FOS Kit of The Month Club 16 (April 2020) - Toppers Pancakes

[ReadingBob]

I always enjoy following along with your builds, Bob (the builder)
terry

Thanks, Terry!  Glad to have you on board for the journey. 

[GPdemayo]

As usual, I'll be looking in to see what you're up to on the ole' workbench.....

[ReadingBob]

As usual, I'll be looking in to see what you're up to on the ole' workbench.....

Thanks, Greg!  I'll try to get this one done a little quicker than the last one. 

[GPdemayo]

Always good to have a plan..... 

[ReadingBob]

Back at it.  Time to finish off this little build.

I like kits like this that have alternating colors.  I used Tamiya masking tape to protect the white sections (the entire bottom of the front wall was painted white) and then dabbed on some red acrylic craft paint to paint the red sections.



Good enough given there's an overlay that will add some silver where red and white sections come together.



The overlay was one thing I messed up.  It's very fragile.  Somehow, I managed to break off one of the thin pieces and a few of the others got bent out of shape.  Let's see if I can recover from this little faux pas.  By the way, I lightly dabbed some Burnt Umber on the wall to dirty it up and give it some little rust spots. 



I cleaned up where the broken piece was and removed the other long piece that goes over the glass.  After gluing the overlay in place (and straightening out the bent pieces at the bottom as best I could) I replaced the two long pieces with scale 1" x 2" strip wood, glued on its 1" edge.  Then I lightly sanded then to thin them (had I some 1" x 1" on hand I would have used that and then painted them silver to match the overlay.



There's the repaired overlay.  Not too bad.  I need to be more careful with parts like this in the future. 



More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

The rear wall has a section that's supposed to represent a papered wall with battens.  The battens were laser cut from the microfiber board.  Since they were already a nice wood color all I did was give them a thinned wash of AK Interactive Weathered Wood.  Chances are the rear of the structure may not be seen, depending on where it ends up.



Next up I added some nail holes (I like 'em, end of story) to the wood walls using a ponce wheel.  I generally add them along the edges, around the door and window openings and every two feet where there are no openings.



The doors, windows and wood walls were then treated by 'dry sponging' a Dove Gray acrylic craft paint over them.  Just enough to leave some traces of the gray.  Not to cover up the paint.  This represents where the finish color has peeled off and the primer is visible beneath.



After the gray was dry sponged onto the doors, windows and walls, I did the same thing with a Khaki color.  This represents where paint and primer have both peeled off and the bare wood is showing.



To add a little more character to the walls I lifted up some random clapboards using a chisel blade in an X-Acto handle.  Slip the blade under the clapboard a little bit (and not into your finger) and then twist it slightly.  You can simply lift a few boards, or you can break off a board here and there to represent some real damage.  I just lifted a few boards on this one.



More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

The next step, for finishing the walls, was to apply a coat of Light Gray Hunterline Weather Mix.  Driftwood or A&I would work as well.  This darkens the walls a bit, fills in the nail holes and, if any boards were broken off, colors the underlying raw wood that would have been exposed.



After the walls have dried, I dry bushed them with an Ivory White acrylic craft paint (for those who have build FSM kits this is my replacement for dry brushing things with Floquil Antique White.  Again, we're not trying to 'paint' everything white.  Just leave a trace of the Ivory White over the edges to bring things to life.



I glued the 1/16" corner trim to the edge of the walls, per the templates.  I didn't cut it to fit.  It's easier to glue it place and then trim it after the fact.



I trim the corner pieces to fit with a sharp, single edge razor blade.



For the smaller windows and doors my preference is to use Microscale Industries Micro Krystal Klear for the glazing rather than the acetate included in the kit.  Simply get a drop of it on an applicator of some type (I have a metal pointy thing I use) and draw it across the opening from on the rear of the window/door.




More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

Jumping around a little bit I moved on to the roof top signs.  While the 3M Transfer Tape can be used to apply the paper signs to the boards hold them it can be a little unforgiving if you don't nail the positioning of the sign on the first attempt.  So, I opted to use Elmers White glue, thinned with water to secure the signs.  Just spread the glue over the back of the sign with your finger, wipe the glue off your finger before handling the sign, and then position it in place.



Back to the front wall.  The large window does require the acetate.  I used the Micro Krystal Klear to glue an oversized piece in place.



