I started this kit years ago. I looked at the photos and it was November 2009! I decided to pick it up as I was looking for a fun project to get over my modelling malingering! It has been fun so far.
This is where I was in 2009. I opened the box and added a few more bits from other kits:
I got as far as painting the resin walls with acrylics:
And then I put it on one side for 3 years… When I got it out again I painted up the hydrocal walls using light washes of tamiya and vallejo acryllic paints and then MIG washes – mostly neutral but some dark. I used artists’ acryllics for the resin walls so splodged the hydrocal walls with the yellow ochre I had used on the resin walls:
The foundations have the same treatment and the bordello is raised up on 1/8th strip wood as pe instructions. I think the original diorama had a slight slope which I will need to think about. I’m thinking of using blue foam for the base so I can build it up later.
The walls also have bicarbonate of soda in the mortar lines sprayed with dullcote to keep it in. I am worried they are a little light despite a few coats of MIG washes. I’ll do some more when the resin upper storey is in:
The back has the normal join gaps. They should be filled and painted over but I am putting steps up to a back door just above one with a support hiding one and may put a soil pipe or similar over the other. I will just fill the gaps that show.
I’ve painted and added wood surrounds to the inside below. I’ve also built a bar but haven’t taken any photos. Oh, and I’ve weathered the walls with some streaks and general dust. I’ve ordered some laser cut tables and chairs and a piano from BTS and loads of people from Fun and Games models. S and D have already sent some general bits and pieces. Shopping is fun! Painting details less so 🙁
I’ve spent the last couple of days wall papering the resin walls and building partitions. I want to make the roof and sections removable but it is 3 stories high and I can’t work out how to get the top level out. Otherwise, all my people will be hidden through very small windows and all that work is hard to see. I know it is there though:) There’s loads of stained leaks with peeling paper. I’ve mostly finished putting the woodwork on the windows and doors. The wood is all the stuff I have lying around so it’s odd HO sizes – 1×3 and 3×8 etc. I’ve used a MIG wash to stain the wood work.
This is the bathroom addition which is very run down and you can see daylight through one wall:
I loved Ken Hamilton’s Pennyland Arcade (you can see it here) and he had one section with a back wall with plaster squeezed through. Very cool so this is my little homage. I used artists’ acrylic (natural) and Vallejo acrylic putty:
Before detailing, I taped the resin walls together and built a floor out of wooden stirrers. They are stained with a wood stain – Colron Medium Georgian Oak. It’s way to shiny at the moment but will be fine for the ceiling. These all sit on top of the hydrocal walls and they are double skinned as the bottom is also the ceiling to downstairs:
The walls are all excellent castings. Thomas Yorke is a very gifted modeller! I will hit the rust with MIG pigments when I am done handling the walls:
The roof needs to be really warped and twisted to have that much water leaking so I have been bending the wood using boiling water and clamps over wood lumps. This is the wood from the kit but I realised that there wasn’t enough for the roof and then realised that they were only supposed to do the rafter tails not the full rafters. I’ve used coffee stirrers instead and they are currently drying out clamped in position:
I’ve just finished filing out all the rafter tail slots in the resin walls to fit the wood. I want to make the roof removable so they need to be a bit loose.