FOS - Frank Lava Gunsmith

[ReadingBob]

Time to open up the other kit my better half gave me this past X-Mas.  This one is the Frank Lava Gunsmith kit from FOS Scale Models.  I'm not sure I'll be able to shoehorn this one into the switching layout I plan on building but having it in its completed form will help be decide.

Here's the first peek at what's inside the box.



The contents.  A couple of sealed bags of laser cut components, window & door castings, etc. Instructions, strip wood, a contained with 3D printed and cast metal detail castings. But oh no!   There should be a 3D printed wall section (it sits above the store front. It's AWOL.  I sent an e-mail to the address in the instructions and got a reply that the information would be forwarded to Doug.  Hopefully the replacement arrives in a timely fashion.



If you have this kit pay attention to this sheet of laser cut parts.  Everything is a part.  Even the outer edge.  No waste here.



As I usually do, I started by removing the plastic doors and windows from their sprues using a sprue cutter.  Some folks (great modelers to be sure) prefer to paint them while they're still on the sprue.  Nothing wrong with that.  I happen to prefer removing them and cleaning them up prior to painting.



A couple of quick swipes with an emery board touches up any nubs that may have been left by the sprue cutter (thiough they're barely noticeable).



Something Tom (ACL1504) and experience has taught me is to check to make sure you have enough doors and windows to fill all the openings.  In this case they're all there.  It really kills the momentum when find out you're one or two short after they've been painted, weathered, dry brushed, the windows have been glazed, etc.  But, just in case, I have a couple of Tichey Window and Door assortment packs I keep handy.  If one is missing, I can typically find match in those assortments.



To be continued in a moment...

[Rick]

Bob, I'll be here following along on this project.

[ReadingBob]

I clean up the metal castings with and assortment of files and sanding sticks.



There's the sanding stick (from Hobby Lobby) being used to follow up where the file was used.



There's a sprue with several castings (cans, telephones, electric meters, etc.) included in the kit.  An old pair of rail nippers works well for removing the parts from the sprue.



Some of the 3D printed components need to be removed from their base.  The sprue cutter works well for this most of the time.  Sometimes it can reach in to where it needs to go and other things need to be used.  Like and X-Acto knife.



I clean up the 3D printed components with sanding sticks.



Bonus Question - What show does the University of American Samoa Law School t-shirt I'm wearing reference?

There's a ton of pigeons included in this kit!  I debated painting them before removing them from the carrier but opted to remove them prior to painting. I think they're too close together to paint when they're still attached to the base.



More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

Bob, I'll be here following along on this project.

You're the first one here, Rick.  You can have a seat in the front row. 

[PRR Modeler]

I'll be following Bob as always.

[ReadingBob]

Continuing on I remove all the laser cut parts from the thinner sheets next.  For this I use a single edged razor blade.



And I clean them up with an emery board.  Just a couple of swipes does the trick.



Same for the clapboard wall sections.  A single edged razor blade to remove them.



But a little more aggressive sanding with the emery board to square up the edges.  The laser cuts at a slight angle to the edges are necessary 90 degrees.



There's a clear lamp post (I assume this was 3D printed as well) that I wanted to prime and paint the base and post but not the glass globe.  So, I used a small disposable brush and painted the globe with MicroScale Industries Micro Mask.  Normally this gets applied over a painted, gloss, finish.  I hope it doesn't give me any trouble being painted over the raw finish.  We'll find out after I paint it when I go to remove the mask.



I then braced the walls as per the template.  The only thing tricky about this is the bracing for the side walls has to match the height of the rear wall.



I like the pilot model Doug built.  I'm going to use similar colors.  This will be the first time I'm going to use black as a trim color.  The instructions reference a Tire Black from a brand of paint I don't have on hand.  Rather than hunting for it I opted to make a little sample card of some of the black paints I have on hand.



I think the Vallejo German Grey is going to the winner.  Alright, it's not black.  It sure looks black to me though.

More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

I'll be following Bob as always.

