Late nights

The last few days have been very long and very productive.


Painting


On Thursday I mixed up the main colours for the building so I could press on and get things sprayed. The main time consuming factor in this part of the process is the painting/masking (below) of each part. As I have created a sort of air fix kit of parts if you like, there is often multiple colours required for each part. I have had a few cases of paint running under masking where I didn't want it to. This has held me up slightly as I have had to the remask, go back to the spray room and try again, cleaning the gun out after each colour is time consuming but essential for a clean crisp coat. Paul recommended a higher spray pressure and or spraying from an increased distance to ensure the paint lands and flattens itself instantly as it hits the surface not giving it tme to go under the masked areas.

Laser Cutting

On Friday I was once again booked on the laser cutter to recut certain parts that need to be redesigned. The main new additions to the drawings were the new build roof sections which I designed to allow internal viewing as discussed with the architect. I have booked on again for next Wednsday for the cutting of final parts which I have yet to draw. These parts rely on the ongoing assembly of the model to allow me to understand exactly how the need to fit into place. The major part here will be the roof for the front of the existing church. As with all other parts they will then have to be sprayed and fitted.

Assembly

Assembly of the model has been fairly smooth. The addition of the painted parts really starts to bring the whole model to life. 95% of the parts have been painted and the others are being sprayed first thing monday morning or when available (from the laser cutter). Once ready I will be able to assemble the building very quickly. One issue I have had which has had to be altered on the existing parts due to the time constraints is the step into the walls that I had allowed for the floor level to fit within have all been wrong. This is purly down to me forgetting to take the extra 2mm out of the parts to allow the floor to sit flush with each other. This is'nt too big of a problem as I am easily able to modify parts that arn't visable one the model is fully assembled.

For now the pictures below tell my progress:

Brass Etchings

The brass etchings arrived today and look great. I am unsure as to weather I should leave them in their brass finish or not. They look great as the y are but I think it may contrast a little with the rest of the colour scheme on the model. The main reason I decided to use brass was its flexibility and the amount of detail that can be achived at such small scale. I will check with the architects before taking this further.

Case Making

As the model has really started to take shape in the last few days I have put the case on hold as I figured it is more important for me to get the model finished than the case which although an important part of the finished project will not play a huge role in the assesment by the tutors. Model progress pending, I still hope to get it finished for the deadline next Friday.

Tick Tock Tick Tock....

More of the usual plus the start construction

Laser Cutting

Got off to a flying start today cutting the interior pieces and the odd redrawn parts I drew yeasterday. No problems at all finished well ahead of time.

Case Making

The Tensol I applied yesterday had completely gone off so I was able to look at the quality of the joints. Unfortunatly there are a few more bubbles that I had hoped for. I cut out the weak sections as best I could and re injected Tensol where possible. I will likely do the same tomorrow making sure the joints are a clear as I can make them. I can only really put this error down to me rushing perhaps abit too much to get things moving. Paul suggested I experimented using flame polishing to speed up the polishing process when I get to it. It look interesting and there is alot of information on the subject online such as this demonstration video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRCnVBM3R0c

For now the priority lies with the main model which is more improtant interms of the overall mark.

Painting

I painted the 2mm sections with the terracotta colour ensuring there was a good even coat which I had some minor issues with on my samples. Once dry I was able to take these parts and begin assembly or further masking for interior colours.

Assembly

I was finally able to start the assembly of some of the parts of the church. The main hold up is the need to have certain parts painted before being able to fix them in place. I hope to speed this up tomorrow and get all of the colours mixed and as many parts as possible painted.

I decided to use the emulsion or 'tacky glue' along with double sided tape to fix the layers in place (Below). This is mainly due to the paint being exposed on the inside preventing the use of glues or solvents.

The jigsaw jointing is working well on the first piece I have put together with minimal fuss in terms of fitting of the parts (below).

I also assembled the bulk of the interior sections for the new build's in preparation for the interior colour spray tomorrow (below).

It has not been specified whether or not the floor will be a different colur to the walls. I will see how this section looks and will check with architects. Another decision I have made without consulting them is to backspray the windows themselfs matte black. This decision is based on the advice I recieved at Technical Models Ltd as well as my need to conceal the area at the front of the church which has no interior representation.

