NW 58th St., Miami
#46
cnw1961 Wrote:After Tetters gave me the hint, I was able to finish Sentry industries, well almost. I still have to add some details to the roof, but that has to wait until it is painted and painting the structure has to wait until I can spray it with a primer and that has to wait until it is warm enough outside to use a spray can .... life ain’t easy Nope Goldth . So here are the last pics of Sentry for now, I don’t want to bore you to death.

I think the risk of anyone being bored to death watching your modelling is pretty slim ... Goldth

Looking at the back wall, is leftmost end of the back wall still one long piece, or did you divide the rear wall into four sections - with the leftmost rear wall section ending just to the right of those four windows ? I can't quite make up its mind - is each section straight, or is there a little curve to each section ?

Btw1 - your structures unpainted looks better than many painted and weathered structures - partly because white does not seem like an implausible color for this style buildings in a warm climate.

Btw2 - I had to make a run to a local hobby shop on my way home today to pick up some more dark green paint. I took the opertunity to see if they stocked any .80" styrene sheets.

That's your "fault" - looking at how well door and window frames looks with .80 styrene, I would like to get hold of a little to experiment with - I haven't used anything thicker than .60" before. Didn't find any at the store I checked. Oh, well - it goes on the "to get" list for later.

Anyways - here's looking forward to seeing more of the NW 58th street layout.

Smile,
Stein
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#47
You are extremely talented!! That is some beautiful work.

Matt
Don't follow me, I'm lost too.
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#48
Miles, Gus, Tetters, Scott, Matt, thank you guys, you are way too kind ... but to do these structures is really not too difficult, it only takes some practice

Josh, I am really looking forward to you starting your modules. I hope we don’t have to wait too long ...

steinjr Wrote:Looking at the back wall, is leftmost end of the back wall still one long piece, or did you divide the rear wall into four sections - with the leftmost rear wall section ending just to the right of those four windows ? I can't quite make up its mind - is each section straight, or is there a little curve to each section ?

Stein, I wanted to build the rear wall in one piece, but the wall is 24" and my styrene sheet is only 20". So I divided it in the middle between the long and the first of the short sections. I concealed the joint with a "wire" running down from the roof. The three short sections are one piece. I cut a grove into the backside of the styrene sheet, so that I could bend it between the sections. All wall sections are straight, just as the prototype.

[Image: m49.jpg]

Quote:Btw2 - I had to make a run to a local hobby shop on my way home today to pick up some more dark green paint. I took the opertunity to see if they stocked any .80" styrene sheets.

That's your "fault" - looking at how well door and window frames looks with .80 styrene, I would like to get hold of a little to experiment with - I haven't used anything thicker than .60" before. Didn't find any at the store I checked. Oh, well - it goes on the "to get" list for later.

Sorry for causing distress ......... mmmmh, no, not really Goldth Icon_lol
Kurt
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#49
I did not intend to build the next structure right away after finishing Sentry, but by looking around with Google street view in the neighbourhood of Sentry I found this nicely run down strcuture: http://www.cnw.mattheydesign.de/m50.jpg. It is quite simple, but it has a lot of details and I love the "paint scheme" – I just have to build it Misngth . I will put this little "gem" at the end of the extension near Sentry, leaving some space between the two structures, so that the view to the tracks behind Sentry wil not be blocked completely.

Anyone mind me doing a step-by-step? No? OK, here we go. First I need a cutting template for the front wall. I take a screenshot of the Google street view and put it into CorelDraw. Here I scale it down until the door in the pic is exactly the height of a HO scale door. Now with the building in the picture showing the right dimensions, I can directly draw the lines for the wall and the openings of the door and the windows. That’s the easiest way to get a cutting template. It might be slightly inaccurate because of the angle the picture was taken from, but in this case it does not really matter. So here is the cutting template.

[Image: m51.jpg]

Using (non permanent) adhesive spray, I glue a printout of my drawing to a sheet of .060 "styrene. Then I start cutting the openings of the windows and doors. I rather cut them a bit too small, which will allow me to fix small inaccuracies later.

[Image: m52.jpg]

After the openings are done, I cut the wall from the sheet.

[Image: m53.jpg]

Usually not all sides of the openings come out perfectly straight after cutting them out. Using a scalpel, I fix that now. With a scalpel you can cut off very thin slices, so that even very small inaccuracies can be fixed. I prefer doing that with a scalpel instead of a file, because using a file will make it difficult to keep the sides of the opening perfectly straight.

[Image: m54.jpg]

After sanding the front side of the wall, it is ready for the real fun to begin – adding details.
Kurt
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#50
I really like the idea of gluing the template to the sheet styrene.

One quick question though. Do you reverse the print out and glue it to the inside or backside of the styrene or do you find leaving the paper template on the exterior makes for better paint finishes?
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#51
When using plain styrene, I glue the template to the front. When cutting .060" or even .080" styrene, the openings will never be as accurate at the back of the sheet as at the front, because you’ll never manage to hold the knife at a perfect right angle. After cutting, you’ll have to sand the pieces anyway, so that all traces of the glue will be removed. When using styrene or basswood clapboard sidings or styrene brick sheets, you have to reverse the print out and glue it to the backside.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, spray the adhesive onto the paper and not the styrene!
Kurt
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#52
Here is the wall with the first set of details applied.

