Repost of a build thread on RR-Line:
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27-Feb-2020:

I bought Rix's 'Smalltown USA' modular 50s - 60s office building kit years ago:

Rix VIcky's Fashions modular kit

I haven't noticed it on a layout, or discussed in print or internet forums. So, as I don't think I've ever met Rick and have no financial interest, I'll show how I used it:

Rix's site describes it as 'Talltown USA Window and Door modules' with Evergreen strip. My older kit has injection molded parts for the .125 x .156" columns & window headers, and the L-shaped cornice. All the molded parts have modest 'draft angle' from the dies, so many edges will need to be squared with file or sanding tool.



I hadn't counted, but it seemed my kit had quite a few modular windows beyond the minimum required for the building in Rix's photo. Here extra modules are stacked on the masking tape & paper strips my wife made so I could airbrush them. Injection-molded cornice, corner post and window header parts are in the foreground.



I wasn't planning on an interior, but I eventually sprayed dull color on the back to reduce light transmission if I ever change my mind.

As with other modular building kits, assembled the front looks better than the back.



Concrete color is Scalecoat Aged Concrete. Window and door modules of this era were almost always aluminum. As the building is supposed to be 8-ish years old, I used Scalecoat Graphite & Oil to represent something next to a heavily traveled steam hauled RR for that time.

My wife first used MEK to assemble the modules into vertical stacks per the instructions. You could go taller by substituting longer .125" square and .125 x .156 stock; Splicing the supplied parts won't look as good or be as strong. Then I filed shallow angles on the edges to follow the curve of the site (paper template under the model). I used tube cement for these joints. Some will need putty once glue dries and I reinforce the curved shape.

Bror asked

QuoteIs this for the GE site?

Bror, this will be left (RR west) of the Bexley depot, between it and the box pony truss overpass. But I am thinking of using the leftover window modules for a background building in River Works. The aluminum extrusions definitely point to Alcoa et. al. trying to keep their wartime aircraft materials capacity busy afterward.

29-Feb-2020: I worked on what will be DigiCompuTronAMatics corporate headquarters yesterday and today. Assembly of the modules is complete, with the L-shaped fascia along the roof. I cut up the supplied black, textured styrene slabs to make the roof. I added blocks of .125" sq. and .0937" sq. stock to reinforce joints and support future floor sheets. The left two bays' windows overlap the house window, so I used Rix's printed glossy cardboard for 'glazing'. It looks OK but I'm still thinking about whether I should do a partial interior for the deeper portion.



Bill Gill suggested:

QuoteVenetian blinds can help hide empty windows where offices would be, some suggestions of interiors in other spots would look good too.

1-Mar-2020: Yes, Bill, I had thought about them. Looking around (at that time), City Classics 711 blinds should fit the 0.5" x 1" window openings. Their clear plastic could maybe be glued on the front of the Rix printed cardboard, but I have about 150 windows to do and most would be pulled all the way down in August. I might be able to get 13 usable per $8 sheet. Circus City's decals are sized for streamline car windows. Family Garden Trains has free downloads I'd have to resize for HO, but they're fully closed. That might bother me personally, as I know I'm looking at the North side of the building, but should look OK to visitors.

My next step is to get some overhead transparency film that will work with my HP color laser.

Mike Hohn commented:

QuoteThat's an impressive building, James.
All those large windows do present a problem. If you could draw blinds on your computer you could make rows in various configurations or closed and
attach them behind the windows. You'd have to cut where there are open blinds.
I'd be inclined to use a clear glass material and build simple walls for offices that can be seen into.

2-Mar-2020: I downloaded Family Garden Trains's free JPG files from

 https://familygardentrains.com/resource/curtains/curtains.htm

I opened it with GIMP and experimented a bit. What worked was using the Tile tool to replicate it 7 wide and 5 high. Then print without any further fiddling. The dark-to-light shading and visible support strings resulted in a whole lot of scale 36" square blinds.



This installation is recognizable from normal viewing distance, but I must be more careful about alignment for closeups. I also should test how they look when backlit before using them in an illuminated building.