You get maybe two shots at positioning the sign using the glue.  Rather than the one that the transfer tape will give you.



Just be careful to not have the glue ooze out over the visible area of the acetate.



Returning the foundation, which had previously been painted with a Cool Concrete acrylic craft paint, I applied various Pan Pastels (grays, browns, etc.) until I ended up with a color that I was kind of happy with.  No formula.  I just mess around with it until I'm somewhat happy with the color.



More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

More dry sponging of Burnt Umber over some of the signs.  Very, very light.  Just enough to leave random small specks of paint on the signs.



Finally, I get to a step I really enjoy.  Gluing the walls together!  Normally I glue one end wall with the rear wall and the other end wall with the front wall to create two halves and then glue them together.  For this one, however, I opted to glue the two end walls to the rear wall first and then add the front wall last.



For the roof I applied 3M Transfer tape first.  While it's a bit pricey it does beat using glue to attach the roofing material because there's virtually no chance that you'll leave glue marks on the roof.



Add the 3M Transfer Tape, flip the cardstock roof over and then trim it fit using the edge of the roof as a guide.



Instead of using the roofing material include in the kit I opted to use some red, rolled roofing paper from Stoney Creek Designs (which, unfortunately, is no more).  I cut scale 3' strips of the paper first.



Next, I removed the backing from the 3M transfer tape on the roof which leaves a sticky surface.



More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

Since this is a relatively small roof, I just eyeballed it as I added the strips of paper to the roof.  Starting at the bottom and leaving a little overhang the bottom edge.  I didn't use one long piece that ran from one edge of the roof to the other.  I used two pieces for each row so there'd be some vertical seams.  



After the paper was applied, I trimmed the ends to fit. I left a little overhang so I could fold it down of the edge of the cardstock roof.



There's the little overhang.  Not prototypical but for some reason it looks okay on our models.  Unless you're a stickler for prototype construction.



I decided to add a single LED to light up the structure.  This is going to be a very simple circuit.  I used some copper tape that has a sticky back to it.  Removing the backing I can stick it to a piece of black, photo mounting board I cut to fit inside the structure.



The entire circuit consists of three pieces of the copper tape, one LED, one Current Limiter and two pieces of wire.  I applied the copper tape to the board first.

 
After using a red sharpie to mark positive leg of the LED and the Current Limiter, along with making the positive end of circuit on the copper tape, I applied some Liquid Soldering Flux to the leads of the LED and Current Limiter along with the joints on the copper tape, the ends of the wires I was going to use, etc.



I then applied a little solder to everything.  This will make it easier to solder things together when I make the connections.



More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

I drilled holes in board where I wanted the wires, LED and Current Limiter to go and then started soldering things in place.  Bearing in mind the flow of electricity.  Positive in, to the positive leg of the Current Limiter.  Then from the Negative leg of the Current Limiter to the Positive leg of the LED.  Then the negative leg of the LED to the negative wire out.



After the soldering is done the most crucial step in the process!  Gap the copper tape between the leads of the Current Limiter as well as the leads of the LED.  If you gap the tap between the leads of the LED but not the Current Limiter the LED will light up, but only for a brief second and then you'll have to replace it.  Ask me how I know.    I use an X-Acto knife to cut the tape between the leads and remove it create a gap.



And there's the gap.  I generally limit myself to 3, or less, LED's per Current Limiter.  I have gone to 4, on occasion.  the thing is each takes a certain amount of voltage.  The Current Limiter requires a minimum of 5 volts and has a maximum of 90 volts.  Each LED requires a small amount.  With the Current Limiter and 3 LED's you can light the circuit with a 12-volt wall wart.  With 4 LED's you may need an 18-volt wall wart.



Testing my circuit.  Success!



Final photos in the next post! 

[ReadingBob]

And here is the final product.









All in all, a fun little kit!

Thanks for following along!

[Zephyrus52246]

Mmm.  Pancakes.  Nice looking little kit.  Great job per usual, Bob.

Jeff

[deemery]

I have to admit I'd be a little suspicious of a -Florida- pancake house offering "our own maple syrup."   But it's a great build, and the weathering is -consistent-.  

dave

[Janbouli]

Superb weathering , and the signs are great.