FOS Darnell's Auto Body Tom Schwarz Build Challenge

[SteveCuster]

Hello everyone.

I decided to build Darnell's Autobody from Foscale for the 2019 Tom Schwarz Build Challenge.

I picked this kit up at the Altoona Expo.


This is the pilot taken from the FOS website.


First step of every build is laying out the components and taking an inventory.


Next step is my most disliked portion but the most necessary. Bracing all the walls. I have a few 100 clothespins I use for this task. I try to brace all the walls and prime all the castings in one sitting so I can let both things dry overnight.


After all the bracing dries I rough up the siding with a wire brush. This is my favorite type of wire brush. They are sold at Home Depot in the welding section for a few dollars.


I colored all the walls and stripwood with A&I. This will be my base for the paint.

Thanks for checking in. Should be putting some color on the walls tonight.

-Steve

[GPdemayo]

I'll be looking in Steve. 

[postalkarl]

Hey Steve:

I built that one. Great kit. Have fun will be following along.

Karl

[PRR Modeler]

Looks like a great kit, I'll be following.

[Janbouli]

That looks like a lot of fun to follow.

[Dave K.]

Almost got this one at the Expo, but the budget called "Foul!" after I had already picked a bunch at Doug's booth. Following along...

[ReadingBob]

Following along as well.  That little wire brush from Home Depot is one of my favorite distressing tools.   

[ACL1504]

Steve,

This is one of my favorite FOS kits although I haven't purchased it yet. I need to get one on those brushes.

Nice job so far on the build.

Tom

[SteveCuster]

I made a bit more progress today. I got the main walls, the trim and the windows painted.



These are my 2 color choices I picked for the main building. This is my go to color for red and of course any basic white will do in this case.


I coated the walls in mineral spirits first to try to help the paint resist adherence to the walls. I tried to get a picture of how wet it is once I start adding the paint, it's just damp and shiny but not dripping.


With this technique using white paint or any lighter color it really needs 2 coats to make it even. This is the first coat.


2nd coat is down. I let this set up for a few hours.


I painted the castings all red. I use a stiff brush for this and I dab on the paint intentionally missing areas.


The wood trim is painted red using a wet paintbrush applied very poorly intentionally missing spots again. This is a technique I learned from Brett Gallant. He calls it "Wet Brushing".


Same technique for the upper red section of the front wall.


After the walls dried a bit I attacked them with a wire brush. This time I used a stiff toothbrush style. It pulls the paint up and gives it a subtle peeling effect.


This is the walls side by side before any peeling as been done.


One of the smaller wall sections for the dormer. After wire brushing I used some scotch tape to pull the paint off in areas.


This is the other type of siding included in the kit after 2 coats of white.


This is the vertical siding after some heavy wire brushing and using some tape to pull some areas off.


Front wall section after working on it for a bit.


I added a wash of A&I to the vertical siding.


All the walls got a coat of A&I. I'm not sure if I'll add another wash to darker them up a bit. This is an automotive garage so it should be very dirty.


Close-up of the front siding after the peeling paint effect and an A&I wash. It's subtle but adds some texture to the paint.

I've never had much luck getting sponge or terrycloth peeling paint to look right. Rubber cement works well for me but takes a long time. This technique is fast, easy and I'm happy with the results.

Thanks for checking in. I should be adding the trim to the walls and dropping the windows and doors in place next.

-Steve

[Bruce Oberleitner]

Wow.  Awesome start.  I like the mineral spirits & paint technique.  Looks very cool.

[Dave K.]

Yes, nice wall technique.👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[NKP768]

Nice job on the walls Steve

Doug

[Lynnb]

Interesting technique for the walls, as I was reading along I was thinking A/I would really give some nice definition, nicely done.

[SteveCuster]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I made a little more progress yesterday on the kit. Started getting the walls detailed a bit.



The main garage door is made with 2 pieces of laser cut wood.


The 2 pieces get glued on top of each other. Pretty straightforward and turns into an accurate garage door.

I sprayed the door with Krylon Dark Gray primer.

I weathered it with some chalks.

I added the window glass and dirtied everything up a bit.


The kit includes a few pieces of wood cut to simulate corrugated metal. I haven't worked with this material in the past but I'm curious to see how it works out. One piece is designed to be cut into a door opening to simulate a roll-up metal door. The rest will form the walls of an addition to the building.

Here is the piece for the door cut to size and weathered with chalks. The only down side I found with the wood corrugation is it's pretty fragile. I broke this piece along the corrugation in a few pieces just handling it. No big deal and you can't see the cracks once I glued it in place.


Here's the corrugated door glued in place.

Both doors glued in position.

I added some signs and the window glass to the top row of windows. I'm still going to add a few more signs to the front. All the signs were weathered with chalks. I didn't use any A&I on the signs. The chalk dirties everything up but still keeps it clear enough to read. Sometimes you lose clarity with A&I.

I still have to complete the area to the right of the wall. It houses a small door and window that simulates a retail counter. I should get to that detail this afternoon.

Thanks for checking in.

-Steve

[ReadingBob]

Great job!  I know I've picked up a few ideas/tips along the way that I want to try.