FOS Gorman Sign Company build

[ReadingBob]

Time for a new thread.  This one is the FOS Gorman Sign Company.  It was a gift from my better half this past X-Mas.  

Let's open it up and see what's in the box.



All kinds of interesting things.  Bags of parts, strip wood, a sheet of colorful signs, etc.



In addition to the metal castings there are some really neat, well defined, 3D printed detail parts.



I started cleaning up the 3D parts by removing the little 'legs' from them using a sprue cutter



I also used the sprue cutter to remove the doors and windows from the plastic sprues.  I know some people prefer to paint them first and remove them later and that's fine too.  This is just the way I like to do it.



There are a few 55-gallon oil drums that need to be nipped from their sprue as well but it's too thick for the sprue cutter I have so use an old pair of rail nippers to snip these.



More in a moment....

[ReadingBob]

The rail nippers also comes in handy for removing the metal castings from their sprues.



Everything got cleaned up with small files, emery boards, or sanding sticks.  Next, I removed the walls from the carrier sheets using a single edge razor blade.



I squared the edges of the walls using an emery board.  The edges aren't quite square when they're laser cut.



I also cut out the foundation from the matt board material.  Pay close attention when doing the walls and these.  This one, for example, looks like there are three pieces in the carrier.  It's actually four pieces total. The entire sheet is a part as are the three pieces contained within.



I also removed all the parts from the thinner sheet, again, using a single edged razor blade followed by an emery board or sanding stick to smooth the cuts.  Same thing applies here, some folks prefer to paint them first and remove them later.  I just like to do it the other way around.  No harm, no foul.  It's all good.



Okay, first issue.  Using a trick I learned here on the forum (as well as the hard way), I checked to make sure I had all the window/door castings required.  I was one short.



More in a moment....

[ReadingBob]

Okay, I know I could have contacted the manufacturer and requested the missing part.  Rather than wait, I pulled out a 290 piece window and door assortment from Tichy Train Group and found the part I needed. 



I laid things out on a baking sheet with painters' tape that was taped sticky side up to take out to the garage to be painted.  I primed it using the last little bit of Floquil Earth I found in my stash.  Unfortunately I spilled some after thinning it and only had enough to paint one side.  I flipped everything over and painted the other side with Floquil Depot Buff.   Once it dried I fired up the airbrush one more time and used a variety of colors to paint some the individual stuff.



Time to brace the walls.  A thin bead of Canopy glue was applied to 1/8" square strip wood first.



Then I spread the glue over the surface of the strip wood with my fingertip (which I immediately wiped on a paper towel so I would transfer glue to the surface of the walls).



Where the bracing material goes against the edge of the wall I tried my best to make sure it didn't extend beyond the edge.



I weighed the wall down for a few minutes after applying the bracing.  Just long enough for the glue to set a bit.



More in a moment....

[ReadingBob]

I trimmed the excess bracing using a single edged razor blade.  I should note, I broke out a new razor blade when I started this build.  I also put a new blade in the handle of my X-Acto knife. 



One of the walls is made up of a clapboard section and a pressed paper section.  I used the pressed paper section to gauge how long the bracing should be but didn't glue that piece on.  It has a large sign that covers it and I didn't want to have to mask it off while I painted/weathered the clapboard wall section.



Here it is after cutting the bracing.



I lightly scrubbed, from top to bottom, the sign for that wall with some fine steel wool.  Just a little to remove a little of the ink.



Then I painted the back of the sign with an A&I mix.  It'll seep through to the front but won't appear as dark when it dries.



All of the wall sections then got painted with Hunterline Light Gray Weathering Mix



 
More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

I settle on a color called Thicket from Americana for the walls, doors, windows and trim.  Normally I do two colors, but I liked the look of the pilot model, being a single color, and there are cases where a single color was used to keep things simple.  I used a sponge to paint everything.



Next I used Dove Gray and 'dry sponged' some of that onto the walls.  Just to get a hint of the gray primer peeking out from underneath the Thicket.  I followed that up using the same technique and Khaki.



I painted the inside of the walls black in case (still undetermined) I opt to add lights later on.  You can see in the foreground I've been painting the castings as I go along as well.



Using a ponce wheel, I added nail holes where I thought the rows of nails should be.  Along the edges, along the sides of doors and windows, or roughly every two feet otherwise.



Using a chisel blade in an X-Acto handle I pried up some of the clapboards.  Even broke one or two off.  I didn't go crazy on this one though.  The business is still in decent shape.



Another coat of the Hunterline Light Gray Weathering Mix.  If my 'Dry sponging' technique got a little two heavy handed in spots that can be used to wash away, or blend, some of those spots so they aren't as obnoxious.  



More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

Okay, next up is dry brushing everything (walls, doors, windows) with Folk Art Ivory White.  Just enough to highlight things.



For glazing I prefer to use MicroScale Industries Micro Krystal Klear.  It's easy to apply to the openings and I rarely have any issues with air bubbles.  Draw a thin coat across the opening and let it dry.



While the windows are drying, I added the corner trim.  All this, of course, was done following the templates in the instructions.



Same as the bracing, I glued on a strip longer than needed and trimmed it to fit afterwards using the razor blade.



And that's all for now.  You're caught up to where I'm at.  More when I get more done!

Thanks for following along!

[Zephyrus52246]

Hooray!  A build by Bob.  I have this kit in the stash and will watch your progress closely.

Jeff

[deemery]

What a way to kick off retirement!   The walls came out good.   Do you have any warping problems, particularly with the black interior paint?  I've had that happen a couple of times.

dave

[ReadingBob]

Hooray!  A build by Bob.  I have this kit in the stash and will watch your progress closely.

Jeff

Jeff, happy to have you following along.  I really liked this one when I first saw it and couldn't wait to build it.  I'll let you know if I run into any major challenges. There are some minor ones, so far, but nothing major.

[ReadingBob]

What a way to kick off retirement!  The walls came out good.  Do you have any warping problems, particularly with the black interior paint?  I've had that happen a couple of times.

dave

You got that right, Dave!  

I should have mentioned that I did add a little extra bracing to the walls.  There was some minor warping in a few spots that will be hidden but I expect those will straighten out anyway, when the walls are joined together.  Some of the walls are more susceptible to warping because the 'hidden' part of the walls contains openings that contained smaller wall sections.  Between that, and the tab in slot construction, it would be hard for someone to kit bash this particular kit without cutting new walls entirely.  

[Mark Dalrymple]

Great start, Bob.

Its looking very neat.  A cool little kit, too.  Good to see you start your retirement with such gusto!

Cheers, Mark.

[Janbouli]

Ah , Bob the Builder at work ( well hobby ) , thanks for sharing.

[GPdemayo]

Retired for 1 day and you're already working at "Greg Speed".....atta boy Bob. 

[Rollin]

Nice work, Bob.

Several of the 3D printed parts were also used in the Axle Road kit. The CAFE sign, for one. Greg was asking about the air conditioning unit I showed in one of my pics.

[Vietnam Seabee]

I'm gonna be watching this one....looks good so far
Terry