of the base. The base can be tweaked as I go by either cutting a slither off, or splicing a piece of styrene to the base and then re-cutting. I take note of any changes made on my spare template.


More soon, cheers, Mark.

The king of bash strikes again!

I'll second that Carl!!

Mark you always seem to amaze us with these wonderful builds!!

Your kitbash is looking great, Mark. Good information.

George

You always seem to be working on some new angle.

Great kitbash there Mark. Love seeing things like this. Learn a lot form these types of posts.

Bernd

Fantastic, Mark. Your bash looks very real, like I've been there.

Mike

Thanks very much Carl and Trains1941.

Its been a fun build so far and fills in an unusual shaped site nicely.

Cheers, Mark.

Thanks, George.

I'm pleased the information may prove helpful. I certainly get a lot of tips from reading other forum members threads.

Cheers, Mark.

Thanks, Rick.

I try to keep sharp! Although sometimes I can be a bit obtuse...

Cheers, Mark.

Thanks, Bernd.

I always seem to work best when things are tight. Great your getting something out of this.

Cheers, Mark.

Thanks, Michael.

When I was a kid I used to dream about shrinking down to 1:87 scale and spending a day exploring the Gorre and Dephetid. Later it was the same for the F&SM. My dream is that one day people will feel the same about pictures of my layout.

Cheers, Mark.

Hi guys.

First off, here is a photo from above showing the interior of the bash.


Next was to add the small side wall. I also ripped the concrete loading dock patio side down to the required height and cut a 12degree angle on the platform.


I decided there was no need for internal walls and cut the template into roof sections. I marked and ran square timber around the side walls for the roof pieces to sit on. You can see I kept a short parapet wall above. When I glue the roof pieces in place I will then add capping in styrene.

Warts and all! Sometimes I find when working on a fairly long or large kitbash that no matter how hard I try things somehow get out. We sitting flat on my bench my bash was lifting up by a couple of mm at each end. I decided the best fix was to prize the wall junction apart, and add a plastic wedge. This I will disguise with putty and then some kind of pipework. There will also be a roof over the loading dock to help hide. I'm thinking that when straightening the warp out of the front wall and then sanding straight, the curved edge that resulted from doing this managed to make things a little out of square. Anyway - I'm sure at the end of the day it will be pretty much invisible. If not I can always play the earthquake card!


Moe soon, cheers, Mark.

Hi guys.

I painted the walls with two coats of Woodland Scenics concrete and followed up with a light wash of AI. Windows were painted moss green and doors were earth, both from Ammo by Mig Jimenez. It is my first time using these paints and I found they flowed very well - more like enamels. I still have touch ups to do, and a lot of weathering.


In these next to photos you can see I decided to lift the whole structure by a couple of mm's. I added 2x2mm square styrene to the perimeter of the base, including some small pieces under the concrete columns.


And this photo shows the structure sitting flat on our granite bench top. It now lifts maybe .5mm at the right end and is hard down at the left end. When sited and sceniced this will not be noticeable.

More soon, cheers, Mark.