Singapore Chinatown Shophouse

[herky]

Originally Posted by Erik Zwaan

Singapore did a major clean up of all their waterways ever since and it paid off .

Didn't have much time for modelling this weekend; renovation works required in the house. Since this is basically modeling too, on a 1:1 scale, I'm not complaining.

Some progress though on the shop internals. Finished two out of three shops. It felt like building a dollhouse scale 1:87. The details and print quality are excellent. Also the thick paper on which the parts are printed make them very easy to handle, similar to the Instant Durable models.

The model provides a bit of a flimsy way to reinforce the floor of each shop, instead I used 2mm thick board (laminated 2x 1mm), which gives a much better result.

Next time hopefully the third shop ready, along with the walls and ceiling. Once completed each shop looks like a compartment.

Eh..., that's it for the moment.

Erik

interiors look good

[Erik Zwaan]

Thanks, Herky.

Last weekend I had a few hours to spare and was able to make a lot of miles. How wonderful.

It's not a difficult model to build, but the shop interiors take time and after a few cabinets you wish you'd done 'm all already. The model parts fit very well but the shop cubicles are slightly too big to fit in the wall opening and some trimming is needed.
From left to right you can see a bakery shop, traditional medicine shop and provision shop. The print details are very fine and you can even read the product names, like Milo chocolate milk (very well known in the Far-East).

With exception of the roof two out three shophouses are ready. Only after putting the main roof in place the side roofs will be glued to the buildings.
I have used a lot of extra board to strengthen the walls to prevent them from buckling and to make it easier to install the main roof later on. The board comes from empty printer paper boxes and is excellent stuff for this purpose. I used glue spray to fixate the board, which came in quite handy as well.

One silly thing, I noticed to have glued the window shutters of the side and backside windows upside down . 99.9% chance that no one will notice but somehow it leaves an unsatisfied feeling. So maybe I will correct this in the end. By the way, I decided to install the side windows, rather than leaving them as loose items. This is an option the model provides, to enable joining of various models to a row of houses.

The pictures show the various stages of progress.

Erik

[herky]

they look good and getting me homesick

[Erik Zwaan]

Don't feel too homesick, NZ must be a fantastic place to live in as well, at least not so crowded and beautiful nature.

Had some spare time last few days and managed to install the roof. This requires a bit of planning but the instructions provided with the model are excellent. Only the front "flap" still has to be glued and I intend to do this only after the four roof beams are in place, to ensure the roof surface stays flat and doesn't get uneven after gluing it to the various tabs. This would otherwise result in small gaps between roof and beams.
Well, I guess they're not really beams but merely part of the concrete walls that make up the main structure of the shophouse. Any front and back facades, and roof/flooring structural members were put in between.

I hope the pictures bring out the fine print quality of the model, especially the bicycle and window details. The shadow effects add a great deal of realism.
Just a few shots to show progress and hey, someone already parked his or her car in front, doing groceries already. Some of the pictures were taken late at night with lights on in the room, by which the colors differ from those taken at daylight.

Next update may take a while, no time for modeling during the coming days...

That's it for now,
Erik

[Vermin_King]

Very nice work. We'll be waiting for the next update

[Erik Zwaan]

Thanks Vermin and here's the next update.

Found some time yesterday to finish the roof. Last time I ended with gluing the back part in place. Next are the four beams on the roof.
Each beam consists of two parts and I installed them in stages. First the parts to the backside of the roof and then the front sections. Finally the front flap and by doing so this results in a neat flat roof surface.

Well, basically the model is ready. The last items will be the base, a few ornaments to the facade and signboards. Finally, a small personal touch and that will be it. Should be ready in the next two weeks or so as I mainly work on it in the weekends .

Erik

[Erik Zwaan]

Another update. The model is placed on its pedestal now, which adds to its overall stability.
I found it difficult to avoid torquing of the long beams underneath so I cut them in half while installing. The cuts can be seen in the first picture but the model was designed such that all of this will not be visible, thanks to additional lamination of the sides of the base. I'm working the final parts now and the shophouse should be ready in week's time. It's really a nice kit, not too complicated and a nice break-away from the high-end Polish stuff.

Erik

[günter]

Hi,
I am now in Singapore. As my wife is born in Singapore, we are staying with the inlaws. We will be here until beginning of October.
I went to the shop which Ricky mentioned on his website. I bought the two models there, S$40.- each. I saw the models also in a small shop at VIVO City, S$38.80 each.
You can see the typical shophouses still in many places in Singapore. I added a foto which shot from a busjourney.

[Don Boose]

Great shot of the row of Singapore shophouses, which show how closely Erik's model replicates the originals!

Nice work, Erik.

Don

[xpsg]

Originally Posted by günter

Hi,
I am now in Singapore. As my wife is born in Singapore, we are staying with the inlaws. We will be here until beginning of October.
I went to the shop which Ricky mentioned on his website. I bought the two models there, S$40.- each. I saw the models also in a small shop at VIVO City, S$38.80 each.
You can see the typical shophouses still in many places in Singapore. I added a foto which shot from a busjourney.

Which part of Vivo may I ask? I might grab a copy this weekend.