Dr. Cranky

Oh, and I made the sign magnetized so that along the way, if I come up with other ideas, I can swap them out like this . . . So we can change from this: To this, faster than you can say magnet:

Thanks, chaps . . . here's a slight detour . . . I am fighting very hard NOT to make this one too gunky and far-gone, but what's an industrial space without a name. I've been working on this one for the last couple of days and I think it's finally looking like a good sign . . . It's made with a 2" cardboard letter template, styrene, and plastic letters from Office Depot . . . the rest is paint, crackle paint, and washes, with a little bit of airbrushing thrown in for good measure . ..

The figure really takes the build to another wonderful level. Great job on all the interior details.

It slowing down now because of all the little details, etc . . . there will be more progress in the coming days. Thanks for all the kind words, folks.

Thanks everyone . . . and like with the models themselves, I am not one of those builders who is a stickler for architectural and structural accuracies . . . once I get going on a project I get possessed. Sometimes this comes at a high price in that if it doesn't work I have to start all over again, but this one is working so far . . .

This is how it's going to go . . . and I can move the rafters and columns around a little bit . . . They also give the appearance that at one time they were part of individual bays of some sort . . . hey, or at least that's the story being told in my head! Stay tuned in for more . . .

Thanks, Jim, I am certainly having a blast with this one . . . it's fun when it all comes together, and it's also the Doctor's OCD kicking in! So I marked down where the steel plating for the magnets would go, and then used Glossy Accents to glue them down. It's an epoxy glue used by crafters as a glue. It dries shiny, so it can be used for water puddles too! Since they are thicker metal than I am used to, I put these suckers in a mixture of Clorox, Vinnegar, and salt, and overnight it discolored the metal and rusted it a little bit, just for that extra added weathering . . . All the pieces are in place and glued down well . . . .

Nick, those are watch parts. A few years ago I bought about 10 pounds of watch parts, and over the years they have saved my sanity time again. Or wait, maybe they've kept me insane all these years! Well, either way, get your hands on some watch parts and you'll put them to use too!

This is what I was explaining earlier about being able to remove bits and pieces just to get different shots and angles, plus it's a blast to play will all this stuff . . . you can remove one or several legs to get the shot you want and still include all the other elements . . . Oh and I added the final detail to the doors, the bolts that lock them down on the concrete . . . I still have to make the iron rods . . . Stay tuned in for more progress . . .

It looks just right with the doors hanging, and with all the door details too . . .

In the future, I can work on the outside, but I will primer everything just so that it doesn't look so in-progress . . .

Once I square up exactly where each post will go, I will glue down an individual metal plate to the base, which will blend in with the rest of the concrete and dirt of the surface, plus it ill make the whole surface a bit more interesting . . . Since I was at it, I also added some more detail to each post . . . A little variety doesn't hurt . . ..

I am also putting some finishing touches on each leg of the I-beam rafter module, which will also be magnetized to the base for more stability . . .

In order to keep everything square and in place, I decided to use magnets to make assembly easier when I am using the photo-ob base, and then for easy break down too . . . I added 4 1" inch metal plates (you can get these at Fantasy Gaming stores or on line) to the back of the panel . . . The magnets will be inserted into the foam of the Gatorboard and everything should line up . . . Like this:

I don't know who first made it but I get it from Micro Mark Inc., but you can also find it cheaper if you shop around. It's a great material to mock up a building first . . . Ken Hamilton is currently building a diorama called The Arcade and he's using it too . . . See how Ken is using it.

Jim, foamboard is NOT Gatorboard. There's a difference, and foamboard does tend to buckle on you. Gatorboard is a different animal, it's about a 1/2" thick, a bit thinner actually, and it stays flat. I like working with it . . . although it's a bit expensive.

Thanks, everyone. Your comments help fuel this one forward. Okay, here are some answers to your questions. The concrete base is not done yet, but I did score some cracks here and there. My daughter, who has seen me pour plaster before into sheets and then crack it, asked me why I didn't pour the plaster, then crack it and then glue it on? Good question. I don't know why other than I wanted this base to be solid. I didn't want to risk having anything out of place, plus working with an unbroken piece of plaster is better than cutting it into smaller pieces and then gluing it on . . . AND I wanted this one to be leveled. GATORBOARD is two thin sheets of cardboard with foam between, and you can get it in any size you need through the internet. You can cut it, score it, and glue it and it doesn't warp. It's light as a feather and great for foundational work like this . . . In terms of the lighting for this one, I have my table top studio where this sucker is going to sit under the shadowbox above and two banks of soft lights on each side. When the time comes I will play around with the photos. I am even thinking of using flash lights as spot lights to take photos in the dark. We'll see, but that's part of the fun of working on this . . . Stay tuned in for more. Cranky says Happy SUNDAY!

Stay tuned for more progress . . . I am just a few details away from primer and paint . . . this one is turning out to be a lot of work, but it's been nothing but pure fun so far . . .

After much deliberation, I decided to make the doors, hanging rolling doors, two panels that would roll open with casters . . . it took a lot of cutting and planning to get them to look like this: I ended up raiding my watch-parts spares box again in order to get the right look on the rolling mechanism for these puppies . . . They actually will roll out of the way, that is if they don't get stuck after I primer and paint them. Open SESAME . . .

Here's my favorite shot so far . . . which reminds me I have to get working on the door . . .

After running to the LHS for more styrene--you'd be amazed how quickly it all goes in a project like this--I decided to build the interior elements as a stand along unit that can be removed in order to capture the feel of an empty abandoned industrial setting, or with it for a variety of reasons . . . A build like this requires continuous mocking up to make sure everything is lining up just right . . . This next picture gives a strong sense of the place and its dimensions . . .

Framing everything is always easy with all the right tools . . . These windows will stay removeable until after painting . . . Here they are, all the windows finished . . . I will used the cover glass of microscope slides for glass . . . this way it will break like real glass . . .

Next, I finished the front wall with the big entrance door . . . Then I turned my attention to building the windows . . . I wanted big windows with lots of glass panes (for the impending glass breaking!) Again, this is all done with styrene!

Here's the Gatorboard covered in styrene sheet and square rod . . . in preparation for the other elements . . . Both windows and door were cut out . . . Here's the finished side wall with the cinder skirting, metal siding, and windows framed . . . Working with styrne--I've always found--is easier than working with wood . . .

Since I am going to be working with lots of styrene, I decided to cover the Gatorboards with thin styrene sheets so that the next elements would stick perfectly with regular styrene glue. I stuck the styrene sheet to the Gatorboard with a bit of epoxy resin. Next, I applied the styrene siding to the side walls . . . I moved slowly, measuring twice, cutting once . . . mocking up the elements to make sure the look was right . . . I decided this industrial structure would have a 3-foot scale skirt of cinder blocks with the metal siding above it . . . just for the different look . . .