FriedClams

Beautiful work as always Alexander! Gary

Nice work, interesting model. Congrats. Gary

The brutal honesty of the close-up camera is always discouraging, but in the end, I think it makes us better modelers. Wonderful work Grant! Such a fun project. Gary

Sweet work OC. Gary

Great work Glen! Like everyone else, I too was holding my breath. What a process and steady hands. Amazing. Gary

Hey Keith. No, I've not started a build log on the dragger as I want to finish this one first. And there isn't very much to physically show on the dragger at this time. It's a long-term project for sure. Gary

Hello Glen. Been reading through your log and just caught up. What a fun and creative project this is. Looking forward to future updates. Gary

I hope to make it work somehow. But it's ironic that you should mention an old machine shop with line drives etc., because that's a project I have long been planning for. It would require a wider shadowbox than the one I'm using now, but oh yea, a boiler, steam engine, overhead belts and lots of machinery. But I've already started work on another scratch fishing dragger and . . . . . there are just so many models I want to build, more than I will ever have time for. Thanks for stopping by Wefalck Gary

I'm pulling up a chair also Dan. As you stated, very nice detailing in the moldings. Gary

Hello folks - I so appreciate all the "likes" and the wonderful comments. Thank you. Thank you OC. So far this has been a fun, no stress model. That's good to hear and a wonderful compliment. Thanks Alan Thanks Ken. This is the third display where I've included them, so I'm at least getting faster at making them - if no better. Just because I have a Charlie Brown head, doesn't make it okay to make fun of my glasses. Thanks for the nice words Dan. Thank you Keith. I always truly appreciate your support, encouragement and feedback on all my builds. Yes, there will be an LED in the box at the top of the stairs to highlight the staircase and hopefully graze the wall as well. Thank you Mark. Thank you EG. Yea, this model really is predominantly about the lighting, and it will make or break the thing. At this point I'm not confident how it's going to turn out, but I feel certain there will be some fails and a "plan B" down the road. Hope to have something new to show soon. Gary

Great progress Alan - looking very good. Even though you've still more work to do on them, shaping the towers and adding the fill already makes a big difference. And thanks for sharing the Welsh castle photos. Beautiful countryside. Gary

Being pragmatic and logical can be such a drag sometimes. I admire your discipline Keith. Gary

More wonderful figure painting in progress. I enjoy seeing the stages in how you paint them - very instructive. What sort of product are you using to hold the figures in place atop the paint jars while working on them? Do they easily detach like rubber cement? Gary

Hello Fellow Modelers, Thank you Wefalck, Andy, Keith, Alan, Paul, Mark, OC, Colin and Mike for your kind and generous comments. I appreciate it very much. And thanks to all for the likes. Well, I haven't accomplished much lately, but here's a short update on what I have managed to get done. The ceiling for the display is a simple construction - scale 2 x 10's glued down to a piece of 3/32” basswood sheet. It's colored in the same way as the floor was – chalk and alcohol. Above the ceiling, a box surrounds the cutout for the stairway. It will act as a visual block not allowing a view of the inside of the shadowbox. The interior of the box will be painted and the top covered. Lighting will be installed inside so that it will shine down the staircase. The two small holes along one edge of the ceiling are where the electrical panel conduits pass through. Evergreen I-beams will be attached to the ceiling to match up to the steel structure of the walls. The material is colored with Stynylrez gray primer and pigment powder. There will be three light pendants hanging from the ceiling: two larger ones as general fill lighting and a smaller one above the stairway landing. The pendant shades hang off the scale pipe. The “pipe” is stainless tubing and has an inside diameter of .013”. I have not found any pre-wired LEDs with wires fine enough to fit through such small tubing, so I solder up my own surface mount LEDs with very fine wire. In another build log, I have explained how I do this, what LEDs I use and how the pendant lights are constructed, so rather than repeating all that here, I'll just provide a link to that posting for anyone who is interested. Post #117 at the link below. https://modelshipworld.com/topic/28441-1940-auto-repair-shop-interior-by-friedclams-finished-diorama-in-187/page/4/#comment-864355 Here's the pendant shades for this model – green primer and rust colored pigments. Once the LEDs are inserted, they are covered in a product called Gallery Glass (crystal clear – not white), which is clear after drying. Before the ceiling gets glued down to the walls, I might just add a junction box to the pendant pipe at the ceiling and a conduit leading off from that. Emphasis on the word “might”. In the photo below, the ceiling has been temporarily flopped on top to get an idea of what these pendants lights will look like. It's being driven at full current and will not be that bright when the thing is done. Nor will there be a light crack at the top of the wall. The LED is a surface mount warm white #0603. Thanks for taking a look. Be safe and stay well. Gary

Nice progress on this model Edward, and very nice workmanship! I like the ladders - clean and square. Gary

"Ditto" Gary

Very nice Denis, she looks great. Well done. Gary

You're making good progress here Alan and it's looking really nice. I applaud your decision to light the interior and it will really bring an extra dimension to the model. I do think you will need to add blocking partitions to limit what the viewer can see and how far into the structure they can see. It has been my experience that lit windows invite viewers to place their eyeball as close as possible to see what's inside. Card with similar looking block walls printed on them would be great. Or you could even take photos of a completed section of an exterior wall, stich multiples of them together in software and then print (not glossy, duller the better) and paste them to card stock. Doesn't need to be high-quality images. Just thinking out loud. Keep the updates coming, love it. Gary

Good to see an update, Ken. Looking good. Models are like people; most have one profile that's better than the other. But if it's going to always bug you, maybe you could just pull off the wide plank along with the planks adjacent to it (or two on each side) and divide the space equally between the replacements. Gary

Great progress Grant! That is a sweet little shed, love the hinges. Gary

I’m pulling up a chair also Craig. Yes, that is interesting- four different colors on a single sprue. Hmmm? Gary

Excellent work on the doors OC. Absolutely no way to tell they’re made of paper. The wear on the lower frames is great also. Gary

Been reading your build log over a few sessions Tom, and just caught up. Beautiful, clean work on this model. Very nice indeed! Gary

Just read through your log Chris. Beautiful work! To build this in just three weeks is amazing. I know I’ve said this before, but I must try one of these card models soon. Looks like great fun. Gary

Oh, I like this process Keith! Straight forward, but clever and efficient. It makes perfect sense not to glue to the inner shrouds. Nice clear explanation too. I use a pair of fingernail clippers to get close as possible to whatever I’m clipping off, but I’m going to look into the jeweler’s flush tool. Gary