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.