Mississippi King: Walkway

I decided to put the Red Dragon on hold since the sails need to rebuilt to the correct scale and stores are either closed or completely out of thread due to COVID. That means I will be switching over to my other ship project, the Artesania Latina: King of the Mississippi.

This kit was the one my youngest picked out for me to build as an heirloom for her. It's a big ship in comparison to the other's I have built so far. In doing some research on the build, I came across this build diary (all in french). I absolutely love the weathered finish this builder was able to achieve. I spent some time playing around with stains, oils, and pigments to see how I can try to achieve a similar affect. For the gangway I finished this past weekend, I used pigments to discolor the edges.

I also started experimenting with diluted oil paints, almost like a wash. The effect is very nearly what I was hoping for to have on the wall panels.

As with my last two experiences with Artesania kits, I am expecting to quickly toss out the instructions and use the blueprints as a rough guide. For someone who needs to achieve high precision, these kits have often left me very frustrated when instructions are wrong or the kit parts have changed.

Red Dragon: The Sail Dilemma

My grandmother bought me an antique wooden ship when I was fifteen. Even though she didn't build it herself, it still represents an extravagant gift to me (given her very limited income) that I still proudly display in my home 25 years later. She past away almost two decades ago, but I am so glad I still have this memento from her.

Inspired by this, I have often thought about what I would like to leave with my two daughters that they can pass down. Building small things is a big part of my life, but I didn't want them to be left with a bunch of 1:35 military plastic kits to deal with. Instead I asked each of my daughters to pick a wooden ship that I would build for them. These ships represent hundreds of hours of my time, pain, and as you will soon see, frustration. They are truly a part of me and represent who I am as a maker.

My oldest daughter, who was adopted from China about 8 years ago, appropriately picked out a Chinese junk boat. In November of 2018, I started work on the Red Dragon. This boat will truly look stunning when completed, but the Artesania Latina kit has caused me so many problems along the way.

 

I have had to make a LOT of modifications to this ship and basically tossed out the instructions completely. The biggest issue that has caused a rise in my blood pressure was that front side of the blueprints were printed at 1:1 scale and the back side of the blueprints where scaled up by 10-15%. I didn't catch the discrepancy until recently, but it is wrecking havoc on the build. I was attempting to put sails on this week, and discovered they were way too large to fit the boat. Now, I have to redo about a week's worth of effort to remake them at the proper size. EXPLETIVE!!

It's so frustrating to be approaching the end of this project and to have another big set back. I haven't decided whether to shelve this boat for a while until I am ready to redo a tedious part of the build. After I calm down a bit, I will have to make a decision. Either way, I need to buy some more thread since I burned through a lot making the first set of sails, and our fabric store is closed a few more weeks due to COVID.

Master Box German Radio Car Build: Complete

I am glad this build is finally over. It was definitely becoming a chore to finish. As I mentioned in a previous post, this was a frustrating kit to work with. Apart from a lot of broken plastic, the decals were garbage and flaked into pieces. At first, I was going to scrap them but then decided to use the flaking to my advantage. With a couple additional scrapes of the hobby blade, I was able to make the decals look like chipped paint. It worked out well given the circumstances.

Here's my process for getting the finish:

1. Start with preshading and base coat (see previous post).
2. Using an inexpensive paint sponge with black paint, I dabbed it around in certain areas to simulate the effect of paint chipping.
3. Apply a light dust coat using Tamiya Flat Earth, especially near the bottom of the vehicle.
4. I use a mixture of black and brown oil paint heavily thinned with paint thinner to do a wash around all the details.
5. Finally, I add in some Vallejo light and dark pigments with a soft brush to get the final blended color variations.

 

 

London Phone Box: The Wrap-Up

I just glued the last couple of metal pieces on and this project is now officially complete. Overall, I had a good time building this booth. It was just the right-sized build to fit within my attention span. Anything longer and this would have quickly turned into work.

The kit itself had some issues that required out-of-the-box improvements or fixes. The clear acetate for the windows was fairly scuffed up upon arrival. Only one side of it had protective liner. I didn't have anything else to replace it with, nor did I really want to wait to buy something. It's what you get when you buy an old kit from eBay on the cheap. Still, it turned into something fairly nice.

Gunpla: Abandoned Haro

Preface: The model in this post was completed late last year. However, I thought I'd go back through some of my old builds to write posts about them.

I was browsing around Barnes and Nobel lusting after all the Bandai kits they carry. What I really wanted was the Voltron kit, but it was hard to justify the $70 spend with the misses looking over my shoulder. Instead, I decide to buy a tiny Gunpla kit. I am not at all familiar with Gunpla, but the Haro kit was under $10, and I was desperate to put something together.

