Hi guys.

Hey, Karl.  Thanks fro following along.

Well I managed to get a bit more done before heading outside to work on the pergola.

Photo 1 - I dismantled my roof and added high tack painters tape.  I trimmed the outside slightly larger than the cardboard.  I trimmed the inside to fit under the louvers flush with the cardboard.  I trimmed the inside to fit up and down the rake of the cupolas slightly proud of the cardboard.  I cut slits at the end of the rakes and then used my thumb nail to caress the tape up to 90 degrees.

Photos 2 and 3 - I went through the process of manipulating the main roof over the three cupols.  I then attempted to add tiny pieces of painters tape to the top of the cupola gable ends and L-pieces up the corner posts.  I used a knife or tweezers to get the pieces into position and then a toothpick to press them into place.

Photo 4 - shows the tiny pieces in position.

More soon, cheers, Mark.

Hi guys.

Well - a bit of progress this morning.

Photo 1 - I started by cutting six pieces of card with the same slope as the gable end of the suspended building and so that they would be the same height as the gable ends when sitting on top of the inner flat roof template.  I then glued these to the ends of the three cupolas.

Photo 2 - I then cut an over all roof from black card, measured the size of the holes required for the cupolas to protrude, and cut them out.  My hope was that the roof would kind of wedge between the bottom piece of 4x2" on the louvers on each side of the cupola and the gable card glued to the ends of the cupola.  This took a bit of careful persuasion, but did work.

Photo 3 - The roof from underneath.  It is actually amazingly stiff and self supporting.

Photo 4 - mocked up in position.

I considered different types of roofing material, but was worried about how difficult the flashings would be to install and get neat.  I also didn't want anything of much thickness, as that would mean it wouldn't fit under the bottom 4x2" on the side of the cupola , which visually gives a nice clean line and follows prototype practice.  In the end I decided high tack painters tape to resemble rolled roofing was the easiest and best choice.  If I was clever I could cut the flashings for the side of the cupola into the main roof and fold them up at 90 degrees before reassembling and then use a toothpick to adhere to the ends of the cupolas.

More soon, cheers, Mark.

Looks great, Lynn.

Cheers, Mark.

I think this one is my favourite FSM offering.

I'll be cheering you on, John.

Cheers, Mark.

Thanks so much for all you complements Jan, John, Karl, Gregory and Curt!

The shingle wall was quite easy to do, so give it a try.  Here is a quick rundown of my method.  The shingles were Campbells.

* Cut your window and door openings in wall and mark the wall with horizontal lines as a guide for attaching the shingles.
* Cover wall in double sided tape.
* Remove the bottom piece of tape backing and attach the first row of shingles.
* Add a bead of canopy glue to the top of the shingles installed.
* Add the second row of shingles.  Press down every inch onto the double sided tape to fix and line up with your pencil marking.  Press the bottom of the second row of shingles onto the bead of glue.  Remove any ooze. (the aim is to get no ooze so you want a fairly thin bead of glue).
* Continue, covering any openings with shingles.  The wastage is minimal, and I find there is no damage during the painting process.
* When dry, paint, using a soft brush, with a brownish black colour, slightly diluted.  You want to completely cover the shingles.  Angle the brush upwards to get paint under the shingles, so that no bare colour shows through.
* When dry, follow up with a series of dry brushing with paynes grey, light browns and tans.  Dry brush from the top down.  If you go too far, reverse with brownish black.
* When dry, remove shingles from the openings by placing the wall upside down on a cutting mat and using a chisel blade to cut the shingles and double sided tape.  I found this better than a knife for getting a clean cut without damaging any tiny slithers of shingles that resulted.
* Install windows and doors.

Note: the painting method is as described on Troels Kirks DVD.

My hardware for my pergola arrived yesterday, so I've been busy with that, so no updates yet.  Itching to get back to it, so it wont be long.

More soon, cheers, Mark.

Looking very nice, John.

I'm curious as to where the roads will go - especially to service the two warehouses at the back.

Cheers, Mark.

Hi guys.

Thanks very much Curt and George.

Well - I got the back wall glued in position and am not far away from attaching the suspended building. A few tweaks to make the fit perfect.

There is still all of the suspended decking and flights of stairs to construct at the front, and that will take days. Then there is the tower, the suspended water tank, the walk-overs (one open to show all the interior detail) and a loading crane as well as all the roofs and the left end buildings still to assemble.

Photo 1 - shows the shingle wall glued in position.  I'll need to add a shim - which I'll do with unbleached titanium 4x2" on its edge - to get a nice fit between the shingle wall and the back of the suspended building.

Photo 2 - shows the complex from the back and above.  You really start to get a feel for the mass of it.  Because it is made up of lots of smaller subassemblies, up until now the structure has felt quite small.

Photo 3 - from above and in front.

More soon, cheers, Mark.

Looking good, Rodger.

Neat technique to get curved walls.

Cheers, Mark.

Looks fantastic, Curt.

Cheers, Mark.

Beautiful structures, John.

Cheers, Mark.

Looking very nice, Jeff.

Cheers, Mark.

Coming on nicely, Bob.

Cheers, Mark.

Hi guys.

Thanks very much, Darryl.  it certainly has had its challenges (with many more to come!).

Well - I have framed up around the louvers for the cupolas in 4x2" timber.  The vertical timbers were only 3mm long!  I have assembled 2 so far and glazed another few windows.  I also did a bit of signage - trying to get it looking very old and faded.  A lot of experimenting here.

Photo 1 - shows the louvers framed up in 4x2"

Photo 2 - shows the first cupola assembled.  As of yet I'm not sure what the roofing material will be.  There are a lot of flashings to do!

Photo 3 - shows my sign

Photo 4 - shows Adelaide, the busty brunette, taking in the view from her tiny office. With a smile that makes every male swoon, she is a favourite among the dock workers.

More soon, cheers, Mark. 

Hi guys.

Yesterdays progress was to start work on the three cupolas for the suspended building.  I worked out the sizing from my plans and made up a cardboard base and drew the position of the cupola walls on it.  I glued two bearers nice and level across each side near the top of the inside walls of the cupola and the cardboard template sits on top of those.  I painted and weathered a bit more siding in oxide red, cut it to the width for the ends (allowing for the 6x6" corner trim), and glued the trim to the sides.  I marked the gable ends and cut out the six wall pieces.  I also glued together two lots of five window shutters, glued these to a styrene backing, and cut these into quarters longways.  These were painted a dark brown/ black and then dry brushed.

Photo 1 - shows the card sitting on top of the structure.

Photo 2 - shows the wall sections for the three cupolas sitting on the cutting mat.  The louvers still need to be framed in 4x2".

More soon, cheers, Mark.

QuoteJust getting caught up on your build progress. WOW, I love the look and the different colors really bring it all together.

Thanks, Tom.  Pleased to have you looking in again.

I'm really enjoying the different colours.  There have been a lot of choices to be made, but I think the unbleached titanium pulls them all together.  I often look at the washed out look that Brett from Seirra West promotes.  The models are exquisite and I love many of the designs, but for my tastes I find there is a little too little colour in them and so everything has a bit of a sameness. I know this is the look he is going for, and it is very thoroughly considered, I just think I like the colours to be a bit bolder.  I had two examples of painting on the prototype - one very much washed out and the other very bold with many different colours.  I guess I tried to find a middle ground.

More soon, cheers, Mark.