Saturday, February 23, 2019

Pop's General Store by KCs Workshop - Build With HO Scale Customs - #003

I like the design of this kit!  It reminds me so much of small stores I've seen around the deep South.  Let's work some more!
 I missed taking pictures of working with the windows and doors, but they go very quickly.  I sponge painted them green after a primer coating.  The front doors and screen doors were assemble and installed on the front wall.  I left the screen doors open so I can add figures to the porch later.

 After installing the windows and doors I assembled the walls using 1-2-3 blocks to hold pieces in place.  There is a roof support that goes across the top.

 Now it is starting to look like a building!

 The roof sections are next.  Cleverly KC's Workshop put in several types of roofing so you can try your hand at different things.  First I put the corrugated metal roof on the back extension.

 Using raw umber, burnt umber, raw sienna, and burnt sienna I dry brushed rust on the roof.  I should have cut the corrugate into 2x8 sections, but I didn't want to invest that much time in it since it is in the back.  I decided to to use the visible planks roof section. Once it was dry I went back over it with Dr. Ben's weathering powders to give it a dry texture.

 Next I put on the shingles for the small extension on the side porch.

 I assembled the front awning using boards and cardstock.

 To make the tar paper (mine was missing from the kit and I didnt have any construction paper around) I painted several large self-adhesive mailing labels with a light grey primer, and then cut them into HO 3' strips.  The crack n peel label backing was peeled off and I stuck them onto the roof.  On the sections where boards were exposed, I just roughly tore the paper.

 Every once in a while I'll take a look at the picture.  I gave up on the instructions a long time ago and am totally building free lance now.

 I gave the porches and ink wash and glued them to the structure.  I also build the side awning and tar papered it.  Using a tiny brush (00) and some shiny black paint, I painted tar lines on the awning.

 Porch supports were then installed using the 3/16" square beams which I had painted green earlier.

 Climbing up on the roof, I took a bucket of hot tar, and in the 100 degree South Carolina sun, I put tar on the seams of the tar paper.  The asphalt smell of the hot tar stings my nostrils.
 One side of the roof....
 And the other....once it dries we'll weather it.

 The kit doesn't include any detail parts (the nerve) so I contact BEST Trains and ordered some chairs, vegetable crates, Coke button signs, a Coke machine and an ice maker.  Nothing tastes better than an ice cold Coca-Cola!

 Now that chair is tiny!  Gonna try to find an old guy to sit in it somewhere on the porch.

 Have to switch to the trusty visor to see how to start filing and shaping the parts.

 While I'm not building this for NMRA Merit Award points, I do plan to show it in a contest.  If you put scenery around it then it is a display and will be scored in that category.  Really I just want the model, but I'm going to build an uneven support structure for it so it needs some ground in order to make it look right.  This base is too big.

 This one is too big, too...

 Yup, this is better.  Just enough scenery for me to put it on uneven earth.

 I'm not going to light or detail the interior, but you certainly could very easy.

 I've weathered the roof with Dr. Ben's Scale Consortium products.  These have always been my go to washes and weathering powders.  Nothing works better.

 This is a small model, just about the size of my hand.

 The front awning is tar sealed, then heavily weathered from years of neglect.  The wood headboard has been more weathered.  The wall where the front design work meets the support wall looks terrible, having a great big gap.  I went to the wood box and got a strip of wood that I painted and cut to make a cap over the front.  That looks way better.

 The smoke stack in the kit is way too big for this model.  The most this place would have had was a pot bellied stove.  I dug around in the parts box and found an old smoke stack which I painted black then heavily rusted using the same techniques as the roof panel.
 Slowly it is coming together.  Now for the sign!  Um...THE SIGN!  Um...ok...where is the darn sign.  I painted it....I know it is here....AARRGH!  To this day I haven't found it so we'll have to make one.

 After having filed and sanded the castings I taped them to a Masonite board and spray painted them with an airbrush primer grey by Modelmasters. 
Casting come in a plastic resealable pouch that I never could get open, so I made a Samurai cut accross the top.  Notice the roughness of the sides of the castings.  We'll have to file them down.

 Here you can see one of the Coca Cola signs.

 I put the door handles (bars) on the screen doors.

 Here I have painted the chairs and am test fitting them to the porch.  I may only use one.

 This will give you an idea of the size of the model.

 With the help of Dan Pugatch who provided me with some great signs, I printed the signs on copy paper in color.  Then I heavily sanded the backs and lightly sanded the fronts to make them thin and worn looking.  They were glued with Elmer's School Glue to the bulding.

