More Winter Buildings

I have three scratch built Russian buildings in construction, but I am waiting on a stock of my preferred epoxy putty to arrive to complete them.

In the interim I have assembled and painted two Sarrissa MDF kits. Since they represent a more upmarket rural structure than I have done so far (maybe they are the homes of the local Party officials) they have a bit more colour to them.

They get the snow treatment all the same...

Winter Building Number Four...

Well the days after our return from Singapore have been rather pedestrian. Partly because of some mixed weather, but more because I have been under the weather with that bloody awful cold that I brought back with me.

But I've never been one to sit around doing nothing I have launched back into the winter buildings. This is another peasant house and the basic structure again was to be wooden. A common practice was to coat the timber with clay not as a decorative feature but  as additional insulation. It wasn't like a stucco surface found in the Mediterranean countries that completely conceals the bricks, the clay was just slapped on and the outline of the wooden walls was visible, as in this image...

I also like that chunks of the clay could break off, exposing the timber beneath, like this model...

I like the idea of some walls being clay finished and some not.

I also want to get away from the rectangular shape so this building will have a small covered porch to the right of the front face, while an extension will be on the opposite face. Around the base of the building will be a narrow band of stone.

The roof will be thatched, BUT because the rectangular core is the same size as Building Number One, the roofs between the two buildings can be interchanged. 

So here is the basic build with the timber cladding in place and painted where it will be exposed, prior to the application of the 'clay'.

For the clay cladding I have used an artist modelling paste. I found that one coat didn't cover the wood enough, so a second coat was applied, using a paper towel to get the daubed effect. A thinned wash of sepia dirtied up the clay cladding.

The roof for this model will be thatched, but the material I will be using for the thatch has not arrived, so it will be a week or so before I can get started on it. All the same you can get an idea of the basic shape from  the form.

And these shots demonstrate how the roof from Winter Building Number One can be interchanged.

Also completed in this batch is an outhouse and a crane well.

Travels...2

Our Singapore visit continued...

Sunday morning saw us returning to the Gardens by the Bay. We had visited these in 2016 when they were still under construction so this time we wanted to visit the parts we did not visit last time, specifically the treetop walk and the super tree observatory.

The latter is a part of a man made forest where there are a series of 18 concrete and steel structures up which orchids, bromeliads and air plants are grown to the height of 50 meters in vertical gardens. Designed to mimic real trees they have solar arrays installed, collect rainwater and supposedly enhance air circulation. They are quite striking and the observatory is located on the highest one, giving a superb view back over the city but more importantly over the garden canopy.

The treetop walk links three or four of the supertrees. We were there nice and early so the place was not all that busy.

As we continued around the gardens the weather turned from sunny to rain and thunder, our decision to go early paid off as both the tree walk and observatory were closed down.

We returned to our apartment for lunch and just after we arrived the rain really came down heavily but eased back an hour or so later so that we could get out again, this time to the Thian Hock Keng Buddhist temple in Chinatown.

There wasn't much open in Chinatown on Sunday afternoon so with the rain beginning to fall again, we headed back to the apartment for a quiet evening.

Monday included a visit to the Singapore Zoo and the Bird Paradise. The former has a good range of well cared for animals in cool forested enclosures.

The Bird Paradise is a fabulous place, a massive improvement on the old Jurlong Bird Park. Gone are 90% of the cages replaced by huge aviaries with hundreds if not thousands of birds.

Then there were more light shows...at the Marina...

...and in the gardens...

There was a walk to Arab Street and the Sultan Mosque.

Followed by a walk to the Hindi Temple.

We spent a peaceful morning at the Botanic Gardens and the superb National Orchid Garden.

Unfortunately I picked up a cold - most likely from going from the hot and humid environment into the seemingly freezing aircon in many of the buildings. So our last full day was spent simply sightseeing near the apartment, around the Marina, and along the river to the eateries at Robinson's and Clarke's Quays. I had a very nice lamb tagine at a Lebanese restaurant at the latter.

Our last day, well half day really, was spent casually around the Marina again for a last lunch and drink before heading to the airport. Now we are sitting in the lounge waiting for our flight to be called. In around eleven or twelve hours we will be home and our equatorial holiday will be done.

Travels...

We are in Singapore. We had planned it back in January to take advantage of my industry travel allowance before I retired. The main purpose is to celebrate her indoors' birthday, but that purpose changed a bit when she lost her job a month ago due to a company restructure. Hopefully this lifts her out of the funk she is in.

So after a ten hour flight we arrived in Singapore in glorious 32C (90F) degree heat - a far cry from the 10C degrees we left behind in Auckland. An evening arrival was followed by dinner and then sleep...since we realised that we had been awake for close to 20 hours.

Saturday started with an early walk around the Marina Bay with its stunning city scape and its great mix of old and new, of concrete, glass and greenery.

This was followed by a stroll through part of the Gardens by the Bay where by chance we met one of my former work colleagues who was part of a team enroute to Hamburg where they were to take delivery of a new aircraft.

We will return there for a proper visit later.

The next stop was the Raffles Hotel for her indoors' birthday lunch. As always we were early, but we found time for a pre-lunch drink in the Long Bar where I had the famous Singapore Sling...that should have had a gold straw for its price...

A fabulous lunch in the Tiffin Room followed and her indoors was more than pleased with the "Birthday Surprise Dessert" that they delivered.

A return to the hotel was followed by a dip in the rooftop pool as welcome relief from the heat and humidity.

Dinner followed by a walk down to the Marina Bay to watch the light show (that was far less impressive than when we were here nine years ago, but that could just gave been where we were standing) closed out the day.