Glad to have you here Curt.  Take a seat next to Rick. 

[deemery]

Pigeons, eh?  They could be a painting challenge, pigeons can be kinda colorful within a limited palette. 

I use German Panzer Grey as my standard "scale black" color.  It's close to the old Floquil color, and a lot easier to find these days.

dave

[ReadingBob]

Since I had the black paints out, and the walls braced, I took this opportunity to paint the inside of the walls black.  If I light this one up (which I most likely will) this will prevent the light from passing through the walls.  I also like a black interior in case you can see inside a window.



Next up, I stained the walls with Hunterline Weathering Mix Light Gray.  Sometimes I use their Driftwood.  Sometimes I'll used an Alcohol and India Ink (A&I) mix.



Before I stained the strip wood with the Hunterline weathering mix there were two larger pieces that needed to be cut to match the width of the store front.  After trimming the other end off and sanding it smooth, I marked where the cut needed to be made.



I used a fine-toothed razor saw and a square to make the cuts.



Next up I used a makeup sponge to paint the walls Oyster White.



That's where I'm currently at.  All the detail parts have been primed with a Khaki color rattle can.  I'm going to be painting the detail castings for a few days (at least).  I'm still waiting on the missing front wall section.  I'm hoping it arrives before I reach the point where I need it.  If not, I have a small FOS freebie sitting on the workbench that I'll open up and work on.

Thanks for following along!

[ReadingBob]

Pigeons, eh?  They could be a painting challenge, pigeons can be kinda colorful within a limited palette. 

I use German Panzer Grey as my standard "scale black" color.  It's close to the old Floquil color, and a lot easier to find these days.

dave

Yeah, the pigeons will be a challenge.  I also have some 3D printed rabbits and figures (including George Sellios and Tony Koester) from Miniprints that I should clean up and paint.

I don't know if I can find German Panzer Grey without hitting a real hobby shop (or shopping on-line).  Hobby Lobby is close, but the selections are rather limited.  Thanks for the tip!  

[deemery]

Pigeons, eh?  They could be a painting challenge, pigeons can be kinda colorful within a limited palette. 

I use German Panzer Grey as my standard "scale black" color.  It's close to the old Floquil color, and a lot easier to find these days.

dave

Yeah, the pigeons will be a challenge.  I also have some 3D printed rabbits and figures (including George Sellios and Tony Koester) from Miniprints that I should clean up and paint.

I don't know if I can find German Panzer Grey without hitting a real hobby shop (or shopping on-line).  Hobby Lobby is close, but the selections are rather limited.  Thanks for the tip! 

I think that Vallejo color you're using is the same, or very very close.  (Of course, particularly in wartime, paint QA tends to "loosen up" a bit...)

dave

[craftsmankits]

I'll be following along Bob, but I believe it's easier to leave the pigeons on the sprue for painting purposes, same might go for some of the other smaller items.  I have no idea how to 'fix' this since they are so tiny. Just look at it as a real challenge.  I'm sure you're up to it.  Mark

[ReadingBob]

I'll be following along Bob, but I believe it's easier to leave the pigeons on the sprue for painting purposes, same might go for some of the other smaller items.  I have no idea how to 'fix' this since they are so tiny. Just look at it as a real challenge.  I'm sure you're up to it.  Mark

Thanks for the thoughts, Mark! I gave some thought to cutting the base holding the pigeons, from front to back, separating them into rows. Probably could have cut it using a cut off disk in a Dremel.  I opted not to.  When I paint them, I'll tape a piece of blue to the workbench, upside down, so I have a sticky surface to hold them in place. Then it'll be 10x Optivisor and tiny paintbrush time. 

[friscomike]

Howdy Bob,

The kit looks like a fun build. Thanks for sharing your process for building the kit. It looks great!

Have fun,
mike

[ACL1504]

Bob,

This will be another fantastic build by you on one of Doug's great kits. I just got mine in the mail yesterday. I also got the MD Garage. Looking forward to building the garage.

Anyway, great start.

Tom