FSM Kit #295 Fox Run Milling Build by ReadingBob

[ReadingBob]

Hi Bob:

You could always cover it up with a rusted corrugated wall patch.

Karl

Thanks John, Eric, Greg, Gnat and Karl!

I considered doing a wall patch like that Karl but for some reason it didn't appeal to me so I decided to repair it the way I did.   

[Janbouli]

Great stuff Bob , thanks for showing everything so detailed.

[ReadingBob]

Great stuff Bob , thanks for showing everything so detailed.

My pleasure Jan.  Thanks for following along.  Time for an update!

For the 'glass' in the windows I opted to use the acetate that came with the kit rather than Krystal Klear, my glazing material of choice.  I did, however, use the Kystal Klear as a glue to glue the glazing in place.  I cut the acetate to fit just inside the opening and lined the edge of the opening with Krystal Klear.


I cleaned the acetate (with my t-shirt    ) to remove any finger prints and then I carefully postioned the acetate in place in the opening with a pair of tweezers.  After all of the windows were installed I painted (per the instructions) the inside of the windows with Floquil Flat Finish to dull them down and give them a dirty look.


I finished the windows by adding blinds to them.  This is simply a sheet of white paper from the printer that I painted Depot Buff and cut into strips slightly wider than the window openings.  I cut them to various lengths to represent blinds that are partially open and then glue them directly to the wall using plain on white glue.


After adding a few small signs it's finally time to start gluing some walls together!      I glued a front wall to a side wall to make a half of the structure.  I used clamps (though not as many as Mark would    ) and a jig to keep everything square and tight.  I did the same for the other two walls.


When the glue dried on the two halves I took them and glued them together again using the jig, clamps and this time my fingers to keep things tight and square while the glue set (I'm wathcing TV while I do this so holding the structure until the glue grabs is no big deal).


It's time to start cutting out the roof pieces from the card stock.  I figured this would be a good time to put a fresh blade in the X-Acto knife too.  I don't try to cut through the card stock on one pass.  I take three, four or more passes (using a steel ruler as a guide) to cut through the card stock.


More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

After the roof was cut off I flipped it over and used a pencil and the opening in the card stock to mark off where the rafter tails will go.  Bear in mind the marking are printed on the top of the card and will be shingled over so you need to do this step before you shingle and glue the roof in place.


I'm only deviating slighly from the instructions when it comes to attaching the shingles (Campbell's).  In the instructions George mentions squeezing out a puddle of white glue and using a pencil to put a thin line on the card stock roof to glue the shingles in place.  I used white glue and applied it straight from the bottle in as thin a bead as I could to just the top edge of the shingles.


I then ran the strip of shingles between my finger and thumb to flatten out/thin out the bead of glue and push the excess off the top of strip onto my fingers.  The big thing is to avoid getting glue on the individual shingles themselves.  You want to be able to lift some of them up later on so they don't lay flat.


I quickly wiped the excess glue off of my fingers and then positioned the shingles in place on the cardstock using the lines as a guide.  Naturally you start at the bottom and work your way up.  Repeat these steps what seems like a gazillion times until the both sides of the roof are covered in shingles.


After the roof is completely shingled I weighed it down under a marble block to keep it flat while the glue dried and then, afterwards, flipped it over and trimmed the excess shingles (I tore the strips slightly longer than needed and let them hang over both ends when I glued them in place) off using a straight edge and my trusty X-Acto knife.


I added some bracing to the underside of the roof, per the instructions.


More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

You can't see it here but I compared the roof the structure and measure how much wide the roof was than the structure, divided that amount in half and then drew guidelines on both sides of the underside of the roof so I could center the roof on the structure when I glued it in place.  You can also simply eyeball it.      I ran a bead of glue around the structure and positioned the roof in place.


I don't have any fancy sand bags or contraptions to hold the roof in place while the glue sets so I simply used my fingers and watched a little more TV.  The Pink Famingo Glue takes hold pretty quick.


The roof was then painted with Floquil Earth.  After the paint dried it was given two applications of my Alcohol and Ink mix and, after each of those dried, drybushed with an off white.  The rafter tails were then installed, trimmed to fit with rail nippers and the ends were touched up with the same Hunterline stain I had dipped the strip wood in earlier.

Final picture for today.  I built the cupola next using the same techniques.  Before installing it on the peak of the roof, however, I marked where it was going to go and painted that area with a flat black paint (Polly Scale Grimy Black in this case).  This was a good tip from the instructions.  You don't want to look in the windows of the dormer and see the shingled roof.


