FOS #210 The Red Light District (HO Scale)

[ReadingBob]

Hi Karl, Phil, Eric, Dave, Dave and Greg,

Thanks for the kind comments.  I'm looking forward to the building the final structure and then putting all seven structures together!  I think it'll really look like something when all the different textures and colors are together.  Hopefully it'll be in the next few weeks. 

[donatode]

Bob, you continue to amaze me....just Beautiful work.  Can't wait till the complex is finished and the girls report for work.

[ReadingBob]

I'm going to repost my the pictures and narrative lost in the great server crash of 16.     There's no way the text will be exactly the same.  I just make this stuff up as I go along.      

Mitchell's Topless Bar

The final structure on the block is a single story structure that's next to the hotel.  In fact, there's a small shed that attaches to the hotel that will sit on the roof of this one when all is said and done.

Here are most of the parts that make up the structure.


The walls facing the street are, like many of the other storefronts in this kit, made up by gluing layers of components together.  There's actually quite a few for this structure and some are rather small.  The pilasters are an interesting detail and not too hard to assemble.


After the walls were assembled I painted them Polly Scale Dark Green followed by A&I and then dry-brushing them with a cheap craft store acrylic Ivory White.  Had I read the tip Vilius had posted in his [url+http://modelersforum.com/index.php?topic=2196.0]CCK The Shoppe's on Concord Steet[/url] thread about dry-brushing light green over the dark green I would have tried that instead of the white.  The white tends to stand out a bit much but, with the cheap craft store acrylics, that can easily be correct by scrubbing some of it off with using plain rubbing alcohol and a stiff brush.


I then added the glass and the signs behind the glass.  But it looked much too clean for a joint like this.  After all Mr. Mitchell is much too busy running the business to clean the exterior and he can't exactly ask his workers to go outside and clean them. 


I gave the walls a spray of Dullcoat, let them dry and then applied some weathering powder around the perimeter of the windows to dirty them up a bit.  This worked fairly well.


After bracing the walls I started adding them to the base.  This is just a little bit tricky because there's some odd angles but overall things fit together well.


More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

Still assembling the walls.


The roof went on next.  I applied 3M Transfer Tape to the roof before securing it in place and then added strips of rolled roofing material.  I substituted strips of 300 grit wet/dry sandpaper that I had sprayed a light gray for the paper rolled roofing included in the kit.  I cut the end at an angle first to match the front wall and then laid the strip in place.


After all the roofing material was in place it was too light for my taste so I gave it a coat of weathering powder to darken it up.  More weather will be applied later on, after the structures are glued together.


I did something with the roof top sign that's not required.  The letters are held together with little connectors that line up with the framework that supports them.  These little connector pieces can be painted a dark color to make them blend in with the framework.  I elected to cut them off entirely and glue each letter in place individually.


It took a little more time to do it this way and I still have to go back and touch up some of the spots where I cut the connectors off but I think it was worth the extra effort.


One support post of the sign is longer than the rest.  I drilled a hole in the roof to push that leg through and the glued the sign in place.


More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

I used a little square to keep the roof top sign straight and then added the rear supports followed by the cross members.


And here's what it looks like at the moment.




Now it's time to circle back to the first structure where I'm going to add lights.  As I add lights to each structure I'll join them together from left to right.  I'm currently working on the fourth structure.  I'll post more on that process in the future.   

Thanks for following along!

[postalkarl]

Hi Bob:

Looking good. Love the roof sign.

Karl

[cuse]

Definitely some of your best work to date, Bob. (and that's saying something).


Very nice!


John

[deemery]

Some people rise to the occasion depending on the business in the building they're modeling.


dave

[S&S RR]

Looking good!  It is going to be interesting to see all the pieces go together.  Love the sign.

[jimmillho]

Awesome work Bob,  I will love to see the completed build.

Jim

[ReadingBob]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.  I really appreciate them.   

[ReadingBob]

I've been working on adding lighting and a few 'interior scenes' for some of the rooms that will be lit and visible through the windows.  This on is for the Adult Book store.  The lower level just needs a light since you can't really see through the windows.  The upstairs windows, I'm going to presume are for an apartment and I left the shade up on one side.

I started by cutting a pieced of mounting board to size that would served as a ceiling for the lower level/floor for the upper level.  I installed an LED using copper tape.  Then I applied 3M Transfer Tape to the 'floor' side of the board.


I searched the internet for carpets and wallpaper and printed some out, roughly to scale, on white paper.  I cut out one of the carpets and applied it to the floor.  It's not perfect but it doesn't really need to be.  You may not even be able to see it through the window.  If you can you certainly won't be able to see all of it.   


I mounted the floor to the rear wall, a piece of mounting board cut tall enough to fit inside the building and served as a rear wall for both the first and second floor.  Notice that I ran copper tape up the wall that matches the copper tape that I had put on the floor?  I left a little tape overhang off the edge of the floor so it would mate with the tape on the wall.  I did solder the tape where it joins.


The walls were covered with 3M Transfer Tape and then my wallpaper was applied.  I glued some side walls to the floor/rear wall combination.


I added a ceiling for the second floor apartment, with a light, and a couple that will be in front of the window with the shade up.  Now I have an interior that will slide up inside the building.  A couple of strips of mounting board glued to each side wall of the structure keep this interior pressed against the front of the building but it can be slide down and out if need be.


I'm working on interiors like this for a couple of the other structures.  When I get one completed I join the structure to the row and move onto the next.  I hope to finish the interior for the triple theater building today and move on the hotel.  The hotel may require a slightly more complex interior but I'll use the same method as shown above.   

Thanks for following alone!

[jimmillho]

That is a good looking interior for a small room.

Jim

[ACL1504]

Bob,

The interiors are going to look great especially with some "Tom foolery" going on. No, they didn't
name that after me.

Tom

[donatode]

Nice Bob....very inspiring.  I think I would give that a try sometime.  .... btw, are you going to have a bed for that room?....those poor kids will definitely get tired standing up all the time, they'll need a place to rest.