Day 20 - Foundation Installation & Start on Front Porch

With the paint dry on the foundation pieces it's time to install them on the structure.  The picture supplied with the kit shows gaps where sections meet and that's not a good sign.  I peeled off the paper from the self-adhesive side and carefully applied them to the structure.  Here's a picture of a couple of the corners:

And another picture of the other side:

Yech!  This is NOT acceptable!  All the hard work that I've put in thus far to be ruined by these !@$#! corner joints?  I could spend hours filling the edges with putty, carving the stone lines, and then painting them.
I've got a better idea.........

BUSHES!!!  What you can't (or don't want to) fix you hide with bushes.  Here's what one corner would look like with bushes

And the other side....

Now for my railroad I wouldn't have a problem hiding the bad joints (what bad joints?) with bushes, but this is going on Kevin's railroad, so we'll check with the boss - my email to him:

 "Kevin, 
Actually, I can fix the foundation gaps at the corner on your structure; however, this would take a great deal of time and effort.  The kit just doesn't have a well designed foundation.  What I'm suggesting is that you consider hiding the joints with bushes once the structure is on your layout - after all, what house doesn't have some bushes around it?  I've attached pictures for reference - it's your call, so let me know what you want me to do."

And his prompt email answer: 

"Rick,
No problem at all. I had actually planned to have bushes, plants etc., around the foundation in flower beds like Grandma had anyway. And trust me.......bushes hide a lot of small flaws on my layout! It's one of my most used techniques! ;)"

O.K. Kevin - you're secret is out:  Your railroad isn't perfect!!!   In any event, problem solved!

So on I go to working on the front porch.  See the gap?  The porch doesn't fit flush against wall of the building.

Here's another view of the gaps.

Here's the offending section.  I'll need to trim this area a bit to get rid of the gaps.

 I want to make sure that I trim of just enough and not too much so I draw a black line with my felt tip marker as a guide.

I use my hobby knife with a #11 blade to carefully carve away to the line and finish up with a nail file (emory board) to smooth the edges.  I test fit the piece and it fits great!  Next I'll work on the floor.



 Here's the floor painted standard Testors flat gray.  It's a little boring looking.

I'll do the same process as with the foundation to give it some character; that is, by painting it with multiple lighter dry brushed coats of gray paint.  Here's with the first coat only slightly lighter than the stock applied color.

It looks better, so will dry bush an even lighter coat on next.

And a final coat of even lighter gray brushed on.

Now I'll add some Testors flat tan for dirt and dry brush it on with it heaver by where the steps would be and leading up to the door.  I'm thinking Grandpa Sam doesn't always wipe off his boots real well before going up on the porch.

And here's the floor dry fitted in place on the front porch supports.

And a closer view to show the coloration of the porch deck.

That's it for today.  Up next I'll work on adding the railings, roof, etc.