Shore River has finished loading the car float.

Bruce

   

Good evening everyone.

I've been pretty tied up the last little while so please excuse the absence.  I decided over this time that I needed to take break from all of the freight car kits and focus on some other projects that could use my attention on the layout.  Namely some structure building.  So i turned to my favorite medium.  Cardstock...or repurposed cereal cardboard.

Below is the area in question that I'd like to tackle.  The goal is to build a back alley scene.  Essentially, show the "business end" of the, well, stores, shops, bars, hotels etc.  While in the ultimate end still giving a casual viewer the idea as to what each building is there for.  I suppose that I could have modeled the fronts of the buildings and created a street scene but that seemed boring to me.  So this is the route I've decided to take.  

   

I've been using cardboard mock ups to give me an idea of space in each area.  I'm tackling this row of "buildings".  So lets grab a some cereal board, some printable textures, glue and applicators (toothpicks) and some sharp cutting blades, I use a husky box cutter and #11 Exacto blade for the bulk of my cuts.

   

So, not shown is that some of the textures I simply print off on plain 110lbs. white cardstock paper from Michael's.  However for the walls and bracing I like to glue the textures to some cereal box board using some 3M Super 77 spray on adhesive.  It's fast, tacky as all get and doesn't attack the ink jet printer ink on my textures. Stuff like flashing I'll print off on standard 8x11 printer paper as its easier to make fine folds and looks more to scale as metal flashing and such.  I also use various sizes of bass wood, also purchased at Michael's, for bracing and adding some additional support to keep walls straight, etc.

   

So I made a rough paper template of the area and cut a plywood base to build my models on top of on the work bench.  Essentially, this rather large base would get chopped up into 3 pieces to make things easier to handle and also to help create some elevation in the scene so that the buildings would all sit on the same plane.  I am modeling the Rockies after all.

   

   

So fast forward to the above photo and we start to have something that is beginning to look like a building.  I use Tichy and Grandt Line doors and windows to cheat all little and make my life a tad easier.  My creative process works in such a way that I'll look at photos and study buildings that I'd like to model.  Then I get to work.  I know that buildings have various ceiling heights and I usually pick 10ft...because I like high ceilings, at least on the first floors, then I might step it down to 8ft on the upper floors, depending on what I model.  I also take into account that floor joists could be made from 2x8's, 10's or 12's so I factor that into the height of my walls when laying out a wall.  I then pick windows and doors that I like and cut openings to fit, keeping in mind where these things will be in relation to the interior floor. (There isn't one...not really...but lets pretend there is.)  The second floor is an 8' siding texture that I printed off and then layered using the same texture cut into two board strips and glued to the same texture to create that slanted look.  You cant really see it in the photo, but that's what I did.  The stone work for the foundation is linoleum tile cut into 1/4 inch strips and then chopped into bricks.  Then working upside down glue the bricks one by one to the assembled walls using gap filling CA.  (looking back at that photo, the foundation depicted was built up on the plywood base...which I then scrapped off with a chisel, because it occurred to me that it would be easier to do the stone work the other way around then trying to get the walls to fit the one I built in place).

(whew).  So.  My layout takes place during the late 40's early 50's.  So this particular building used to be a occupied by something else...I don't know what, just something...trust me on this one it's the truth I swear it, now its a tavern and next door against the back drop will be Rita's Diner. Which will be tucked into the back drop and just a glimpse of patrons dining on her famous back bacon, eggs and toast breakfast special can be seen.  The building's architecture is based (or will be) off of Victorian influences with a Mansard style roof making up the third floor...but before that...

   

Lets add those walls for Rita's and show the revised foundation built for the buildings. Ill use trim and stone work to hide all manner of sins on the corners of the building to hide the gaps.  But for now I'm going to break up this into a couple of separate posts for everyone's sanity...but mostly my for my own.

Hello Everyone---to celebrate CN's 25th anniversary as a private sector entity CN is creating a Heritage Fleet which may consist of 25 locomotives painted in all the roads that were incorporated into the CN system---much like Norfolk Southern's heritage fleet.These locomotives are being painted at Centralia IL. and then being shipped to Canada.Today 4 units are on CN 396 which is currently in transit and should be in Battle Creek MI. around 10AM today (10/24).Hopefully there may be some BIGBLUE members in this area to catch a really unique consist---unfortunately it will pass through my hometown during the night.

Nothing new this week, so here's a shot of the West End of Dock Street that has been posted before.

Bruce

   

I'm open to hosting another chat later this week if anyone is interested. I can do an evening chat or a Saturday afternoon one. My preference would be Saturday, but I can do either. Let me know what your preference is and we'll put something together.

Osborn Model Kits' HO country church for a small-town setting.  I built it in July of 2020 and painted it the same color scheme in the link below, so all you need to do is place it on your layout.  Dimensions: 7-1/2" L x 4" W x 5-1/4" H.  The framing and other structural components are the sturdiest I've yet seen in a laser cut model. 

https://www.osbornmodelkits.com/copy-of-blank-27

$40 + exact postage.  PayPal only please.

Brand new. Both boxes opened for inspection only.

1) Walthers Cornerstone Merchant's Row I styrene kit #933-3028. Five stores in one building (you decide: hobby shop, clock shop, bike shop, pizza joint, bazaar, fitness club, rug store and more). Ideal for a small town business district. Appropriate for both the steam and diesel eras. Dimensions: 11" L x 5" W x 4" H.

View it in this link: www.walthers.com/merchant-s-row-i-kit-11-x-5-x-4-quot-27-9-x-12-7-x-10-2cm
$30.00 + exact postage.

2) Woodland Scenics (DPM) First Bank styrene kit #12200. Early 1900s Neoclassical style corner building. Period authentic ornamentation. Etched stone fluting and chiseled roof-line parapet. Rooftop chimney, ductwork and downspout. Clear windows and window treatments. Corner-hung sign with signature Roman numeral clock. Exterior flag pole bracket and Old Glory.

Dimensions: 5-1/8" L x 4-1/8" W x 4-3/4" H.

Edit: The previous link for the bank was broken.  I just found an idential bank - by another name, Citizens Savings and Loan - on the Walthers site. It's already assembled vs. my kit. The only other difference I see is the photo on the box for my kit shows the entire bank as a stone color, whereas the one below is two-tone. That's, of course, unpainted for my kit.

Here's the link for the new bank:

https://www.walthers.com/citizens-s...es...4-x-10-5cm

$18.00 + exact postage.

Payment by PayPal only please.

WPMA-40 over on Packer Road.

Bruce

   

WPMA-40 working the piers.

Bruce

   

Thanks for your feedback earlier re wiring of my N scale layout -- https://bigbluetrains.com/showthread.php?tid=9192

I think I can manage to keep it running simply by soldering when & where necessary. I've now got it out of storage and it's running well. I had been just recently using a 00 (HO) switching layout but am planning to improve and add to this British N scale layout over the fall & winter. 

I'm expecting a long COVID period so will have lots of time to focus on this! Does anyone else have any "COVID" railway projects they're planning to work on over the next few months?

Rob