FOS The Wacther Apartments

[Oldguy]

Looking real good.

[Jerry]

Bob as always a great tutorial.  An beautiful work.


Jerry

[ReadingBob]

Looking real good.

Thank you Bob!  It's a fun and interesting kit to build.  I'm having a good time with it. 

[ReadingBob]

Bob as always a great tutorial.  An beautiful work.


Jerry

Thank you Jerry!  Getting close to the end of the build.  Thought I'd be through by now but I keep finding little things to add to it or touch up. 

[ReadingBob]

Okay, time for an update.

Still a little hard to see in this picture but if you look close you can see I didn't trim the left hand side of the cigarettes sticking up out of the pack on the billboard as closely as I could have.


That little 'extra' that I left on there hides the support that didn't line up with the upright on the framework.  I figured this was the least objectionable solution to the issue.  It just didn't look right if that upright was shifted over to line up with the extension at the top of the framework.  I could have trimmed the upright off so it didn't stick up beyond the top of the billboard which would have allowed me to trim the sign the way it should have been.  But I went with this solution and it's not really noticeable.


I assembled the fire escapes next.  One thing I did different than how they appear in the photo's in the instructions was to put the deck opening on opposite sides for the top and lower escape.  In the photo's the opening is on the right hand side at both levels.  So your little people have to take the ladder down from the upper level to the lower level and avoid falling through the opening in the lower level, run to the other end and then climb over the railing to take the ladder down to the ground.    Didn't seem right to me so made it a little be safer for them.


There are a few odd shaped signs in this kit that add a lot of character to the structure.  I'll cover a couple of them here.  The first being this oddly shaped Floyd Grant sign.  I carefully cut out the sign with a sharp X-Acto knife and steel ruler.


I smeared a little Elmer's White Glue on the laser cut body of the sign with my finger before applying the paper sign.


Then I carefully positioned the paper sign on the body.  The one thing to be really careful of here is making sure that when you add the sign the to the other side of the body the top and bottom are oriented the same way as the sign on the reverse side. 


More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

Next up for the Floyd Grant sign is to trim the edge with a strip of plain paper colored silver.  First I cut a strip of paper just a wee bit wider than the sign itself and long enough to wrap around the edge of the sign.


Then I colored the paper silver with a silver Sharpie.


And there's the finished sign in place with a wire support bracket.


Here are the two fire escapes assembled in place.  I'm pretty sure the way this will be oriented on a module I plan on building (someday  ) there won't be a direct line of sight to the rear of the structure.  Pity.  There's some great detail in the rear.


Another sign that's interesting is the Wacther Apartments sign.  You have to glue four pieces that comprise the body of the sign together in a stack first.


I cut the sign out and lo and behold it was a little shorter that the 'stack' that makes up the body.


More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

I shortened the 'stack' to match the sign using a single edge razor blade and a sanding stick to smooth it out afterwards


Next up I wanted to add the foundation to the structure and I ran into a couple of issues here.  Two of the steps leading up the doors didn't align with the doors.


And the structure itself didn't align properly with the base.  If I got one side lined up the other side was off a bit.


I also found myself with a gap between the side walk and the stairs on both storefronts.


So, I trimmed of the offending 'steps' that didn't line up (here I did one but hadn't done the other yet).  I also cut out a chunk of the foundation that won't be seen.  Finally I made a cut (not done yet in this photo) to separate the garage foundation from the piece to next to it (basically near the edge at the bottom of where I cut out a chunk of the foundation).  Then I glued on the foundation starting with the garage side first.  After that set I did the two storefront sides.  Finally I did the rest.  That left me with a little gap next to the garage which is right where the coal bin goes so no one will be able to see it.    Oh, the chunk I cut out earlier?  I cut that in half and used it to fill in the gap between the stairs and the sidewalks on the store fronts.  I also glued the two steps back on, centered beneath the doors.


I didn't really want to build a base for the structure but found I had to if I wanted to add the fence, the pole an cloths lines so I cut one out of Gatorfoam and roughed in the edge of some streets which I painted and then colored with Pan Pastels.


I took a little break and messed around with some Tichy Oil Drums that came with the kit (plus some I purchased directly from Tichy) and experimented with AK Interactive Heavy Chipping Fluid.  First I painted the drums a dark rust (Floquil Rust mixed with a little Grimy Black) using an airbrush.  After that cured I brushed on two coats of the Chipping Fluid.  Then I painted the drums with various Polly Scale paints.  Next I stabbed at the drums with a damp, stiff brush to try to chip off some of the paint.  Finally I gave them a wash with a thinned rust color oil paint.  I also messed around with some broken boards by staining them, splattering them with Polly Scale Oily Black, applying chalks, AK Interactive Moss Deposits (thinned), etc. to give them a little more visual appeal than just simply staining them.  Just experimenting.


That's all for now!  Thanks for following along!

[PRR Modeler]

Beautiful modeling Bob. The signage looks awesome.

[WigWag Workshop]

I'm getting so much inspiration and ideas seeing this build come together.


-Steven

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looking fantastic, Bob!

Cheers, Mark.

[postalkarl]

Hey Bob:

It's looking just beautiful. Can't wait to see it finished.

Karl

[GPdemayo]

The barrels look great Bob. 

[PaulS]

Coming along wonderfully Bob.  And your efforts to make the subtle changes and corrections will ultimately produce a beautiful version of this kit !!

And thanks for sharing your efforts for those who may be building this down the road.
Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
All the best
--Paul

[ReadingBob]

Beautiful modeling Bob. The signage looks awesome.

Thanks Curt!  The kit came with a lot of neat signs that really make the structure stand out. 

[ReadingBob]

Hey Bob:

It's looking just beautiful. Can't wait to see it finished.

Karl

Thanks Karl!  Me too!  Almost there.