Anglia105E

Excellent choice of paint colours there David, and the mockup was worth setting up to evaluate your current progress. As regards the rigging lines, the only aspect of model building that I have tried that comes close would be the tram lines for my 1:35 scale European Tram Car. For those overhead tram lines I did use the thinnest styrene rod that I could get, from either Plastruct or Evergreen, but I seem to remember experimenting with cotton thread and also steel wire . . . The cotton thread would most likely work best for your rigging lines, but you have a lengthy tedious task in store ! See photo below . . . David W.

Thanks Paul . . . Six months on this build so far, and as the project goes into month seven we arrive at quite an advanced stage . . . When the ceiling panel and the roof structure are lifted clear of the lower rooms assembly, the interior detail is visible, but of course once the roof and ceiling are lowered into position those rooms are in darkness . . . This is why I would like to rig up some lighting for each room. At the moment it is the routing of the wires, the bulbs and the batteries that needs to be given some thought . . . Mains electric lighting would be an option, but keeping the main supply cable out of view for photography later is the tricky part. Bulbs can be inserted through holes in the ceiling panel, which is of foam board construction, and immediately above the ceiling panel is the baseboard panel of the roof structure. The roof structure is a closed space, unless I decide to open up an access panel of some kind . . . Here is a simple sketch . . . David

During today the furniture and fittings for the bungalow model were moved from the downstairs workbench, and upstairs to the workbench in the loft . . . These parts have all been assembled or scratch built and painted, ready to be placed in their respective rooms. Some parts are intended for outside locations, such as the greenhouse, deck chairs, post box (mail box), telephone box, dustbin (refuse bin) and ladder . . . The furniture and fittings have been loosely arranged inside each room, and so far I have super glued the fridge freezer to the floor and wall in the corner of the kitchen, as well as the wash basin in the bathroom . . . Having added some styrene support pads to the base of the chimney stack, this is now firmly glued in place on top of the roof, and it looks pretty good . . . David

The short length of guttering near to the front entrance porch has been fitted, along with the downpipe and a third grate at the base . . . Also, the longest fascia board is now in place, from the front gable end to the rear gable end. This has a length of guttering, which is made up of two pieces. I found time to do some test fitting of the chimney stack, and by drawing a sketch I was able to establish the intended route of the chimney breast. The living room fireplace, as shown in one of the following photos, lines up with the centre of the window frame, and the chimney breast rises up to the chimney stack off to the left hand side. This places the chimney stack close to the end of the high roof ridge on the right hand side . . . The kitchen fireplace backs onto the one in the living room, so both share the same chimney breast. David

The entire centre joint appeared to be seriously out of alignment at the stern of this sailing ship, and you have dealt with this very effectively. I suspect many model builders would not relish the challenges involved with this kit, and many would put it back in the box and abandon it . . . Full marks to you David for your perseverance and determined mindset to overcome the defects of this particular kit . . . David W

Your comments are always welcome, and you usually have an interesting angle on some aspect of my build, which then sets me thinking . . . I searched high and low, but I could find no trace of the downpipe, and it was indeed my first attempt. I managed to make the second one by eye also. Once these gutters, downpipes and grates are all done I can turn my attention to the furniture and fittings of the interior rooms. The lengthy and extensive work on the roof structure has meant that the rooms have been covered the whole time . . . David W.

Two further downpipes will be positioned in the corners, and these each have a grate at their base. The grates are actually 1:35 scale MiniArt parts that are Made in Ukraine . . . Each grate is nicely moulded in two parts, and the scale is so close to 1:43 scale that the difference is acceptable. The fascia boards are glued in place and ready for painting, while the guttering lengths and the downpipes have been coated in black marker pen. Working on the back wall of the garage, as well as the wall along the outside of the small bedroom and the living room. Once the back wall of the living room has been done, there remains only the longest side wall of the bungalow, which is the one that has the two gable ends . . . David

Over the past few days I have cleared the table top in the loft and moved the bungalow model from the downstairs room. The temperature is in the high twenties inside the loft, even with the Velux window fully open . . . During the moving of the bungalow model, tools and materials two floors up in my house, the downpipe with the double bend somehow went missing, and has completely vanished. I set about making a second downpipe, which turned out as well as the first one, so this is now glued in place. The guttering has been fitted along the side of the garage, the downpipe is connected and I checked to make sure that the ceiling panel and roof structure are both seating nicely in relation to the gutters. Here are some photos showing today's progress . . . Thanks for following my topic guys. David

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