Freelance 2013

[modelsof1900]

Reinhard,
wonderful changes and great details! Congratulation!

[faraway]

Thanks for the kind words.

A simple wall makes sometimes a big difference.

another view of the wall next day

[faraway]

The Atlas Middlesex Mfg Comp kit arrived today.
I intend to place it next to the other long old building

replacing this flat structure.

[sailormatlac]

Very nice Reinhard, the brick wall really put things together and backdate everything. A very nostalgic sight.

Middlesex Mfg is probably the best generic brick warehouse out there, better than DPM in term of scale and style.

Matt

[jwb]

Here are some photos of the prototype for the Atlas factory: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.jamesburg.net/snuffedout01.html">http://www.jamesburg.net/snuffedout01.html</a><!-- m --> I hate to suggest another can of worms here, Reinhard, but notice that the line that served the plant had catenary posts, earlier with and later without catenary, common on ex-PRR Conrail freight-only lines in New Jersey and elsewhere, as Conrail gradually eliminated electric freight operation before 1981. (I think this line was de-electrified under PC; certainly coal trains to South Amboy via the secondary from Jamesburg ended in the early 1970s.)

So you could add removable ex-catenary supports to your scene and take them out again when you decided it was Modesto!

[faraway]

Here are some photos of the prototype for the Atlas factory: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.jamesburg.net/snuffedout01.html">http://www.jamesburg.net/snuffedout01.html</a><!-- m --> I hate to suggest another can of worms here, Reinhard, but notice that the line that served the plant had catenary posts, earlier with and later without catenary, common on ex-PRR Conrail freight-only lines in New Jersey and elsewhere, as Conrail gradually eliminated electric freight operation before 1981. (I think this line was de-electrified under PC; certainly coal trains to South Amboy via the secondary from Jamesburg ended in the early 1970s.)

So you could add removable ex-catenary supports to your scene and take them out again when you decided it was Modesto!

That link is great! The marketing photos of kits are usually very attractive but Atlas publishes some awful "all red" photos. I am glad to see how the real thing looked.
I have no intention to go into PRR country and add catenary or some residual of it.
But I am facing another challenge. You may remember my home painted Bachmann based SP Geeps. The real thing from Athearn has been shipped last week and two of them arrived at Frankfurt airport customs today. I am determined to run them ones they make the last 200 miles (may take up to three weeks). I need a convincing story where my "brick dominated" layout my be located in the 1980s somewhere in SP land but I want to keep the opportunity to call it MILW-bandit and Conrail land too. I am afraid 2013 will stretch "freelance" even more than 2012 did :o

[jwb]

Oakland has, or has had, a lot of old-style industrial buildings. You might try poking around starting with <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=oakland+fruitvale+map&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x808f86f44021e1f1:0x99ad2681b744ed7c,Fruitvale,+Oakland,+CA&gl=us&ei=JlDfUP-ZNoX5igKZuYDABQ&ved=0CDMQ8gEwAA">https://maps.google.com/maps?q=oakland+ ... CDMQ8gEwAA</a><!-- m -->

But for that matter, the warehouse district east of downtown Los Angeles also had (and to some extent still has) its share of brick style buildings. Robert Smaus published a lot about his models of this area in MR before he moved to Washington State, but has been rebuilding that layout recently, too. The SP still had some service to this area in the 1980s. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bobsgardenpath.com/trains_cityview.html">http://www.bobsgardenpath.com/trains_cityview.html</a><!-- m -->

EDIT: but come to think of it, there were plenty of places in Texas, as well as New Orleans, that also had that style of building.

[faraway]

The raw structure waiting for the glue to finally set and getting a layer of base coat and mortal wash.


Some hours later with plastic primer, paint, wash, windows and window glasses.
I had an unpleasant surprise when I grabbed the structure. Two parts felt off and a long glued seam became loose. My usual plastic glue (Faller super expert) acts strange with the red Atlas plastic. It does not really melt and glue but makes a poor glue job only. It looks like honey where is should have made the connection. The standard Faller expert works better but needs longer to set. Strange things happen :o
Next step will be the details.

[faraway]

Just a plain brick industry building. The camera makes it more red than it is with natural light.

[jwb]

You can find some inspiration for brick detail and weathering at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.peterfeigenbaum.com/gallery/index.php?album=model-rr">http://www.peterfeigenbaum.com/gallery/ ... m=model-rr</a><!-- m --> The feel in older brick areas is different from shoebox places like Vernon or Modesto!

[jwb]

One big detail item that could go on the large brick buildings would be rooftop water tanks, for instance <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/292-116015">http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/292-116015</a><!-- m --> Walthers has done some of these, but they seem to be out of stock. This is a Walthers tank on one of my buildings:
   
Also rooftop stairwell entries:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/292-116016">http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/292-116016</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/171-2007">http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/171-2007</a><!-- m -->

[faraway]

Populating the roof is easy. I had the parts at hand. The walls got another black wash but more important I did change the light to make the photos look more like the real thing.
The scenes of Peter Feigenbaum are outstanding. They remind me very much what I saw in NYC about 30 years ago. The buildings in those residential areas are very special to say the least. Todays brick built industrial buildings that are still in use are in general in much better shape. The surface of the bricks is extreme robust. It is often burned twice and is hard as glass. Something that has very little weathering even after 100 years. And it is important to note there has been no vandalism and there has been no fire like the buildings in the residential areas suffer from.

[sailormatlac]

Great work Reinhard, it reminds me the good old Dominion Textile at Montmorency Falls. I particularly like the great windows. Speaking of Dominion Textile, they had large roof-mounted advertising on a steel girder frame. It was common to see cigarettes and tobacco advertising in such places back then.

Matt

[Harry]

great work Reinhard

I wish you Happy New Year 2013 !!!!!

[IndyCity]

Happy new year, Reinhard,

Well done.