FOS The Wacther Apartments

[ReadingBob]

Time to start a new build!  This time around I'm going to build FOS The Wacther Apartments which was a kit my better half gave me for Christmas.  Let's get started.

The unopened kit on the workbench. 


Tearing off the shrink wrap.  Ahh...new kit smell. 


The back of the sheet that's on the front of the box includes a lot of neat signs.  Nice touch!


Let's see what's inside the box.


A bundle of strip wood, a couple bags of smaller parts.  Doors, windows, etc.


Several sheets of laser cut parts.


More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

Walls.  Lot's of walls!


More walls and laser cut stuff!


And of course instructions and templates.


I started by removing the windows and doors from their carriers using a sprue cutter.  Great little tool to have on the workbench for this task.  Lot's an lot's of windows in this kit.


I touched up the edges of the castings were the cuts were made with a fine sanding stick.  A lot of folks like to paint the windows and doors while they're still on the carrier.  No problem with that.  Either before or after works.  I just prefer to cut 'em out and clean 'em up before I paint them. 


There are a few metal castings include in the kit.  Some need to be cut from their sprues.  For this these I an old pair of rail nippers.


More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

I clean up the metal castings with a small file.  Overall the castings were pretty clean and didn't need much touch up.


I sorted, bundled and labeled the strip wood.


Time to start working on the walls.  I lightly sanded each edge to square it up.  A trick I learned here on the forum.  The laser doesn't necessary ensure that the edges are a perfect 90 angle. It's close though.


Some of the walls got a little texture treatment by brushing them with a welders steel brush (purchased at Home Depot).  I only did this for the walls that make up a little roof top structure. 


I ran a small bead of glue on the strip wood that would be used for bracing.


Then I smeared the bead of glue with my finger tip to spread it across the surface.  I have a paper towel nearby to wipe my finger off when I'm done so I don't transfer the glue to anything I touch.


More in a moment...

[PRR Modeler]

Looking forward to seeing this build Bob.

[ReadingBob]

I position the bracing against the wall.  For the ones that go against the edge of the wall I use a small square to ensure I get it right up against the edge.  Note that the strip wood is longer than the wall.


I weigh it down with some marble blocks scavenged from some old bowling trophies.


Next I trim the bracing, top and bottom, to fit using a single edged razor blade.


Rats.  I ran out of strip wood for bracing before I ran out of walls.  I keep extra on hand so I had to reach for my stash.  I assume I'll need more for some of the roofs as well.  I followed the bracing diagrams in the instructions so it wasn't like I used more than recommended.   


After the walls were braced I painted the inside with a cheap craft store acrylic black paint to block light from bleeding through the walls if (Ha!) I chose to install lighting.  I used to use Grimy Black (Floquil or PollyScale) for this.  What a waste!  $4+ for a small bottle of Floquil or PollyScale vs. $1 for a large bottle of cheap craft store acrylic that really won't be seen anyway.


All the strip wood, except the bracing of course, got a bath in Hunterline Light Gray Weathering Mix.


More in a moment....

[Dennis Bourey]

Love it Bob, I have this kit and I will be watching real close. Dennis

[ReadingBob]

Thanks Curt!  Glad to have you aboard. 

It dawned on me that while I had my little stain tub out it's a good time to stain the walls too.  Much easier to dip the brush into the stain in the tub than it is while it's in the bottle.


The strip wood got removed from the bath tub and placed in an old cardboard box, still organized by side, so it could dry.


I brush painted the walls with a yellow craft store paint, Americana Golden Straw.  It looks bright now but it's darken up quite a bit (too much actually) after I weather it.  The instructions say to sponge this coat on but I prefer to brush paint the first coat.  I do dip the brush in water periodically to thin the paint a little and allow some of the darkness of the stained wall to show.


Next I sponged some Medium Gray onto the walls.  I'm not trying to paint them.  Just leave a little bit of gray here and there to give the appearance of spots where the yellow paint peeled off and the underlying colors are showing through.


After the Medium Gray I sponged on some Sable Brown. 

That's it for the pictures I uploaded this weekend.  More to follow in the coming weeks.

Thanks for following along! 

[GPdemayo]

I'll be looking in Bob.....

[ReadingBob]

Love it Bob, I have this kit and I will be watching real close. Dennis

Thanks Dennis!  Lot's of windows in this one.  It's a neat looking structure isn't it? 

[Janbouli]

Following along Bob , if only to see how many different T-shirts are worn during this build 

[ReadingBob]

I'll be looking in Bob.....

Thanks Greg!  You'll get to see it in person someday! 

[ReadingBob]

Following along Bob , if only to see how many different T-shirts are worn during this build 

Thanks Jan!         I guess I'll have to dig down deeper in the stack.  I have a habit of just grabbing the same ones off the top of the pile and my wife is always on top of the laundry so I never get further down than the top five.   

[Dennis Bourey]

Bob Yes it is. I actually bought the kit because of the rear of the building the way it look's and FOS named it for a friend of his, Named Wacther in California. Dennis

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looking good, Bob.

Cheers, Mark.

[GPdemayo]

I'll be looking in Bob.....

Thanks Greg!  You'll get to see it in person someday! 

Wouldn't miss it Bob.....also looking forward to seeing the flat that you just completed.