The flat roof only overhangs the wall by a fraction, and it just felt too thin. So when I was adding bracing to keep it nice and flat, I decided to add some extra trim along the edge.



I really like how this gives some definition to the edge of the roof. Also, the sign on the side of the building looks about right after I treated it with a light wash of white paint. Just faded enough!

The next building up is the Dixie Cafe. It's a very simple wedge shape. Here are the walls




There's a vey big painted sign to put on one wall, and the roof has a lot of interesting detail. The vent is a casting, and the Air conditioner is a 3D printed part. Also a 3D sign which mounts on some thin frames. Just like Jeff and his gas station signs, I'm going to set that aside for installation much later.

The windows in the back are plastic, but the front is made of layers of chipboard, as is the big door.  Add some signage and the whole effect is pretty good. ( The roof has not been glued in place yet.)

More positioning in the magnetic jig gets all the walls:



You can see how the little extension joins the main building with a tab into a slot on the wall

Interviews and scheduling them can be a problem with Global entry. When my daughters couldn't get timely ones scheduled locally, they looked for other slots available and so we made a day trip to Detroit. Got them done quickly and we visited museums and had some good food!

Worked in the yard this morning, but rain is coming...

Have a good one, guys.

It can be a little tricky when you have an inside corner to glue that leaves a section hanging out:



This little wing where the front door is located had no bracing and really wanted to curl up before it was attached to the small side wall.

Now we'll do a quick application of A&I wash:



After sponge painting the walls, I used my magnetic jig to keep things square:

Axle Road has a total of 9 and a half buildings, the half is a fenced-in storage yard between two structures. My intended footprint includes all but one of these structures. The instructions take you thru these one by one, starting with some of the smaller, simpler builds. I'm usually working on two of these at once, so I can have assemblies or paint drying while I work on another section. For simplicity and continuity, let me present these one at a time.


The first one we'll look at is Krug Auto Collision. Here's the cardboard mockup next to the actual walls:




With bracing applied:

Wow, that was impressive.



just an iPhone picture, a little high haze, but amazing how dark it got. A once in a lifetime experience - Totality!

Skies are clearing here in northern Ohio, we should have a great view of the eclipse! In all my years, I've only been where it was a partial eclipse. This will be my first Total!

ITLA was featured in last weeks Miniprints live broadcast and I was unfamiliar with their kits. Many of their kits can be assembled to fit several footprints and I am eager to see how you do this one and make it fit your needs.

My wife gave me this kit for Christmas in 2022, when we were in the middle of our move, having sold our home in Florida and moved to Ohio. At that point in time, we were still house hunting for a new place. The modules that survived from my shelf layout in the garage were packed in a POD.

When we finally found a house, and moved in, slowly I started planning what to do in my basement. I have always liked the process of mocking up a new kit, and it's very easy to do. Just lay the walls on your scanner, hit COPY, and glue the pages to some cardboard. Cut out the pieces, hold them together with tape, maybe use some scrap wood for a base.

Now start playing with the 'dollhouses', see how they can be arranged, all while the valuable kit parts themselves stay safely packed away.

It's going to be a real nice neighborhood, and there are several reasons why it HAD to start out as mockups. The neighborhood has a name, given to it by the designers.

FOS called it Axle Road. It was the limited edition kit for 2022.

Terry,

This one was on the CSX, heading southeast out of Cleveland.

You beat me to it and posted while I was typing. Guess the April fool's joke is on me!