Is that one of those $2-300 Cosmic kits? I see those on there and they crack me up. I always think I could make 4 of what they're selling for what they're asking lmao I had planned a similar idea to this using a 2.5 OD square acrylic tube and cutting the center out of 4" wood squares then making Shoin-zukuri siding out of 1/16 balsa a while ago. I ran out of real estate within the city limits before I got to it though, which is fine because am pretty sure it would have been a colossal PITA
I was expecting this one to take a little longer, is pretty much the easiest of the Tomytec snap-together buildings that I've ever fiddled with. Less than 5min from cutting the tape on the box to being done. Almost a little disappointed lol Am going to hold off on the decals for a minute, think this one may be needing the Evans treatment
Remember that red Bible that's been sitting out in the middle of my city pretty much since I put up the tracks, even before there was much of anything out yet? Well, that's because it's the perfect footprint for one of my buildings and allowed me to build up around it so I knew what was going to be there. This originally was going to have a footbridge over the elevated train to the upper levels of my airport but since I moved the airport out of my city altogether, I can go ahead and start this puppy. No clue if this is going to work or not, but here's the first attempt, at least Soaked this piece in hot water for about 10mins then glued a poplar dowel down the middle of the structure so it curves evenly top-to-bottom. I tried to set the clamps with minimal pressure but we'll see tomorrow if it leaves any indents. Which - to be fair - am totally expecting. No way this could work on the first try lmao
Well, then - color me surprised! The glue held (so far), and the rest of it went together almost too easy. I mean, here it is a little after 8AM and I'm done with what I thought would take me most of the morning. Not complaining, just surprised. It did flatten out the one corner down at the lower left, but other than that the curvature looks astonishingly good and even across the whole face of it. I may run a covered canopy over the front of the building to cover it. I may just cop out and add bushes there, too HAHAHA Obviously needs some wood filler and a ton of finish sanding, but the shell of it is done. I have the soccer figures already, and just ordered some Atlas lights I think will work well along with a generic terminal board to run them on. I had purchased some plastic open-design steel girders for something else that I can't find now so will have to get more of those, will be perfect for the crossbars over the field. The actual building has structures, and big AC units, and billboards, and quite a bit more going on up there, but I'm thinking adding all that would take away from the space for the scene. No one is going to remember how many ACs or windows are up there, they're going to remember you can play soccer on the top of a building in downtown Tokyo. Not 100% sure which way to go on that one yet and either way there's lots of detail work left to do, but the guts of this guy is done and up so that all those little details are really all that's left - backwards as it sounds, somehow those are always the easy part imo. Looks right at home already
The busted up light cover I already have a use for, the broken sheet of FRP gives me ideas. Either way, buying broken stuff for dirt cheap is just fun
Adding the structures, and fencing, and fans, and ACs, and everything else would take away from the size of the pitch on the roof of my building, but know what looks weird? A flat roof with nothing but a soccer pitch on it. And, let's face it - I've never been one to leave well enough alone Cut a bunch of 3/4" wide pieces for the 'floors'. I tried to cut the windows at first but they were too inconsistently shaped so I threw those pieces out and just used a flat-front instead. I generally do not like to weather most of what I am using because Tokyo is ridiculously clean and most things are new, but this particular landmark is always seen with grime and dirt streaking down the front so even though painting lines would have been significantly easier, I wanted those cracks to get some blackwash into. Should look great. Found some 3D printed fans and coolers that I will need to buy next payday, but from here it's just the actual detail parts. I already did one coat of paint outside (using rattlecans instead of the airbrush, given the size) but I do not like the color at all. On the upside, raw wood tends to take in the paint so getting a prime coat will help considerably. Probably be tomorrow after work before I can try again with a different one. It's fine - lights won't be here until the 18th, and I still need the Plastistruct to make the crossbars over the field. Not going to be done anytime soon, but am mostly happy with the progress so far.
Paul, is it an optical illusion on my monitor, or does the building's curved side get deeper as it gets higher?
Nope, not an optical illusion - the bottom frame broke loose as I was gluing the strips to the face and I had to wedge a piece back in place to hold the shape. It's not perfect but the photo somehow looks far worse than it actually does - it doesn't bother me enough to scrap it and start over. By the time it's all said and done it won't really be that noticeable, it's just that photo has the perfect angle to highlight it.
