Only a quick update today. Most of the frame work for the town gateway has been completed, just the attic room to complete before I start to apply the roof tiles. After that I'll get going with the wood work and the Daz putty to make the stone work.

Some of my modelling time was snatched away from me when I discovered that the shed was collapsing.

My first foray into the shed this year, more than just grabbing something from just inside the door, revealed a staggering hole in the side and roof. I think it may be beyond repair, I've had to salvage what I can.


However, during times when I wasn’t sorting or drying stuff out I managed to progress some more with my city gateway model, the main focus of which had been how I could use that tissue box.


Many small boxes have now been inverted, re-glued and strengthened with tubes, packing tape rolls, toilet roll tubes or rolls of paper and newspaper.



If you are going to roll newspaper I found keeping it folded and rolling towards the folded edge easier, it is easier to glue this end down rather than a lot of flapping pages. Use elastic bands to hold the roll together whilst it dries then cut to lengths as required.

So here we go, almost time to think about last minute gaps and shaping the roof sections. After that the fun really begins getting the wood and stone work on.

It's been some time since I last posted, but I thought during this lockdown period I should make an effort to do so.

First though TOMORROW 2PM UK TIME - don't miss Fantom's THIRD, yes THIRD, online Doctor Who Convention event. The theme this time is Cybermen, and the crew will also be there discussing their favourite Cyberman design, you might even spot me in there. That's on their YouTube Channel tomorrow.

As I'm still working full time from home, I don't have a lot of crafting time, and most of my tools, materials and paint are down in storage. So anything I do will be limited.


I've got my hands on some PVA glue and a delivery today from The Works, bless them, has given me some Daz putty, brushes and paint to play with too.











So when the pollen count come down a bit I'll be tackling the garden, in the meantime I've started work on this, not quite sure what it's going to end up being yet, but a shape is already starting to form, all recycled materials that I've reusing instead of throwing them into the rubbish.


I was going to go for a deserted town look, but having got the tissue box as one of the key parts of the build this part at least will have to be an old world building I think.


I’m also still working on the Doctor Who tapestry in the evenings, I’ll post some update to that soon and some writing projects also need my attention. Hopefully more on those soon as well.

Just after Christmas I wrote that I was keeping some old selection trays to use as plaster moulds (Post Christmas Box Sets) 

It has taken until Easter for me to mix up some plaster and start taking the moulds. 



I think I must have mixed the plaster too thin as after several days it still feels damp and a couple broke when I took them out of the moulds. 

These can be stuck back together, and I still think they have promise when painted up.

I had a meeting today, in a meeting room overlooking The Tower of London. 


With such a view it was hard to concentrate, especially looking at those round towers in the outside wall. I kept thinking back to those tubs I saved from all the Christmas treats.

Yes, ok, post Christmas and the diet has to be taken seriously again, stop snacking. Not too easy when there is still stuff around and you're trying not to gorge yourself.

 These snacks are too easy to munch through, the Twiglets being my favourite. But I've always toiled with how to use these tubs in my modelling, it always feels wrong to throw them out.

There appears to be a lot of promise from these tubs, certainly the framework for a tower or a bow fronted house. 

Also I am wondering whether it would work if you glued the lid to the base of the board and did not glue down the tube could you make a model that could be stored easier by lifting it off the baseboard but use the lid as an anchor to the base?

The only rule has to be the exterior has to be a coffee stick building since it is only the Ghost Town that is made from recycled boxes, other models do require a more solid base to apply the clay and other materials.

I did say it was the season for giving, here's my gift to my readers.

If you've got a Kindle or getting one for Christmas then download the first book of the Karl Axilion Trilogy for free, on us, between December 25th and the 29th on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

And remember you don't even need a Kindle to read Kindle books because there is a free app that allows you to read Kindle books on any ipad, iphone, other tablets and computers.

(*) For a Who's Who see below.

That’s not say that I didn’t take time to do my Dagenham walkabout following the national celebration of my brother’s birthday. Ok, so maybe November 5^th has other significance as well which is why the fireworks are let off. It might have been because the date fell on a Thursday this year, that when I took the walk this year’s haul was incredibly small by comparison to previous years.  But before anyone starts to shout, I’m in total agreement that fireworks should be restricted, they do scare pets and wildlife and it is not fare on them at all, but whilst they are still sold I shall continue to round up what sticks I can to recycle into these buildings. All the frame work on the haunted house was built from the rocket sticks from the last couple of years.

Aborted support, even sticking strips  together at 90 degrees so that they  supported each other the support  was not rigid enough.

I’ve started to make use of the recycled materials I mentioned in the last blog post. The aim here, to add a couple more models to the Ghost Town made from the coffee sticks. 

A couple of these had their base shape constructed from foam board; others were made from old boxes. 

There were a few issues with some of them during construction which I hope I can address this time round.

With the first of the tubes as support.

New collection of boxes

It’s no secret on here that I collect up old coffee sticks and firework sticks post Bonfire Night to use for the wooden planking and beams on my models instead of buying strips of balsa wood, but there are so many other raw materials for building that can be sourced cheaply or for free that can make this a very cost efficient hobby indeed.