FOS #210 The Red Light District (HO Scale)

[jimmillho]

Looks good Bob, and, yes, I was peeking

Jim

[donatode]

Peeping Good!!  Do you know where one can get some of those "make you small" mushrooms?

[tom.boyd.125]

Bob,
Waited until 1am to take a peek at your build. Reviewed the entire thread and it is very good.  All the information on your construction, assembly, painting and staining is including in it along with some very nice photos you took on your build.  Like the craft paint colors that you show too.....  The FOS kit reminds of some parts of downtown Chicago back in the day before the area was cleaned up by the city....Will keep on peeking ! 
Tommy

[ReadingBob]

Thanks to all for the nice replies and apologies for not responding to them sooner.  The last few months, ever since the EXPO, have been hectic.  I'm on vacation now in PA but I did upload some photo's before I left so I could post an update while I'm away from my workbench.  Next up, is....

The Belmore Hotel

The hotel is a cozy little joint nestled between the Peep Show and Mitchell's Topless Bar.     I wanted it to fit in with the general theme of the entire block which is run down, dirty and with a bit of a sleazy air to it.   

I located all the clapboard walls and started bracing them per the instructions.  In a few instances I had to figure out where the bracing should stop short of the top of the wall.  The instructions indicate (in all but one instance) that the bracing should stop short but not how short.  I figured out how the walls would be placed together and used the rear wall to gauge the where the top of the bracing would go on the front and side walls.


I weigh down the braced walls with some marble blocks liberated from some old bowling trophies.   


After the glue set I trimmed off the excess bracing, where necessary, with a single edge razor blade.


Everything has had bracing applied.  I'd learn later, during assembly, that the one wall in the middle on the right hand side (the one with four window openings) should not have bracing that runs all the way to the top.  There's a recessed roof that the bracing will interfere with.  After the wall were joined together it was a bit tricky to shorten those braces a little bit but I managed to do it.


I painted the walls with PollyScale Reefer White followed by drysponging some Light Gray and Khaki on to represent peeling paint.


After applying nail holes and loosening up a few of the clapboards I applied an light A&I wash.  My normal A&I is a bit dark over white so I loaded my brush with straight A first and then dipped in the A&I which served to thin it out quite a bit.


More in a moment...

[ReadingBob]

I do plan on lighting up (and providing some interior details) a few of the rooms of the hotel so I painted the inside of the walls black using a cheap craft store acrylic paint.   Now, one thing I'll mention, when I was painting/staining the upper portion of the walls where the bracing didn't reach all the way to the top I was careful not to paint those sections with a brush that was fully loaded.  I'd start below them and work my way up so the upper portion of the wall never got too wet.  It seems to have helped.  I didn't have any problems with warping.   


I'll be the first to admit I'm far from perfect and screw things up now and then.  But I can usually cover up my mistakes.     When I painted the back of one of the walls black some of it got on the outer surface.  D'oh!     I flicked/scraped off the offending paint as best I could with the tip of my X-Acto knife. 


Then I gave the area another wash of thinned A&I.  Nobody will ever know.  Well, except for you.  Don't tell anyone.   


Next I added the corner posts to the rear wall.  They have to extend above the top of the rear wall because the side walls are taller.  I used the side walls as a guide to trim them to the correct length.


I cut out the large sign that goes on the side wall and test fit it against the wall to get a feel for where it would go.


Then I lightly sanded the back of the sign to make it thinner.  I worked from the center out very carefully sanding the sign.


More in a moment....

[ReadingBob]

I rubbed the sign, from the top down, with a small piece of steel wool.  This removes some of the black ink and lightened up the sign a bit.  I also brushed it with a thinned A&I to tone down the white lettering a little bit.


Instead of using 3M Transfer Tape to attach the sign to the wall, as the instructions suggest, I opted to used thinned white glue.  I smeared the back of the sign with good old Elmer's White Glue thinned with water.


I then quickly positioned the sign on the wall.


While the glue was still wet I used a finger nail and carefully burnished the sign into the clapboard walls.  It's better to cover the sign with a piece of plastic to do this, which helps prevent tears, but I successfully did it without the plastic.


I then weathered the sign with more drysponging and drybrushing.  Then I finished the assembly of the building as well as the attached sheds that will sit on the roof of Mitchell's when I build that and join it to the hotel.  Note, I though I was short one window so I pulled one out of a pack of assorted windows I bought from Tichy but it turns out I was wrong.  The window opening on the bottom right of the side wall doesn't require a window.  That's where the shed will seat up against the side wall.  Oh well.


Here's the partially finished structure, sans the roof top signs and details that will be added after all seven buildings have been completed and joined together.


A couple more photo's in a moment...

[ACL1504]

Beautiful work my friend, beautiful work. Can't wait to see them all together. Wonderful stuff.

Tom

[ReadingBob]

I'm waiting until the end to finish and add the doors to the structures.  There are several on the sheets that I haven't cut out yet.  They all appear to be the same, or very similar.  The instructions are bit vague on the doors rear walls but I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out shortly.   

I over did the weathering on the sign on the side wall a bit but I think it'll look okay when everything is put together.  There's so much for the eye to take in on this kit that it might blend in okay.

Next up, when I get home, will be working on Mitchell's Topless Bar.

Thanks for following along!

[ReadingBob]

Beautiful work my friend, beautiful work. Can't wait to see them all together. Wonderful stuff.

Tom

Thanks Tom!  I'm getting closer to the end.  It's taking me a while but I look at it as seven individual builds so that helps me feel like I'm making some progress.  The next build after this will definitely be something small and quick.    

[postalkarl]

Hi Bob:

Looks like good progress.

Karl

[KCS Trains]

Bob, great tutorial.  I really prefer these.  Phil

[EricQuebec]

Nice weathering Bob....
Eric Quebec city

[deemery]

I'm glad to see you got something out of your bowling career.


dave

[Dave K.]

First-rate (in a sleazy sort of way)! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[GPdemayo]

And here I thought you were up in PA buying up all the winery in stock and I see that you are continuing your build.....looking good as always.