Master Creations Watt-Moreland Waxworks

[Opa George]

I'll be following along with this interesting kit. I believe master creations is now called better than scratch (BTS). I just ordered the Mill Creek mine. I looked at the kit and instructions at Greg's house a couple of weeks ago  and the instructions are literally a book.

Happy to have you following, Curt. I have been eyeing up all the BTS mine and lumber kits.  You could fill a basement in no time will that assortment of structures. I like those type of instruction "books!"
--George

[Opa George]

When I was in HO  I did buy one, received it and all those sheets, scared the hell out of me.  Next thing I know it was on ebay and gone to a new home.  Stayed with FSM kits and added SRMW stone roundhouse and then brick version and a few other of his designs.

mike               HAIRBALL

Mike, say it isn't true! With your mad skills you could ace this kit.  Regardless, can't go wrong with those other two kit makers, though. I have yet to try a SRMW kit.  I've followed a few builds and they look fantastic.  Love your work regardless of scale, by the way.
--George

[Opa George]

George,
FYI, have contacted  B.T.S. Structures a few months ago. He acquired the Master Creations' line of laser-cut, craftsman kits in HO, S, and O scales In 1998.
Was missing one small wall in an older Master Creations kit. Sent him photos of the box and the wall # and provided some info he requested in the instructions.  B.T.S.  has the kit files on his drive and he cut out the needed item and sent me the part in a week ! Great customer service !!!
Good luck on your build.
Tommy

Thanks much for that tip, Tommy.  Gotta respect that dedication to customer service.
--George

[Opa George]

I'll be looking in also George.....

Very happy to have you along, Greg!
--George

[Opa George]

Great build George-after a 10 year absence from the hobby, I too went looking for this kit (remembering the really cool ads in MR from back in the day). After almost a year of searching one popped up on e-bay on a buy it now sale and I snapped it up. Unfortunately when I received the kit it was missing the instruction booklet. This too was after the sale to BTS and after contacting them they graciously provided a copy of the original instruction booklet -at no cost I might add. (Needless to say I have made a number of purchases of their products since). I haven't begun any work on this kit(other than temporarily wiring up the bat eyes controller board and lights-very cool)so I'll be following your build closely( I think one was started on a previous forum but I'm not sure if the builder ever finished it). Agian great looking progress.
Doug

Thanks, Doug, and happy to have you following.  I did see a beginning build somewhere--Googled it for pics.  But you are right, it did not get much past the foundation.  I got quite busy today with work and did not get much more done yet, but hope to have a few pics up tomorrow with some new sub assemblies completed and installed.
--George

[Opa George]

I got some time to work on the Waxworks today.  Below are some progress pics.

Here is the tower in beginning aspects of construction. You can see the finely crafted laser-cut trim overlay, which is an example of how many of the walls are trimmed.


The main entrance and tower are nearly finished.  While the roof dries, I am starting to rough in the end office. The main structure has tabs to locate it to the dock base. I have not yet glued it in place as all of the windows need to be installed. So you will notice it in not sitting flush--just enough so that I can locate the shape of the hexagonal end office.


More pictures from various angles.  Really taking my time on this one--some of the laser-cut parts are VERY DELICATE. Despite taking what I thought was proper care, I managed to break a few. Fortunately they are easily repaired.














Many thanks to Jim Mooney for advice on this build. 
--Opa George

[PRR Modeler]

Very nice so far George.

[ACL1504]

George,

I've been following your build with interest, ok, lurking if you will. Jeff Grove started this kit and quickly gave in to the task. These builds/kits require a lot of patience and perseverance.

I have this kit in my stash and in fact mine is one of the several Special Editions they came out with. The SE kits have both lights and sound. The lights and sound come on at different times based on how you program the board.

One day I'll attempt to build mine. I did build the MC Franz Faulk Brewery and it was certainly a challenge.

You are doing an outstanding job on this one. Great work.

Tom

[ReadingBob]

Opa George - you're a around the point in this build I was years ago when I put it on the shelf to build something else (so Jeff Grove is not alone in giving up on this one).  It's still on the shelf.     I think it'll stay there a while longer although you are tempting me to try my hand at it again.  Afterwards I quickly sold the other Master Creations kit I owned to Slim (where is Slim these days?). 

Keep up the great work. 

[Mark Dalrymple]

Coming on a treat, George.

I remember giving my Fanny Schwann's confectionery two coats of paint to try to tone down those nailholes a bit.  The trouble was the laser cutting had charred the holes and they stood out terribly.

Enjoying watching this kit come to life - it doesn't happen very often with MC kits - and they are such cool designs.

Cheers, Mark.

[Opa George]

I made more progress today.  On reflection, this is the ideal kit for these weird times.  It really requires you to slow down, plan your build, read ahead for the tenth time, double-check parts, and so much more.  I spent hours on it today, and it only shows a little progress, but there is a whole lot of work involved in that little bit.  In that way, it is a very satisfying kit.



I placed a sheet of black showboard behind it, to hide the workbench clutter.


Most of my time was spent constructing the office, seen here head on.


The rear of the structure.  Instructions say to hold off on any more chimney brickwork application until the mansard roof is in place. I am dying to get to those elaborate chimney tops, though!


I like the view from this end, where the track enters the complex. The huge iron gate will be installed here across the trestle.


Here is a three-quarter view from this end, showing off the tower.


The front, head on, again.  I keep getting slightly blurry images trying to photograph this head-on


Three-quarter view from the opposite end.


I believe my next steps will be to work on the main structure trim, and the windows.  The roof and dormers are a pretty complicated project, but the instructions look pretty clear.

Thanks for looking in!
--Opa George

[postalkarl]

Hey George:

Wow!!! That is really a cool looking kit. Love all the fancy coloring.

Karl

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looking good, George.

You're doing an awesome job.  Its going to be such an eye catcher!

Cheers, Mark.

[NKP768]

Looks good George. I pulled the instruction manual out again to follow along with your progress and I am amazed at all the the sub and trim pieces that go into the tower and office areas. Great job
Doug

[Opa George]

Looks good George. I pulled the instruction manual out again to follow along with your progress and I am amazed at all the the sub and trim pieces that go into the tower and office areas. Great job
Doug

Thanks, Doug. At the moment, I am involved in the main structure trim.  This is one of those areas where the instructions get very thin. Essentially an exploded parts view of all four sides with all the various trim, doors, windows and etc identified. The instructions essentially say "go at it." (I am paraphrasing).  But I enjoy the challenge of finding and identifying everything.

I laid out several dozen trim parts for painting -- I like to put them on an inside out loop of blue painters tape, then hit them with a rattle can of the chosen color.

By the way, as you can see from my color scheme I am using green as a base, red for most trim, and yellow for accents. This architectural style is a stick style Queen Anne, and compared to historical examples, I am being conservative in my color scheme. I am using Rustoleum camouflage "Army Green," "Colonial Red,"and "Lemon Grass." The roof shingles are in Rustoleum red primer. At the moment, it all looks as if it is newly painted.  I will be weathering it a bit, but not as much as many of my other structures.
--Opa George