It's good to see the elevations finally coming together!

Redraws

Inevitably I have come across a few minor problems with parts as I have come to assemble them. I have recitfied the drawings and will have to cut this few parts again along with new roof parts which I intend to cut on my Friday morning laser session (or before if I can get on the cutter).

Brass Etching Update

I recieved a reply for PPD regarding cost of the job. They have completed it and sent it out today with the total cost coming to £35 + VAT = £41.13. I just hope these details are worth it!

Tomorrow

I intend to keep up the pace and get as many jobs for the main model done as possible aiming to have the bulk of it constructed by the weekend. I have to prepare the roof drawings to be cut on Friday!

Case Making, Laser Cutting, 2 steps forward one step back!

Case Making

The day started off well and I was able to get the top edges on the case ready and apply the Tensol joint by midday (above and below).

I was confident everything was fine and I was on shedual with the case construction so left the joints to cure until late afternoon. By around 3:30 I decided to check on the joints and found that that had cured sufficiently for me to apply 2 of the end joints to cure over night. Upon upturning the case I found that the inner dimension was 4mm shorter than it should be! I went over everything several times to work out how this could have happened and finally figured out I had only allowed for one of the sides material thickness in my calculations. This potentially had a major knock on effect, certainly on my time plan for the next week. I decided that I had cut and begun to use too much material to simply break it up for reuse and cut everything again. The 4mm will have to come off the base. Luckily I remembered that I had applied a 2mm styrene cladding around the base before applying the wooden sils for the case. By taking 2mm off each side there is no hindrance to the effectivness of the model and I save the best part of a 1.5m arcrylic sheet! This was perfect so I quickly got on to taking the longer sides styrene cladding off the base. I managed to get the 2 sides required off before leaving the studio at 8ish.

Obviously this is a problem for my time scale but I am confindent I can manage it if I work at the pace I have been.

Laser Cutting

Much more positively I managed to get all of the 2mm pieces (below) cut out and much quicker than any other job I've done so far on this project. This was mainly due to the lack of brickwork on these parts! When sorting through the cut parts I found that several of the new build wall parts did not fit the intended gaps on the floorplates. Going back to the drawings I found that this was due to a miscalculation on my part with the floorplates and not the wall sections luckily so I will recut the modified floorplates tomorrow in my morning laser session.

I have booked a session on Friday morning which I aim to get as many final parts cut as possible meaning I need to get the main construction underway by Thursday to prepare drawings as required. The main parts to add are roof sections for the existing church and the new-build roof and some smaller exterior details.

Paint Mix

I managed to mix up a jar of the same teracotta brick colour which I need for the brickwork on the window details of the 2mm acrylic. I intend to spray this tomorrow at some point and begin figuing out the masking needed for the interior section as well as mixing an off white for the interior walls.

Laser Ques and Case Making

Laser Cutting

The wait for the laser has gotten considerably longer over the last week and with 3 weeks till the end of term and most likely alot of course deadline it has become much much busier in there. I have prebooked a session for tomorrow and Wednesday morning which should allow me to get another load of parts cut to allow assembly of the final model to begin. The priority for tomorrow is 2mm wall parts which will allow me to start putting the overall shape together including the new build sections which I have yet to see fully etched and cut. I am going to try and book another session this week to ensure i get as many if not all of the parts cut before the final week. Time is running out!

Case Making

Whilst I am waiting for my slot on the laser cutter I have begun to cut and prepare the parts of my acrylic display case. My Tensol-70 arrived last week from Trade Signs (http://www.tradesignsuk.com/search.asp?Keywords=tensol%2070) and I am looking forward to applying the case making skills I picked up over the summer in this project.

As the workshop acrylic blade is on the small circular saw without sliding table I was unable to cut the ends of the long parts. To overcome this I made a jig (below) that allowed me to cut them to size and then add the 8degree Tensol gap at the relevant ends.


I will also make good use of this for the Foamex Ultra parts for the base board to put 45degree angles on the corners. I prepared each piece for tensol application tomorrow morning, leaving as much of the protective covering on as possible (below).

