Fos Scale Models/ Blog

JFK to California - Layout Update

2020-05-14T10:47:00.002-07:00

There's not much time lately for working on the layout, as I'm running the Fos shop solo during COVID-19. But a good break here and there is a healthy thing. I started messing around with a favorite plastic kit from Bachmann, from their City Scenes series, now discontinued. I think these were available around 2000 and you can still find them on Ebay. They're big as far as HO scale kits go, almost 20" tall and are great for filling a background.

I'm modeling Queens NY in 1979, so I've set out to gathering advertising from the period, and most of it will be New York specific to really set the scene.

The billboard ad I found online and lasercut the framework. It still needs more work. The billboard will have some lights added to it. And the structure still needs more weatheirng, window shades and some detailing.

Casting Metal Detail Parts

2019-03-27T13:02:00.001-07:00

One of the questions most often asked regarding the manufacturing of our kits is how the metal detail parts are made. So I thought we could show you a brief step by step of how it's done. The process itself is called spin casting, where a rubber mold is spun at high speed while hot liquid metal is poured into it, using a spin caster machine.

First you need some metal and it needs to be melted into liquid form to about 700 degrees; this is done with a gas or electric melting pot. The metal used is a tin alloy. The pot is always kept full to help maintain temperature.

Then you need a mold of the items you are casting. In this case it's an HO scale set of fire safety parts that includes a fire call box, standpipe valve and alarm bell. These are often seen on the walls of industrial buildings. Making the original master parts is another story which we can get to another time. But to make the vulcanized rubber molds, you need multiples of the original master pattern, usually machined in brass. You first make a mold that produces one, use that mold to make a few dozen production masters, then those go into a production mold - so there are a few steps missing here. But we'll jump right to using the finished production mold.

The mold is 9" round and is in two parts. The upper layer has a centered hole for the metal to pour into while the machine is spinning. By the way, these molds are very durable, the vulcanized rubber, made under extreme heat and pressure are similar to tire rubber. They can last many years; you can see above this one is 15 years old.

Once in the machine, it's clamped in place by a top plate and air from a compressor.

You can see the top plate features a hole as well, where the metal will pass through and it's locked in place by the aluminum finger holds.

The machine is already set to spin the appropriate RPMs and also for a set time.

Metal is poured in place once the mold starts spinning. No time is wasted as the we want the metal as hot as possible. As it spins inside the mold, centrifugal force sends it to all corners of the mold.

Once removed from the machine after about 40 seconds of spinning, we remove the mold. Often there is a stem of metal from the pour. The mold is pulled apart, revealing finished parts inside.

Often on the first spin, a few parts might not form correctly or at all. The metal flows better once they are warmed up. Also, I forgot to mention, before the mold is put in the machine, it's dusted with a talc powder that also helps the metal flow.

Now there is a sprue of completed parts. They can either be twisted right off the sprue or cut with nippers depending on the part.

Once the parts are removed from the sprue, the excess metal is immediately put back into the pot to be re-used.

Parts are sorted as they are cast and eventually bagged specifically for each kit.

Detail parts really make the scene and help tell a story with your structure kits. Aside from including these details in our kits, we do offer many of them separately so you can add them to a kit or any scratch building or kit bashing projects. You can find them here:

HO Metal Detail Parts

O Scale Detail Parts

The Color of Brick

2019-03-16T16:46:00.002-07:00

I've been pushing myself to increase the number colors I use in my modeling; color can be battle at your workbench. Which color? Which shade?Acrylic? Enamel? Thinned with water? Thinned with mineral sprits? Which brush....all very good questions even for the more experienced modeler. Especially when the answer is all of them, every shade, use acrylic and enamel...

To make things easier, the most important thing in your hand is a photo reference - of the real world subject, not another model. Without it you are flying blind. All the answers are there in a photo; it's just a matter of deciphering the recipe and create a path to get there.

Also helpful is a bit of modeling philosophy, whatever yours is. Mine is layering. To me it's the path to get where I want my modeling to go. Just like in real life, our modeling subjects are built of layers. Layer number one is the subject and its material. A brick wall in this case. Then we ask ourselves what color bricks are. Then what happens to brick over time? What happens to brick from rain, snow, sun, ice, salt, soot, etc. All those layers are your plan of attack.

So bricks are red...yes and no. They are many shades of red, these shades veer off into brown, black, grey, tan and even pink.

Here's a step by step of how I got to my wall above.

First of all this is an awesome one piece, HO Scale metal casting from railroad kits.com; Jimmy Deignan's collection of castings originally produced by George Sellios.

1- Since it's metal it needs to be primed. I used grey auto primer.

2- Then, I start with ORANGE acrylic paint, for this I use craft acrylics. Find a color like Pumpkin, this is a bright orange. Think orange terra-cotta flower pot, not fire engine red. Apply this straight as well as thinned with water - SLOPPILY. Make an orange mess. Irregular looks better. Let it dry.

