Anglia105E

Both front and rear gable ends have had two coats of white acrylic, and these have been PVA glued in place . . . The side of the garage now has fascia boards ready for the guttering, and I am allowing the paint on the fascia boards to dry overnight . . . Multiple pieces of balsa square rod were used to bring the guttering away from the wall of the bungalow, in order to line up with the lower edge of the roof. David

Those photos of the Ontario plate ' Turbo 36 ' are nice high resolution images to work from Pat, and I was wondering if the Y-block turbo engine would have been part of the AMT kit, or is this an aftermarket addition ? David

Thank you Potaka . . . There are many interior fittings and furniture ready to go into their respective rooms, once the roof structure has been completed . . . David

Yes Paul, I am thinking that some landscaping would be good . . . This could be static grass, as I do have the materials and the applicator tool. Maybe some lengths of wooden fencing as well . . . David

I managed to fabricate a double bend in the downpipe for the side of the garage . . . This was done by cutting the tubing at an angle by eye, twice and somehow I got it right ! . . . The lower section was joined using super glue, which didn't seem to work particularly well with the Evergreen styrene tubing. For the upper section of the downpipe I used Revell Contacta adhesive and this did a better job . . . Harold had to bring out his ladder to get this downpipe sorted out properly. The downpipe joints have been left to set for a while, and then they can be given a coating of black marker pen, along with the next length of guttering. David

Here are some photos of the bungalow model, taken just inside the Velux window in the loft, showing the guttering and one of the downpipes . . . To make the downpipe mounting brackets I have used some short lengths of black cable tie, which is the type that has a strand of wire along the centre. David

These garage tools of yours in 1:24 scale feature a level of detail that goes way beyond anything that I have seen previously . . . You clearly have a good eye for this type of modelling work, and you are able to transform scale plastic models into something extremely realistic. These must surely be regarded as ' museum ' class pieces Charles . . . or even something higher if there is such a thing !!! David

I decided to reduce the depth of the fascia boards at the front of the gable end, because to me they appeared to be out of proportion and oversized . . . The reduction was from 10 mm to 5 mm, which looks a whole lot better . . . Once these have been painted white and glued onto the edges of the roof section, the process can be repeated for the gable end at the rear of the bungalow. David

The packs of Evergreen styrene parts arrived in the post today, and these include 3.2 mm half round lengths and also 3.2 mm hollow tubing lengths . . . I measured and cut a 6 cm length of white styrene tubing, which was then coated with a black marker pen. This process was repeated with a 5 cm length of white styrene half round, and after using a round file to prepare the top end of the downpipe, the two pieces were super glued together . . . You can see from the following photos that the downpipe is not yet held to the wall with brackets, so in fact there is nothing holding the pipe and gutter at all. The idea is not to attach this piping to the edge of the roof, because the roof has to be allowed to lift off completely at any time . . . I have added a photo from the design information by way of comparison with my photo of the actual model . . . David

The plan is to have guttering and downpipes (down spouts), and I hadn't thought of sewer vents . . . Do you mean like these in the following photo? The bungalow design that I am working from doesn't appear to have any sewer vents, unless they left them out for simplicity . . . David

Your figures definitely add a great deal to the realism of the diorama setting Anton, and I think you have achieved the right balance with the manager figure . . . David G. has made a good point regarding the concept of keeping the figures monochromatic, and using their natural casting colour or painting them in a neutral colour . . . As David has observed, the architectural models generally use this technique. Myself, I tend to paint figures as fully as I can, but the monochromatic idea has set me thinking along those lines too . . . David W.

Turning my attention to the fascia boards, and beginning with the front gable end at the left hand side of the bungalow, I first produced a pencil drawing of the fascia boards . . . This drawing was actual size, so the next step was to transfer this to sheet balsa using tracing paper (greaseproof paper). The pair of boards were cut out and test fitted onto the gable end, which are currently held in place with glue dots temporarily. Soon the fascia boards can be PVA glued into place, and then painted white . . . There is a second pair of fascia boards to be mounted at the rear gable end, but this is not the same size as the one at the front of the building. David

Looking good so far David, and the ballast inside the hull is a good idea actually . . . Here is a link to the Revell version of the Golden Hind kit . . . https://www.internetmodeler.com/2001/january/ships/golden_hind.htm David W.