Haro is a happy, spherical robot painted in circus colors and affixed with a permanent smile. It was far too merry of a mechanical being for my taste. It needed to be introduced to the hardships of life. I have always wanted to try and tell a story with a diorama that was limited to a very small area (e.g. 6 inches squared). I also wanted that concept of the story to be convey by a single word: abandoned. With that idea in mind, I started sketching:

This was the first time I worked with Sculptamold. I wanted to make a crater and add some surface texturing to a square of wood. It's really fun stuff, but I ended up having to remake it after a first try. For the first go, I used a square of end-joined pine that warped terribly from all the moisture from the curing Sculptamold. The second try was done with done with plywood which resists warping since each ply has the grain of wood going in different directions. When one layer wants to swell and distort along the length of its grain, the other layers can prevent the movement.

After a coat of earth-toned paint acrylic paint, I added some Modpodge and sprinkled on sifted dirt from outside my house. A very weathered and chipped Haro was added to the scene with glue. Finally, I added some black- and light-colored pigment streaks to the ground to mimic scorch marks. 

This delightful little droid met a bad end and was eventually forgotten by those who sent it. It was a memorable build. Someday soon I plan to tell another story on a 6x6 inch plank.

Wood Working: A Happy Tortoise

Two coats of exterior varnish added, and this hideout is ready for the outdoors. Here is Zoe trying the new place out. Hopefully this week the weather will be warm enough where she can actually be outside to enjoy the new digs.

London Phone Box: Nameplates

Things are starting to wrap up quickly on this project. Today I spent time doing the nameplates at the top. There were a couple problems with what the kit provided. First, I had to reprint them because the size the label provided with the kit was too large to fit into the area provided for the nameplate. Also, they were just printed on normal white paper which would start to warp very quickly with any humidity. To fix this problem, I cut up sections of styrene, and applied the new label using double-sided tape.

Only four things left:

• Glue on the base
• Put in the "windows"
• Attach the door
• Finally assembly

London Phone Box: Turning Red

I am now starting to spray paint things in earnest. From the pictures below, you can see that I am at multiple stages of production for the main structure. Things are progressing quickly at this point, and I might be able to finish up the project this weekend if the kids let me.

I did learn a really good lesson worth passing on. I forgot (truthfully, I just got impatient) to put down a coat of grey sandable primer on the door like I did with the rest of the structure. Bad move. On wood, the sandable primer allows you to cover over the grain to create a very smooth finish. Instead, I added the red paint/primer directly to the wood thinking that it would work the same. A lot of 400 and 600 grit sanding later and I am still not thrilled with results. My impatience ended up costing me way more time in the end. That's usually the way it goes.

London Phone Box: Telephone

I hate CA glue.  Hate it, hate it, hate it! I would love working with photoetch a lot more if I didn't have to use flippin' CA glue. I feel like it requires a finesse and a skill that I have yet to master... nor really want to.

Today could have (should have) ended badly. I was using older glue that ought to have been thrown away a long time ago, but I hate wasting a nearly full bottle. All I needed to do was add the rotary dial and the cord. After a lot of foul muttering and having to hold the pieces together for way longer than a new bottle of CA glue would have required, I finished up the interior work and walked away in an all together foul mood. The area around the brass tack in the middle of the dial is a bit sloppy, but I have no interest to revisit it. Chalk it up to my lack of expertise with such a fussy adhesive.

And yes, I threw the stupid bottle away in frustration.

London Phone Box: Interior Cabinets

Today I was able to finish up the interior cabinetry and back wall. This kit only provided a sheet of printed pictures with printed frames to stick on the back wall. Boring. I took some strips of styrene and glued them together to make some frames. I used clear packing tape on top of the pictures to create the shine of glass. I scuffed up the corners on all the wood to make things look a little weathered. As a cherry on top, I thought it would fun to take some modeling clay to create some chewed gum. Tomorrow will focus on getting the phone finished.

Master Box German Radio Car Build: Painting

It's snowing here in Minnesota this Easter weekend, but hopefully for the last time this season. I am taking the time indoors to do some painting work on some of the in-progress models I have sitting on my desk. I finished applying the preshading layer and base coats on the radio car. Now on to detail painting. Some people really love this part, but I wish I enjoyed painting more. It is my least favorite part of model building since so many things can go wrong at this step after having spent weeks putting the thing together. Yet, reaching the finish line requires passing through this tedious step, along with uttering a couple four-letter words.

A good tip: cardboard cake rounds are really useful for airbrushing. They are super cheap, a package of 6 costs $5, and you can use both side of a round. They also fit on to cake decorating turntables which are also super cheap ($10). It is a lot less expensive than buying a fancy paint turntable.

Wood Working: Tortoise Hut Weekend Update

I was able to make a lot of progress this weekend on the tortoise hut. The roof is detachable so that it is easy to clean. There are just a couple things left: a ramp, name plate, a good sanding, and a coat of exterior poly so that this can sit out on the deck all summer. This has been one of my most favorite projects.

