Master Creations Blandings and Gallard Cement Co

[SteveCuster]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone!

Tom, The only pictures I've seen of this kit are the ones Mark found on brasstrains.com. It looks like quite a few people have this kit in their collection but it doesn't seem like it's gotten built much. Mine is definitely going to be different. I think the original diorama is something like 16"x16. I'm trying to fit mine in a really narrow area about 4"x15. I'll post some pictures of it's final location so everyone can get a better idea of what I'm trying to do.

Mark, I'm curious myself how it will look once it's done.

I made a little bit of progress last night on it.


I finished the roof and added the rafter tails but I wanted to work the color a bit on the shingles.


I started to get closer to the color I wanted with some dusting of chalks on the roof. It also helped match the ridge cap boards I used.


I added some drybrushing to the shingles and it brought everything together. I like the effect of drybrushing over pastel chalks sometimes. It will pull some of the chalks up and mix with the white giving a little more variety to the colors.


I added the rafter tails, the front posts and glued the top structure to the bottom. The corners on the stone building really need some disguising. Once I figure out how the porch posts line up I'll know where I need some vines and things to hide the seams.



I drew up a rough plan for the stairs and the second story porch. I also pre-colored the wood so tonight I should be able to knock it out pretty quick. I'm probably going to try to get working on the loading docks for the other warehouse building. I'm trying to get all the buildings pre-assembled so I can feel out the configuration on the layout. I really don't have much of an idea of how everything will fit just yet.

Thanks for following along.

-Steve

[NKP768]

Steve  - I have a Classic Miniatures General store that I used the same Bar Mills shingles on and I have walked away from several times because I was not happy with the coloring. What pastels did you use on yours because that was the effect I was looking for - excellent

Doug

[SteveCuster]

Thanks Doug. I mostly used Rembrandt 408.3 but a did add some other similar shades. That's my favorite chalk choice for dirtying something up.

-Steve

[PRR Modeler]

Very nice modeling Steve.

[Oldguy]

Looking good.

[Opa George]

Steve, I really like the look of that wood over stone office. The colors are also very well done.
--George

[SteveCuster]

Thanks everyone.

I got to work on the 2nd floor deck area last night a bit.


I ended up making the decking follow the length of the stone foundation on this side. By doing this I could cover the seams on the stone castings using the support posts.


This portion of building something like this is always a little tedious to me. Trying to visually get all the posts straight without moving the other posts. I also pretty much never give my glue enough time to dry before I start messing with something near it and I usually end up disturbing something.

I adding some bracing. I only used horizontal bracing on the front of the supports. This is a construction company so I wanted to have some pipes or lumber maybe a ladder or 2 stored under the porch between the supports.

Added the stairs. These are built from Northeastern Scale Lumber laser cut stringers. I like these much better than something made of plastic or white metal. With a chopper and these laser cut pieces it only takes about 5 minutes to build a staircase. Before I added the stairs I gave the rest of the assembly a wash of A&I.

I gave the stairs another wash of A&I to match.

Next step is adding the railings.

Thanks for following along.

-Steve

[PRR Modeler]

Great looking modeling. I agree about using NESL stringers.

[bparrish]

Steve........

I'm a lay down for outside stairs.  They were everywhere before our kinder and gentler world prevented them.

Great model.

thanx
Bob

[gleiphart]

I love this thread as I have both kits in my stash. I scarfed up the cement company at an NMRA meet at Blue Ridge Summit last year for only $50. (complete)and got the silver edition of Fannies by trading in a few Jordan vehicle kits at the Albany show. I hope all the electronics work in Fannies!

[SteveCuster]

Thanks everyone.

Bob, I'm also a sucker these type of stairs. I think they always add some interesting character to a model and it's an easy way to add some depth to a scene.

Gleiphart, I'm glad you're enjoying the thread. I wish I could build this kit as per the instructions but I don't have the right space and I'm missing the brick building. Hopefully my modified configuration still helps you get started on yours. These kits can be found for dirt cheap if you keep your eyes open. Even if you don't build it the castings alone are worth more than $50.00 not to mention the 3 trucks, the stripwood and the little stone office that comes with it. I've never seen one of the silver edition kits in person. I'd like to see how all the electronics work. The sound especially interests me on the silver editions.

I made some small progress finishing up the stairs and porch yesterday. I ended up fussing with a switch machine for a while last night and ran out of time to get anything done. The machine wasn't working and it took me far longer than it should to figure out I had a bad power supply. It still had power but not enough to move it.


Railing posts in place. I use scale 3x3s for these.

Upper railing assembly is in. No matter how rustic or derelict a porch I'm making I always miter the joint for the upper railing. I think it always looks bad if I do an overlapping board at the corner. Just my person preference.

I'm not sure what you call this piece but I'll call it the front cross support.

Everything is in place but it still needs another coat of A&I for the railings. Gotta wait till it fully dries for that.

This is the area on the layout I plan on squeezing this diorama into. As you can see it's very narrow. Definitely using some selective compression for this scene. It ended up being a bit more narrow than I had originally thought but I'll make it work.


I really prefer to detail and finish my scenes at the workbench and then integrate them into the layout but I think this one will be assembled and detailed in place which means I need to have all the components finished before I start laying everything out.

Thanks for following along. I'm going to work on the loading docks today I think

-Steve

[PRR Modeler]

Really nice job on the stairs and handrails Steve.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Nice job on the deck and stairway, Steve.

I didn't know about those laser cut stringers.  I've been attempting to make mine out of 12" by 2" using a Campbell stringer as a template.  The wood loves to split!  It usually takes 2 or 3 attempts.  I'll be looking into those stringers.

Cheers, mark.

[SteveCuster]

Thanks Curt, Thanks Mark.

Mark, they are the way to go and a pack lasts a pretty long time. I think someone else may make a laser cut stringer but I've never used it. Maybe Builders in Scale?

Moving forward a bit with the diorama I added the loading dock to the warehouse building. I also started the process of adding the detail castings to both the stone base office porch and the warehouse loading dock.


I framed out the base for the loading dock. I really only added the cross supports so I can split the boards and still have supports under them. The dock is so short you can't really see any details under it especially once I add some dirt and weeds. I use double sided tape to secure the framework to the template.


About 10 minutes with my chopper and all the decking is down. I use the wood stops anywhere the dock will meet the structure to give a straight flat edge.


I glued the assembly to the structure and added the cross supports. I used the same template for the upper level of the decking as the first I just shortened it a bit.

I added a little wood ramp between the 2 sections.

I started adding the details.

Some of these castings are from this kit some are from my castings box. I only have about half of the castings painted at this point.

I added a little railing at the end of the dock.

I added some details to the upper level here as well. I try to detail as much as I can on the bench rather than at the layout.

Thanks for following along. I have a few more subassemblies to add at the next update.

-Steve

[Mark Dalrymple]

Really nice deck work, Steve.

The second story one, in particular, is a real eye catcher.

Cheers, Mark.