I agree - it turned out great! I like the way you've given the front of the building a different treatment from the back. It's very common in real life, but seldom modelled.

cheers
Val

jglfan Wrote:Now I need to make some stairs and a sidewalk, and think of how to turn that black foamcore into a macadam parking lot!

Some white stripes (I don't remember yellow from that era), some "patches", some filled cracks ( felt tip extra fine drawing pen ), maybe a pile of "butts" where some slob emptied his car's ash tray ( also maybe not an era specific detail ), and enough vehicles, of the right ages, to look like there's jobs there.
Looking good!

Is there a door on the front side of the building? I would think that there would be access from the parking lot into the front of the building. I would expect that that is where the receptionist would be stationed to direct visitors to the right office or call managers down to meet with visitors, vendors, etc.

Thanks tetters, Val. Russ, yes there are front doors, I guess the lack of a landing and steps makes them appear as windows. This morning I built up the steps and landing, they still need some work. This is on the workbench as until I have them cemented together, the landing has nothing to sit on in place on the layout. The texture material fills in the corners of the steps too much, so I've had to spray lightly from above, and the step risers are mostly just primer grey in this shot. I'm thinking of stripping the steps and painting them concrete. Any thoughts?

[attachment=2805]

Hi Pete, thanks for those thoughts. I have packages somewhere of white striping, both solid and dashed, I thought to use on the lot. They are self adhesive but experience shows they don't adhere well over chalks, which I intend to use to grey up that black foamcore. I have a set of artist chalks with 12 shades between white and black, which I intend to use. I will have to put the lines in place first, then weather around and over them. In a couple places I hope to use a knife to remove just a bit of the paper top, exposing the foam beneath, a bit gravelly looking I hope. I can help that along with suitable ballast perhaps. And the markers as you mentioned. I think it should come out ok. Scale cigarette butts...

I think concrete for the steps would be fine. I think that in the real world a business might spend the money for a stone facade and then use concrete steps because the concrete is much less expensive than the stone. This would be especially true if the stone being used was softer than concrete or prone to a lot of wear and tear from foot traffic. The popularity of hard surfaces for kitchen counter tops causes people to think of stone as hard, but most of the stone used for counter tops is really soft if subjected to a lot of foot traffic.

I would go with concrete.
If anything, when using a rare stone, in real life, the steps and landing would be polished, and more appealing to prospective customers.

I agree with Ed and Russ on concrete for the steps, but part of that has to do with my feelings on the stone texture.

While I think that the stone texture looks very convincing and the method for attaining it is pretty straightforward, I don't think that it's the "right" stone for this structure. In the current application, it appears to me to be too modern for the age of the building - this is not necessarily solely because of the texture, either, but coupled with the non-staggered mortar joints, it reminds me more of some '70s and '80s renovation projects that used textured faux-stone panels to update older structures.

I think that the texture method, as used, would work for more modern structures, as outlined, or on older buildings or construction that used rough-cut stone. Here's a bridge abutment that the texture paint might well replicate, especially with a little weathering:
[album]1368[/album]

...or this pier (note the "seam" lines at the corners, as if it were built from poorly mated plastic sections) :
[album]1369[/album]

For the headquarters building, though, I think that a stone such as this limestone on Hamilton's former TH&B station would be more appropriate:
[album]1371[/album]

As for replicating it, though, not something that I've been able to do effectively :oops: :
[album]669[/album]

Wayne

Go with the concrete. The build looks great , you should put it in the scratch build contest.

Thank you Russ, Ed and Steve for the info on the use of concrete steps. I have stripped and repainted the steps, photo below. Steve, I'll have to check out the scatchbuild contest, haven't looked at it yet.

Wayne, you raise some valid points, I certainly can not point to any prototype structure that was built using non staggered mortar joints. I think of it as a faux facing material rather than a structural element, though you are probably corrrect such a thing was only done as recently as the 70's. One of my faults is to look for the easy wasy out, not knowing and only asking here if something I have in mind is feasable. And if I get an incorrect answer, or proceed before getting a correct answer, I am likely to err in regard to prototype correctness for my time frame. I can live with this, I feel I need to balance striving for correctness with making progress towards completing the railroad. As most of you know, I have a large area to work on. Would it be better to have designed a smaller road and strive for total accuracy? For some I am certain this is true. I may have designed a large railroad precisely for the excuse not to deal with perfection! One thing I am sure of, it is far easier to model a prototype which you have photos of. When designing a freelanced structure while having no real architectural knowledge, and seemingly no capacity to remember what you've seen out there in the real world (!) one is liable to make many errors. The photo you posted of the station in Hamilton is an example of a structure I would not want to model, if only because of the splotchy apperance of the stone colors. I like your model much better! Back in the early stages of thought about how I could use the non staggered material I had on hand, I wondered how I would paint it to look like granite. Of course, I've seen granite (or stone I mistook for granite) in many colors or shades. The color I had in mind was one a couple shades lighter than the color typically seen on tombstones. I think what I wound up with is pretty much the same as most tombstones, such as the ones I'm thinking of, that is. And of course, it came straight from a can, making the job way easy! All in all, it was an experiment with a new technique.
Thanks though for the dissenting opinion, it is after all helpful for my future attempts (if I can remember it!)

[attachment=2806]

I like that building and I think the steps are perfect for it. It may not be "correct" for steam era modeling, but I would bet most visitors won't notice that the building appears to be more modern than the era represented. Fill that parking lot with cars from the 1920's or 1930's and viewers will assume the correct era for the building.

Russ Bellinis Wrote:I like that building and I think the steps are perfect for it. It may not be "correct" for steam era modeling, but I would bet most visitors won't notice that the building appears to be more modern than the era represented. Fill that parking lot with cars from the 1920's or 1930's and viewers will assume the correct era for the building.

And for those who assume "wrongly", the answer is simply, " The architect was ahead of his time". It wouldn't be the first time something was built that appeared to "be from the future".

Thank you Russ, and thanks for the input you've provided. Pete, are you aware that "Ahead of our time" is the slogan of the JGL? I had decals made for use on those pieces of equipment from the late 50's early 60's that I just couldn't resist. I had in mind Alco diesels, cause I love them, but the first (and so far only!) piece of equipment to receive them is this:

[attachment=2811]

jglfan Wrote:Pete, are you aware that "Ahead of our time" is the slogan of the JGL?

Actually, Gary, no I wasn't................ You hadn't put it on this:[attachment=2819]

Because it wasn't ahead of its time! But its lack of weathering is very apparent in that photo! Yikes!

I got the parking lot lined, and have yet more questions. Where the solid line meets the concrete wall, I want to put a sign post with a chevron, stop sign and perhaps an "authorized personnel only" sign. I'm pretty sure I've read that the red and white stop sign we all know so well came into use around the time I'm modeling, but what about the chevron? Were they black and white or yellow and black? I'll be scrubbing the lot with greys to weather it, and am thinking it would be nice to add names and the word "visitor" to the parking places modelled (the other parking places are off layout) but will need to use decals, not dry transfers, as I can not rub too vigorously on the fomecore, it is not well supported! Do you think I can use glosscote on the foamcore, decal and then dullcote? I'll be adding a guard rail along the edge of the macadam and the grass.

[attachment=2825]

I'd put the "VISITOR" and names for the parking spaces on signboards, then glue them to the wall or to posts, as appropriate. Much more visible in the winter, too.

Here's some INFO on stop signs.

Unless the road is a public one, the chevrons can be in whatever colour you choose.

Wayne