After a week out of State, I got back to the bench.
The next thing up was the stairway. As with any kit, I always stain, paint and weather all the clapboard/wall sections in one go. The worst thing in kit building, I think, is getting further into the construction only to have to stop and figure out how to match colors you did weeks (or even months) ago. It’s especially important on structures like Emporium Seafood that have many little sub-structures that come one after the other in the instructions.
With that in mind, the clapboard for the stairway was already stained and weathered with pastel chalks, so the only thing to do was add the sign and assemble. One aspect of note was the roof. Instead of construction paper, I instead used tissue paper. This allowed me to create more fine rip and tears along each seam. I added nail holes with the pounce wheel and weathered with pastel chalks. Later I’ll add a pigeon or two, and also some scrap wood and leaves.
Next up was the guard shed. George’s engineering is flawless, and I always take the extra effort to install 1/8” bracing as he suggests — even if it is a little overkill in places. It does make this cardboard building incredibly sturdy and, therefore, well worth the additional effort. If carefully following the instructions this little building folds really well.
For shingles, I use 3M transfer tape. Here was no exception. It makes the application of shingles (especially this rolled kind found in all FSM kits) very easy and mess free. They were painted using earth and concrete tones as the instructions suggested, but I washed them with a dark brown oil wash. Even though I don’t move the oil around afterwards with mineral spirits, what the oil does is dry in a certain way that appears dirty and well-used — exactly what I needed for a guard/storage shed!
All my castings were already painted and ready to go, as were the corrugated metal panels, so the completion of the shed came around pretty quick. Before I applied the panels, I ran my pounce wheel over the bottom for nail holes.
More chalks and enamel washes were used around the bottom of the building so it appears like it’s part of the world — as opposed to sat on top of it. I also sifted through my Preiser collection and found an appropriate figure for the sliding “Stop” window. I’ll add pigeons later.
Here’s the finished structure:
I also painted the inside of the ajar door, but you’ll never see it. To appease that tragedy, here’s a snapshot:
It came time to build the wharf. First, I stained all the wood — and boy, it was a lot of stripwood!
I followed the instructions very carefully and within an evening I arrived at this point in the construction:
One part I deviated from in the instructions was heightening the entire wharf. I’m using the retaining walls from the Cartwright Machine Shop kit, so in order to match that and leave the 3/32” space the instructions call for, I had to raise the overall height. Fortunately there’s enough stripwood in the kit for me to do that.
I then spent some time detailing the pilings. I added the barnacles and seaweed (fine ballast and fine turf) and then used a combination of stains (working from lighter mixes to almost pure India ink in places) to weather. I also used various AK enamel products (like Moss Deposits) and slowly worked my way towards an aged, well-worn wharf.
For some wet effects at the bottom of each piling, I used KLEAR FLOOR VARNISH.
You can find this is any half-decent grocery store in the US and it makes for a very cheap gloss finish. Many modelers use this stuff on plane canopies, in fact.
With the main assembly to the wharf complete, I downed tools and called it a day.
More soon.
by on March 8, 2021