After fitting the highest strip of ridge tiles, and also the longest strip, the remaining two strips of ridge tiles were fitted today, following some messy modifications. This involved using pieces of balsa as packing, to provide some rudimentary support for the final pair of ridge tile strips . . . All the gullies and ridges have been dealt with, and the roof structure is nearing completion. There will be soffits and fascias mounted at the outer edges of the roofing, which will be made from lengths of sheet balsa. Once these are in place, the gutters and downpipes can be added. Today I have ordered some packs of Evergreen half round and also some tubing in order to make the guttering and downpipes at some point . . . There is a chimney stack waiting to be fitted later. Considering this is a fairly complex roof structure in some respects, the overall result is pleasing to the eye, I think . . . David

You have your work cut out with that one David . . . What an awful kit, but if there's anyone that can do something with it, you are the man ! Good luck . . . and may she sail the high seas !!! David W.

Thanks a lot David G., and I am now 5 months into this project . . . The Rolls-Royce Phantom III project was completed over a 6 month period . . . David W.

Fitting the first four of ten ridge tile strips was relatively straightforward, and there are six more ridges to be done. These tile strips have a peel off self adhesive backing to them, which attaches quite strongly to the roof tiles that are already in place . . . Generally, I would say that the roof structure overall is more or less as I hoped it would be. Something that I am keeping in mind, is that this bungalow should not look as though it has just been built, so not a new building. This is a 1950's bungalow that has weathered and aged over the past 75 years or so. Some slight imperfections and blemishes are to be expected during this building's lifetime of three quarters of a century . . . David

Thanks a lot Paul . . . Feeling pretty good at this stage. I do appreciate you looking in from time to time, and all comments most welcome. David

Once the pins had been removed from the largest roof section, it was time to lift the whole roof structure assembly clear of the lower rooms assembly . . . The roof structure was easily lifted clear, and I was then able to carefully separate the ceiling panel from the roof structure base panel . . . Both the ceiling panel and also the roof structure are sitting nicely on top of the lower rooms assembly, so things can now proceed . . . The ridge tiles have been delivered, so these have to be fitted along the four horizontal ridges and the six inclined ridges. Two gullies need to be fitted and painted with grey emulsion, and the gully at the rear of the bungalow will require some clever modification. Now that I have access to all of the eight rooms, following a lengthy period of roof work, I can set about adding the furniture and fittings. The bungalow model was taken outside into the bright sunshine today, and a series of photos were taken using natural daylight only. David

Hi Michelle . . . Your question regarding the ' bowing ' of the foam board is a good one, and the problem is commonly known as ' warping ' . . . I have found only one way to stop foam board warping, and it does work. You can apply a coat of paint to one side of the foam board sheet, for which I use emulsion paint which is water based . . . This will cause the foam board sheet to warp badly, but all you need to do then is to apply a coat of emulsion paint to the reverse side of the foam board sheet, and that causes the sheet to straighten up to it's normal shape. If you need any further details please let me know . . . David

Yesterday I managed to PVA glue in place the sixth and seventh roof sections, which were both rather tricky, and particularly around the area where the gulley needs to fit. This area will need some further modification later . . . This evening was all about the eighth and final roof section, this being the largest of all the roof sections. First of all it was necessary to make two additional roof trusses from foam board, both of which were rectangular. One of these was for the front gable end, and the other was for the rear gable end. Once the extra trusses were in place, I set about applying a large amount of PVA glue to the relevant edges of the structure. Both extreme ends of the roof section were trimmed back slightly, to achieve a precise fit . . . The eight roof sections are all positioned reasonably well and can be allowed 24 hours setting time . . . There are two gullies to be fitted, and the packs of ridge tiles should be arriving in the post within the following two days. David

Yes Paul, the process of precisely positioning each piece of the puzzle is quite tricky at times . . . Somehow it is all coming together ! David

In order to mount the fifth roof section it was necessary to make an additional truss piece, because there was nothing to support the incline edge of the large roof panel . . . The existing roof truss was positioned just under and behind where it needed to be, so I had to provide a little more support. The truss was measured and cut out of foam board, and a couple of Bostik Glue Dots were used to attach this second truss to the side of the first one . . . The large roof section had to be cut away slightly at the far left edge, so as to fit properly where the gulley will be fitted shortly . . . PVA glue was applied to four of the five edges and the roof section was then pinned in place for 24 hour setting overnight. David

The foam board structure has a great deal of strength, and can easily bear the weight of the 1-2-3 blocks, and more. The builder appreciates your comment. Progress is indeed steady, and I should be able to get all of the roof sections in place by the time the ridge tiles are delivered. David W.

The gulley, previously glued in place, has now been given a coat of grey emulsion paint and the third roof section over the side of the garage has set nicely. Today I positioned the fourth roof section, which is over the rear of the garage, and PVA glued this in place . . .There are just four more roof sections to be fixed in place, with the largest section being the last to go on. As things turned out, I did have more than enough roof tiles ( shingles ) to cover all of the panels, so I don't need to order any further tiles. This evening I am placing an order for some ridge tiles, from the same company in York, and these should arrive in the post early next week sometime . . . David