Two cities layout.

[S&S RR]

Roger


Fantastic work! And great build thread.

[Random]

Thanks.

I have just a quick update tonight. 

Because the hotel (which was supposed to be a background building) has gone a bit over the top I needed a way to get into it to access wiring and what ever else I decide to add to it later.  So I needed to devise a way to make the back removable.  Magnets to the rescue.   I attached 5 angle brackets from the hardware drawer: two at each corner at the bottom, one on the left side about half way up, and two to the underside of the roof deck.  Because of the angle of the back wall the right side tucks into the side wall so no midpoint bracket was needed.





I then attached a ceramic disk magnet that had double sided foam tape on one side to each of the metal bracket and pressed the back into position.  The foam tape grabbed just enough to hold the magnet in place while removed the back.  Then I pressed the magnets more firmly into the back wall.  The wall is foam core with some stripwood to reinforce it.





Now i have a back for the hotel that holds nicely but is easily removed.




I also finished the sign to hang above the tavern door.  I found a clipart image of a scroll and inserted the image of a St. George painting into the scroll.  I then added lettering to the top and bottom.  Next I printed two copies of the signboard on photo paper.  I cut these out and attached them back to back to make it double sided.  The metal bracket is made from wire. I made the curved piece using some very small round tipped jewelry pliers.  I used thin superglue applied with a toothpick to assemble the bracket and attach the sign.  Once dry I painted the bracket black.




That's all for now.  There's a water tank for the roof in the works now.

Cheers.

[Random]

The updates are behind and I've been spending too much time repairing locomotives but here we go.

The hotel needs a water tank on the roof.  I used some scribed siding wrapped around a cardboard core cut from a mailing tube.




I made the bottom from more scribe siding.   I used a razor saw to cut the ends of the "boards" all the way though.




The tank will sit on a base made from heavy timbers.  I attached them to some waxed paper with small drops of white glue to set the spacing.




The tank will sit on top of the elevator servicing structure.  I cut the walls from some left over scrap box parts.




For the tank roof I used the method described in the Campbells water tank kit.  Triangles of card are covered with Campbell paper shingles.




The triangles were flipped over and taped together.




Then they were pulled together forming the roof pitch and the last joint taped.




Here is the almost finished roof.  The hatch is a reefer roof hatch from the scrap box. 




The roof will be attached to this flat card cut to match. 




After fitting the flat panel under the roof I realized that I needed to trim the tape back.




Using the tank as a stand I inverted the roof and glued the flat panel in pace.




After the roof dried I turned it upright and reinforced the tape joints with small beads of canopy glue.  Then I covered the joints with strips of folded craft paper and capped it off with a finial casting. 




Cheers

[NKP768]

Very nice Roger

Doug

[Random]

Thanks Doug.

I wasn't able to finish this update before I had to leave on a trip but now that I'm back we can continue.

I scored the flat wall ends of the wall castings to match the brick pattern and then painted the brick, door, and windows.  The roof is card covered in a sheet of black tissue paper.  I didn't bother with much detail here as it will be covered by the tank.




I painted the tops of the support timbers and attached the tank.  I painted the hatch and gave the roof a wash in thinned acrylic paint.  I used grays and browns to give some variation.




For the tank bands I decided to give this coiled jewelry wire a try. 




I sized one band on the tank and then marked a paper cup to make a guide to cut the remaining bands.




Here are all of the bands ready to be installed on the tank.




To play the role of turnbuckles I used these jewelry crimping tubes.




I placed a band around the tank and slipped each end into the crimping tube.  Then using small needle nose pliers I flattened the tube with the wires stacked on top of each other.  I then rotated the flattened tube to lay flat against the tank and worked the bands inward to tighten them.




I continued with each band offsetting the position of the crimping tube.




Here we have all of the bands installed around the tank.




I made a guide to control the spacing of the bands from a bit of strip wood notched with a razor saw.  I used small drops of thin superglue to hold the bands in position on the tank.  I also put a bit of superglue on each crimp tube to keep them from loosening.




