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Messages - Todd W.

#31
Hey Bob!  and those following...
Well it has been a week since my last post.  Busy week at work and no time to log on.  However, I did finish the lighthouse and had a lot of fun doing so!  The stucco isn't too hard to work with once you get the hang of it (and after removing and reapplying a few times..lol) I wanted to keep some of the stucco look on mine so I only took a light pass over it with sanding.  I weathered it with a bit of extra rust where I thought rain, salt and other seaside elements would do the most obvious damage..  I would like to put a little more rust on the cylinder bulk head up top.  I tried to stay with the color scheme Bob went with, and I'm satisfied with the end result.  Now I am going to scratch build a station house to go with it and decided on the West Quoddy Head lighthouse station in Maine. The lighthouse itself is entirely different than west quoddy but I love the design, so that will be a project for the scratchbuilding section of the forum in the very immediate future! 

Bob, thank you Sir for your suggestions, instructions and willingness to share in this hobby!  much appreciated and you helped to make our harbor complete!

Todd
#32
Last night I put the first coat of Liquitex Ceramic Stucco onto the lighthouse outside wall after I primed it with the cammo khaki.  Dummy me first tried to put it on with paint knives and that didn't work to well and looked like a three year old had fingerpainted with cream of wheat.  So after washing it all off in the sink, I switched to the sponge brush applicator which spread it on fairly even and I began to see how this all woks.  There are some high spots and some sloppiness around the windows and doors but nothing I can't tidy up very easily and make nice around the edges.  After the second coat I will lightly sand high spots and the rest until I get the desired effect before painting.....As per Bob's direction, Thank you again Sir!

#33
Kit Building / Re: FOS Ideal Hosiery
April 28, 2017, 10:11:01 AM
Thanks Dave, yes I believe you told me to do the tichy assortment of doors a few weeks back.  Well, between you and Bob, I ordered a set last night.  great idea!!
#34
Kit Building / Re: FOS Ideal Hosiery
April 27, 2017, 02:49:35 PM
thanks Bob!

Yes, I think I am going to take your advice right now and search online to purchase a few packs of those window assortments!  Great idea!

The rolled roofing, once I adhered it to the roof card stock, I took the backside of my xacto #11 blade and tugged at the edges in very small and deliberate pulls ragging them up a bit.  Little flakes of the paper rip off and a few I use the blade and push it forward sort of to bunch up a 1/8 swath of "seen it's better days" tar paper.  I painted back over where I did the damage using Folkart craft acrylic Soft Black, the same color used for the over all roof.  It is not even really a full fledged black at all, more of a mix of black and dark walnut and looks just like the year old roll of roofing paper I have in the shed...lol.

Todd
#35
Kit Building / Re: FOS Ideal Hosiery
April 27, 2017, 11:23:57 AM
Thanks Tommy, Jan, Bob, Mark, Marty, and Jeff!  Appreciate the compliments and kind words!  I have to admit, I built the kit pretty much to the same color schemes that FOS had on their photo because it caught my eye on their website before I bought it and thought that scheme would fit the one area of my layout in both size and contrast so I tried to stay with it,  I do like changing some aspect of a kit to give it my own personal touch, but I can't claim I did so here too much.  I could not find the door for the rooftop stairwell shack.  I don't know if I was shorted it, (which I doubt), or if I misplaced it on my discombobulated hell hole of a workbench (more likely), so I made a more rustic door from left over wood planking for the enclosed side stairway, and I added the two red light fixtures and  some cast metal details.  I am still debating adding a medium sized advertising sign to the rear wall, but I don't want to overdo things and junk it up.

Bob, thanks on the spillage of muck on the side of the drum, but looking at it now a second time, I think I might put a blotch of white on the lid only because I doubt the spillage would actually have been on top of the lid.  More or less just down the sides....maybe leave a few spillage spots on the lid at the edges where dirty hands would have handled it....not sure.