Last Week Summary: Brass, Foamex and Colour Decisions

Brass Etch Drawings

Over the last week I have perfected my drawings for brass etching on Rhino before transferring them over to illustrator for colouring. Following the guide on the PPD website I produced a PDF of the parts I wanted to be cut, double to be safe. The file I sent appears as shown below:

After sending the file off I recieved a response informing me that certain elements of the drawing would not be usable on the 0.4mm Brass I had requested and there was a problem selecting the layers. I went right back to illustrator and re applied all the colours making sure each tag was on the tags layer for easy selection. This second drawing seems to have been correct and I received an email today saying they should be able to post the job out tomorrow to arrive by the end of the week. With any luck it will as time is running out quickly.

Redrawing

I also spent several sessions on the laser cutter cutting the exterior pieces. Initially this threw up a few more issues with the brick work detailing. Not only was it causing each job to take forever (over an hour in one case!) to transfer from illustrator to Trotec, but the brickwork itself was very blurred across many of the parts. This seemed to be being caused by the order the cutter decided to etch first. I made the frustraiting decision to redraw all of the brickwork to ensure it looked correct. This took me about a day all in all but I feel alot happier with the outcome.

Architects Response and Colour Scheme Agreement

Heres part of the email respose I received from the architects:

'To try and answer your questions:

We think your suggestion of the see through roof with the solid front edge/overhang will work well

The only thing we thought off for the brass etching was the balustrade for the basement steps but you have probably got that in hand already. (Jim has since emailed me back stating that this detail should be left out as there is a chance it will be simply left as a low wall rather than having a rail)

For the site colours we agree and prefer a very subdued approach like no 3 where it all looks like different tones of grey. We think that if the grass is expressed too much it will highlight the imbalance between two sides of the building which have grass and the two sides that don’t. I agree that the planting should match the grass. (below)

I agree that fitting the model inside an acrylic case is probably essential'

This decision allowed me to look for suppliers of Gray Foamex Ultra for the exterior of the base.

Foamex Ultra

Having spoke to the main suppliers of Foamex board in the south (Righton, Amari, Haymar) I was unable to find anyone with the colour and finish (grey gloss ultra) I wanted to fit the architects chosen colour scheme. Remembering an option available at Technical Models Ltd over the summer I rang them up to see about the possibility of them sending me some to work with. They kindly agreed and sent the lengths I required which arrived by the end of the week. This no doubt saved me alot of money buying a whole sheet in.

Painting

Once cut I sanded the brick faces of each part and masked off the relevant sections (above).

When all the parts were ready I backsprayed the parts and allowed them to dry over the weekend (Below).

I only have a small amount of paint left for the brickwork and will certainly need more. Mixing the colour again will be a minor challenge when I next come to paint.

Quick Update

I've found a couple of example of models using the roof edge which in the case of this project is the feature that needs to be retained (as discussed in my previous post). I will forward this pic (below) to the architects clearly showing how this method of presenting the roof can work.

(Pic available from: http://www.amalgam-architecture.co.uk/ourwork.asp , under 'The Park, Cheltenham')

Tomorrow I am going to speak to Technical models to find out where they source their Foamalux sheets. I need to order some asap for the base. To be honest I had completely forgot I needed this element. I also need to decide on case dimensions and get some quotes before proceeding to construct my own. I also need to buy some Tensol 70 and syringes to apply it.

I am booked onto the laser cutter tomorrow and Tuesday afternoon to hopefully get the bulk of my parts cut out.


I have drawn the parts I intend to be brass etched but I am going to speak to the architects again before going ahead and getting them etched in case they want other features made in the same way. I have drawn them according to the guide on the PPD website available at http://www.ppdltd.com/web_site_3/DG_How_2_draw.html

A cost saving idea had crossed my mind to work with Laura Penman who is also getting some parts etched from PPD. Unfortunatly she is working with stainless steel which is more robust and may not bend as easily as brass for the detials I have designed. I will double check my drawings with the tutors and ask for more info about the durability of stainless and if if would have an effect. I know that it has a slightly higher cost in terms of sheet material.



These drawings need to be sent off by Wednesday to be sure they arrive in good time.

Jigsaw Jointing and Rhino Rhino Rhino

Over the last 3 days I have spent approx 12 hours a day working to get the drawings ready for laser cutting. I really underestimated just how long this was going to take and the shire amount of time spent staring at this computer screen has started to make me counter productive so I will take a break from it for a while tomorrow.

