Modern Flatiron Scratchbuild - Complete

The best part of a scratch-build has to be the final steps when all the wiring, pieces, and (most of all) the wild guesses about how it will all work come together (or not!)!

So I here I present to you the (almost) complete "Canon" building (formerly known as the 'modern flatiron building')

Pictures say more than words.,,,most of the finish work involved adding pieces of trim around the back side windows and over the corners of the building.

I am really pleased with how this one turned out...if fits the strange shaped area I had and nicely integrates with both the modern Kato buildings and the other structures in downtown.  The only thing I might do is add some resistance or something to the entire structure as (you can probably tell) the LED's are quite bright!

The interiors, as I mentioned in the earlier parts of this project, are composed of some manufactured detail bits, as well as pieces of painted foam core and bits of styrene with some simple printed backgrounds on the walls.  The interior figures are all the very cheap Chinese made ones found on eBay.

With this project done, I have to start thinking about my next project.  I really enjoyed this technique and would encourage anyone to do the same.  Using the transparencies for the windows along with bits of styrene is really quite simple but gives a great effect.

That's all for today!  Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave a comment (and for you other bloggers out there, I'm always interested in other work as well, so please feel free to share your blog!).

Modern Flatiron Scratchbuild - Part 3

As I mentioned in part 2, the next part was to add the interior details to each floor that I expected to add lighting to.  I did this using a combination of small pieces from Luetke Modellbahn, home-made office cubes, and bits of painted foam core.  I've found that even painted pieces of foam core can 'look' like furniture if the angles are square enough!

After finishing the details, I attached my lighting strips and carefully glued each floor section to the interior.  The challenging part is to ensure that I place the floor section correctly the first time as I only have a little over 1mm on either side.  If I miss, an unsightly (and impossible to fix) glue stain will result.  Fortunately I make it through this part withing any major errors!

I then soldered the leads from the LED strips to two brass wires that extend through the building.  This was a very easy way to solder in so many light strips and I'll probably use a similar method to this again.

I then attached the lobby section to the bottom of the building and after the glued had dried, I then applied the back wall (after checking to ensure that everything seems to be in square and all the lights work!

The next steps are to apply the remaining sides, the top pieces with a back-lit logo, and I'm getting pretty close to completion!

Modern Flatiron Scratchbuild - Part 2

I made good progress earlier this week, but things slowed down as I had to apply coats of primer and surface color with a spray can to many of the materials.

As you can see in the above photo, I applied my transparency sheets (printed on a laser printer) to the acrylic, and then glued my strips of styrene (already painted) on top of that.
Below you can see a more finished look, along with the ground floor, to get an idea of how its going to look:

I also did a little work on preparing the interior details for the lobby - mainly the 'back wall' where the elevator banks would be.  I decided to do something a bit different and used some 'rock face' material for the wall to give it a bit of architectural texture!

I referenced waiting for paint to dry above, and the below photo of the 'back wall' illustrates what I was doing.  The material is clear acrylic, so I need to spray it with a coat or two of primer to ensure its opaque, then apply the surface color.  An area was masked out for the application of more windows that will appear above the rooftops of the adjacent buildings.

While waiting for paint to dry, there is plenty to do, so I also soldered the leads onto the LED strips that I'll be using for the interior lighting.

Next I believe will be additional detailing on the floors, and then installation of the floors and the lighting.  I also need to figure out the wiring for the building top logo.  After that, I should be pretty close to gluing it all together and seeing what I've got!  Stay tuned!