 My grandfather always had a chew of Red Man, so I had to put a sign up for him.

 NuGrape was my favorite drink as a kid, so it gets a prominent location, as does the Coca Cola poster.

 The store sells ice so we have ice signs.  I also took the signs in the kit and made a wooden backing for the store front.  The sign is held in place by rusted metal bars.


Above and below are a black and white, then color photo.  Take a look at both and see how much clearer the details are in the B&W.  This is how I start repairing and tweaking the final model.  The camera, especially my other one with 26mega pixels does not lie and every error and flaw reveals itself.



Pop's General Store by KCs Workshop - Build With HO Scale Customs - #002

The model is coming along nicely.  I would not say it was easy because of the directions and lack of included photos, but building it along with the gang on HO Scale Customs has been wonderful.  Its great to see varied techniques and I've experimented with quite a few of them already.  Click on photos to enlarge.

 I'm still trying to figure out how they lasered the brick stick!

I put the copies (never the originals) of the instructions on my hand metal desk stand, held firm by a magnate. 

 I have both color and black & white photos of KC's finished model.  The black and whites really make the details pop.

 I cut out all the main wall sections, sanded the edges to remove the kerfs and sprues...

 A washable sanding block (I get the cheap knock offs from Harbor Freight) and use them to finish the edges.
 The color photos give me a chance to plan and design my version of the model.

 The walls are thick and look really good.  Nice clear clapboard or board and batten sides.  From looking at the construction I noticed that this side required no paint or primer, so I marked it with a #2 pencil.

 I roughed up the front with a carding file (used to clean steal files) and then lightly sanded the rough surface.  A 1" brush is handy for removing the sawdust.

 Next I began lifting and breaking boards.  I use a single edge razor blade because it is thinner than X-Acto #18 chisel blades and a bit safer.

 Watching along with Todd Wiley on HO Scale Customs as I'm building along with him.  This is a fantastic use of technology and hope we do more of them.

 As I measure I keep a yellow dot on the HO side of the rule.  It is very easy for me to go O Scale on the other side!
 More board damage!  This is the fun part!

 A saw blade also helps distress the surface of the wood and I'll make several passes using an older blade.

 You must add structural support to kits like this as the boards/walls will warp.  Using the thicker stock from the kit I glue supports onto the backs being careful not to block windows.  Later I found out that there is a support diagram in the kit, mine was just missing so Brett Wiley sent me a copy.

 If you don't have 1-2-3 blocks get some!  The are the best weights and supports around.

 Distressing of the wood is done.  Now lets make it look really old!

I use these cheap baking pans from Wally Mart to keep my kit parts together since they don't usually fit back in the box.  This way I can work on three kits at a time, and can keep the pieces together.

 The backs of the building are primed with a dark grey primer.  I never use black because very few things you see are as black as spray paint.

 Using some scrap I made a test of the two green colors that I thought would work best.  Going with avocado.  Later I found out that Todd had picked the exact same color!

 I added nail holes with a ponce wheel and gave the walls a good coat of ink wash, then let them dry overnight.  Using masking tape I taped off all but the bottom 5 clapboards.

 Using the avacado paint, I painted the lower parts of the wall using a sea sponge and blotting the paint on.  This was a new technique for me and I liked the results.  Looks like really bad peeling paint.

 To paint the trim boards I taped them to the glass work surface and blotted them with the sponge.

 The Tichy windows and doors were removed from the sprues and were made ready for paint.


 Here are all the wall sections ready for painting the white upper part..

 Keep your workspace clean.  At the end of the evening I always pick up and clean up a little, especially before detail work or more painting.

 I will be using Chuck Doan's peeling paint technique, which is what I used on Wicked Wanda's kit.  Here is a video showing how it is done.
 I paint the OMS where the white paint will go, being careful not to saturate the wood.  Just a light coating will do.

 Before painting I cover the green paint and secure the part to the glass surface with masking tape.

 Just a nice, even coat.  Don't saturate or the walls will curl, bend or even break.

 Using the Apple Barrel paint....
 I paint a light coat onto the surface, painting with the grain of the board.

 I let the paint dry to the point that it is still a little tacky and not quite hard.

 A mistake I made was trying to do several at a time.  Better to only work with one wall and go slow.
 Grab a roll of Scotch Tape....single sided is better and press the tape onto the painted sections.  Rip the tape off and see the paint come off randomly.

 The look I get is of worn paint that has faded and disappeared in the South Georgia sun.  Play with different paints to get different effects.

 Using the brass bristle brush I give it another good brushing.  Enough for today!