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Topics - Vilius

#1
I am offering FSM #265 Swakhammer's Welding Co here first before it goes on eBay. The kit won't pass for the collectors item since I have repackaged it. The original box wasn't in great shape. I built Swakhammer's for someone and that kit came in a much better box so I took advantage of the situation. Also I ran side by side comparison of the content. I found 2-3 different minor castings. The number of them was the same and all major parts i.e. windows, doors, chimneys, vents matched.

I will throw in a picture CD with 30 photos of my build. Majority of them are different angle shots of the built kit.

I am asking $415 plus shipping. I am not making anything on this sale. Just trying to get back what I paid for. PM me your zip code for the shipping cost.

I prefer friend transfer via PayPal i.e. you pick up the fees if there are any. I can also take a personal check or money order.

Vilius
#2
Kit Building / Build Challenge 2016 - EXPO 2016 kit
November 29, 2016, 09:17:40 AM
This is a prefect display of my lack of self-discipline. I have a number of kits in the works but instead of finishing them I have started yet another. I just couldn't resist... :-[
While working on it I found that potentially there was one missing window opening. I had 10 windows and 9 window openings. Also the pilot model picture shows 4 second story windows while my wall had three. I measured the distance between existing openings and cut one more.
This is where am at.

Vilius
#3
I am finishing the Dyer's kit and still have a little time left until the end of the challenge so I am doing another one. Few weeks ago while on vacation I decided that I would pick one new kit and work only on it for an evening and then get back to unfinished projects. I was very eager to start something new. My plan A was FOS Dead Horse Bay and plan B Stuffy's. When I got home I realized that I had left the Dead Horse at work. Stuffy's won  ;).

Why Stuffy's?
1. I don't think Karl has built it.
2. It is one of my top favorites.
3. It isn't too big so I have a chance to finish it.
4. I have a large collection of kits and I won't finish them all before the time comes. Eventually, I will have to sell them so it makes sense to build the kits that aren't in the best shape and also have lost most in value. Sadly, Stuffy's has lost more than 30% since I bought it so the idea is to build and sell it in hopes to break even in the end.

I did what I decided to do. I cleaned up the castings, primed them and set aside so I could finish some other projects. I have been thinking about the since then and have come to the conclusion that I need to do lighting. Simple steady lights won't do it for me though. Pretty much everyone does that these days. I will do custom animation. Differently from Elijah Roth project I will take slightly easier route and use Arduino board instead of stand alone microcontroller.  I have China built Arduino Nano and LED driver. I am waiting now for some LEDs and resistors. The whole thing should cost me less than $10. It would be more but I have 9V wall wart power supply and that cuts the price nearly in half.

I will let you know my plan in the next post after I do some testing.

Vilius
#4
I am building Dyer's Hardware by Micro-Scale Models for the challenge. Why this kit? I build kits for other people and Dyer's was pretty much next in line. On the other hand, I don't see many Micro-Scale builds on the net so someone may find this thread useful.
I like using the technology whenever I can, especially if the task is tedious otherwise. One of these tasks is "painted"signs. I don't like sanding printed signs until I turn blue trying to make paper layer thinner. I scan the signs, print them on the tissue paper, and glue them. I also fix them if I need to. IN this case the shade of red of the printed sign wasn't what I wanted and the sign had some grayish background. The tissue signs have one serious flaw. The white color or no color areas to be exact becomes nearly transparent when glued. It isn't a big deal if the wall is white or the sign has no white. Otherwise the area of the wall where sign goes needs to be painted white. After trying that on two models I wasn't too excited about it. I decide to try different approach. After I printed the signs and sprayed them with Workable Fixatif I cut them out, turned them over and sprayed with white paint. I was concerned about the paint soaking through or ability to adhere to the wall but didn't have a problem with any of these.
A note regarding Micro-Scale kits. They don't include wood for bracing. Their idea is to build the walls around the floors leaving the walls flexible and possibly warped until the final assembly. I have chosen to ignore this approach and brace just like other kits.
I am using the same color scheme as the original kind of just because the person I am building this kit likes that way. However, I just can't stand the cream color the Micro-Scale owners are in love with so I am replacing three color scheme with two eliminating the cream. I may get my hands slapped for it but so be it. It is a hobby and I don't want to be building something that I hate.
Here are some progress pictures.

Vilius
#5
Kit Building / CCK Concord Street Houses
August 05, 2016, 10:50:00 AM
This project is in the late stage already. I have posted couple of progress pictures on the daily thread before and intended to continue going that route but then I thought why not to do some advertisement for Jeff. That is, of course, if I am doing good job.

Vilius
#6
Kit Building / Bar Mills Graves Elevators
August 04, 2016, 11:06:11 AM
I've been wanting to build the Graves since the announcement just like many other kits. When I get new kit I open it, look at the content, imagine building it, and the put it away with the rest of them. Initially I did the same thing with the Graves too but then it got a sponsor and that elevated its status. This is when I cracked and had classic case of lack of self discipline. I pulled some parts out of the box and started working on it. After a little while I decided that I should finish the other projects first so I put the parts back in the box. Then I repeated the sequence again several times. About a month ago I dedicated two or so evenings just to Graves and built the shell for the stucco part of the building. I was going to apply the stucco next day but then this high pitch voice said: "What if the upper clapboard wall sections don't fit? After you apply stucco there will be no good way to make the adjustments". While I don't always listen to my other bosses I have to obey this one  8). I put the shell aside until I have the upper wall sections ready. It may be awhile before I have them done but since I had my camera out yesterday I took couple of pictures.