3- Then make a pallet of acrylic colors, an earth brown, a medium grey, a dull red, like maroon or primer red. In small but sloppy attacks, hit the brick area randomly with a soft short brush - dip the brush in water from time to time. Dip, dab, blotch, blot - no painting here. Applying- not painting.

4 - You should by now have nice looking brick work. Irregular. Random. Vibrant. But we want to get a bit more precise with our bricks. We'll use a small brush to paint individual bricks. This will refine the look of things, overlap the blotchy areas. So we need the right colors as I described earlier; reds, grey, browns, tans and even pink. Make up a pallet and apply to individual bricks. Avoid a polka dot pattern, paint one red here, then three red together - this is where a photo is quite helpful.

5 - Brick mortar is always tricky. The Bob Mitchell method is a good one. Get some white Tempra Paint - kids poster paint - dip your brush in it, then water, then apply. It should find its way into all the mortar lines.

6- At this point we seal our acrylic work with a matte spray sealer.

7 - Now what would water and rain do? For one thing algae would build up - did I mention to use a reference photo? Here we use an enamel based paint like Moss Deposits from AK Interactive thinned with mineral spirits. It's not painted on - we apply it, in a dabbing kind of stroke. Dip the brush in thinner, then the green color, scape some off - then apply. You can always thin it if you apply too much.

7- Soot and grime turn things black and grey, brown too. We used AK's Streaking Grime, but just about any greasy dark wash will do. Dab strategically. Just here and there is better than too much.

That's as far as we got. The wall above isn't done. Next time.

-Doug

Concrete Highway Piers

2019-03-08T05:16:00.001-08:00

Part of my plan for my layout, which depicts Queens, NY in the mid 1970's, is to include as many sections of highway as possible. Aside from rail traffic that is crammed in amongst the buildings, slipping in and out of tunnels and overpasses, N.Y.'s highways live as tangled a life. And they're a ton of fun to model; crumbling concrete, streaked with rust and covered with graffiti.

The challenge is that no parts or kits, save for a few highway kits from Rix, that offer the variety, size and scale of real highway infra structure exist. So making them from scratch is the only way, yet also the best way because the result will be a more unique scene.

Photo reference is key. Google searches will yield plenty, but also Google Maps street view can be used to find very specific areas. This is great if you have a memory of a place known for a web of overpasses and highways.

Street View/ Bruckner Blvd. / Bronx. NY

So much can be gained from the above photo. Color reference for concrete for one thing, which reveals that one shade of grey won't do. Instead, several layers of grey and tan. And, you can also see how water find its way down the sides of the concrete, revealing where and what color to make some streaks of grime and rust.

Another point of reference are the dimensions. These vary depending on the height, the span between piers as well as the width of the roadway above.

I set about casting one pier in hydrocal, from which I could make a mold to create a few more. The shapes are simple, making form work in foam core. Note how ever that all piers, bridge abutments, etc...have some kind of concrete pad where steel will sit on bridge shoes or plates. After I cast the master in hydrocal I added , using styrene, small square sections for these pads. Once cast it will all be concrete.

There are countless types of highway piers, just take a drive and you'll see. I choose the hammerhead pier for the interest in it's angles, and it would give me a wider area to play with some graffiti.

Graffiti on your layout and models of course is a preference. It's also dictated by time and place. It certainly wouldn't make sense in a 1950's scene. In Queens, New York in 1977, it was nearly everywhere. The city was bankrupt and cleaning up graffiti was the least of the cities problems - yet it boldly and visually was a signature for the state of things. Colorful decals are available for walls and freight cars, but if you look at any graffiti covered surface, seldom is there just one giant tag. Instead there are layers and layers, ranging from elaborate murals tens of feet long to handwritten tags with markers. Like anything else we model, showing instances where we can discern different sizes of things is optimal. The eye is more likely to believe its real, or closer to real anyway.

So, in addition to the large colorful decals, layers of hand painted graffiti is done over and around it. I use a small brush as well as a variety of fine point pens and markers, almost always using photo reference to make it accurate. And with the finest of black pens, you can make it appear as if the spray paint has dripped; see photo below. I also researched some of the more famous, or infamous, taggers of the period for more accuracy.

In the above photo, only the blue and red tag is a decal, the rest done with brush and pen.

Also take note of 2nd photo above - graffiti is relegated only to where an area can be reached, either by standing next to it or climbing down to it, using a ladder etc. So keep in mind your scale figure and where they can reach.

The roadway above is far from finished. That'll be for another blog post. Those steel beams need a lot of rust and grime. I have to figure out signage and lamp posts. And to illustrate the crowded nature of NY, I'll be adding another highway section that wraps around and under this one.

Almost all of the rust and grime effects were created using products from AK Interactive, which we sell on our website.

More next time.

