Stella Scale Models - New Erie Cafe

[Slim Jerkins]

It's been a long time since I built my New Erie kit but I can't think of any "gotcha's" that I encountered while building it. Jim did a great job designing that kit. Perhaps making sure you line up those ledge/trim pieces (that are on the same sheet as the foundation pieces) before you glue them together - I think I had to do some head scratching to make sure I stacked them properly.


Yep...I think I had to chisel them apart and re-do them because I stacked them wrongly the firstest time. 


-slim

[ACL1504]

It's been a long time since I built my New Erie kit but I can't think of any "gotcha's" that I encountered while building it. Jim did a great job designing that kit. Perhaps making sure you line up those ledge/trim pieces (that are on the same sheet as the foundation pieces) before you glue them together - I think I had to do some head scratching to make sure I stacked them properly.


Yep...I think I had to chisel them apart and re-do them because I stacked them wrongly the firstest time. 


-slim

Slim,

I think these kits did come out about ten years ago. I got mine in 2009. I though I remember you had one on display to show some of your lighting effects. Well done on your kit my friend.

I will be lighting this one as well and I understand you now have LEDs that don't catch on fire like the ones we used on JD's Middletown Station. That was such a great gag and hard to believe it was almost nine years ago we pulled that one off.

I do see maybe two "gotcha's" and will get into that later in the build.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Today, I spent more time reading and re-reading the instructions. Most things are very clear and Jim did a great job on this kit.

I do plan on lighting the interior lunch area as well as one, maybe two upstairs rooms.

With that in mind, Jim also included three short interior wall sections to use on the cafe interior.

In the photo below, you can see the paper cutouts on top and my 1/16" thick walls on the bottom. Just to be sure, I braced the rear of the walls with HO scale 6X6 strip wood.



One more thing, I used clapboard walls for the interior but will turned the clapboard to the rear so the smooth side wall will be on the inside.



More in a few.

[ACL1504]

I've never seen this in the past in any kit. On the left wall section, the interior side is very fuzzy or rough cut.

Since part of this wall will be a painted interior wall, I needed to remove the fuzz. I used the course side of an Emory board and then finished with the smooth side to remove a great majority of the fuzz. I'll hit the wall again with the smooth side prior to painting.

You can see the fuzz on the right and my attempt to smooth it on the left.

The interior wall will be located just to the left of the door.

[PRR Modeler]

Tom, looks good so far. Is reversing the walls a change you made or the way the directions say to do it? Just curious.  Sorry if you explained why and I missed it.

[Jim Donovan]

Wow. In the time I have almost finished a small kit you are now on your third and of course finishing the middle section of your layout. Makes me tired, think I'll grab a Bitburger and watch you have at it.

Jim D

[ACL1504]

Tom, looks good so far. Is reversing the walls a change you made or the way the directions say to do it? Just curious.  Sorry if you explained why and I missed it.

Curt,

Thank you, much appreciated. I haven't reversed any walls on this kit except the three small interior walls. I reversed them so the back/rear smooth side faced the inside of the cafe. I didn't want the clapboard to face toward the interior.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Wow. In the time I have almost finished a small kit you are now on your third and of course finishing the middle section of your layout. Makes me tired, think I'll grab a Bitburger and watch you have at it.

Jim D

Jim,

When everyday is Saturday, a lot of work gets done. I find my work sessions are like bananas, it comes in bunches.


When I get tired, I read for a day or two and then jump back in to building.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Today I worked on the floor section and foundation frame.

I used the floor piece and made a copy out of the same thickness as the floor. I cut it from 1/16" X 4" X 24" Basswood from Midwest Products.

This new piece will serve as the ceiling for the restaurant and the floor of the second story.

I cut two pieces and edge glued them together. Weights were used until the glue was dry.



I used the original floor plan to cut an exact duplicate for the second piece.

More in a few.

[ACL1504]

In the next photo you can see the floor piece and the restaurant interior back wall.



In the next photo you can see the duplicate piece. I'm showing it with the ceiling up so you can see how the interior wall fits as a mirror image of the floor.



More in a few.

[ACL1504]

I then glued the floor piece to the foundation frame. Not shown.

I finally figured out the exterior walls fit over the outside edge of the floor section. The instructions call for two walls to be glued to the floor piece. After all the walls and floor are glued together, the wall section and floor are then glued to the top of the foundation frame.

I wanted more control and access to the first floor and interior pieces. Here is what I did to make it easier for me to install and detail the interior.

I took two pieces of 2X12 and glued/laminated them together. I made two 4X12s this way.





More in a few.

[ACL1504]

Taking into account the walls are glued to the outside edge of the floor, this means the floor sits flush with the bottom of the floor piece.

I used the 4X12s and glued them to the outside edge of the foundation frame even with the bottom of the floor piece.



Using a spare piece of 1/16" basswood, I turned the floor over and pressed the 4X12's down against the spare piece.



More in a few.

[ACL1504]

By pressing the 4X12's down, ensures I have them even with the bottom of the floor when turned right side up.



Fast forward and all sides now have the 4X12 trim around the outside edge.



Diet Pepsi time, back later this afternoon or evening.

Tom

[PRR Modeler]

Making good progress Tom.

[ACL1504]

Making good progress Tom.

Curt,

Yepper, I want to get the basics done, the walls painted and then I'm moving back to layout work for a week or two.

Tom