Vilius
#7
Kit Building / CCK The Shoppe's on Concord Street
August 04, 2016, 09:48:27 AM
I have been working on the Shoppes for a few weeks now. It is my lunch break project so the progress is steady but slow. I only get 40-45 minutes per day Mon through Fri. Bellow is the picture of the walls of the shop A I took few days ago. Currently I am installing the window "glass".

Vilius
#8
Thom brought up the question of instructional videos the other day. I have been thinking about the same thing on and off for quite some time now. Since there is a number of professional videos on building craftsman kits available is there need for amateur level content?

Vilius
#9
Selling Kit... / FSM JS-9 Bartholow Coal SOLD
March 22, 2016, 06:23:50 PM
I have FSM JS-9 Bartholow Coal kit for sale. I am asking $230 plus shipping via USPS Priority. PM me if interested or if have any questions.

Vilius
#10
Dioramas / Finishing FOS Canal & Third diorama
March 21, 2016, 02:08:35 PM
I started the kit over six years ago and it took me a year to get to the point shown in the first picture (It was so long time ago that I had to download the picture of the net). Then a number of other distractions came up and I abandoned the diorama. At the last EXPO Alan tried talking me into finishing it. I felt like it would be good to do it finally for number of reasons but the motivation just wasn't there. Some time last year I found someone who was really interested in the diorama. It took me some time to get other projects out of the way and build up the motivation level. My goal is to complete the project within the next month.

Vilius
#11
Kit Building / Duffy's Coal #275 by FSM
November 20, 2015, 02:19:09 PM
I am back after some hiatus. Moving isn't fun as well as cabin crew strike. Yes, I got caught in this Lufhansa strike thing and had to extend my vacation by one day. I consider myself lucky. It could have been worse. The strike kept going for a few more days after I got back. I wish someone dug a tunnel under the Atlantic and ran a train. Steam preferably  :D
It seems that FOS Red Hook office will have to spend some time on the shelf before I get back to it. I have to give priority to the projects I have promised to build. I have been wanting to do a kit in all box car red for quite some time but haven't had a chance. Therefore I am painting my Duffy's in the exact way George did. I will be attaching everything to a piece of 1/2 inch plywood but won't do scenery. The trestle will go away but I will preserve the coal bins.
I have to mention that I don't follow order of construction set in the instructions. It will bite me in the behind at some point but if I did it would take me way much longer.

Vilius
#12
Kit Building / FOS Red Hook Office freebie
September 15, 2015, 09:01:41 AM
The plan was to get my modeling room in the new house set up and ready by now. It so happened that someone put a nail in the main feed coax. Luckily I had one line going into the modeling room with the connector being very close to the place where the main feed comes out of the wall. All it took was longer outside cable and a hole in the wall but it completely ruined my plans to get back to the full speed modeling this week.
I couldn't keep myself from building something during the move so I started a small project. FOS Red Hook Office was just the kind of project I needed. In the past I have modified all Doug's freebies I have built in some way. I didn't want the tradition to stop so this build isn't an exception. I replaced the front wall with shingled one. To do that I had to cut new one from chipboard and glue shingles on it. I couldn't use the original because the thickness would have changed and I would have had to make too many adjustments to the other parts. I also added back door that I cut out of laserboard to match the one in the front. Few other changes are coming as well.

Vilius
#13
Kit Building / Building SRMW The Millett Creamery
May 14, 2015, 09:02:22 AM
I have been working on SRMW The Millett Creamery for a few weeks. The word working is a bit too strong to describe the activity. My previous boss liked to use word dabbling for something like that.

This is one of Bob's earlier plaster kits. I found all parts to be well packed, intact and good quality. However, there was a little issue. Instead of two different walls for the front and back of the middle section I had two of the same. In a worst case I could have used those walls and no one would most likely have noticed but I decided to email Bob VG and ask if he had a spare. I figured it was very long shot since the kit is from early 90s I believe. Bob VG replied that he had one but made of urethane. I had some concerns about shrink ratio but got it anyway. I found that I was right when the wall came in. It was about 3/32" narrower that the one made of plaster. I could have sanded down opposite wall to match the width but I would have had very narrow area left between the windows and side wall what wouldn't have looked right. Instead made urethane wall wider. First I glued 3/64" square stripwood on each side towards the back. Then I filled front part with DAS clay. When it was dry I sanded clay flush with the wall and scribed some bricks and stones where needed. Then I glued all four walls together and filled the gaps with lightweight spackle. I realize that I can't stain this whole assembly anymore so I will prime it heavily first to seal the plaster and the will paint like I would any resin parts. This is where I am at.





Vilius
#14
Dioramas / FOS Magic Shop diorama
March 30, 2015, 04:14:12 PM
The EXPO 2015 was my first. I truly enjoyed the experience. I want to thank show organizers for doing the show, clinicians for sharing their experience, Jaime and Jeff for the help with transportation, everyone who I had conversations with for not running away, and Bob Mitchell for convincing me that I am not from where I thought I was. While still in the festive mood I have decided to share my diorama build. All pictures have been taken before the EXPO.

Couple of pictures after "planting" the structure on diorama base.





Two more after painting road, adding tree, boardwalk, additional sidewalk pieces, and static grass.





Vilius
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