Maspeth Creek in HO Scale

2019-02-28T19:23:00.001-08:00

Maspeth Creek modeled in HO Scale

The above photo is the first scene on my new HO Scale layout being built in the Fos Scale Models workshop. It's exciting to start a new layout, especially after not working on one for over a decade. While I get plenty of modeling time in manufacturing kits; there's still that missing element of running trains, bringing a scene to life.

I'll try and post more about progress on the layout and it's overall theme, which is Queens, NY circa 1976. Part of it will feature a few sections of Newtown Creek and Maspeth Creek, these were and still are industrialized waterways that make their way into the borough of Queens from the East River and is also a border line between Queens and Brooklyn. As such they are stagnant and highly polluted - to me that's a great recipe for waterfront modeling.

I'll go into more about the layout another time. For now I'll just give you a quick tour of how this creek was made.

The creek is dead ended and offers an opportunity to model two different types of seawall. One is a steel sheet piling or riprap wall ( resin castings from Crow River Products) the other is a concrete wall. This was just cast from a simple foam core mold in Hydrocal plaster. Build up some formwork about 1/4" high and pour. One thing I tried differently is an eroded concrete effect taught to me by a friend and fellow modeler Dennis Gordon. While the plaster is wet sprinkle in random areas some fine gravel or ballast. Once dry brush it away and you get the best looking eroded concrete I've seen.

I've tried many ways to color a concrete wall - the best and only way you should do it is by having a photo reference. Without it you are guessing and missing out on the facts that most concrete walls ( and all model subjects really) are replete with shades of color. In this case I stained the hydrocal wall first with a black wash to kill the white. Then it was painted a concrete color. Next I used three shades of grey randomly dry brushing and streaking.

I also added some rust stains here and there and I also added a low tide algae and muck line using a black grey wash for the muck line and overlapped with Moss Deposits from AK Interactive (sold here).

A mud flat was created using Sculptamold which was painted grey black. Since the sculptamold takes some time to dry I added a bunch of detail castings sticking out of the mud for trash dumped in the creek. Use tires, pallets, oil drums, etc... they look best when they appear sunk in the mud. For some of them we used our Low Tide casting set ( available here) which includes half cut pallets , tires and drums. Also added; wood scraps, an oil tank, compressor...add just abut anything.

These should be painted flat black at first, then random spotting and blotting of both rust and algae colors.

We also added some timber supports from 1/8" sq. wood stained with Hunterline Tie Brown and dry brushed with a bit of white. While we were at it, we painted up some .015" wire to be re-bar sticking out of the broken concrete, put in place with CA glue.

The scene was missing something at the end of the creek so I added a concrete drain/ culvert . This was a simple cast of hydrocal. A foam core box was made and a styrene tube was glued from wall to wall, coated with some WD-40 to make it easy to remove. Once out, it was painted to match concrete wall. Water was modeled pouring from he culvert by cutting a small piece of acetate and covering it with Mod Podge gloss.

Once everything was in place the water surface (masonite) was painted a murky green color and sealed off with tape. The tape edges were then sealed with Mod Podge gloss so no resin would escape.

Envirotex, tinted with green paint was the poured. I'll be adding a second pour as well as a thin layer of mod podge for some rippled texture.

More on the layout next time.

Thanks for reading,

Doug
Fos Scale Models

A Quick Update

2018-08-03T13:20:00.000-07:00

What's going on in the Fos Scale Models studios this summer?

For the most part we are in production of our Limited Run Kit The Terminal. We'll be firing our lasers for a few weeks to complete cutting all the parts needed for this kit, which won't be around much longer so be sure to place your order if you'd like one. We'll begin shipping the kit September 30th; you'll receive an email conformation once it ships.

We're also developing the next three or four kits that will be released in the near future.

And we just finished the printing of our newest all color 36 page kit catalog. It's up to date with all of our newest kits, pricing and footprint information.

CATALOG

Enjoy the rest of the summer !

Next Stop: The Terminal!

2018-07-16T14:53:00.002-07:00

We're very excited about our recent Limited Run Kit release, The Terminal in HO Scale. It's main feature is a small three bay bus terminal. We have been wanting to create a bus station kit for a while now that as different from the larger more city like depots available on the market - though this could easily be part of a city scene. Our designed is based on the idea that the structure used to be a trolley barn. As was often done because the needs of a trolley were the same as a bus; it gives our structure some history. We even added in our scene some rials buried in the concrete.

Given the time frame of buses as transportation, you have a lot of flexibility in era, simply by changing the style of bus you use, and maybe some signage.

Our pilot model used a 1934 model bus, but the terminal is sized to fit a more full size bus as shown in the photo. here you can see two 1950's era buses from Mini Metals.

You can also use the new New Look buses by Rapido for the 1960's into the '80's. If you haven't seen these new models from Rapido, take a look - the detail is incredible.

Which ever era you decide to model, you'll be telling a story in the history of transportation, adding even more realism to your scene.