Despite feeling nackered I have made significant progress. The drawings are 95% ready to be cut (screenshot below). The only additions needed are the interior sections of the new build combined and The roof which I have left out until I am happy with the assebly of the main building.

New Build Roof

I spoke with the architect today who stressed they are keen to represent the roof on the new build as it it a key design feature. I completely agree hearing it from them and I must admit I had disregarded it in my plans thinking it not nessisary to explain the main changes. I realise now that it is a key part of the design, subtly inverting the pointed roof of the existing church to leading into the new entrance. The hope is that the new build will be striking but inviting to visitors with the roof slope coming down to the modern glass finish and terracotta block work finish.

Aswell as having the roof represented they are also keen to be able to see inside! This obviously presents a problem. My initial thoughts are:

1. Retain the front overhang section of the roof and dodge cut the rest to allow views inside from above.

2. Make the roof out of clear acrylic (although I feel the space being as small as it is, the acrylic layer will actually hinder the visabiliy)

The architect suggested perhaps an etched texture so the roof is not completely clear but I fear this would clash with the point of it being clear. The reason the choice is roof or no roof is that the model is going to be enclosed within a case. Access to the case will be reletivly easy should a removable roof be used but the nature of the model being fragile puts me off this approach. If The construction of the rest of the building runs smoothly then I may produce several choices that can easily be placed on or off the model. This is quite a main issue to be thinking over as the architects deffinatly want it represented in some way.... some reasearch is needed I think.

Scale Furniture

Another thing I picked up from my phone call was that they deffinatly want to feature some furnishings inside. I had in my mind that I could brass etch seating for the main worship area along with the other brass features for the exterior. Perhaps a piano and alter? I have sourced 1:100 toilets at 50p each! http://www.modelsupplies.net/product/Toilet_T100-3

Any brass deatils should have beed drawn by now but as I have said the Rhino drawing had taken my by suprise so I'm going to have to play catch up and get those done asap! PPD Brass etching takes approx 1 week to come through so the sooner I get it sent off the better.

Jigsaw Joints
On Monday I was able to quickly test the jigsaw joint idea suggested to me by Paul (see below).

This method seems to work alot better than butting up the pieces (see below) and will hopefully provide greater strength for my to work with. I also tried using emusion glue (a pva with more tack) which may solve the problem i had with dychlo and super glue causeing whitening on the edges. I have since drawn all of the buttress joins using this method and have also added a slot system to locate them on the main body of the church.

Colour Schemes

I was also able to produce a layered sketch on photoshop that can be modified to browse different colour schemes for the baseboard and model (sample below). I will generate several samples and email them to the achitects to decide or modify.

Internally the architects have confirmed that it will remain white. This is the same for the new builds. Each coloured area will need to be identified and masked off for mass spraying. as it is being backsprayed I may be able to get away with hand painting several smaller parts without brush strokes being visable.

EMA Order

My EMA order arrived promtly the day after I ordered it! Unfortunatly a couple of the items were not what I expected (square tubing not having a square central hole as pictured and roofing tiles being far too big despite being labled at correct scale). Stuart noticed the square tubing (for the surrounding planters on the boundary wall) and remembered he had some off cut brass which is amost identical in size. I will try using some of that and see how it looks, cheers Stu!

Testing construction methods

Drawing and Laser Cutting

Over the lase couple of days I have been laser cutting pieces to test how the building will come together. For an unknown reason some of the brickwork (all from the same drawing and job) came out differently and was less defined. I may have to redraw the sections concerned if it occurs again.

I decided to experiment in making the buttress from laser cut sections which looks fairly good, the only issue being the joins on the corners (see below) which are hard to secure once it has been backsprayed. Dychlo causes the paint to warp and is therefore not an option. I will experiment using other glues - perhaps emusion glue? Another suggestion from Paul was to jigsaw the corners to slot together. This could work so I'm going to give it a go asap.

The parts seemed to fit very well into the base which is a relief (see below).

Paint Colour

I also mixed a much paler toned down teracotta colour which I think will suit the model style much more than a striking red brick colour(see pics below). It may also be worth adding matting agent the the paint for the exposed ares of window detail.

