GTMust

One more comment and then I'll shut up! The main structural floor boards were usually done diagonally, to add rigidity to the floor. The same theory as the triangulation in a sports car or race car frame. Sometimes these structural boards were just left as the finished floor above. That's why, on a single structural floor board construction you would see diagonal floor boards on the second floor and dust coming from between the floor boards below as they shrunk after being installed over a period of time. There were probably exceptions to this rule, as many buildings were constructed by unqualified contractors who didn't always understand structural theories and there was no building dept. authority until the early 1900's to monitor the contruction. If they added a finished second floor (which wasn't usually done in old warehouses), the finished floor boards would then be laid opposite to the direction of the structural floor boards to create more rigidity or even just for appearance. Sometimes a diagonal finished floor would be added over the original perpendicular floor to either create a more rigid structure and/or to create a more aesthetically pleasing finish to an upper floor, where offices may be built. Whetever the origin of the floor in your building, Danny, I certainly wouldn't change it at this stage of the dio. No one can say for sure that your building wasn't built the way you've shown it! And after laying over 600 individual boards..... you've got my total respect, just for that achievement alone!!!! Keep going my friend... and if anyone ever does ask (which I doubt), now you have a little background information to baffle them with!! Tony

Thanks guys. Great comments and suggestions. Much appreciated. Harry: I agree about the weathering of the wood. I did think about more rustic, weathered boards but wasn't sure how to achieve it, so I left it for now. I'm going to experiment with a few ideas to achieve the look you suggested. Nick: First I trowelled on a layer of white spackle where the track would be. While it was still drying, I dabbed at it with a bunched up paper towel; then rolled a spare wheel from the kit, guided by a steel straight edge ruler, along the wheel track location. I then flooded the whole base with a watery wash of light tan (and a little black) dollar store acrylic craft paint (the same stuff I used to add the muddy look to the truck). White glue straight from the bottle was spread over the grass area and model railway "grass" sprinkled over that. The grass cover will need more work with different colors and grades to look more realistic. The whole base took about half and hour to make but adding additional details will probably take a lot longer! Modelmartin: I think the farmer had a son who was learning the trade as a body man?....... Or maybe not! Now to find another thrift store junker!

I thought I'd already done a WIP on this....... I must be getting old........ I can't find it. Anyway, if I did, forgive me for repeating myself and I've brought it up to date as of today. The concept is a 25 T that had been abandoned after a crash, recovered by an old farmer and turned into a farm truck to replce poor old "Dobbin" the long suffering horse. It's set in a time period sometime in the mid thirties and has seen a lot of hard work around the farm. Here's what I started with, a really worn out old AMT 25 T coupe body and fenders that I found in a junk box at a thrift store. Cut it into three sections, discarded the middle piece and glued the other two back together. Also cut off the fenders for a future junkyard dio. I stole the new fenders, chassis, hood and other missing parts from a new 25 T "3 in 1" kit and built a tilt bed for the back. a couple of primer coats and it's ready for finish coat and some weathering. Now it's pretty much finished, except I still have to add wiring and hoses to the engine and a couple of other small details before it goes "under glass". I built a quick dio base of a muddy farm track and will add a fence, weeds and other details, but meanwhile it brings the model a little more alive. Suggestions and comments always welcome and taken in the spirit in which they are given. Hope you like it:

Danny... with the greatest respect.... and I maybe wrong....... but I believe you may have the floor upside down. From my experience as an architect and property developer, all the structural floors I have seen in old warehouse type buildings, have the main floor boards running diagonally on top of the rafters and the finished floor boards running perpendicular to the building walls. Your work is unbelievable and I am in great awe of your talents, so I have hesitated to mention this..... and perhaps it has been done in the way you have shown in real life in some cases.... but it may be an idea to double check. Even in my own house, which is over 100 years old, the second floor is built the way I have mentioned. I'm getting old and perhaps my memory is fading... but please check it out before you get too far. Tony

1/16th!!!! WOW, this thing must be huge! With all that wood framing it must weigh a ton. No wonder you've built it in sections. Which museum will it go to when it's finished? I assume it will be one in Montreal or maybe in Ottawa? Tony

I can't quite visualize where this is heading, but it sure looks interesting........ and creative. Scratchbuilding is such fun!

I love vans!!! Are you going to cut open the hood? If you don't there's no point in detailing the engine as you won't see it, except the oil pan from underneath! At least, that's the way it is with the three AMT Chevy van kits I have yet to build. Maybe the Nirvana is different but it doesn't look like it from the pictures. There's not much underhood detail provided in the kit. I'll be following this with great interest. If you do open the hood, you might(?) inspire me to do the same thing! Tony

It's amazing how just adding those garden fences has made this dio come alive. When you add more fencing and landscaping, etc. it will really "POP"! Forgive me, if I missed it in a previous post, but is this 1/32 scale? The rusty car looks like it may be an early Highway Pioneers/Gowland/Revell 1/32 scale Model T. If not, what is it? Tony

Can't answer your question on the SVO, but I am dying to see the "Whistler" build in glorious colour! I just bought the "Motorcraft" and "Folger's" IMSA(?) cars in a bulk package which also included three Monogram Indy cars, for $23 plus $17 shipping (still factory sealed) from Ebay. Talk about a steal! (By the way, "Backyard Billy" sold the '79/'80 Fox to "Driveway Dave", who is finishing it up.... hopefully both cars will be in the paint shop before long!) Tony

Neat! Great inspiration for a "real" diarama model house!