Don't miss out on our Limited Run kit, it's more than half way sold out! You can order there:

ORDER THE TERMINAL HERE

https://rapidotrains.com/ho-new-look-bus/

Layers, layers , layers...

2018-04-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we held our Structure and Scenery workshops in the Fos Scale Model studios. In it, we built nearly a complete HO structure, created a waterfront scene featuring a stone seawall and lowed mud flats as well as a simple square of green landscaping. Here are two examples of that. Throughout out the workshop the theme of layering to create realism was explored and the results were excellent.

It's been mentioned here in this blog before, but worth mentioning again after seeing an entire group of modelers working in the same method and getting similar results as far as a level of realism.

The more layers you employ, the more realistic your model becomes as real life has endless layers in structures and landscapes. So , when we have more than a half dozen types of scenery material for example, the realism makes a big leap. Where was you just used one or two colors of ground foam, you've simply made something that looks like a model, not the real thing. There's a tipping point discernible by a viewer when you the minds eye expects what it already knows about the real world and something is missing.

While we can't fully emulate nature 100%, we know in our heads that even the most basic landscape is replete with a variety of plants and a variety of shades of green, so simply get as many as you can. At least six as a minimum and slowly build up your library of scenery materials. You can see from just these small samples that even just six different materials can be quite realistic , imagine when you add twice that or more. That makes the leap to realism much easier.

Check out scenicexpress.com for the best and largest variety of scenery material.

Cork for Road

2018-02-21T15:38:00.001-08:00

It's always a struggle to find time to work on a personal modeling project, for myself anyway. Being in the kit business, any project that starts usually ends up being a new kit. So the idea of an actual layout is always on the back burner - way back. But the desire to run some trains is hard to stop. One way of course is to build a small shelf layout or module.

Finally a project has presented itself that will satisfy the layout bug. For this years Fine Scale Model Expo in Albany this November we plan on displaying an On30 layout that a few of us are building. Each section is a hollow core door, just 12" deep and about 6'-7" long. It's a reasonable commitment to actually get it done by November.

I've got track down and am working on a grade crossing, something simple to get started with. I've been using cork for auto roads . It easily gives you a good height in O or HO scale, and it's a great surface to apply a road texture too. You could use joint compound, but why not use Asphalt? This is a product we carry now from AK Interactive - it is spot on the color and texture of the real thing, right out of the jar. It's applied with a pallet knife, which you can occasionally dip in water to get a smooth surface. The cork is also great if you want a broken edge to your pavement, just break the cork, and apply the asphalt.

Once it dries I'll be applying some chalks and stains to weather it, next blog.

Rust Effects and Chipping Fluid

2017-08-30T14:44:00.002-07:00

Rust and Chipping

A friend and modeler Dennis Gordon had mentioned Chipping Fluid to me earlier this year; since then it's opened up a whole new door to my modeling. It's pushed me to look further into new materials and methods. One of those is Chipping Fluid. This is a technique heavily used by military modelers to create great effects on tanks and other worn out vehicles and objects. Chipping Fluid is a clear liquid that is put over a base color or rust effect. A second color is painted over it. Once dry, the top color can be brushed away revealing the undercoat. Simple! Yet realistic. My favorite type of effect. Let's go through the basic steps.

1. Paint your base color, or rust effect. here we have a laser cut door. It's first colored with a BROWN SHARPIE MARKER. That alone gives a nice mottled rusty base. Then we use two colors from AK Interactives Rust Set ( we sell it at Fos). We sponge on each color to get the look shown below.

2. Then apply the chipping fluid, there are two types Heavy Chipping Fluid and Worn Effects. Apply this clear liquid with a brush. Two coats works nicely, thin coats. Let dry.

Then apply your contrast color; green in our case and let dry.

3. Once dry use a damp - not wet - just damp brush to push and scrape away the green paint revealing your rust finish below.

4. Take the effect a bit further; we added a few more things.

First some rust colored weathering chalk to brighten it up in spots.

Then, dab on some Burnt Umber Oil Paints and thin with mineral spirits to make the rust bleed.

We also added some Corrosion Deposits to give it texture and build up in the corners.

Then we dabbed on some of Ak's Light Rust wash over spots.

You can't go wrong if you follow those steps and with the right materials , just use small amounts - a lot goes a long way.

You can get most of those materials on our site. Give it a try!

Weathering Materials

Bandit's Roost- Our New Limited Run Kit

2017-08-03T09:44:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite photos of old New York City is Bandit's Roost (below). Growing up in New York City always kept you wondering what it was like there 100, 200 years ago. So I've been eyeing this photo since I was a kid. It's a haunting image; dark alleyways are always a little foreboding - this one in particular was more menacing. It captured the danger of the wild west, yet it was in a somewhat cosmopolitan city- really it was one era, one place in the midst of a great transformation in history. It's not to say NY shed itself of an unsavory past, but it's certainly not what it was in the 1800's or even the 1980's.