Todd
#36
Scratchbuilding / Re: Hotel and Grill
April 27, 2017, 11:09:20 AM
Wow beautifully built!  I love it!
#37
Welcome to the forum Brett!  Some wonderful people here to share the love of this hobby with!  The build is turning out fantastic!
#38
Kit Building / Re: FOS Ideal Hosiery
April 26, 2017, 10:46:06 AM
 a few more of the roof and back wall
#39
Kit Building / Re: FOS Ideal Hosiery
April 26, 2017, 10:44:14 AM
So this past few days I wrapped up the remainder of this kit, with the exception of a possible added wall advertising sign to the rear of the structure (haven't made my mind up on this yet on whether it would be overkill or not), and painting and placing people figures to it (something I am both not very good at or sometimes have the patience for.  I was going to post more of the build but from the point I left off, there wasn't much left to complete outside of the smaller details and weathering.  it really is that straight-forward of a kit.  Not a hard assembly at all but overall a very enjoyable little structure kit.  I think it is more of what you want to get out of it and how you add your own personal touches to any kit that brings it to life to tell it's story.   So without further ado:

Todd
#40
Bob, My lighthouse arrived last week and you were not kidding, it looks like the old McDonald style toys you got with a kids burger.  However the details molded into it are pretty decent.  I plan to jump into it tonight as I have the Liquitex stucco you mentioned.  A new experience for me as I have yet to work with their products.  The rail on the overhang is missing a section at one point about 1/2 inch and looks like it was just an error mold, but that is easily fixable with some craft wire......I will let you know how it goes and post photos here as it progresses!

Thanks again, Todd
#41
Kit Building / Re: Fos Tower Two Kit
April 25, 2017, 01:57:06 PM
Sweet job Curt!  love how your windows and doors, especially the door frames turned out in tone...Thanks for sharing
#42
Jan, the curtains are a great touch!  I have used real fabric before for a dress shop and millinery, ho scale bolts of cloth material and stacking them on a back loading dock.  My wife was not overly thrilled about me sneaking into her sewing room and cutting swatches of cloth from her supply but it turned out pretty cool and gave it a realism that many people who visit comment on.  She is not going to like it when I try your curtain and drapery effect....LOL  Beautiful model all the way around, I will be following this thread.
#43
Kit Building / Re: FOS Ideal Hosiery
April 19, 2017, 01:09:00 PM
thanks Jeff, Jan, Dave and Mark! 
Last evening I worked on roof of several areas of the structure, putting on the roofing tar paper which I painted "soft black" and put some of the trim under those eaves.  I did make the edges of the roofing paper on the enclosed stairwell a little ragged and worn, but the rest of it and the roof on the main structure are too clean and perfectly placed because I ran out of time and needed my pillow.  I will be weathering them all, making them look worn and somewhat tattered tonight, along with the adding of the rooftop shack and billboard sign to build yet.  A sidewalk as well will be worked on and I am excited to use the suggestion by Doug on the FOS facebook page this past week of painting concrete for sidewalks, streets and parking lots, with some stuff called Chalk Matte Distressing paint by Artminds in Cocoon color.  I found it at Michaels craft store this weekend.  So I anxious as always to try my hand with this new medium.  A lot of weathering and the addition of small details should start bringing this kit to life very soon.   Can't wait to get out of my work office today to get started!!

Todd
#44

what a cool looking kit Jan!  Great work too!  I will be following along!

Todd
#45
Kit Building / Re: FOS Ideal Hosiery
April 18, 2017, 09:14:37 AM
Last night after my Capitals choked in their playoff game to the Leafs (42 years of frustrating tears here), I worked on the board by board work of the enclosed stairwell.  The stairwell is mat board and I covered it with 3m transfer tape  ( I like using the 1 and 1/2 inch size as it gives me greater coverage options to application than the one inch size being that I can either cover more space, or over-cover and trim excess easily).  Then I took the 3/16 inch strip wood provided for the boards, there is plenty given for this, so you wont run out, and I washed them in the India ink and alcohol.  When dry, I painted them white and a few minutes later covered them with masking tape and then quickly removed it, like pulling off a band aid.  It gave the peeling paint effect.  This technique was described by Doug in the instructions. He suggested using scotch tape, but it did not remove very much of the paint and everything looked a bit too white yet.  So I attempted the masking tape which had more stick to it and I liked the results.  Afterwards I cut the strips into scale 8 ft and 12 ft boards and placed them on the wall butting them up against each other and cutting along the 45 degree angle where necessary.  The front of the stairwell with the door the pieces were glued on and trimmed individual to fit the door which was a little tricky as the door seemed a little larger than the opening.  Whatever happened, it worked...lol
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