Welcome to my blog, the story of my continuing journey into the World of Zombie Wargames.

Monday 21 March 2016

Factory Offices (MDF 5)

Front of building with Sid for scale.
The factory Office is finished, even after yet another week with a hospital visit, I still managed to finish off the little that remained to be done on this build.
The 'little' in question was mainly the roof, with hatch and affixing the doors that  were still detached.
The roof I'd already painted too, so that should have been a bonus, but I really didn't like the positioning of the hatch. A quick rotation of the roof allowed me to have the hatch in the corner opposite to the door  (a more logical place in my mind).
 The 'hatch' however was a different story, the one supplied with the kit was merely a cut out square of MDF and an engraved square within it !
  The 'hatch' piece is larger than the hole it covers (why there is one there in the first place baffles me) and I looked for the cut-out piece from the hole to use on top  of the hatch. Alas it was one of those bits of scrap that had fallen from the frame somewhere within the  packing process and not at my end I hasten to add.
Using the hatch as provided as the base for a better overall looking one I cut a  square of MDF from the scrap frames to sit atop the large base.
I rounded the corners of both the top piece and base, added a recess for a handle and fitted some pieces to represent hinges and an handle.
The result can be seen in the photographs below.
hatch, before and after painting


Sid wondering if it's locked.
I also took the opportunity to give the roof a bit of texture, using PVA and a sprinkling of sand. Colouring would be multiple washes of a lot of different colours and even though it looks very grey in the photographs, it really isn't. The texture can be easily seen in the photograph to the right.

Sid, on the inside, looking out
There wasn't that  much to do internally, although I did have to file away a little off two sides of the middle floor to allow the floor to be lifted in and out easily. This in turn led to me having to make an additional two supporting strips to better support the floor.
To me the height of the windows looks odd internally. As can be seen in the photograph, there is little clearance between the floor and the window-sill and not that much room between the top of Sid's head and the ceiling (where the blue  stops above the window).
No holding guns up in the air upstairs ! 
The large double doors downstairs were glued in place, slightly ajar, as was the single door. And that, more or less was all that had to be completed. (still took me ages though)

The back of the building
Front and stairs.
Stairs
The ventilation side and front
Overall I'm very pleased how this has turned out and I've learnt a lot of lessons throughout the build. I should have painted much more of the model before assembly, especially the stairs. The card wall insets should also have been glued in place before painting and assembly.The former would have prevented warping  and would have allowed me easier access for my clamps whilst the glue dried..
The extra bits needed for the corners would also have been a lot easier to cut and insert if the model hadn't already been assembled  and would have made painting the interior a lot simpler. The internal window frames, that seemed a good idea at the time, were a pain when it came to the centre floor being removed, leading to a lot of filing. The roof, like the centre floor, is a very tight fit and really needs something to grasp to enable its easy removal.
I'll be putting a lot of what I've learnt into practise with my next MDF build, but I doubt I'll be giving another blow-by-blow account like this epic tale has been.
I am however not quite finished with this build, after all it's just an empty shell at the moment and a bit of internal detailing is already  planned. and started., but that for another time.

That's all for this week, thanks for taking the time to visit and I hope that there was something of interest herein.

30 comments:

  1. I have thoroughly enjoyed following your progress with this Joe. The little touches and attention to detail, have transformed the build into something unique.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Michael, for my part I'm just pleased it's finished (mostly)and I dod hope the "little touches" have added something.

      Delete
  2. I like it Joe, great weathering on the buildings, something I haven't done myself and regret....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks dGG, I'm not a big fan of pristine looking buildings and I use every blemish, misplaced bit of glue and mistake to helpdirtying up the building.

      Delete
  3. Very nice work Joe. Particularly like the rust very realistically done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Brummie, for once I actually enjoyed painting the rust on, probably as I was happy with the rust effect on the staircase I did for my row of shops.

      Delete
  4. That's a brilliant bit of painting and modelling! It looks superb.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Roy, I'm a bit overwhelmed by you using "brilliant" as I consider myself no more than an adequate painter, whether it be figures, buildings ormost anything to do with this hobby.

      Delete
    2. The weathering and general distressed look to the model does look brilliant to my mind. I don't know if its a happy coincidence but the smudges on the windows make them look dirty through use, and it works well with the definitely-not pristine look of the building. You've managed to capture the feel of a small-industry factory unit, in my honest opinion.
      Don't worry, if I didn't think it looked brilliant I wouldn't have used the term :)

      Delete
    3. Once more thank Roy. I tend to leave all the "mistakes" I make when building any piece, though paint on the 'glass' I remove (with the back of a scalpel). It's fairly easy then to get the result of a weathered/diistressed model.

      Delete
  5. There really are some factories near here that look remarkably like this one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Clint, that reassures me a lot with my colour choices, something I'm not usually good at.

      Delete
  6. Very nice modeling, Zab.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jay, but a lot of it is inspired by the mdel itself.

      Delete
  7. It's been great to follow your build process Joe. The final result is well worth the time invested. Some great weathering and unique touches have made this kit very special.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Bob, I do wonder if anyone else has done anything similar or will try to emulate my own interpretation of it. Even given the limits of the model I doubt there will be a duplicate!

      Delete
  8. Absolutely gobsmackingly good stuff Joe. Arguably my fave build of yours to date, and as Roy points out it looks superb. These are some cracking WIP postings you're currently putting up, and long may they continue if the finished product is as good as this one. very much worth the effort I'd suggest :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Blaxx, I don't think this is my favourite build but I am very pleased with how it eventually turned out.
      Like you I do like seeing people's "wips" and I like to think I too learn from them

      Delete
  9. Excellent build! The top hatch looks really great, I love the design and look you made with it. This has been a fun build to follow, thanks for sharing your progress and insight on the project!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks N667, I was very pleased with the hatch, especially as it was all done and dusted in less than an hour ! I did wonder if anyone would take anything from all these posts though.

      Delete
  10. Excellent work and outcome. Kudos. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks PC, I'm very happy with how it's turned out too.

      Delete
  11. Great work on the mdf building

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks HW, I must say that if I was more motivated it would havebeen a quicker build.

      Delete
    2. Quick is not always better... :)

      Delete
  12. Masterbuilder is at it again! Very nice addition Joe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks LS, it took a while but I did learn a lot; very pleased you approve. (Master Builder ? - I doubt it)

      Delete
  13. The roof came out great despite your earlier difficulties. The surface looks great. Where do you keep all of your masterpieces?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Blaxx, yes the roof was less difficult than I thought it would be and I now very happy with it.
      I'm very lucky, in my wargames a room I stack a lot of models on shelf units and if necessary under the table too - but it is getting a little crowded !

      Delete