[Image: m56.jpg]

When I cut thin strips from a sheet of styrene, I usally do it with a scalpel applying only little pressure, so that it may take 2 or even 3 passes to cut the strip. Cutting with putting only little pressure on the blade gives me better control and allows to cut very thin strips like the .012 x .012" I used for the wires on the wall. And it helps to use a thin ruler like the triangle I use for cutting.

[Image: m55.jpg]

To appy very small details like the handles on the electrical boxes, I dip the end of a thin strip into glue, put it into place, wait a few seconds for the glue to stick and the cut the strip off. Works much better than cutting those small parts first and trying to apply them using a pair of tweezers.
Kurt
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#53
Kurt...excellent step by step! Thumbsup Thumbsup Thumbsup Thumbsup Thumbsup
It is especially nice to see how you do all the little details and see it coming together!

Great work!
Steve
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#54
Steve, without having seen the pictures of this structure, I would have never put so many details on such a small wall. Would have felt like totally overdoing it.

The front wall is almost done. Only the door and the stairs will be added later. Of all the details, only the damaged louvers were a bit tricky to do. To make those tiny slats, I made parallel cuts into the middle of a piece of .013" styrene and only after gluing it to the frame (made of .040 x .040 strips) of the louver, I cut off the sides to make individual slats. Much easier than gluing the slats one by one to the frame.

[Image: m57.jpg]

The windows are made of .013" styrene.

[Image: m58.jpg]
Kurt
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#55
Kurt...
I said it yesterday....Great Work! I like to see those close-up shots. That should serve as inspiration to all of us timid souls to make our own details. The hardest part of scratch-building anything (including detail parts) is just getting STARTED! :oops:
Of course, having a great eye for color, shape, texture, etc.....never hurts! Goldth
Keep posting, my friend!!!!
Steve
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#56
Having been born and raised in southeast Florida I was amazed at how well Lance had captured the place. The drainage canal, vegetation, dirt and everything was spot on! I am looking forward to following this thread as it looks like you are off to a great start ! Thumbsup
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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#57
Steve Wrote:The hardest part of scratch-building anything (including detail parts) is just getting STARTED! :oops:

Steve, that’s the only thing that’s really difficult about scratch building, the rest is pretty easy.

Tyson, thank you. I want to stick closer to the East Rail district with my layout than Lance, so no drainage canal for me, but I hope to really capture the look of this part of Miami. If you think I am getting it wrong, please tell me.

Concrete stairs are easy to model. I use .080" styrene and cut each piece 1/8" longer than the next smaller one. The glue has to be perfectly dry before I can sand the sides, so I am putting the stairs together now.

[Image: m59.jpg]

Though I prefer .080" styrene (especially for walls with rolling doors), I use .060 styrene for the walls of this structure, because I still have some sheets in stock and I want to save up my .080" sheets for more important buildings.

This structure will be placed at the end of the extension close to the wall and you can’t look at it from the right , so I can use a plain sheet of styrene on this side. The other walls will have rolling doors and a few details.

The rolling doors are made of corrugated styrene, the backside facing to the front. To make the doors look more like the real thing, I glue .020 strips to the inside of the wall before I attach the door itself.

[Image: m60.jpg] [Image: m61.jpg]

Now I only have to add some strips to the inside of the walls to support the roof and then I can put the walls together.

[Image: m62.jpg]

I use a thick 1/8" piece of cardboard for the roof. It is starting to look like a house now. Next step will be to sand the joints where the walls meet, but I have to wait until the plastic cement has completely dried.

[Image: m63.jpg]
Kurt
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#58
This is looking great. I am following it closely as I need a bottling plant and this project looks perfect.
Thanks 2285_
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#59
Kurt that is looking beautiful my friend, keep it up and keep the pics coming Thumbsup Thumbsup i love all the details on the side of that structure (not sure if its the back or side.... lol). Thanks for the step-by-step in building these amazingly detailed buildings, you have no idea how much this is going to help me when i start building all those buildings for my M&ET modules Misngth Thumbsup
Josh Mader

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#60
Kurt, you've pretty-well convinced me that my next 4'x8' sheet of styrene should be .080" rather than my usual .060", as the added thickness looks much better for simulating concrete walls. However, I'm surprised that you don't still require interior bracing, especially for the longer walls or the broader expanses of roof. For smaller structures, I use square strips, either .100" or .125", although these also act as an aid in assembly, and for large buildings, 1/2" wide-or-so strips cut from the .060" sheet - these are cemented at right angles to the back of the wall, either horizontally or vertically, as required, and to the underside of the roof, to prevent sagging.
As everyone else has mentioned, your're doing some beautiful work on a model of an ugly building, and the results are very realistic. Thumbsup

Wayne
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