Interesting story, Ed. So did you go back later and finish your research?

biL, only one time I've asked management to let me view their buidling, they told me no. This was at a plastic molding company, I couldn't see the pneumatic unloading system for the covered hoppers from the street. Of course, it doesn't hurt to ask, worse that can happen is they say no, which is the same as if you didn't ask in the first place.

Made a little bit of progress last night and today. First, cut the windows into the brick sheet and put some strip styrene in.

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Cut in the doors and installed the louvers and then got the walls ready for installation onto the plywood core. Also glued a styrene roof onto the plywood. The windows are .040 clear plastic, painted black on the back.

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Used 3M 77 spray on glue, love that stuff! Sticks like crazy and dries fast, it is like a spray on contact cement. No waiting time for it to dry at all. It does necessitate masking off the area where you don't want the glue to go though, since it is a spray.

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Added some of the details like the canopy. Am currently working on all the pipes. The green line is squadron putty to replicate a long line on the building that doesn't have brick showing. don't know if it is part of the second story concrete slab, but it is painted whitte like the rest of the building, just no mortar joints.

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Slapped on two coats of thinned white paint, and painted the red lines. Funny how our brains work... the model also semed to tall for its width, but with the long red lines, it now looks perfect size to me. Still a lot of details to do, the lights on top, a very thing dark wash to go on, all the pipes on the other side of the building, the gas meter and piping, finish the roof, AC unit and vent up there. Also need to do the oubuilding and AC compressor unit on the ground.

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And the real thing for comparison. This buidling went together pretty darned quickly.

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The comparison between model and prototype is pretty darn good! Looks just like it to me! Fantastic!
Ralph

Funny how our brains work, indeed! I'd have never thought of using plywood screwed together as a structure base, but heck, it seems to work just fine! Nice representation, sounds like it's gonna get more realistic as time goes on.

Galen

Ralph, thanks for the compliment and for following along with the thread.

Galen, the plywood core makes for a super strong structure. Do have to take a bit of time cutting the pieces to precise dimensions, a table saw helped alot. Then it is just a matter of fabricating the plastic sides and glueing them to the core.

Here's a photo of some of the pipe work done.

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the real thing

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Gary S Wrote:... the plywood core makes for a super strong structure....

I fully agree but I still do not understand the need... May be it is for the archaeologists in 2000 years to find at lest one model railroad layout and will be see a building with a welded steel kernel too? Sorry, could not resist.....

Seriously, it is a very close replica of the prototype!

Besides the "super strong" structure, I don't have to worry about internal bracing, don't have to worry about any warping, it relieves me from worrying about any "structural elements". This allows me to concentrate on the details of the building while I am sitting at the workbench. . Really, this isn't any different than some of the cardstock core buildings I have seen folks build here on Big Blue, except that the cardstock is replaced with plywood. I have lots of scrap plywood laying around, but no cardstock.

I haven't built a building with a cardstock core, but I percieve it to be a pain, lots of cutting and slicing with a hobby knife, then glueing, waiting for the glue to dry, all that. With the plywood, just some carpenter's glue and drywall screws. Since I have convenient access to a tablesaw and such, it just makes sense to me to do them this way. With the plywood, if the cuts are square on all planes, it naturally goes together at 90 degree angles. Can't say that with other construction methods.

And, I've had a propensity for overkill my entire life.

That is a perfect match … very well done, Gary. I like the way building it with a plywood chore. If I had a table saw, I would do it the same. I, too, have a tendency for overkill … .

I see, that is the difference if you are seeking for perfection. It is a pleasure to watch you both, and some more in that league on big blue!

Thanks Reinhard and Kurt.

Debating whether to do a black wash or not. Also, had originally planned to leave the drive-up window off of the model, as I'm not sure if there would be enough room on the layout for the LPB cars to turn around - because i am shrinking the parking lot on that side of the building. But since i've gone this far, I may as well put it on.

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Wow Gary - very well done! The details (pipes, cameras, etc) are enhancing the rather simple structure very much. The proportions are looking quite right to me.

But a word on your plywood core. I dont know about the climate in Houston and especially in your hobby room, but I hope you dont have serious changes in temperature or humidity - so the wood won't change its volume too much.

Gary S Wrote:Thanks Reinhard and Kurt.

Debating whether to do a black wash or not. Also, had originally planned to leave the drive-up window off of the model, as I'm not sure if there would be enough room on the layout for the LPB cars to turn around - because i am shrinking the parking lot on that side of the building. But since i've gone this far, I may as well put it on....

I would be very carefully with a "black" wash. The prototype looks like white painted bricks and therefor no mortal wash. The "black" wash should be very lite just to imitate some dust sitting on the painted bricks. May be you should make a test on a white painted scratch wall with a lite medium gray wash.

The drive-up window is a must! That window promotes the building from any burger lookalike to a real bank

Gary,

A small suggestion for a wash... If you want to do one, don't use black. Use a light grey, or off-white, or maybe a dust colour. Black wash on the white paint, no matter how thin, will still have too much contrast.

My $0.02 contribution to this fantastic build...!


Andrew

I agree, I think I would leave it alone. Let the natural dust accumulate over a period of time and let it weather itself, much like the prototype. Nice job, Gary....If BB ever has a "speed building" contest, you would win hands down...

Once again ...

SP1 Wrote:Wow Gary - very well done! The details (pipes, cameras, etc) are enhancing the rather simple structure very much. The proportions are looking quite right to me.

Thank you. In a little while, I'll set it in place on the layout to see how it "feels".

SP1 Wrote:But a word on your plywood core. I dont know about the climate in Houston and especially in your hobby room, but I hope you dont have serious changes in temperature or humidity - so the wood won't change its volume too much.

Well, the climate in Houston has some drastic humidity changes through the year, and temps range from 30 F in the winter to 100 F in the summer, but the layout is in a climate controlled room. On the old layout, which was in a non-climate controlled garage, a couple of the GERN structures where built similar to this with no problems. The plywood I used was an old piece of 3/4" "furniture" grade plywood, and that stuff gets used in all sorts of home furnishings like laminated cabinets and such.

The plywood core is "laminated" with plastic on the top and three sides. Only the bottom and back are exposed. I could put a sealer on those surfaces, but I don't expect any issues.