Almost Home

I've made incredible progress this week. The guest wing roof is complete, along with the giant pergola on the back of it. Today I completed the pergolas on each side of the children's wing as well.

I took a stab at some trees this morning. I'm quite happy with the large oak that sits just next to the terrace. This thing is quite heavy - I used a large portion of my leaf supply on it, but I'm loving the full look of it. It uses lengths of flex tube to provide stability.



All I have left to build now is the children's wing roof, the poolside patio, and I need to finish filling out the garden.

As I near the end, finishing each section, I get to experience great waves of relief and satisfaction. When I started this a couple years ago, I had no idea I could be this happy about a LEGO model. Along the way, this has been so many things to me: constant frustration, a continued locus of contemplation, an immense challenge of my abilities. I look forward to sharing the finished model with the world.

Pleasantly Surprised

Tonight I decided to work more on the 2nd story roof. This section has long been a worry of mine. The shape of Wingspread's roof is iconic, and I want to do it justice more than any other part of the building. The angled sides especially worried me, as they are at an odd angle that's not made by LEGO. My first attempt over the weekend used a complicated mesh of different size wedge plates, and there were gaps everywhere. On a whim I thought I could use staggered 45° plates. I think the effect is quite good.

I am exceedingly happy with how this turned out. I can't stop staring at it!

Refinement

As I near the end of this project, "completion" is an ever-changing target. Most of the time I don't know how I'm going to complete a section until I actually get into it with the brick. Often I'll just stall out entirely... I'll get so wrapped up in "doing it right" that I don't know where to start. I find it's best to just try something, ANYTHING, or I'll never get anywhere. There's always room to refine things, to revise what's already been done. The roof sections are quite full of this, none so much as the 2nd floor roof - a 9-sided "P"-shaped area with multiple intersecting slopes and only a couple right angles. Above is my first attempt at the upper roof section. I have a couple ideas to try to fill in the remaining gaps... we'll see what I decide on.

I should be finished building in the next week or so. Here's my remaining build list:

• Garden pergola
• Garden center
• Poolside patio
• Children's wing pergola
  
• Children's wing roof
• Carport/Guest wing flat roof
• Servants' wing - long dormer window
  
• 2nd Floor roof - angled areas
• Chimneys
• Various small gaps to fill in landscaping
• Trees, flowers, plants, vines
  

Beyond the "build", I still have a couple items to get it "show ready" - skirting, plexiglass, and I have to make sure everything fits into boxes.

I love that with a building this large, even though I'm not done yet, there are still plenty of angles that look like a finished product:

The Great Tile-Up

I received one of my final BrickLink orders today. Finally, I have enough tiles to complete all of the tan cement and trellises! It will take some days to finish all the work, but I was happy to get a good start on it tonight. Two wings worth of trellis work are complete now - the master bedrooms and servants' wings. Of course I leave the most complicated ones for last... hopefully I can muster up the courage to tackle the childrens' wing and guest wing trellises this weekend. The one by the garden is absolutely huge, at about 64 by 20 studs, with a few intersecting angles that may prove frustrating.

Soon I should be able to begin completion of the great hall roof as well. The end is getting closer every day.

Foliated

Over the weekend, I worked on some finishing touches on the servants' wing. I've finally filled in the courtyard. The red cement in the courtyard is still waiting on the right color cheese slopes, and I'll probably add some flowers and perhaps a planter or two. I think I've gotten the trellises for this wing to a near-final state. I still need to add a vine or two - the real house has grape vines all over.

I'm quickly falling in love with this wing. The shaping, the angles, and the use of color are quite beautiful. I did not expect this to be my favorite wing, but I think it might be.

I wait patiently now on my various part orders.

Perseverance

Tonight I set out to finish the landscape in the corner next to the servants' wing. I'm currently waiting on a boatload of parts from 5 separate BrickLink orders so that I will have enough to finish out the roof, trellises, and all the tan cement work. 

The end is so close! With this section complete, the only "land" that I have left to finish is the walkway up to the playroom, and the center of the garden. Just a little ways left to go, folks...

Taking Stock

It's getting to the point where I'm running quite low on things to do, and simultaneously running low on parts to do it with.

Over the long weekend, I did a complete rework of the guest wing and carport. There's a couple small bits of wall to complete, but it's basically 95% there. I'm now only a couple hours of work away from finishing Wingspread's walls!

Tonight I decided to take a stab at a bit more of the roof. With that I'm finally running low on dark orange parts. I'll likely be placing a few orders for more pieces in the next couple days so that I can finish the rest.