FSM Bailey's Produce for Cuse - Here we go again!

[ReadingBob]

Your build is coming along nicely, will nice to follow along when you get back to the table. I really like your liting setup.

Thanks Lynnb!  I really appreciate you following along.   

[ReadingBob]

Okay, it's been quite a while but I have been working on this so it's time to catch y'all up with what I've been doing.

When I cut out the card for the main roof you may recall that there's sliver that runs along the peak that can be removed (optional) if you want a sag in the roof.  I removed it because I wanted the sag.  After the roof has been attached to building a bead of glue was run along the edge of the gap that was created by removing that sliver and I simply held the peak of the roof together until the glue set.


Now for the fun part.  Rafter tails!  There are templates on the card stock that the roofs were cut from.  I simply use a single edged razor blade (because a double edged razor blade would hurt) and cut the number required from the size of strip wood as indicated in the instructions.  This only takes a few moments.


Holding the building upside down I use tweezers to grab a rafter tail and dip one edge into a puddle of some plain old Elmer's White glue.  You have to figure out which edge is going to be the top edge and orient the piece accordingly.


Then it's simply a matter of positioning the rafter tail where your pencil marks indicate.  Repeat as necessary. 


Not the best picture but you can barely see that I'm using a old pair of flush cut rail nippers (Xuron) to trim the rafter tails to fit.  I had received an e-mail on this awhile back with regards to another thread I had done and I couldn't recall where I learned this trick from.  Well, it's right there in the instructions for this kit so I'm going to say I learned it from a previous FSM build.     Some folks use heavy duty nail clippers or something similar.  Whatever works.  The strip wood is easy to cut.  Something that can get in nice and close and do a flush cut is all that's needed.


Here's where I deviated from the instructions a bit.  In the instructions the corrugated roof panels get attached to the roof first and then painted.  Afterwards a thinned out white glue is brushed on and then rust colored powders are applied.  Well, I don't like working with powders directly on the building so I chose to finish the panels first.  Rather than paint and then apply the thinned out white glue/powder treatment after the paint has dried I opted to paint the panels with artist oil colors and then apply the powders while the oil paints are still wet.  Messy but you get a lot of working time with oil paints.


More in a few...

[ReadingBob]

Okay, once the oil paint/powder mix on the the panels dried I started applying them to the structure.  Bad camera angle here but I opted to use two part, 5 minute epoxy for this.  I really wanted to try the Elmer's Advance Pro Bond someone mentioned in a different thread but I couldn't find it in any of the local stores.  Given I had primed the panels what I'm really gluing is paint to cardboard. 


For the roofs that have a rolled roofing finish I did follow the instructions.  I cut the rolled roofing from the sheet provided using a sharp blade and a steel edge ruler as a guide.


After adhering the rolled roofing to the roof using 3M Transfer tape and working from the bottom edge up I painted the paper using brush that was dipped in Floquil Concrete, then Grimy Black and then Rust all in succession.  As I painted  the paper the colors blended together but I didn't try to mix them completely.  I also painted an unattached strip of the paper in a similar fashion but got the mix a little darker so I could use it for patches on the roof so they would appear a little less faded than the roof itself.


While gluing the rolled roofing covered roof in place I held it down with whatever was handy until the glue set up.


Next up it was time to work on the 'Penthouses' as the instructions refer to them.  First thing was to remove small sections of the battens so the windows would be flush with the walls.  First I marked them with a knife and cut through the batten.


Then I flicked off the offending piece with the tip of my knife.


More in a few....

[S&S RR]

Bob


Great to see you back at the workbench and updating your build thread.  The build is looking fantastic.

[vinceg]

Good stuff, Bob. Love all the detail you put into your pictures and descriptions. Thanks.

[ReadingBob]

I assembled the two 'Penthouses' in preparation for adding them to the structure.


Then I attached them to the structure and held them in place until the glue set.  These add a lot of character to the building in my humble opinion.