I must remember to pre sand each piece before assembly as it is too fragile once in place, especially the around buttress.

As I am now fairly certain that this construction method will be effective I am now moving onto the new build areas to make some test pieces.

Interior Considerations

Now I am able to see the model and grasp exactly how the interior will appear in relation to the outside I realise that I will need to create another inner layer. This will be able to be sprayed separatly and not cause a risk to the exterior colour. Again this will need to be drawn up in Rhino and laser cut. The Layering of materials should appear something like this:

Buying In

This morning I compared the companies I mentioned previously and decided to go with EMA who had everything I needed rather than having to pay multiple postage costs. They have been despatched and should arrive at the studio early next week I would imagine.

Brass Etching

I began researching Brass etching and the preparation required for the drawings used. I intend to brass etch interior chair detailing, exterior fire esacape stairs and the railings surrounding the

childrens play area. I hope to have these drawn and be able to send the file off for etching by the middle of next week to give me 3 weeks to get them done.

Case Building and Quotes

Although I fully intend to make a case myself I am going to get quotes to keep a record of what this project would cost if I were charging for it.

The course only prode Tensol 12, an air drying Tensol which doesnt have the strength that I saw at Technical Models using Tensol 70 with catalyst.

I need to source some Tensol 70 and look at the cost of getting it in compared to having a case made. I really want to make the case myself as it is seen as abit of a challenge to most makers to keep it crisp and clean, I know I can do it and it would be great to say I made the whole model, case and all at the end of year show.

Suppliers and More Base Prep

It may seem like this base is taking forever. It is. This is mainly due to me thinking each thing through way before I've done it. I have spent many hours over the past week sitting and thinking how I'm going to put this model together. This has raised several issues which will need to be addressed one at a time as the bigger ones are decided on.

One issue is how to represent the buttresses in relation to the rest of the building. These, like the rest of the building, are terracotta brickwork. I had thought that I would make them using a shaped block of chemi wood which could then be cut down accordingly to mass produce them. This could still be a factor but it would not feature the brickwork as represented on the rest of the model.

To represent them as I have done on the building face by back-spraying presents several issues. The smaller buttresses on either end of the church would be very difficult to assemble for .5mm laser cut and etched acrylic.

I think I need to test laser cutting them to see if it is realistic. Perhaps I could, once back sprayed, apply the smaller pieces to a chemi-wood or styrene former to give them greater strength.

The Base



I have added several more details to the base that will need to be in place before the building is in situe and thus will also have to be sprayed beforehand. I have added the pathway from the new entrance that leads along the building and around the side of the church (above). I have also added the steps to the existing main entrance and the new access ramp running down one side(below). This pavements area has also been blended into the parking area at the side of the church.


I have also added 5mm ledges around the outside of my base thinking ahead for the case fitting. I made these using 5mm plywood of cuts as Paul suggested making my case using 4mm acrylic as it is much cheaper then 5mm (Below). Using a 5mm gap gives me approx .5mm 'play' either side which shoud be a snug fit. Another benefit is 1mm less to polish clear on each edge.


I need to schedule a time for the case construction as It may take 2-3 days due to Tensol drying time.

Paul also suggested buying one in which I will get a quote for but fully intend to make it mayself as it can be a hard skill to master. Having made a fairly large case for a project at Technical Models Ltd I feel quite confident I can produce a strong clean example, given the time to do it.

Suppliers

Other details around the base board such as the small planters on the surrounding wall can be made using cheap bought in materials such as styrene tubing and strips. I have looked at several suppliers today with varying prices for certain parts. I intend to look over all the elements of the model that may require them before playing an order but I will most definitely be placing one to save on time producing them myself. Cheshire Models seem the cheapest by far - and strangely are based about 10mins from where I live in Manchester - I have never heard of them!

The suppliers I have looked at are:

http://www.ema-models.co.uk/

http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/

http://www.cheshiremodels.co.uk/

http://www.modelshop.co.uk/

I also looked at RS whom my colleagues as Technical Models Ltd used for alot of cleaning and polishing products. The products are certainly good but I'm not sure about the price unless you're buying in bulk!

http://www.uk.rs-online.com/