Outstanding modeling, agree with all the comments made previously. And yes, the fire escapes are spectacular (would be worth a step by step how you made them - hint).

For me, above all, you have captured the "mood" so perfectly.  That frontal shot of the poultry factory with the lady in the lit interior store reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting.

Very nice job, Dave.

I think the idea with the acrylic wall instead of trying to create a removable wall (which, based on my experience shared earlier in this thread would have been near impossible) is really successful.

That forge is awesome, Dave.

I hope you do find a way to easily make the wall removable, so that all those details in your machine shop will be visible.

Continuing to follow your build.  You are really going "all out" on that machine shop.

Excellent work!

Very nice start on a great kit.  I bought this also, when it was released, so I sure will consult this thread when I get around to putting it together.

I also sincerely appreciate that you showed us the area on your layout into which you will be integrating this build, and look forward to seeing how you blend it into the scene.

Awesome job, Dave.  You take this to a whole other level!

Urs

I haven't been able to check in in a while - your build is coming along nicely.

Your shop floor is much better researched in terms of placement of machines and to create a logical work arrangements.  I really hope that the removable wall ends up working out, considering all the thought that you are putting into this project.

Will continue to follow.

Urs

These are both excellent ideas for bracing outside, Dave.

Looking for ward to seeing how you will implement either one or both of them.

Nice job, Dave.

I had problems too with warping of the walls, but unfortunately, there is no real way to add any bracing, since it would interfere with the framing for the floors.  I did some along the walls where I observed warping, but was limited to short sections.  Unfortunately, as you note, this will make construction of a removable wall difficult.

Nevertheless, good progress!

I hear you on the fragility of that framing.  I had several of those break, even a few years ago.  While the age (and dryness) may have something to do with it and may exacerbate the situation, they were fragile to begin with.

I would agree that it may be a good idea to attach the second floor framing now.  The more you can do up front to ensure the studded walls fit cleanly and with no interference .with the framing at this stage, the better off you will be at time of assembly.

Urs

Nice job, Dave and excellent craftsmanship. I like your solution for the side-by-side windows.

In general, make sure that you are not exceeding the length of the engraved lines for the studs, since it will mean interference with the floor framing - if anything, go 1/32" shorter to make sure you have clearance.  I found fitting the finished wall to the framing one of the more frustrating aspects of the kit, since I had several instances where I needed to go back and shorten the studs.  And it was not always easy to identify exactly which stud was the culprit.

Urs

Yes, I agree, not for the beginner, and while generally, the fit of the parts is rather good, there is some interpretation needed when following the instructions.  Also, I found that some of the framing breaks rather easily, same with the roof trusses.

But I think you are off to a great start, and once you have resolved how you want to layout the shop, you will make progress quickly.

In terms of removable, the issue that I faced was that even if I made the roof removable, that didn't really get me too much, since now I would have been just looking at the attic.  I don't think just making the roof removable would be too much of a challenge, so that is definitely doable.

I think you are on the right track thinking about making one of the (long) sides removable. The challenge is to have the wall studs perfectly line up (or at least not interfering) with the framing that is carrying the first and the second floor (a bit of cursing will be in order when you try to line up the walls on each side).

The other issue is likely some warping, since those sidewalls are rather large, and the provided wall studs are not providing any bracing. I corrected the warping by adding some bracing (not foreseen in the instructions) that fit around the framing for the floors.  If you want the wall to be removable, you would absolutely have to do that, I believe, to have a good fit for the wall to the building.  Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of my installed braces.

Urs

Thanks for the kudos.  Nevertheless, I really don't want to hijack Dave's thread, my posts were intended to support him with his interior layout.  I can relate, I went through the same process.