I am trying to keep my posts in the chronological order as much as I can, but here is a rare exception. I have been wanting to build the King Jazz kit for years. Two shelf orphans needed a companion and this kit seemed to fit the bill. Or I just convinced myself that it did ..read more

There have been a number of the Hooper Oysters build progress updates back in 2012. Then I put it on the shelf and let it sit for almost a decade. I am saying almost because I completed diorama a few months short of 10 years. I am just typing it up in July of 2022. The main reason for such long procrastination is that I was scared of doing water. There was so much talk of water bubbling, peeling of and so on on the Scott Mason podcast. The painting of it was another factor. I watched Dave Frary paint water on a DVD many times. It didn't seem too difficult, but then I talked to someone who even ..read more

After six years on the backburner yet another shelf orphan is done. The majority of changes had been done at the time of posting of the last update. Back then the structure had two large white squares showing. You might wonder as what they were for. Here is the explanation. I wanted it to have additional large windows, but I couldn't cut them myself. Therefore, I made it to appear like there were more windows by adding those squares i.e. window frames, and then the shutters over them. I hope that conveys the message. The last change since the last post was the roof top sign. The original desig ..read more

I am typing this well after I finished the kit. At the time I completed diorama it had been under construction a few months short of four years. In my last build update I said I had windows upside down. Usually this kind of mistake discourages me and the project gets shelved, but I don't think that was the case with Moscone Bonds. I always remember it having the roof on. For a long time all it needed was the final weathering and getting the scenery done, but I just couldn't make myself to do it. I thought I used Tichy street signs on some other project before Moscone, but I couldn't find any e ..read more

The Yard Office #3 was the kit that I didn't consider building. I built the Railroad Kits/Ed Fulasz version of the office a few years back. The addition of the laser cut part just didn't provide enough draw. But then I received a request for one. Well, the interest was for the original version of the office, but at the time only the combo from FOS was available. I needed to separate the brick part from the wooden add-on and build as close to Ed's as possible and then do something with what was left. I changed the roof  line of the wood building a bit, trimmed the height of the walls, drop ..read more

Back to the regular programming so to speak. I built the Murdock Fasteners kit close to 6 months ago. It was one of FOS kits that had escaped my attention. I am sure once it came out I added it to my mental buy list, but then somehow it got dropped. I realized that only after I received a request to build it. Murdock Fasteners is a nice little background kit that is easy to build. It has a slight problem though. The left side wall is about 1/16" too narrow. Possibly the trim is supposed to be glued to the far end of it, but the trim isn't shown in the drawings. It is quite possible that there ..read more

Not sure how did it happen, but somehow I skipped one of the dioramas I built last year. Originally the structures I used on it were supposed to be a part of different diorama. However, it was taking way too long to build and I had no problem building a smaller version when asked. I named the Seckler's Marine building after my co-worker who retired around the time I started building the kit. So much respect I had for him back then. By the time I finished the diorama all of it had gone down the drain. Not sure if I should take it as a hint and stop naming the businesses after the people I know ..read more

I talked about the Green Dragon last time almost five years ago. I can remember exactly when I started it, but I think it was right after I purchased the kit. I would say late 2012 or early 2013. Then it seems I picked it up again in 2017 just put it back on the back burner soon after. I say "it seems" because after about 100 of completed kits it is a little hazy. It is hard to tell when exactly I built or started them. Sometimes I think I built a certain kit two years ago and it turns out to be five. I don't have much to say about the Green Dragon. There wasn't much left to do really. I could ..read more

What attracted me to Freddy's was a big rooftop sign and the car dealership style flags. The building itself is just a nearly rectangular warehouse. Now, taking something boring and turning it into something fun requires some talent. Doug Foscale definitely has it. As expected the building itself didn't pose any problems. Making the rooftop sign was a little harder manly because the letters had little connecting bridges that had to be removed after sign gets glued onto the framework. Removing the bridges required some patience. The most challenging turned out to be the flags. I glued them on a ..read more

Derito's Meats was the very first FOS Kit of the Month. Perhaps I should have kept it untouched. Who knows, it may be worth some serious money down the road. It is too late though. I already have it built. I renamed it after my co-worker.  Back in a day when we worked in the office we used to talk about the smoked meats quite a bit so naming the meat store after him seemed very appropriate. Besides the name I made a few other changes. I moved the "bump" to the other side, added a window where the "bump" was original supposed to be, and also added a vertical sign. All in all it's been a fu ..read more