That's all for now!  More as I make some progress.  Thanks for following along.

[GPdemayo]

It's starting to look like there's a building in that kit.....

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looking great, Bob!

Cheers, Mark.

[EricQuebec]

Very Nice...
Thanks to take time to share it with us.
Eric Québec city...... Lost in Kitchen Renovation......

[ReadingBob]

Greg, Mark and Eric,

Thanks for following along and the comments.  Much appreciated.

All the wood walls for the structures are painted, weathered, have doors and windows installed, etc.  With those prepped and all of the detail castings painted I hope to able to move along pretty quickly now, time permitting.      

[ACL1504]

Bob,

You are doing an excellent tutorial and build on the kit. I'll be most happy when I can get back to building. Many thumbs up on this one Reading Bob.

Tom

[ReadingBob]

Bob,

You are doing an excellent tutorial and build on the kit. I'll be most happy when I can get back to building. Many thumbs up on this one Reading Bob.

Tom

Thanks Tom.  We'll all be happy when you get back into structure building mode too.  Not that we aren't enjoying the layout building mode.  It's fun to watch that come together but it'll be even nicer when you can start adding structures and scenery to it. 

[postalkarl]

Hi Bob:

Roof looks great. You should try 3M 465 tape instead of glue. Takes half the time and no glue mess.

Keep the photos coming.

Karl

[ReadingBob]

Thanks Karl.  I do use transfer tape quite a bit but didn't bother with it on this one.

Okay, back at it.     It's starting to take shape.

The dormer on the main mill is an interesting little feature.  It's made up of three walls which were first glued together at 90 degree angles and then glued into position centered under the notch on the main roof.  I just held it in place until the glue set.


The dormer roof is the only roof (so far) that required adding the rafter tails prior to installing the roof.  You can imagine how hard it would be to glue these in place after this particular roof was installed.


Trimming the rafter tails to length required a little guess work.  Again, this is done prior to installing the roof so you simply have to judge the correct angle to cut them.


Now the roof can be glued into place.  I just held it down with my fingers until the glue set.


I glued a strip of paper (from a brown paper bag - more on that in the next picture) to the peak of the roof.


I keep a pack of brown paper lunch bags handy for various uses besides lunch.     I tape one to the edge of my work bench and use it as a little garbage bag.  For 1:1 scale projects I tape them (using painters tape) to the wall just beneath where I'm going to drill a hole to catch the debris.  Most importantly I cut a section from the folded edge, like shown in the picture, to use for the peak of the roof when I'm building a model. 


Continued in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

I take the piece I cut from the bag and trim it to the correct width using a straight edge and an X-Acto knife.  Since it's pre-folded I divide the width I need by 1/2 and measure that distance in from the fold.


And here's a strip being added to the peak of the entryway shelter.


I added the remaining roof details and pitch around them to finish up the bulk of the first part of the main structure.  Now it's time to glue it to the base.  Prior to gluing it down I marked off where the structures will go and cut openings the base so I could access the structures from beneath to add lighting.  Normally I try to make the roofs removable so I can add lighting or access it for repair purposes but the roof on this one was just too complex to make that an option.


And now it's glued in place over the opening.


The loading dock is next up.  This is a delicate little assembly build directly over the template.


Before removing it from the template the front and back substructure need to be marked where the supports for the floor will go.  I used a mechanical pencil for this (but had trouble seeing the markings later on when I went to add the supports  ).


More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

Like I mentioned, I had a hard time seeing my pencil markings when I added the supports.  The big thing is to get them evenly spaced and standing upright.


Before adding the floor boards the assembly is glued into place.  After gluing it into place I added dirt and debris to the area underneath and glued that in place by first wetting it with a 50/50 mixture of clear alcohol and water and then a thinned out white glue mix (3 parts water to 1 part white glue).  Once that dries I'll go back and add the floor boards.


Jumping ahead to the next structure while the dirt dries I started working on what I consider to be the signature sign for this mill.  I rubbed it (top to bottom) with some fine steel wool to tone it down a bit (the instructions call for using fine sandpaper for this step).


I then cut the sign out (trimmed off the white) and toned it down with my A&I mix.  My mix is a little dark so I dipped my brush in straight A before dipping it the A&I to thin it out a little bit.


And that brings us up to date.  Later on today I'll add the sign to the wall and finish up the loading dock, stairs and canopies over the doors on the main structure.

Thanks for following along.