Anyhow, the image stuck with me and I've been wanting to use it somehow in a kit. More than anything I wanted to use structures in a way to create some tight, narrow spaces - alleys. Typically a structure kit works when one main structure has a few outcroppings sprout from its ends and sides - using up large alley ways eats into real estate; unless the buildings themselves were narrow as well. So that was the key to making this work, some narrow structures. As modelers we're already trying to compress reality into a scene, so this helped it along.

We hope you like the results - as our 15th Anniversary Limited Run kit, we wanted it to be a special one, and packed it with more building than usual, so you'd get a great value in the kit.

The above video clip is from the film Gangs of New York, which actually combines a reverse view of the famous photo through the alley into the streets, which also reveals the Painting building across the way, a structure from another old NYC photo that we used in the kit.

Don't miss out on the kit, as of this writing we're already sold though more than half the run just 12 hours after it's release:

ORDER YOURS HERE

Better, Easier Roof Dormers

2017-07-20T06:48:00.004-07:00

We like interesting roofs on our structure kits, but we also like them when they are easy to build. In this years limited run kit, one of the structures has a mansard roof with dormers. Typically laser cut dormers consist of angled, triangle shaped sides and a window wall. This works, but is kind of a pain when trying to locate and space the dormers properly. Gluing them in place, as they slide down the pitch of the roof yields variable results as far as where they are lined up and plumb.

So this time around we've devised an easier way to both build the dormers and locate them. Each is designed as a four side box - no more triangles. Next, we've engineered the roof so that the supports also double as stalls for each dormer so you don't have to wonder where they are located.

Lastly, the roof card is cut so that it fits around the dormer.

We're not innovating the next iPhone here, but hope that we can make your modeling easier and less tedious.

This will be part of our next limited run kit #240 due out later this year. You can see it at the Fine Scale Model Railroad Expo in Altoona, PA- Nov 2-4. Don't miss the best scale modeling show around!

FINE SCALE EXPO REGISTER

Star Wars Turns 40 and is Still a Scale Modeling Teacher

2017-06-30T10:43:00.002-07:00

As 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the original Star Wars, I'd be remiss without mentioning it's impact on my modeling. There's a good chance I wouldn't even be making model kits if it weren't for Star Wars - in particular, the Millennium Falcon.

There are more reasons for enjoying what the film was then I can list here, but in regards to building models and miniatures, it can be paired down to scale and weathering. The illusion of modeling works best when your eyes are fooled by what you're really looking at - and, when your eyes have something to gauge the size of things, scale. In the case of the Millennium Falcon, the main characters were often in it's cockpit, many times the camera POV was forward, over the hero's heads, through a distinct arrangement of cockpit windows.

When we watched the ship from the exterior, its cockpit was even more distinct by it asymmetrical location, off to the left from our point of view. As it blasted across the screen, we could see that distinct cockpit window.

Immediately our eyes could determine the size of the cockpit and the entire ship because of our reference of the interior scene. The size of a person compared to the size of the ship was now possible. So, when the Falcon would be chased down by the Star Destroyer, with that info our eyes now had - we were in awe.

It's immense size was now revealed; all because of that cockpit window.

As we see the ship throughout the film, we also come to realize it's worn and battle damaged from years of service. The Falcon wore a coat of blast marks and oil streaks. This further cemented this imaginary ship into a believable reality, the illusion was complete.

Needless to say I was, and am still, in awe when it flies across the screen. Aside from the spectacle it was when I was 7 years old, I couldn't help ask, how'd they do that? Furthermore I wanted to do something like that. While model trains and structures are far from the world of Star Wars movie making, the principles of it's creation are similar. Start with nothing, either plastic parts, or laser cut wood parts and use every trick in the book to make something, and make it look as real as possible.

It's a rare moment that I don't have Star Wars in my mind when at my workbench. It's still a priceless inspiration; a perpetual teacher of modeling - and it's hard to believe it started 40 years ago!

Have a great 4th of July Weekend.

The Case for Narrow Buildings

2017-06-26T06:16:00.001-07:00

When playing the part of city planner on your model railroad, keep the word diversity in mind. This covers all manner of structure regarding type of material; wood, brick, stone or concrete. Types of businesses that populate your miniature world matter as well and what kind they mix with. My favorite types of scenes are 2-3 large industrial buildings in a block that ends with a diminutive diner right up against a large factory wall. One, because they do , or did, exist that way and two, contrast of size greatly helps your eye with scale. When you look at a mountain range it's a challenge to determine it's height, but stick a cell phone tower on top and now your eyes have a ruler to measure with.

The same goes for the WIDTH of a structure. If all your structures are the same width, like the mountains in the distance, it's uncertain what we're looking at. But if your throw a narrow building in amongst the wider ones, suddenly your eyes can comprehend the scene. Additionally, in model railroading, our placement of structures works well when we create the illusion that more is there than actually modeled. In the case of our latest HO scale background kit, Murdock Fasteners, it suggests either the small building you see, or something bigger beyond the backdrop.

