Papa

Greetings!
Work continues on the main dock.

The knots in the boards were randomly placed after the boards were glued to the beams. When all the boards are down, they will be given a wash with A/E to darken the knots. I decided to lay the planks to the red line (see photo, last post). I put together a scale 40-foot flat car and the trucks run quite smoothly over the tacks with the wood placed so. I also like the look of the track "buried" in the deck. Here are a few photos.



And finally, the main building on the foundation beams and the deck. Some wood scraps were used beneath the foundation and the various platforms to get them all at the correct height.







I need to straighten the rod at the top of the cupola as it seems to be off in one axis.
Next up,  2 small sheds and the saw shed.

jeff
 
 

I broke down and ordered the larger astronaught figures from Shapeways. It sounds like the order was processed and they were shipped out a couple days ago, so I should be getting them soon.
 
Meanwhile, I looked further into the interior details of the moonbus and looked a what appears to be a cargo door on the sides of the interior. Reviewing the film, I finally learned that these are storage drawers for navigational and survey charts. As far as I could tell, these should only be on the port side. Opposite that, there appears to be a computer terminal. However, in the kit, both sides have the same pieces representing the storage drawers. 
 
I thought about modifying the starboard side piece to make a computer terminal. But, given that this is my first plastic kit in many, many years, I thought I'd better leave well enough alone. I was already making enough modifications. I did want to detail what I had though, so I measured out the molded recesses for the drawers and used my Silhouette Cameo 3 vinyl cutter to cut some pieces for the drawer faces using matte white adhesive-backed vinyl. I also measured out pieces for the drawer handles, which appear to be at the top edges of the drawers. For these, I had some metallic vinyl that worked well.
 

Since the drawers were all labeled in the film, I figured I should label these, but given their small sizes, I figured I would just do some "faux writing" on them using a ultra fine black marker.
 
I 
I know the handwriting looks like handwriting, but inside the model and at this size, I wasn't too worried about it.

You can see that I've painted and detailed the cockpit a bit. The cockpit chairs were originally smaller and with no armrests, so I replaced them with the spares I had from removing that extra row of passenger seats earlier. I later decided to go over the control buttons using a chrome paint pen. This made them reflect the cockpit lighting a bit, causing them to stand out more.
 

You can see here some blue lighting leaking under the control panel. I fixed the light leakage, but I was originally experimenting with putting one blue LED under the panel, but it seemed too much blue initially. I may revisit the idea later, but for now I'm more interested in intensifying the red lighting to balance out the overall look of the model lighting.
 

Finally, here's the current state of the lighting with the light leakage under the control panel fixed and the pilot figures test fit into position. I had to cut off their legs to simplify their fit, as I'm not using the original chairs or figures. Also, the arms have not yet been attached. But, you can get a pretty good idea of the overall appearance of the model with figures and lighting.
 
Next, I'll be cementing the nose permanently into place and finishing the pilot figures and cementing them into place as well. Still some exterior details to do, plus I still have to make a final call on the interior walls, and the addition of cargo and a few other internal details I've been thinking of as well.
 
 

That’s a keel clamp to hold a ship model under construction.  I will probably just get some brass pedestals but I do like launching way mounts.   

So  I had a  go  at some  wool  smoke  -   I  added  a  small   blob - ball type   bit  on the  breech  and   tried a bit  coming out of the muzzle,   but I wasn't  convinced  as it just  looked like  wool,  so  I  removed  the  muzzle  bit  but also had to  cut away  the  bayonet  (not a  problem as  some  did not have their bayonets  fixed)   I also  cut away  at the  smoke  on the  breech  till there was only the smallest  bit  left,   this  is  about as far  as  I would  go   -  just cant make it  life like.
 
OC.

Morning all,  think I found out the secret  to getting a  nice flat finish  with my  Lucky Ultra Matt   varnish,  after a   thorough  shake  (my arms are still  shaking now  lol)   I  put a  small  amount  in a  dish  then  after  loading the  brush  I  removed most  of it  against the  dish  wall,  then  I  removed even more  on some  tissue,   then when I ran the  brush  over the figure  it was  like  just adding a  slight  wet  finish  in a  really thin  layer   -  yep  it  seemed to have worked.
 
And  long last  a  few  pics  -  sorry for  the poor  quaility   quick  shots  in the  kitchen.
 
OC.

Finished.  Just need to add 2 name boards and decide how to mount her.

Thank you all for the nice comments. 

Finished.  Just need to add 2 name boards and decide how to mount her.

Finished.  Just need to add 2 name boards and decide how to mount her.

Finished.  Just need to add 2 name boards and decide how to mount her.

Finished.  Just need to add 2 name boards and decide how to mount her.

Finished.  Just need to add 2 name boards and decide how to mount her.

I managed to get the port side pram hung from the davits.  

The rigging is about done. Next up are davits and the boats.  I learned the hard way on the Morgan that installing davits before rigging is an invitation to break the davits.  

I managed to get the port side pram hung from the davits.  

I managed to get the port side pram hung from the davits.  

I managed to get the port side pram hung from the davits.  

Nice work. I am glad that I found this log as I am waiting for my own 14 bis .  This build log will be a great help.  
 
Ron Gove (aka Papa)

Nice work. I am glad that I found this log as I am waiting for my own 14 bis .  This build log will be a great help.  
 
Ron Gove (aka Papa)

Nice work. I am glad that I found this log as I am waiting for my own 14 bis .  This build log will be a great help.  
 
Ron Gove (aka Papa)

Nice work. I am glad that I found this log as I am waiting for my own 14 bis .  This build log will be a great help.  
 
Ron Gove (aka Papa)

The model is now completed!
 
Overhead view:

Three-quarter view:
 

Another shot of the engine / cockpit region:

I want to thank everyone that has been following the progress on this model for all of your support.
 
All the best,
 
Greg
 
 

My drill bits must be dull. It took about 30 minutes to drill a hole in the pulley at the top of each davit!   I am also adding detail to the prams which were simple castings. 

My drill bits must be dull. It took about 30 minutes to drill a hole in the pulley at the top of each davit!   I am also adding detail to the prams which were simple castings. 

The rigging is about done. Next up are davits and the boats.  I learned the hard way on the Morgan that installing davits before rigging is an invitation to break the davits.