A few changes at Elfrida...

[doctorwayne]

The next task was to paint the stones and the brick plugs for the blocked-off doors and windows, which was the main reason the building had been given a coat of grey primer. I used somewhat-thinned PollyScale paints, mostly greys and a couple of browns, and applied it to random stones with a brush. The brick plugs got a coat of modified Depot Buff.



As you can see, some of the thinned paint bled into the recessed mortar lines:



...which was of no consequence, as I had already decided to use pre-mixed drywall mud as mortar. I used a rag stretched over my finger tips to dip into the mud, the spread it generously over the wall's surface, working it into the grooves. Here's the initial test application on the stones which will eventually be beneath the loading dock:



...and, after it had dried for 15 or 20 minutes, the excess was rubbed off using a clean rag. This operation is best done outdoors, as it creates a fair bit of dust - not a lot of fun when it's 20° below zero, though.



...and the same area after applying a wash of well-thinned PollyScale (add a drop or two of dish detergent to help break the surface tension of the water). You can seemingly add a fair amount of wash and multiple applications, too, without negatively affecting the drywall mud, as long as you keep the brush handle relatively parallel to the surface. Otherwise, the bristles of the brush will remove the softened mud from the grooves, necessitating a re-application:



After mudding and applying washes to the entire structure, I began work on the loading dock. The first step was to build the support structure. I made a very simple jig on a sheet of 1/4" balsa. With a piece of scrap styrene pinned in place as a straightedge, I used a machinist's square to align a pre-made bent square to the straightedge, then inserted pins as stops and alignment aids for assembling more. While the two outer uprights are held in-square by the jig, the two centre ones are aligned "by-eye".



Here, a bunch of the bents are being tied together with longitudinal joists. I cut the ones on the outer face to prototypical lengths, while the ones which will be hidden from view are continuous lengths. All posts, joists, bracing and decking have been pre-distressed by dragging a razor saw down their lengths before cutting the individual pieces from the strips:



...and the dock framing all in-place:



Here, the deck framing has been painted and then weathered with India ink. I also added dormers to the roof. They're both located over what the kit intended to be doors on each floor of the structure, and served by an overhead hoist mounted on the roof. I blocked-off the second and third storey doors after deciding that a freight elevator seemed like a logical upgrade, with the hoisting machinery located in the dormers:



While the building has no interior other than the partitions between bays and the yet-to-be-added floors (both included mainly for strength), I decided to model it with one pair of loading dock doors open (they supposedly meet in the middle of the opening and slide, like pocket doors, into recesses within the wall when opened). The elevator is based mostly on one in a very old factory building right here in town (now condos) and a much more modern (and very heavy-duty) one that was in the steel mill where I worked. On both of those, the elevator doors are split horizontally - when the bottom one is pushed down (or the top one up) the other door also moves in its own direction at the same time. Mine is more in the style of the local one, with doors made of wooden slats. Here's a photo with the roof off:



...and another with the roof in place - the building won't be lighted, so I set the camera to compensate for the lower light levels. It should be alright, but not exactly a magnet for the viewers' eyes.



Once the structure received some more weathering washes, it was time to install the deck on the loading dock. I used .030"x.125" strip styrene (nominal 3"x12" in HO) and pre-painted the already-distressed strips in several shades of grey and brown, then pre-weathered them with a well-thinned solution of India ink in alcohol. Most strips received several applications, and were allowed to sit for several seconds before being wiped-off with a paper towel:



The strips were then cut to length (one length for the open elevator door area, where the wood extends right to the top edge of the open lower door, a slightly shorter version for the area of the closed door, and a still shorter length for the balance of the dock. These were heaped in three separate piles, with the appropriate lengths chosen at random, in order to keep the mix of colours so that it appears that boards have been replaced, over the years, as necessary:



Next, I applied a decal which my brother had made for me. I decided that this would be a broom and brush factory and, since it's in an old building, that the sign would be painted directly on the stone. It's a multiple-piece decal done in black, with the printed areas left clear. Applied on an airbrushed white background band, it yields white lettering:



After the decal had been set, then touched-up as necessary, I airbrushed the entire structure with Dullcote, then added the "glass" to the pre-painted windows, which were then installed. As each floor of windows was completed, the next floor/ceiling slab was installed. I then added eavestrough (Evergreen .080" channel), downspouts (Evergreen .080" rod), and decorative trim on the eaves and gables. The under-eave corbels are from Grandt Line, as are the cast iron anchor plates (supposedly attached on the ends of metal rods tying the front and rear walls together). The light shades are from Tichy, while the roof shingles (front only - the back isn't easily visible) are sheet material from Plastruct. I also added styrene window shades to some of the windows where there would likely be offices.



The shingles were airbrushed with a mixed-green (Floquil), then weathered with a wash mixed from craft paints - I used green, some white, and a smidge of black to create a grey-green. This was well diluted with water, and, after adding a drop or two of dish detergent, it was brush onto the roof using a 2" brush. After a few seconds, most of it was wiped-off with a paper towel, then left to dry. I then used a soft brush to add stains to the roof and to the wall details using various colours of artists' oil pastels - the pastel sticks are rubbed on coarse sandpaper, creating a fine powder, which is easily picked up using the brush. This adheres well to the flat paint, and no overspray is required.

Here are a couple more views:







...and as seen from the sidestreet on which it's located:




...and another view courtesy of Secord Air Services (the smokestack is a plaster casting bought used and broken from a nearby hobbyshop):




Special thanks goes to my good friend Charlie, both for his generosity and his continuing friendship.

There's still lots more to be done in Elfrida, but I'm taking a break here and going back to finish-off some freight cars and a couple of locomotives. I'll add more here when work resumes.

Wayne