So in addition to carpenter, scenic artist, engineer and electrician, as a model railroader you get to be an illusionist as well - get to work on your next trick.

Bored with Your Boards?

2017-06-20T07:16:00.001-07:00

Most of the time when modeling wood boards in scrap and debris piles, the simplest weathering treatment is to stain them with a black wash of alcohol and ink, and maybe some dry brushing. lately I've been trying to take the boards a little further in treating them like the throwaway detritus that they are.

Boards live a sorted life; at first perhaps in the frame of a structure. Later in life after years of drying out, structures are neglected, exposed to nature and its accompanying wrath of water, air, frost, salt, moss or algae . It then contends with any number of foes like oil, rust, chemicals, paint - not to mention getting beat to hell, splintered, broken and cracked by forces it never imagined way back when it was a tree minding its own business.

So consider that next time you weather your scrap boards. There are countless effects you can add to these often neglected planks of wood. Add some oil stains using any number of products, try a diluted black paint for starters. Then consider some pigments/ chalks - often boards are used and reused as form work for concrete. A grey pigment dabbed here and there and diluted with alcohol will create a nice concrete look. Then add some algae or moss stains with a murky green acrylic paint diluted with water. Add some rust.

All of these effects can be added by brush, dabbed and stippled on randomly. You can also "splatter" them on , dipping a tooth pick in whatever paint or color you are using, and flick a brush at the toothpick, letting it splatter in a fine , to scale, spray on your boards.

And to speed up the process, do several boards at once as in our photo above.

And of course there are a few products available to help you get the right color and look , straight out of the bottle , available on our site. Try enamel colors like Fuel Stains, Dark Streaking Grime, Light Rust, Moss Deposits, Engine Oil and more.

Have a great week,

Doug
Fos Scale Models

EXPERIENCE + MATERIALS = Better Modeling

2017-06-05T13:05:00.001-07:00

In talking about how modelers got started in the hobby, the first structure kit they built is always of interest. Depending on the year you started modeling, you get varied results from the question, what was the first kit you built?

For me, I usually mention either some Tyco plastic kit from he '70's or a late '90's Fine Scale Miniatures kit - Roadside Delights to be exact, which I promptly turned into a fine scale mess with sloppy modeling and heavy handed weathering. I like to think I learned a lot from that kit and have improved since then,

But upon rethinking the the question, what was the first kit I built, I realize my answer was somewhat incorrect. The first structure I worked on was in Kindergarten - a fire station. This "fire station" consisted of a shoe box, painted red - poster paint no doubt, with a single hole cut out to receive a fire truck, Matchbox probably. And a single window painted with some mullions. In yellow paint I spelled out FIRE above the door. At the time, with the zero to limited experience in making models and the materials at hand; this was the best I could come up with.

Today, I've got a few decades of experience and the latest modeling materials at hand. So whatever you are working on, will always be as good as those two ingredients - experience and available materials. I've been trying to keep this realization in mind as I approach the latest model I'm working on, or kit I'm designing.

It's easy to keep modeling in the same way for years; tried and true methods. But isn't it more interesting to surprise yourself, to challenge yourself? You've already got the experience to draw on, if you've been doing this for a couple of years, or decades. Then, take a look at all the latest materials and kits available today. Instead of just building the next kit, just like you did the last, think of what you can do with those two valuable commodities, EXPERIENCE and MATERIALS.

Recently I have been playing with Chipping Fluid, it's used heavily in military modeling. You paint a sub color , Rust say, then apply chipping fluid, let it dry. Then add a top color, say green. Once it dries you take a damp brush a stab away at the paint, removing some - not all - of the green color revealing the rust color below. A great way to get peeled paint along with a rust finish. I tried it on the Kiln building in our new Sawmill kit and I like the results. I'll be trying again on some detail parts, oil drums...I think it will add a nice variety to my bag of weathering tricks and make for some new, interesting modeling in the future.

So don't settle for your same old modeling. Try and push yourself with one or many new techniques and products out there. You're already halfway there, you've got the experience, now use it.

If you want to try Chipping Fluid, you can get it on our site here.

Layers Are the Key

2017-05-24T13:33:00.001-07:00

I've mentioned layers here before as a useful philosophy for modeling, use multiple colors or multiple kinds of scenic vegetation. Layering can also be applied to placement of objects. While there's no right or wrong way to place your roof vents - with real world buildings, anything goes. However you can strategically place a few key objects a certain way so that they add to the overall depth of your scene. In this case, there are four vertical roof objects that lead your eye from front to back. The hierarchy; lower smoke stack to tallest smoke stack, down to lower stack and finally the dust collector , leads your eye naturally through the scene. While it's easier explained then done, simply trust your eye with what works and usually it'll be close to spot on, as your brain will be comparing it to real world objects and settings.

