The primary purpose of my former blog was to allow an easy way to post construction progress reports of various projects.  Since I've taken the blog down due to spam abuse, I'll try to use this section of the site to post a rolling update of my various projects.  If you'd like to make a comment please use the following email address - your comments and questions are always welcome.  Bosco@clarksville-balt-and-ohio.com

Entries will be in a rolling format - the most recent entry will be at the top and so on....

2/25/07: Kit-O-Mat Boat House, Part Two

Well it's been awhile since my last update on the boathouse.  I've decided on placement and the boathouse has been renamed "Mooney's Marine Supply and Repair".  I've named the structure after Jim Mooney, who I have found to be both both a very nice guy and very helpful with modeling tips.  Jim is part of the Bar Mills crew.  While the scene isn't complete yet, I'm pretty happy with how it is shaping up.  The lighthouse is from Walther's Gold Ribbon line and was put together by my son, Sean.  The two structures were designed using the Kit-O-Mat product from KingMill.  All of the details where either leftover's from other kits, purchased from Greenway products or cast by yours truly.  Here's a hint - the really bad looking items are most likely home made!  There is a good bit of scenery, weathering and detailing to complete but the overall project is shaping up nicely.  Next up will be the addition of a small fishing boat and a bunch of the Woodland Scencis LBP's to populate the scene.  I'll also be adding some sea gulls and sea gull poop since I just watched the second Scott Mason DVD!

The rocks are made by hand carving pink insulation foam and then painting it varies shades of gray with white highlights.  I like the look a lot and may change the rest of the harbor to match.

The crane is a kit from model tech studios.  It was a bit of a bear to put together but the end product pretty neat.

Here's a long shot of the overall harbor scene.  I'll finish the background scenery in a few weeks and then ballast the track (I really hate ballasting track!).  Including boats, this scene is comprised of over 20 structures!

1/16/07: Kit-O-Mat Boat House:

I've made some minor progress on the boat house.  The first two pictures show the structure before the roof was completed.  All of the windows and doors are in place.  All of the parts fit together perfectly.  So far I'm very happy with the quality of the product one gets from KingMill.

The next two pictures show the boat house with the roof attached and a scratch built porch and stairway to the second floor door.  All of the wood used was made from scraps that came with the kit.  The porch tilts up a bit so I'll need to fix that.  The dock is scratch built (I didn't order one from KingMill).  I used different shingles than I ordered with the kit but am pretty happy with the roof.  I originally ordered a rolled paper roof but realized that wouldn't look that good with a roof this large. 

You can really see how the porch tilts up a bit at the extreme left of the above picture.  I like how the shingles turned out.  I did have some problems with the card board roof warping a bit as I didn't brace it enough - never skimp on bracing it will only come back and bite you later.   I haven't decided what color to paint the shingles.

This will likely be the final placement of the building on the layout. Now comes the really fun part - detailing the scene!  Please e-mail me Bosco@clarksville-balt-and-ohio.com with any comments or suggestions for improvement.

Overall, I have been very happy with the Kit-O-Mat product and will definitely order a few more structures.

12/29/06: Kit-O-Mat Boat House

I've started work on a custom laser cut kit using KingMill's Kit-O-Mat software.  So far I really like the Kit-O-Mat concept.  While I am sure there are more sophisticated cad programs available, the Kit-O-Mat product is extremely easy to use (which means I can actually use it!) and it's flexible enough to design just about any type of structure.  More importantly, all of the technical aspects of submitting your design for a structure to KingMill is handle via the press of a single button.  Press the button "Order" in the upper right hand corner and away your plans go.  You'll get an email from Chris Jessee confirming the receipt of the order and a follow up e-mail with a final quote on the Kit's cost.  Turn around time is very quick (a few days) and you can "tweak" the design with Chris post submission (but pre-cutting) to make sure you get what you want.  So far, I really like this product and anticipate ordering several more structures using the package.  Please bear in mind this product creates a custom design and you don't get assembly instructions, pre-printed signs or cast details like you would get in a commercial kit.  The software allows on to design a building in any scale from Z through 1/35th scale!

I've ordered 2 kits using Kit-O-Mat, the first was a small test structure and the second a larger, three story boat house.  I've started building the boat house and can post the following progress shots, which show the kit components and the wall bracing that I've applied.

I should finish the basic construction of the kit this weekend - which is good as I've got the get started on Raglan Road - and that will take awhile!

12/28/06: "Flanking" Diorama

Here are some progress shots of the 1/35th scale Peleliu diorama I've been working on for my son.  It called "Flanking" and depicts a Japanese bunker being flanked by Marines.  The first few shots show the rough outline of the Diorama before the ground cover was employed:

The diorama is being built so that the top of the bunker can be removed to see inside.

The next pictures show a partially completed diorama.  Most of the ground cover is in but I still need to detail the tank and figures.  I'll also be adding a lot more detail to the interior of the bunker.  Lastly, I will be redoing the removable bunker roof as the gaps are too visible. I would say I'm about 70% done at this point.

I use "Durham's Rock-Hard Water Putty" colored with some acrylic craft paint (Raw Sienna) as the basic covering over the pink foam.  The exposed rocks are just rough cut pink foam painted several shades of grey and then fry-brushed with white paint.  The sand bags on the tank are made from milliput.

12/23/06 The Construction Backlog

Well I have built up quit an inventory of un-built kits and I'm not sure which one to tackle next.  Here's a quick inventory of kits/projects:

Current Project

1/35 WWII Diorama: Peleliu Invasion, 1944

I'm building this quick project as both a diversion from MRR'ng and to teach my son some family history.  My uncle (Jake) served in the Marines during WWII and participated in several campaigns, including Peleliu.  Sean's role has been to research the Pacific War for extra credit at school.  The Diorama will be used as an exhibit for his report.  The diorama will feature a M5A1 Light Tank and a handful of Marine figures flanking a Japanese bunker. 

Un-built Inventory

- Raglan's Road (Bar Mills)

- Department of the Docks (FOS Scale Ltd)

- Custom Boathouse kit (Created via Kit-O-Mat from KingMill Enterprises)

- Ship's Chandler (Rusty Stumps Scale Models)