I finished painting the timbers, mounted the tank on top of the roof structure, and added a ladder.   The ladder is made from some metal ladder stock from my scrap box.  I bent the top over and cut out a few rungs to make the top portion. I added a standoff cut from a bit of sheet brass to mount it to the edge of the timbers.   This is clearly not a modern safety ladder.




I used some thinned lamp black acrylic paint to darken the metal bands.  I also worked the black wash vertically on the tank boards to give some more weathering.   I added small lengths of I-beam to the ends of the structure to imply a steel structure supporting the timbers.  Here is the finished tank from another angle.




I applied a basic rolled roof to the subroof made from strips of painted pastel paper and then placed the signs and tank in place.




I positioned the structure to align with the location of the elevator lobby implied by the interior on the ground floor.




The the tank looks pretty nice along side the roof signs.




The bands and crimp tubes are a little oversized for HO scale but mounted up on the tall building at the back of the scene they give a nice texture to the tank.  I wouldn't use them for a foreground tank although, in O scale or maybe even S scale they might work pretty well.



Thats all for now.

Cheers.

[Janbouli]

Love it Roger , especially using the crimping tube and memory wire.

[jbvb]

I like how the tank and giant hotel came out.  Good that you have room for things that size.  Did you try blackening solution on the memory wire and crimping tubes?  The latter look like brass, so they should blacken well.

[postalkarl]

Hey Random:

Looks really great.

Karl

[Random]

I was planning to use some blackening solution on the bands which I remembered after I had them installed.  The solution I have calls for a through rinsing with water after darkening the metal which seemed a bad idea on a wooden tank.  So I went with the thinned acrylic paint. 

The results look good enough and the brass gives a glint of metal with a general color of rust.  The tank also needed the extra weathering.  The tank will be about 30" from the isle and above eye level one the hotel is in place so it should do the job nicely.

Thanks all.

[Random]

A few random updates today.

I finished the elevator tower on the gray building.   




That railing looks pretty sketchy but its better than nothing.  I also added some vent pipes to the roof.




Here is a test fit of the hotel building.   It was originally intended to be located more to the right, and it still may be, but it looks good here too.




With the hotel located here you'd be able to see into the lobby and tavern by looking under the rail bridge. 




I filled in the alley between the station and the gray building with some Downtown Deco aged brick. 




On the back side of the green building I used some Magnuson brick sidewalk and made the alley with more Downtown Deco brick.  The gaps need dirt and weeds.





Cheers.

[Random]

Being locked up at home I raided my wood pile and using bits of this and that cobbled together a bit of benchwork for the 2nd city. 





I temporarily capped the benchwork with come cardboard and then some wrapping paper with the grid printed on the back and transferred a plan to it.  Surprisingly it fit.




And using my meager supply of plywood I managed to cut out the uneven bits of the plan.   This will have a double track main and 2 track transfer yard on the upper level and an industrial branch leading down to the lower level via city street trackage.  The plan is inspired by the Third Street Industrial District plan from Model Railroaders' "48 Top Notch Track Plans" book.




I have more space than their plan required so I've enhanced the operating potential of the district.

More to come as I'm not going anywhere else.

Hope all of you are well.

Cheers.

[postalkarl]

Hey Roger:

It's coming along quite nicely and I'm following with much interest.

Karl

[Random]

Thanks Karl.


Its not the most exciting update, but over the last few days I've fitted risers, tested vertical curves for smoothness and coupler operation, and fitted more risers.   This took a lot of risers.  The grade from the upper level to the lower down the back street is in the vicinity of 6%. 







I am waiting on more plywood for the lower decking and I need to transfer the track locations from the plan. 

That's it for now.

Cheers.

[GPdemayo]

Small progress Roger, but interesting.....can't wait to see the layout with all those big buildings. 

[Random]

Benchwork continues on the new section but its rather boring to view so let's shift our focus to the older section.  Something is afoot next to the St. George.





Three new structures are taking shape for the back block.  Starting from the St. George we have a Lunde Studios Magnuson Int'l, a highly modified DPM Goodfellows Hall, and a stack of Bachmann Savings & Loans.





I will probably make a separate thread for the construction of this block.

Cheers