came home for lunch and found two boxes on the porch, both curiously about the same size. Opened them up and all the Vallejo stuff was in one box, the other had only the bottle of gull grey. Overkill much?? lol Am amped to be able to finish stuff finally though. Been itching to start playing with my airbrush but only had two colors and no primer. Now we're a go for some real messes! Have a ton of Ebay stuff am still waiting on and maybe a half-doz furniture bits from Shapeways when I get paid Friday, then that will be the last of what I need to finish out the station altogether. Which is good, because I do not have a nagging wife, but I do have a nagging house - need to start pouring some cash into it again and won't have the recreational money to spend on dumb stuff like microscopic dining tables and such
If it was one of you guys in Illinois that won the Mega Millions, thank you! Now I can go back to spending my money on train stuff instead of tickets
am pretty sure my mailman just piles all this stuff somewhere and drops it off all at once, because it seems a little too convienent that whenever I order stuff it all shows up on the same day, but round 1 of the latest batch of online buys, have a few more things en route. I got a -great- deal on the container flatbeds, they are brand-spankin' and I paid less for both plus shipping than one should cost by itself so am pretty thrilled. Picked up a second open-air car for my someday hillside scene, 2 doz 12V led cars for my city tunnel, some figures, a fun little container painted like a disposable camera (don't think they're JNR prototype but oh, well - people ship stuff overseas, yeah?), and lastly a cheapo set of brushes that are for painting fingernails but have fat molded grips so I'm hoping they work out with the RA that likes to implode in my fingers and wrist when I try to do the little stuff. Will have to let you know! Back to work...
...and by work, I mean this building kit! I could not sleep last night so started my big Kibri mansion. It's pretty straight forward but I swear that Atlas started making theirs, then Kibri said 'hold my dunkel' and made bigger models with more parts, and then Faller decided if Germans were to be known for anything, it would be for how many parts they can fit in a 5.5x3.25 N-scale house (the answer is 226. TWO HUNDRED, AND TWENTY SIX. I opened the box and that's as far as I've ever gotten HAHA). I meant to paint the shutters on this before I assembled it but went ahead anyways and it looks fine. I christened the battery airbrush about an hour ago on the roof and gutters, just did a primer coat to get the gloss off and then will do a black weather-wash. Should be done with it a little later on today. Always fun when what's been in your head starts to take shape in front of your eyes!
The big house at the end of the street is done! Well, mostly done. I did not notice the spatter between the steps until I was resizing these pics, and I do have an iron gate kit to go around it, but that will be when I get to something more permanent - it would definitely break if I tried to set it up now and then move it. I might get some flowering ivy going on the balcony rails, too. Am still not sold on the shutters but not sure is worth the hassle to change. It's definitely going to need a JustPlug if only for the dimmer - every one of those windows has a clear plastic insert so would glow like a supernova with a regular LED. Still, I've always really liked this particular model. Very happy to have it on my layout fo' sho.
It's Kibri kit #37169. It takes a while but goes together really easily, just decide whether you want to paint the shutters before you put it together
It could also be quite a fine government building or even a railway station. A very impressive build.
Faller makes a beautiful model. It will look right at home when I am done. See, given how much fun I had with the one I just did, I decided to just keep it going and tackle the next one - how bad could it really be, eh? So, like I said - am sure it will be wonderful when it's done. Right now, though? Right now I'm two hours in and the only thing I'm sure of is that this kit is the antichrist. If this thing actually makes it onto my layout before I start smashing all 200+ pieces with a framing hammer lol
Once again, it's noob question time... What tricks do you guys use to remove CA/super glue residue from plastic model pieces you weren't planning on painting? I've looked online and VMS looks like what I need but can't find a US retailer (a trustworthy one, at least - found a couple questionable ones on Ebay) and would rather not pay a mint to have 30ml of something sent from across the pond. Unlike the Kibri house which went together with relative ease, this little monster is not pre-grooved or any of that and the roof seems immune to all formulas of modeling glue. I finally got it on somewhat straight-ish with Gorilla CA but have a nice white stripe the entire length of a seam right in the front of the house, and on a red roof to boot. Can I just paint over that white haze? Will it discolor if I do? What if I shot it with a matte clear first? Or, is there some other trade-secret method? I definitely don't want to remove the bond - it took WAY too long to ever want to try it again - just the residue.
Most super glue solvents are acetone based and therefore you need to stay away from plastics with it. The haze most likely comes from oils on the plastic and not enough ventilation. Fumes settle on the oils. That is why you should wash the plastic parts with a little Dawn dish detergent. Super glue or ACC is used to raise fingerprints and the fingerprint is marked by a white haze from the fumes. You should be able to paint over that haze.
I use a diluted Simple Green bath and a toothbrush to clean the piecesparts on the sprues before starting, same concept as the dishsoap. There's no questions as to how it happened - this is from having to use enough glue to hold a rhinoceros to a wall just to keep the stupid pieces in place lol I know the 'why', looking for the best 'how' to move forward from here. If it can be painted over, I'll just do that. I can weather the roof like I did the other one. Wasn't planning to, but will give it a go.
Ditto! CA can be painted over with any kind of paint once the glue is cured (which is almost instant).
With the exception of one house I have been planning to have a crapload of fun with, I never really considered who may be living in these homes as I build them. This house, though? After the way it went together, am pretty sure some old, super-crabby woman who is hunched over and throws old fruit at people walking by on the sidewalk lives in it. Just by the way it went together. Total struggle start to finish, nothing worked right, lots of words of the 4-letter variety. I did have to repaint the roof to cover up all the glue marks since no substance known to mankind would stick to it, then I dirtied it and the walks up a little just to make it look a little more realistic. I'm relatively pleased with it now that it's finished - this is another kit I've liked for a long time - but yeah, this was not the most fun I've had lately. Will add a ton of character to the neighborhood, is the other home I really wanted for my 'rich part of town', but yikes.
That looks great and the efforts were worth it. In addition to the cats as suggested, I would add a few old fruit crates the occupant can use as ammunition for folks passing by.
A couple of straw broomsticks at each door for her to fly around on. And then a lady in all black standing by the door.