Time for the fun stuff.  The signs and posters.  These liven things up as well.  I cut out the ones I wanted to use using a sharp knife and steel ruler.  Weathered them a bit by rubbing the colored posters with some fine steel wool (top to bottom) to take a little of the sheen off and then applied A&I to them to tone them down a bit.  Then I glued then in place being careful to not put them somewhere where they'd end up getting covered up later on.


The loading dock was next.  This starts out by building a front and rear set of supports directly on the template.  The tiniest spec of plain white glue applied to the ends of the strip wood was used to glue one of the long pieces directly to the template.  Then everything else was glued to it.  When the glue dried I removed the entire thing from the template by sliding a razor blade between it and the template.


The front piece is covered with short boards.  Some are missing and a few are splintered.


After building out the 'box' (attaching the front to the rear and apply boards to the one exposed end) I started applying the deck to the loading dock.


More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

Bob


Great to see you back at the workbench and updating your build thread.  The build is looking fantastic.

Thanks John!  I've been at the workbench.  I've just been avoiding the computer at night and on weekends.   

[ReadingBob]

Good stuff, Bob. Love all the detail you put into your pictures and descriptions. Thanks.

You're welcome Vince.  Thanks for following along!  I have remember to adjust my camera when I'm working on something higher up on the building.   

[ReadingBob]

There's a colorful awning attached to the front of the building.  I started by painting the underside with Floquil Primer and then I took some fine steel wool and scrubbed the top of the awning from top to bottom to take some of the sheen off and make it show a little wear.  Then I hit it with a light A&I.  That was a bit different than what the instructions call for which was to apply some A&I then dry brush it lightly with some white and finally paint it with a flat finish.


I cut the awning and the roof top sign out using, again, a sharp knife and steel ruler.     Both were then framed with some wood and added to the structure.


I use my NWSL Chopper whenever possible to get pieces of a consistent length.  It was time to start working on the small porch that will be attached to the rear of the structure.


This was another case of building things directly on the template.  Again, only the tiniest spec of white glue was used to glue pieces to the template.  Like half the size of a pin head only smaller.   


After building the platform I glued it in place and held it there with until the glue set.  Then I ripped it off and did it again since I didn't get it straight the first time.     After the glue set the corner posts, railings, stairs, etc. were all attached.  That was a bit tedious and not very photogenic.   


The main structure is done except for adding details to the load platform so it's on to the standalone loading platform.  This was a little more involved than what meets the eye.


The final few in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

The decking of this platform was added by starting on both sides and working inward.  The last board had to be narrowed a little bit to fit.  It'll be covered by details so it won't stand out.


Oh...that is my last picture.  So I guess this is a good time to stop.  I have this little platform (with roof) to complete and then a small office building and this one will be wrapped up.  It'll take me a little while to finish both of those but not nearly as long as it's taken me to get this far!  Not that that's a bad thing.  Getting this far has been fun!

Thanks for following along!

[PRR Modeler]

Good to see you building again. Great guide on your modeling techniques Bob.

[cuse]

Looking good Bob...the weathered shingles are great!


John

[S&S RR]

Bob


Great to see you back at the workbench and updating your build thread.  The build is looking fantastic.

Thanks John!  I've been at the workbench.  I've just been avoiding the computer at night and on weekends.   

I understand that. When I was working the last thing I wanted to do was get on a computer when I got home.  I actually limit myself to 30 min. a day now. Usually in 10 min. increments 3 times a day. The only exception is when I'm traveling and that's when I do the picture threads like the F&SM and Narrow Gauge Layout Tours.

[ReadingBob]

Good to see you building again. Great guide on your modeling techniques Bob.

Thanks Curt!  Glad to have you following along.  Hope to see you at Tom's one of these days in the near future. 

[ReadingBob]

Looking good Bob...the weathered shingles are great!


John

Thanks John!  Hopefully it won't take me too much longer to wrap this up.  I'm anxious to see what you can do with it on your layout.