Two cities layout.

[madharry]

Nice work on the sidewalks and road.

Mike

[Random]

Thanks.

I realized Monday that I had not set foot in my shop since I finished the Diner.  I'd been spending all my time job hunting or digging dallisgrass out of my lawn.  It was time to fix that.

While the Diner build was ongoing I had been waiting for a set of heavier girder parts to arrive.  I got them assembled, sized, cut and added bottom plates, nut & bolt castings, and top plates where needed to level the platform. 




I bit of paint later and the supports are ready.




I test fit everything in place and realized three things.  I needed to back the platform off from the rails a bit for clearance, some of the support girders did not line up with the beams in the platform frame, and I was going to have to fill in that area to the right between the sidewalk and the stone wall.




I filled in the area between the sidewalk and wall with some aged brick from Downtown Deco.  This comes in a fairly large rectangle casting.  I cut off a strip to fit.  Unpainted the casting did not look impressive. I was concerned that I would not like the results but once painted details popped out that where simply not visible on the raw white casting.  I painted this with a mix of reds, oranges, and browns from my pallet and then after only a few minutes drying time washed over it with a very thin bit of lamp black.  I then dabbed the excess off the surface with a paper towel.  I am pleased with how it turned out.




I added a spacer beam on the face of the platform frame to move it back from the rails and fill that void.  I also added some short beams where needed to bring them over the support girders. 




I also decided to fill in the area in front of the station with a couple of layers of sheet wood.  This area will be paved using more Durham's to give a similar effect as the roads but I did not want to deal with as much depth as before.




And here are the results as of this morning. 




Cheers!

[postalkarl]

Hey Roger:

The station is coming along nicely. Where did you get the FSM stone wall castings? Wish I had some of those.

Karl

[Random]

Thank Karl.

The station walls are from my own masters and molds.  They are inspired by the FSM originals.   I detailed my process in this thread:

http://modelersforum.com/scratch-building/stone-buildings/


The retaining walls to the right are from Sterling Models molds.

http://sterlingmodels.com/rock-molds/


I've thought about marketing the plaster wall sections but with the original FSM parts going back into production soon I'm not sure there would be any demand.

Cheers.

[postalkarl]

Hi Roger:

Thanks for the info. Very interesting.

Karl

[Random]

I can not believe its been a month since I updated this build.  I've certainly done work in that time, although not as much as I'd have liked.  Life and all...

The raised platform is now complete.  I did some rechecking of car clearance on the track side and had to shift the platform about an eighth on an inch away from the rails.  This required me to add some additional support for the front most support columns.  They protrude a bit into the parking lot in front.



Its very dark under the platform so I want to go back and add some slighting underneath it to light the roadways.  The plaster platform lifts out of the girder support frame so that will not be a problem. 

The overall scene is coming together. 




Here the station tracks have been installed.  The New Haven coach is sitting on the road surface behind the station.




I am debating if that roof is too washed out.  It might need an overcoat of rain streaked grime.   I haven't decided yet.

[Random]

While bridges and track were drying I did some work on the yellow express building.  I laid up some Campbell's shingles on card.  There are a lot of very nice laser cut roofing materials available now but I still like these best for cedar shingle.  I feel like they give more texture.




Old stock seems to be better than new.  The cuts are not as sharp on the more recent runs I've purchased.   I never pass up a chance to grab some old stock.




Here the shed roof is being glued in place.  Those fishing weights are invaluable.




I hunted far and wide to find a roll of old brown gummed packing tape of the same type the singles are cut from.  I use this to cut roof cap shingles. 




The roof still needs painting but its in place.  This is the side that will face the isle.




I was never able to locate a view of the building from the back side so I went with a plan that made sense to me when related to the visible sides.




Roof paint, vents, signs and details will be next.

Cheers.

[Mark Dalrymple]

The scene is coming together very nicely, Rodger.

I'm enjoying your thread - thanks for sharing.

Cheers, Mark.

[tct855]

Roger,
Since you decided to build a structure that was originally done in the mid 80's, I'll stick with the theme in my reply to this build.  That's Incredible!  Thanx Thom...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqBoUtAqI3c 

[Random]

Many buildings from the 80s actually.     Thanks.

So........

Its a bit unnerving to take a band saw to several Magnuson Burndout's Fireproof Warehouse castings but if you do you get this:





Which will eventually form into a building shaped like this:







These old castings do NOT smell good when you cut them with a band saw.

This will be the express building to the right of the station complex.

Cheers.

[GPdemayo]

This keeps getting better and better.....great work Roger. 

[Random]

Up to no good with the band saw again tonight.   These three buildings lend them self to the assembly line approach.





Cheers

[Random]

The express building's walls are all glued together now.  I did not bother to make each seam perfect.  Imperfections will be hidden with downspouts, signs, vines, etc when completed.  That narrow wall will have to be trimmed on the pencil lines.  I didn't do a good job of keeping the cut straight.  Also, the long front wall had a slight bow in one of the castings.  I straightened it by glueing two fairly large strips of basswood to the back, leaving it clamped over night.




This will be the gray building behind the station.  The walls are rearranged from the kit so there will be some interesting fitting at corners as the beveled corners are no longer adjacent.




I allowed the saw to wander a bit too much in one spot so a substantial gap occurred.  Fortunately its between the raised detail.  I filled the void with sand and then added thin CA to secure it all.  It may get a little putty filler after the wall is primed if necessary.




And here we have the American Tool and Die company building still under the weights allowing the glue to cure.




All of the joints in these walls are butt joints.  I alighted the wall sections using blue painter's tape.  Then I hinged the joint open and applied gelled Super Glue and closed it.  Weights were used to hold things in place.  The joints seem fairly strong but I will probably add some reinforcement to the backs of the walls.


Cheers!

[ACL1504]

Roger,

Great thread and I've been following, er, lurking around.

I have all the old Magnuson kits and plan to use the to make some of George's neat kit bashes. However, I make a rubber mold of the original wall and make the reproduction from Micro Mark resins. This way I retain the original just in case I need to make a second, third or any other walls.

Tom

[rpdylan]

I also have a couple of Magnuson kits and bought some mold making material from Micro Mark to make some copies.... the walls sure do smell weird! great thread- enjoying it very much!