Wood Working: The Start of a Tortoise Hut

As the summer approaches, our family tortoise can look forward to escaping her winter imprisonment to spend a lot of time outside on the deck. Even with the freedom to be out of her terrarium, she will inevitably try to find places to hide. Being that she is the most extreme introvert of the family (hermit would probably be a better description), I am working on a little hut for her to escape to.

It's been a really fun little project so far. The floor is cut from some black acrylic I had left over to make cleaning it a lot easier. I left the main framing to dry overnight. Later this afternoon I will be working on the roof, trim, and embellishments. I was even able to get the family involved. My older daughter wants to put together a flower box for one of the windows. One of the boys wants to make some pictures to hang on the inside. The wife wants to create a name plaque. The tortoise certainly won't appreciate all the homey details, but everyone seems to be having fun chipping in.

London Phone Box: Weekend Progress

It took a few days and many episodes of Community on Netflix, but I was able to get through all the window gratings. I also built up some of the interior cabinetry. Work continues on priming, filling, and sanding to make a smooth surface for adding a base coat. 

London Phone Box: Glass Panels x 6

As a builder, repetition has always been my nemesis. Some people thrive on it, happily performing the same dull task for hours, days, or weeks in the attempt to create something amazing. I have heard some creatives use repetition as their time for deep self-reflection or as an escape from the chaos of life. For me, it is the obligatory price to pay for the end-product I want, and the monotony must just be suffered through. To cope, I am often running too many projects at once. I bounce back and forth between them when things get tiresome.

This kit requires six panels to be made, and I spent the better part of the day doing the first. Thus, I must once again contend with my adversary to finish the next five. This is usually the moment where I set a project aside and pick up another to do for a while (and probably will).

London Phone Box: Roof Planking Done

The last plank of the roof is now drying in place. It took about two days of clamping, gluing, and waiting to finish this 3"x3" section. The sides of each plank were sanded to get them to fit adjacent to the previous plank with as little gap as possible. It was probably not necessary to be so anal about it, but that's how I do planking on my ships. With some medium sanding and filler, this will be completely smooth when it's all done.

It's a beautiful spring day out, so I need to head out to the garage soon and start working on a tortoise hut. No kidding.

Master Box German Radio Car Build: Build-step Complete

Relief. The build portion of this WWII Radio Car is finally over. This was definitely one of my least favorite kits, but I persevered. It's a great subject - an old Mercedes with many options for customizing and styling. The fit was ok for this kit, though I ran into a problem or two. The instructions were occasionally frustrating. The real problem was that many parts were so thin that they were broken when I got the kit or broke as I tried to clip them off the sprue. Additionally, there was much mirthless laughter as the Carpet Monster ate more tiny-tiny parts (or broken parts of parts) than I care to admit.

I will start priming today and maybe do some preshading.

London Phone Box: Rainy Saturday

I was able to get quite a bit done today since it was too cold and dreary to be motivated for anything else. I did come up with a makeshift jig to glue the corners together at right angles (first image below). The roof on the structure required fairing, just like you would for a plank-on-frame hull for a model ship. I find that the best tool to use for that work is a one-dollar nail-file from Sally's Beauty Supply. It has a course grit to chew through this thin wood and a little bit of bend to wrap around sloping curves. Now that I think of it, many of my ship building tools come from that store.

Used a number of clamps and a metal ruler to nudge the pieces together for gluing.

Gluing the roof panels using a machinist square and clamps.

Faired roof using a cheap nail file.

It's looking like a thing. You can also see one of my other projects in the background. I will post about that one in the future.

London Phone Box: Side Panels

I didn't pay attention to the scale when I bought it, but it is very obvious that the package of this kit is not marked correctly. The box says that the kit is 1:72 scale which would make the final build only about 1-2 inches tall. I am guessing, however, that the scale ratio is actually somewhere around 1:8.

The sides are finished up with a little decorative molding. Now I need to figure out how best to glue the corners together.

London Phone Box: The Base

Got a little done this morning before starting the work day. The glue for the base is drying as I type. I find that a small machinist square (~$5 at most hardware stores) is very helpful for squaring up the sides. And the mini clamps are a couple bucks a piece, and I use them all the time.

London Phone Box: New Beginnings and New Buildings

Inspired and encouraged by my personal hero/idol, the famous builder and MythBuster, Adam Savage, plus the current state of sequestration we all now find ourselves in, I thought I would once again make an attempt at blogging about my build projects. First it required remembering my login.

I am sitting at my home office desk surrounded by far too many incomplete build-projects (two models needing paint, a half-compete wooden ship, and metal train). I will now be adding a fifth to the collection, a Artesania Latina British Telephone Box. This is the one I hope to start documenting here over the next week or two. Maybe I will even write about the other ones as I finish them up.

Enough with the words. Let's get started; it should be fun.