FOS Cookson Soap build

[Zephyrus52246]

Finished this kit today.  Didn't start a thread earlier as this one has been stop and go.  I started it the first week of May.
It's a background kit, so it should go quickly (I say that 3 months later).  Here's the kit and the usual stuff.   Clapboard and scribed walls, stripwood, two types of roofing materials, some signs and instructions. 

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

I start by truing up the walls on the sander as they sometimes have a slant from the laser.

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Next it's bracing time.  

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

I nearly always screw up the bracing, a piece will be too long or just off so when the walls go together, they don't fit.  One reason could be the instructions.  Here you see the instruction for the bracing, but that's looking from the siding side, not the back.  Also note there are two walls #5.  

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Bracing completed, we'll see when it goes together how many mistakes I've made. 

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

I stained all the siding and stripwood with Hunterline Driftwood stain.  This was done in three applications to the siding.  I let them dry in between and see if it's where I want it, if not, add another layer. 

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

The stripwood goes into a "bath" of the stain.  This olive tray works great for this.

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Siding stained with Vallejo light grey.  I used a sponge and dab and scrape along the siding.  Adding layers until it's "done".

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Between the stain and the paint, this piece got warped, but not the usual way.  It needed further bracing to get it back square. 

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

I sprayed all the windows and the details with grey primer.  

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

I'd hoped to sponge paint the windows so some grey would appear, but this was too spotty, so I ended up painting them and then dabbing a bit of the grey back over them.  Turned out OK, but not great.  Hard to get grey on the small interior parts, same problem I had with the red paint. 

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Everything then got a wash of black oil in mineral spirits, after a shot of dullcoat.  Window glass was cut from the supplied acetate and glued in place.  Then some green shades applied.  

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

By this time, I'd spent 2+ weeks on the kit.   It then went to limbo as I was getting the layout backdrops ordered and installed.  Then preparing for the kids/grandkids to visit.  Then a trip to Door County for a week.  Then more train running and then another week for the airshow.  Finally got back to the kit.  I'd stopped as I'd forgotten to paint the freight doors.  Same technique followed.  A piece of microscope cover glass was a perfect fit for the windows.  The doors are very thin, so I needed a brace for the top ones to glue them in place to the brace rather than the door jamb.

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

Time to put the walls together.  Not a perfect fit as you can see on the top left the wall is short.  I should have adjusted the slot in the wall to lower it, but didn't notice it at the time. 

Jeff

[Zephyrus52246]

As it has no back, it's not very sturdy and I made some braces to square it up from leftover siding.  There are two cross braces as well which were included, but I added them after the picture. 

Jeff