Coming along nicely Nick...... keep up the good work! Tony

I've had so much fun (and learned a lot) reading and following this thread, that I'll be sad to see it end! In some ways I have a much clearer picture of what I should do to be perfectly safe... or do I? Reading between everyone's lines, I doubt there is such a thing as perfectly safe... but maybe that's life anyway. One thing's for sure, I won't be using a vacuum cleaner and I do take the cautions about electrical sparks and spray fumes seriously, as everyone should! But one thing still eludes me. I have no basement in my house and my windows all have fixed screens on the outside..... that will be a great concern to my wife if they get even slightly discolored by trying to escape the paint fumes(?) through them and I'm not about to start cutting 4" diameter holes though my walls for an extra dryer vent. Oh well.... I guess I'm going to brave these Canadian winters still, and take my spray cans and models ouside and blow the fumes into my neighbour's yard. God help the environment! (I know this is a serious subject, so please don't think I'm being flippant. Thanks for getting it started, Virgil!)

I'm speechless!!!!!! Definitely the best junkyard dio I've ever seen and full of great details and ideas for anyone planning a junkyard dio (including me)! I can't believe the realism you've captured in all areas of the yard..... and each vehicle is a masterpiece in itself. (I think Danno already said that..... and I second it!). Unbelievable!!! Tony

Very nice work John. Will you be adding any planting, trees, shrubs, bushes, etc.? Tony

It must be me, but I can't get the pictures. Wonder why?

Very nice Miguel. I'm always impressed with your work and this one is great! Tony

Great job Tony! You're making us Canucks proud.... can't wait to see it with decals and gloss coat! Tony

Hi Brad and welcome to the forum world of diaramas! I think your problem in posting pictures may be because you are trying to attach them directly from your files. In order to overcome this problem, you should open a free Photobucket or Fotki account (I use Photobucket which I personally find easier to use), post the pictures from you files into that account and then you can upload any number of pictures at a time. I really like your dio. Are you planning any more? Tony

I think the concept to end the current Fox CBP in July and then start another makes the most sense to me. That's a much better idea and you've got my vote on that. Except that it may be better to have a second closed end build. You can always start a third... fourth... etc! Tony

I'm with that idea as long as it falls within the terms of the community build rules. I have a whole bunch of Foxes to build and some may not even get started this year. (I like to insert a few other builds along the way!) For what it's worth you've got a "yeah" from me. Hopefully this won't put a lot of Fox builds on the back burner though..... so that this thread dries up! Tony

This is looking really good Mike. Very clean build and I think it's going to be winner. But I'm curious..... it looks like you've lowered the suspension, but are using the stock wheels and tires..... an unusual combination? Or is it a camera illusion? Tony

Right on, Tony. Let's show these Yanks what we Canucks can do, eh? (Tongue in cheek, of course!)

The biggest problem on this kit was the rear hatch. I've managed to repair it but here's the mess I had to fix. First the hatch after it's been glued and clamped in place overnight: (The yellow plastic on the body, is the surface that the edge of the hatch was supposed to cover. There should also be a turndown on the hatch over the rear quarter. Both sides were pretty mutch the same.) The next photo shows the rear sail panel sanded back level with the hatch and styrene added to form the turn down: Then the whole thing levelled off: and finally smoothed out ready for primer and final check: The kit tires looked too big for the wheel arches (see previous post), so I substituted a set of Monogram Goodyear open letter GT Radials from a '57 Chevy kit. Not being Metric the Goodyears wouldn't fit the TRX metric rims, so I shaved the identification off and turned the tires around to the unidentified smooth side. The Monogram tires are slightly smaller in rolling diameter and I think it looks much better now:

Great job Tony! I drove one of these with a straight six, automatic back in the mid sixties. It was a clapped out loaner while my new '66 Mustang was in for service. What a whale of a beast (the Chevy, not the Mustang)! Couldn't beat the street car to the next set of lights. But now...... I'd love to own a real one! Just the same as yours. Tony

Interesting color suggestion Brad, but I'm a "low profile" kinda guy. I'm pretty much set on boring red for the '85/'86 lookalike, just 'cos my '86 is red and I like that color on the real car. As for the '79/'80.... that's still up in the air, but will probably finish up two tone. Maybe black/silver, kinda similar to the pace car but without the decals. Lots of time yet to decide... Tony