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Building the Tri City Laser Redesigned Old West Hotel

Another building in my Knuckleduster order was the Hotel kit. Again I have already built the old Hotel kit and I wanted to build the new one as a direct comparison. This has gone through a redesign similar to that of the General Store. The 1st and 2nd floors now feature a wood floor engraving, the plywood is thinner resulting in a lighter looking model but still no instructions. Much like the General Store I think Tri City did a great job updating this kit. I didn't have any problems building the kit but the stairs gave me fits again. I ended up going to the knuckleduster website and magnifying the picture as much as I could to see how it was suppose to go together. All stairs are not created equal. A very solid effort from Tri City Laser on this one and I'm very happy with the finished Hotel.

A few pictures of the build along with some comparison photos:


The Parts

The 2nd Floor already well along

Attaching the interior and exterior balconies

The stairs and the front desk. Got the stairs right this time

A close up of the stairs for those that might need it.

From the front. The porch railing has a more delicate look to it now.

The 2nd floor in place with the stairs coming up through the stairwell.

Beauty Shot

New on the left, old on the right.  The new one has a lighter "feel" to it

New Balcony, it could use a cap rail.

The old balcony

New on the left, old on the right,  Top shot. Never did get the stairs right in the old one. I figured out I put them together upside down. I would  have to pry them apart to get them right at this point.

A much larger front desk

A much smaller front desk and stairs with handrails.

I'm hope this close up gives you and idea of how much thinner the new plywood really is.

Posted at 5:39 AM
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Building the Tri City Laser Redesigned General Store

I received my order from Knuckleduster over the weekend and I took some time tonight to build the General Store. I have built this one before, but I wanted to try out the newly redesigned kits so I felt like I should compare apples to apples at this point.

The build didn't really change all that much but there are some other significant changes. First thinner wood. I think the thinner wood really makes a nice change, the building doesn't look as "bulky" as the old one. I definitely prefer the new look this thinner wood gives. Following that is the now newly detailed floors. The redesign adds some nice detail to the floor, something that I considered to be a big miss in the old kit. They also spent some time re-doing the exterior detail and I think they really hit the mark there.

The only thing I can really fault them with is that there still aren't any instructions in their kits. Granted the General Store is pretty straight forward build, but there are some nuances to these kits. The way they fit together is not quite the same way as other manufacturers so don't go to fast and dry fit everything first to make sure you have it right.

Just a few pictures just so you get the idea of how it goes together and how it looks compared to the old kit.


Parts, Parts, Parts!

The new floor

Building the front, I went light on the clamps
I prefer a combination of weights and clamps when working with real wood. Again I used Titebond II Carpenter's Glue on this one.

The combination counter top and shelves

From the front. New on the left, old on the right. Click on the picture to see a larger version.

The interiors. Note that the interior furnishings have been reduced in size a bit. I think gives a much nicer look.

Top Rear, Old on the left, new on the right. I prefer the way the furniture has scaled out in the new design. It doesn't feel so massive and takes up a lot less space.

And from the rear, old on the left, new on the right. The re-design gives a lighter feel to the building that I like.

Posted at 7:07 AM
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Coincidence and Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials

Some of you are aware that my new job keeps me very much on the move. I found out on Wednesday that I needed to fly out to New Jersey on Thursday for an all day meeting on Friday (today). Everything was going fine, at the airport on time, a good parking place, short security lines followed by a quick train ride to my concourse. 

I boarded and found my seat, I was in the aisle seat (my preference, although when I booked the flight I was in the dreaded middle seat) and boarded before the other two passengers in my row so I knew I would be standing. My seatmates this time were a 93 year old mother and her 74 year old daughter heading out to the wedding of the 52 year old daughter/granddaughter (I'm guessing that this was a second marriage but didn't ask). Very chatty, which I usually abhor, but it was more than chatter, it was genuinely intelligent conversation and made for a fast flight.

At one point the grandmother, by the window, leans over and asks me if I know anything about science fiction, and if I had read Wayne Barlowe. Well, to be honest, it took me a moment to place the name and then I blurted out the title of the book "Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials" she smiled and said that's the guy. I was a bit stunned, that book was required reading amongst my group of friends back in '79 when it was released.

They insisted that I walk with them back towards baggage claim where the daughter and Wayne were suppose to pick them up. They happily introduced me to Wayne and I was able to shake hands with one of the idols from my teenage years (apparently he was only 21 when he wrote that book, he's only 5 years older than me). It made a long day of travel very enjoyable. What I didn't know is that he has written more books but didn't really publish again until the '90s, so now I have some catching up to do.

I can't post without a picture so I managed to find one of the cover of the edition I have, which I think I purchased through the Science Fiction Book Club.
Posted at 4:50 AM
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Kickstarter Update - WWI Walter Koessler Book - WOW


I am probably more excited about this particular Kickstarter than any other one I have backed at this point. We are at T-minus 24 hours on this project and Dean received a dummy copy of the book. Basically this is a completely blank copy of the book, showing off what the quality and size you could be receiving in December. If you were thinking about this one and were on the fence, its time to step up and get a copy now, before its all over.

Dummy Book Video

Kickstarter: Walter Koessler WWI Project


Posted at 2:12 PM
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