Mont-Saint-Michel - Page 3

**Kevin WS** · #21 11-03-2010, 09:06 AM

Tazman - I am not certain how much I reduced it by in the end - just kept going until it I thought it was big enough to build.

I will measure the reduction against the original when I get home and try and work out the change. The original is 1/500.

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Trying to keep things square! Hummmm.....! In no particular order....

1. I use an engineers square - will take a pic tonight. This is a small metal square. Use is to check that things are square!

2. I try to do things slowly.

If for example I have a hollow core - 4 sides of a square - and I am sticking it to a base I will stick the tabs on one side only. This allows me to get the alignment of one side on the base spot on without having to worry about how square it is. Then I "flip" it over on its side (i.e. the tab that is stuck down acts as a hinge), put glue on the other 3 sides and then quickly hold it down using the square to get it square! As one side has already been stuck I do not need to worry about it moving around on the base.

If before sticking the object to the base I had to put a roof on, then I would nestle it in the engineers square and then apply the roof.

Remember that I like doing small buildings, so the engineers square is fine for me! The roof should then hopefully help square it a bit when attaching, but I would still use the square to check alignment.

If I stick something square to the base and the base is then slightly out, it is easy to trim the base. The base is the easiest thing to adjust and trim!

3. I try to be accurate when cutting and I always try to dry fit the parts before gluing. If the alignment is out at this stage a minor adjustment can usually be made - by maybe a new fold.

4. I use water colour pencils to cover joins and damage and these allow me to cover up any exposed seams. Buy some - they are really good.

5. I eyeball a lot - I have a good eye for angles fortunately. Some people do, some do not - that's how it goes! I am bad with languages, so I suppose that’s the other side of the coin!

6. Lastly if something is not square, and it is not obvious, I try not to not stress. Nothing is perfect in this world! I really feel I need to enjoy my modelling, so I try and limit stress to small doses.............!

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Don,

I know the feeling about the large models. I used to keep them for a couple of weeks - then away! That's why I now like the Micormodels, or try and reduce a model if it is feasible.

This one I think may still be quite large, so I will have to find ot a home somewhere!

**Kevin WS** · #22 11-04-2010, 04:23 AM

Tazman - I had a look at the measurements - the one I am doing has been reduced by 35%.

The original was 1/500 - according to my maths this means I am building a 1/770? I think! Can someone check this?

**Kevin WS** · #23 11-04-2010, 04:29 AM

On with the kit.

Continued to cut out the pieces that make up the core - there are 14 now in total - Pic 1.

Pic 2 shows the base in comparison and Pic 3 the base in close-up. I am going to have t0 figure out the order in which to glue.......

**Kevin WS** · #24 11-05-2010, 02:09 AM

Time to start the base.......

The pictures below show the front section walls being put into place.

Before doing this I did the usual checks on fit - some of the fits are poor and there are dimensional differences that should not be there. I had read this in other reviews but was not certain how true the comments about poor fit were.

Well they are - as I found an example here! I just hope there are not issues somewhere further down the line..................

**Kevin WS** · #25 11-05-2010, 02:18 AM

The pictures show the second stage of the base.

I am wondering how to attach the top now - it is going to be tricky. I should maybe have part attached it as I put up the base walls!

**Kevin WS** · #26 11-05-2010, 08:48 AM

INTERLUDE

In response to a question from Tazman earlier in this thread, regarding keeping things square, I mentioned the engineers square I use and said I would take some pics to illustrate its usefullness.

Here are the pics - somewhat posed but they will do!

First pic shows its size - very small. Three or four of these incidentally (they are metal) on a metal plate make a wonderful jig for holding things!

The rest of the pics show typical ways in which they can be used to keep things square.

**tazman3** · #27 11-05-2010, 02:44 PM

Fantastic! Those are great pics...I see what you are doing...do you build it that way too? In other words do you press the "box" into the square as the glue sets or are you just checking it afterwards...seems to me you could press it in and work fine...

**Kevin WS** · #28 11-05-2010, 04:00 PM

You are correct - I build it that way. In others words I do press the "box" in as the glue sets.

Even though I am using white glue this only takes a minute
or so - I then leave the joint to dry for 5 to 10 minutes.

Sometimes the square is heavy enough to also hold things in place while they dry - depends on the size of the parts.

Buy one or two of the squares - you will use them a lot. You can see how well used mine is....!

**Kevin WS** · #29 11-06-2010, 11:51 AM

Plazza roof (or base!) goes on!

For assembly I have been roughly trying to follow the number sequence on the parts - I assumed there was some form of logic in the numbering. But the assumption was wrong - I was happily sticking the walls on in a numbered sequence when I suddenly realised if I carried on I probably would not get the roof on!

Arrrgh!

So on goes the roof. And what a battle......

The photos below show the roof finally on!

The last picture shows my next problem stage - I have managed to find a couple of the parts, but have just wasted nearly an hour searching for the rest...... Plus I cannot really figure out how they fit without the rest!

Aparently this is a kit for experienced modellers - all I can say is that one should certainly be experienced at the end!

This is starting to be a mission, so I am giving it a rest for today..... early bed and a movie feels great!

**Kevin WS** · #30 11-08-2010, 03:29 AM

OK - next step I decided was to start perhaps adding stuff ot the top to give it more rigidity - and get the stuff in/on while I could, as the sides at the rear remain unglued.

The church body is meant to be removable for some reason - I decided it would be glued into place to provide much needed rigidity, and mmore importantly level out the floor.

I also used a steel edge to check how level the plazza was and then packed it underneath with paper scraps to level it out as much as possible - this will ensure the various ajoining buildings that go on top will butt together flush.

The pics below show the final result with the main church body on.