In the photo is our newest kit E.W. Parker Sawing & Planing Mill. You can order it here:

http://fosscalemodels.com/products/ho-sawmill-kit

Have a great week at your workbench!

Doug Foscale

Using Metallic Markers in Modeling

2016-09-14T05:03:00.001-07:00

There are countless instances where we need to make something look like metal in scale modeling. In the past we have had to resort to using metallic paints. This can work fine in many situations, but in some the paint is too thick. One of the easiest, and fastest, ways to apply some metallic coloring is using Sharpie markers. They come in a few shades, gold , silver and copper.

1- One of my favorite uses is to apply the silver marker to a vehicle to create patches where paint has peeled. Simply dab the marker on the vehicle, almost like the pattern of spots on a cow. Then follow up with either some rust colored chalk or artists oils burnt umber or raw sienna. You can apply the same technique to locomotive bodies as well as smaller objects like gas pumps.

2- Guy wires that hold up smoke stacks are often black metal or galvanized metal. Simply color them with a black sharpie marker and follow up with silver randomly, or color them silver all together.

3- When creating copper flashing for a roof ridge, color a strip of grey or black paper with the copper colored Sharpie . Then create a green copper patina finish by dry brushing the strip with a mint green acrylic paint.

4- If you are working on a structure with more fanciful details, like a gold leafed finial, use the gold color Sharpie directly on a finial casting.

As you model more with metallic Sharpies at your workbench, more and more uses will presents them selves. Give it a try.

Another Scale

2016-08-03T14:56:00.001-07:00

Every now and then I like to work in a different scale - while 99% of my modeling lives in HO scale, it's interesting and challenging to work in another scale like O, or bigger. I'm off and on with a side project that is 1 1/2" =1" . It's a series of background flats more or less, mostly just fronts with some sides. The model in the pics below is 18" wide.

What's intriguing about working in a scale you're not used to is that it highlights weaknesses in your modeling. It's a similar effect of enlarging a photograph of your smaller scale modeling and realizing some areas you've modeled aren't so great when you zoom in. Such is the case for my modeling in this larger scale. While many of the same HO techniques can be used, some modification is required. In making the wide boards for the structures siding (actual width is 1.35" wide") more grain and distressing of the wood was required. As I continue with this project I'm noticing that more and more, far more layering of detailing and weathering are required. So that's a challenge, but no doubt it will help my HO modeling to rise above my usual techniques. It's a learning vacation from HO.

Making Waves; Silicon & Gel

2016-07-18T16:42:00.004-07:00

There are dozens of methods for modeling water, and there's always a new way to try. Recently we've been using a few new materials. They can be used individually or together for different effects.

In the past, I've used GE silicon for waves. It's applied in a bead from the tube, then shaped into a wave form with a popsicle stick. This works well, but the GE silicon drys with a frosty clear look. Fortunately there is a different version GE Crystal Clear - and it dries as such, making for a better look. Again we apply it in a bead against our shoreline and rocks.

If you're looking for some medium size waves, you'll have to let the silicon dry and add a second layer. If your'e looking for even larger waves, at that point you'll have to cut out an acetate former. Cut it to the shape and size of your wave and glue it in place with some Mod Podge. Once it's dry apply a coat of Mod Podge to it, maybe even a few coats. Then add the silicon to the base of the wave to give it some body.

Another product that can be used for wave making is Golden Glass Bead Gel. This is a clear gel base mixed with tiny glass beads. When applied with a brush to your shoreline and against rocks, it looks like a very refreshing, frothy wave. You can leave it as is or apply some Mod Podge or silicon to it once it dries.

Designing Dead Horse Bay

2016-07-07T15:58:00.003-07:00

Each year a good portion of kit development is spent on designing our Limited Run release. It starts by honing in on a theme, or parti. Parti is a term we learned in architectural school, it means a departure point. And from this point all else can be hung and sprung. In this case, the singular theme was a ascending elevation, from as low a point as could be made, to the highest. The total elevation is determined by what a reasonable sized structure can be within the world of kit building. So now reading this and looking at the sketch, you can see the parti - you can see the low point of the storefront, then your eyes go for a ride up, all the way to the top of the mill tower.

The next step is to craft the main masses or anchors; in this case the anchor is the main mill structure. This is followed by all the ins and outs - the details that we encounter along the way from left to right. Some are used as traditional elements to connect one structure to another. To give the mass of the mill some scale, and at the same time connect it to the neighboring structure, the fire escape was created. The steps give it scale, as the eye recognizes immediately the size of a step. Then the overlap where the fire escape borrows some air rights of the neighboring roof connects it in a way behind just butting them together.

Now we modeled this part of the kit on a hill, but it can easily be modeled flat, just leave the hill out. We simply created a concrete foundation using the rigid foam used for the scenery base.

