Gluing the brick walls

October 6, 2011

Included in the kits contents are 4 corner braces made of 1/8" sq. x 23-1/2" long stripwood. They are the only 4 pieces not color coded. Thus, they were easy to find. It also helped that they were banded together with a small rubber band. 2 of each of the braces go along the edges of the peaked walls. The instructions call to offset the braces 1/4" from the edges of the peaked walls. After having done that I glued the braces with SureHold 2 part 5 minute epoxy from a syringe, like so:


I picked up the epoxy at Walgreens while I was already there. It worked as advertised. But, I was not happy with the syringe thing. I used one of those faux credit cards we all get in the mail several times a week to mix the epoxy. I applied the epoxy using a thin bamboo skewer I found in the kitchen. I was careful not to use too much epoxy so very little oozed out. What little did ooze out I scraped with a single edge razor. Since the side walls will butt up against the corner braces (offsetting the side walls and thus hiding the seam), I did my very best to apply the glue on the inside of the brace so as to minimize any epoxy ooze between the brace and the edge of the casting. I figured I didn't care if any epoxy oozed on the inside of the brace with respect to the edge of the casting. Kinda like scraping the window opening from the back of the casting :-)


The red toothpick I used to clean the syringe opening after I used the epoxy to keep it from getting clogged. Already I've experienced a clogged Floquil Earth spray can. I don't mind mistakes. I do mind making the same mistakes over and over :-)

You see that clear acrylic square. I have two of those courtesy of Jimmy D. I will be using them as my square to true up the walls. You see, I don't own a set of machinist squares. I picked up this trick, wich I'll illustrate shortly, from one of Darryl Huffman's DVDs. He does it with CD jewel cases. But the same principle applies. One thing I noticed was that the acrylic squares were just a tad small when placed inside the brick structure. Are you with me here? I can see gears turning inside Jimmy's head. It would be sooo cool if the modeler were provided with an acrylic square just the right size to fit inside plaster square structures. Why the acrylic square could even be notched at the right spots and the casting tabbed just so... BAM! Self-aligning plaster kits. You'd always get a square fit. A line of acrylic modeling aids Jimmy. What say you?

Here is what I am taking about Jimmy:


And this is how you can use two acrylic squares, or 2 CD jewel cases, to square your walls:


George instructs the modeler to test fit the 4 walls to make sure the foundations line up and are flush. There are 2 large rubber bands included in the kit to help hold the walls together while gluing. I used one rubber band to hold the 4 walls so I could check for gaps and aligned foundations. When I placed the side walls against the peaked walls, there were no significant gaps. I held the the walls against the light of my magnifier lamp to help me find gaps. I must say all the walls fit pretty well without having fuzzed with them too much. There are 2 spots on my walls where the foundation is not quite flush and there is a very small gap. I believe George adresses this later on. Also, this is a good time to test that the side walls butt up against the braces since they will get glued there. You would not want a gap between the brace and the rear of the side wall casting since you need to keep its face flush with the peaked walls.

This is how I checked the foundations:

 

I then glued the walls together.

Next up, step 3i; filling in the gaps.

© Jaime E. Zepeda 2012