king derelict

That's a great thing to do Alan

Landing hear looks really nice Dan Alan

Lovely to see that great build again Alan

Those are great printed parts Alan

Still plugging along and reached a bit of a milestone today. All the outer walls of the main toers are complete - well apart from filling in the intricate little bits on the round tower - but it still feels like I'm making progress. The windows and archway look a bit rough but they will be opened out as part of the general sanding and clean up. There is some serious sanding ahead. The bag of blocks still looks pretty healthy so I might make it with what was provided. The details of the upper section are going to be interesting. Some areas are going to be difficult to get in to sand down and shape and there are a few bits that I am not really sure how they are supposed to look. The instruction sheet ducks this stuff and the photos don't really show what is going on. I'm hoping it will become more obvious as the blocks pile up. It may have been easier to have added the cardboard templates a bit at a time and blocked up each section but I wanted to know where the lights needed to be placed and setting out the templates was the only sure way to get it right. I think its still doable but it may increase the cuss factor. Thankfully most of the courtyards do not need tiling. I'm thinking about taking a break to do something quick but different after the tower walls are completely finished and cleaned up but at the same time I am still enjoying weeing this come together. A compromise might be to paint some more figures which will be needed later on. Thanks for looking in and I hope everyone has a great weekend and Labor Day holiday in the US Alan

Thank you OC. Seeing visible progress is sustaining me but I'm starting to want to do something different as a break. Alan

Lovely model OC. It's getting scary that I remember this one as a new aircraft after the Wessex and I suppose that holds true for a lot of other aircraft. It seems like the 50s through 70s generated so many aircraft Alan

And sometimes that makes it worse. Trees are higher and some older buildings are more susceptible. When Francis came through here after more than thirty years without a burrito really made a mess. Two weeks without power and I liked a six foot high pile of branches that stretched thirty feet down the kerb.. Wilma came through the following year and the Lights were off for two days and the yard had very little debris. I hope all is well over there Craig Alan

This will be a fantastic diorama Alan

A beautiful result OC . The pilot is a great finishing touch Alan

Laying the rivet lines down so accurately is great work Alan

Beautiful painting Dan. I learn a lot from following your builds Alan

Its that time of the year again. I see a hurricane warning is up for the West Coast. I hope Idalia is not coming knocking on your door (or mine). Take Care lan

I summoned up some extra patience this morning and decided to tackle that complicated round tower. Lots of shaping and cutting blocks needed but I wanted to get a start on it. In the end I made more progress than I expected and got all the tiles and columns completed. I suspect filling in with the standard blocks is going to be another day or more of fiddling. I found the Exacto saw blade was ideal for part cutting the blocks to size and then cracking them along the saw line. This should all look a lot better when sanded to final shape but I want to let the glue really get a hold before that and also if I fill in the gaps it will stabilise the whole thing. I'm slowly closing in on completion of the lower section of the tower Thanks for looking in and for the likes and comments Alan

Thank you Mark. I'm thinking it might be getting a bit obsessional. Thousands of tiny blocks Alan

Thank you very much OC. The reentrants are definitely fiddly but I'm still enjoying it. Alan

That's is a superb figure OC .The painting is first class. The photos are excellent too. I'm looking forward to getting back to plastic stuff and painting again Alan

Back at last with the pile of blocks and the sanding sticks. I completed the lower section of another wall of the tower and added the portal. The first windows are being worked around. There will be some cleaning up when I start sanding the walls down. The curved section of the wall with the pillars and tiles is going to be a slow process with lots of fiddly little pieces to file down. Its good to be back making a lot of dust again. I hope everyone has a great weekend and thanks for looking in and the likes Alan

This last two years I have seriously thought about it. Yearly premiums are running about $7000 and to keep it down I have dropped coverage on contents, increased deductibles so I get less and less for the money. And of course if you have the temerity to claim they will either drop you or hike the premium. Three years of premiums would just about pay for a whole new roof. I don't see any signs of the market improving any time soon Alan

I keep telling myself its a harmless habit after all I could be spending the money on a crazed drug habit

I also thought they were brass casings. Excellent job. This looks like a very nice kit. Alan

The great piping extravaganza finished today. It was a lot more extensive that I expected. I had thought about doing the drywalling myself but as it was less than 10% of the total cost I decided to be lazy. I was glad I made that decision after I saw the 9 foot by 2 foot holes in the wall that the plumbers cut. Right in the hallway where flaws would be obvious. They did a great job and I have already forgotten where some of the holes were. I spent the day putting stuff back in cupboards and setting up the workshop / utility room again. I took the opportunity to organize the kits on the shelf. There are far more than I think I will ever build but heres hoping I also need to confess that there are other stashes tucked away elsewhere. I hope to be back with the castle tomorrow. One useful byproduct of moving everything around for the plumbers was finding the leftover extra Aedes Ars blocks I had to buy to finish the Towers of Rochelle off. And this little helper is teh reason that finished models end up in cases I'm looking forward to escaping real life again Alan

The wood simulation is very effective Alan

Oh i like the sound of that. Very imaginative Alan

The application of the dust is absolutely wonderful. Very subtle and in all the right places Alan