So if you plan on building this kit, explore as many different layout options as you can.
________________________________________________________________________________

The kit is selling quickly, so please don't miss out on this Limited Run - only 150 will be made.

You can order it here.

Rock Work, Starting & Stopping

2016-07-03T14:21:00.002-07:00

As I've posted many times here or demonstrated in clinics, carving your own rock work has lots of benefits. For one thing, your don't need to buy molds. You'll also avoid step and repeat issues when reusing the same rock mold and you'll get exactly the shape and type of rock you want.

In the case above you can see that a section of rock was finished to near completion, and then another section was added. So another advantage is that you can start and stop your work as needed. You can go back to it in an hour, or a month - which ever. Blending the new with the old is easy; when you carve the new stuff carry over some of the original lines and masses. Continue cracks and fractures into the new plaster. Once it's dry and ready to be colored, just reuse the same pallet of coloring you used before and seamlessly blend it together. This is where dry brushing helps a lot, overlap some of the old and new and the viewer will never know where you started and stopped.

I'll post pics of the finished area soon.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Be sure to check out our latest background flat, Mathias Metal Spring & Wire Co.

Go to fosscalemodels.com

Planting Structures

2016-06-28T16:09:00.003-07:00

It's easy to plant a structure so that it looks like it's actually sitting on a foundation that's buried in the ground. Firstly, it helps to use real dirt as a ground cover. Dirt can be applied as you would ballast; spray with alcohol, then apply with a ear syringe, white glue mixed with water (50:50).Most structures and kits should shave some kind of foundation. It can be as simple as 1/16" mat board, or wood trim of varying heights of 1/8" to 1/4", painted a concrete color. You can also use stone.

What we want is for the dirt to go right up to the foundation wall. You could plant the structure than add the dirt, but it's difficult. Mainly, you'll have to shield the the structure while you apply and secure the dirt. Instead, trace out the footprint of the structure. Than, tape off the area on your base with masking tape.

Now you can safely add the dirt, soaking it with alcohol , then your glue/ water mixture. You can remove the tape immediately, leaving behind a clean surface for your structure.

And, while your dirt application is still wet, glue down your structure. Now the structure can settle into the dirt with a natural look.

Real Dirt, Realism

2016-06-22T19:50:00.002-07:00

It's tough to beat real dirt to represent dirt. Even if you're modeling a lush, green scene dirt should be applied as a bottom layer. Even if only for a few visible patches, seeing dirt versus green paint or some other texture spoils the realism.

Dirt is secured to your scene the same way ballast is. I first paint the area black, while that's wet I sprinkle on dirt. This helps with a first wave of securing it to the surface, and lessens the chance of seeing white show through your scenery. Then, apply some water with white glue, with an ear syringe or spray bottle and let dry.

Where dirt is visible, mainly dirt roads and lots, it can be made even better by sanding it with a fine grit sand paper (150 grit). Once dry, sand the section where vehicles and/ or people would wear down a path. Once that's done, try dry brushing the dirt with white paint, very lightly. Both sanding and dry brushing will add layers of depth - and scale to your scene. By sanding the dirt, you create two varieties of dirt - high dirt and worn dirt. Dry brushing highlights and blends in all the texture. This is all part of what I refer to as Layering - creating as many layers of what exists in the real world as possible; the more layers, the more your eyes are fooled into what is real or not.

Easy Copper Finish

2016-06-19T06:37:00.002-07:00

Copper as a building material isn't used often, but instead shows up in small details like gutters and flashing. It's a rare sight in larger building elements as it was and is a costly choice when cheaper galvanized steel or wood could be used. So, for larger assemblies like the cornice above, I'd recommend using it sparsely and allow it as a stand out element in a scene. However copper flashing is seen often and can be used more often.

To model copper for flashing, it's a matter of painting paper. Try these steps:

1. Use a thin black paper.

2. Color the paper either with either a copper metallic paint, or use a Sharpie metallic marker, copper colored.

3. Find some mint colored acrylic paint, mix it with a bit of white paint. Apply the paint as if you were dry brushing; you don't want to cover the copper color entirely.

4. Apply another application, this time use the mint color without the white. This will give the copper a few degrees of patina. Dry brush this with a litter hand than before.

For modeling larger architectural elements like the cornice above, use the same technique above, with a few changes.

1.For one thing you can't use black paper, so paint the element a flat black first. Black acrylic gesso works great for this, as it provides a nice matte finish that takes color very well like primer.

2. Now paint the element as you did the flashing above.

3. The other difference is that this is a large structural element, taking on additional weathering beyond the copper patina. Add a layer of soot or grime by doing one or two things; apply a wash of alcohol and india ink and dab on some dark brown weathering powder. This will help it blend in with the rest of your weathered building.

Give it a try.

The cornice in the photo above is a piece from our 2016 Limited Run kit, due out this fall. Check back for more sneak peeks into this upcoming kit.