5-Jan-2021: I picked this up again for RR-Line's 2021 Challenge (abandoned project category). So far, I've worked on 1) a better Venetian Blind texture for the many windows, 2) interior walls of black 3/16" foam-core, and 3) a sign for the employee entrance door:



It's now named "DigiCompuTron-A-Matics" as that's what the recordings on-line called the fictitious company.

Back story: MIT had a student-run FM station called WTBS for "Tech Broadcasting System". The group also had an AM carrier-current operation which could and did run commercials. DJs filled in commercial slots on the FM side with PSAs and homebrew oddities, including faux commercials for Apple Gunkies and "DigiCompuTron-A-Matics, makers of the all new, Mark II DynaDigitron..."

The interior walls need a bit more trimming to fit the curved backdrop. And then I need to address the 100+ windows: They should have some sort of blinds.  Venetian Blinds were common in similar buildings of the 1950s and '60s. How I do that will determine what interior finishing it needs. I've asked some friends if they can take me pictures of blinds with slats horizontal, as I don't think they're available commercially.

6-Jan-2021: This structure can be viewed from less than 3 feet, and it has many large windows. Buildings need something to keep direct sun, freezing cold or curious eyes out, As Bill said above, Venetian Blinds were a common choice. I'm trying to make them lowered all the way, but with the slats almost horizontal, In 'daylight', viewers see the light colored blinds but not the interior (or lack thereof). At 'night', if I illuminate one or two offices, they'll be visible but the rest won't. Opaque white blind slats would be prototypical, but I think a thin yellow/gray tint might also work in daylight, and disappear even more effectively when the space behind is lit. I've made a pattern with GIMP's Filter > Render > Pattern > Grid feature that fits the window layout. Once I get clear material I can print it on, I can test my idea

13-Jan-2021: My 'Apollo VCG7070 Color Laser Printer Transparency Film' arrived today. Eventually I got my 'LaserJet Pro 400 color MFP m475dw' to feed it. The net says the printer needs to be rated for transparencies and the film type must match the printer. Shown are pieces of my first print applied to the building.



I think they look OK against Rix's opaque cardboard window filler. Next I'll try one of the see-through windows. I won't know till I install lights whether I can really get away without white ink.

There's a slight color mismatch between the two vertical cloth tapes in each window, but I can't see it when installed. If I look close, I can see the vertical tape spacing is off. For the next sheet, I'll make a new image with adjusted 'offsets' for each of the two GIMP pattern 'grid' layers.

31-Jan-2021: I was working on a couple of other projects the previous two weeks. One stalled, so back to this. I decided I needed a .060 styrene ground floor to help hold the building together as I handle it. Then I finished the employees' entrance hallway:



The photo showed me I needed to clean up more of the acrylic craft paint interior wall color where it got on the visible parts of the windows. But I was pleased with how visible the Clever Models B&W tiles are in room light. I plan to light the hall so it's visible at 'night'.

8-Feb-2021: Painting errors are cleaned up, interior floors painted with a gray/blue mix of craft paints, all windows have blinds except the employee entrance. When I thinned the craft paint too much, it put a warp in the foam-core floors when it dried. That's fixed, inelegantly but permanently, now.



I was still learning to use my new webcam to take layout pictures. I might be able to get this shot with a phone camera, but the webcam just rests on the bridge deck; no gymnastics.

And of course, the photo revealed where the roof doesn't exactly match the coved backdrop. That, too, is fixable. The elevator house/HVAC enclosure it needs on the roof should do. It also needs some antennas. Time to search out some pictures from the appropriate era.

26-Feb-2021: I decided how to do the DigiCompuTron-A-Matics elevator house. I tried out some Rix injection molded cinder block parts I'd bought a while back:



I like it: The molded mortar lines say what I'm trying to model from a moderate distance, and the carefully designed interlocking corners fit nicely. The interlocking parts are full block thickness, but the sheet in the middle is about .050 so scribe & snap works well. This used half of a 'medium' piece (~15.5' high by 20' long) and half of a 'small' (10' long). The door is another Rix part. The roof is .040 styrene off-cuts.



Here it is on the roof. I'm thinking about a kerb painted Roofing Tar color for it to sit on. Once I decide about that and get it all painted and installed, I'll go on to the gravel/tar roof itself.

I think I bought a Digital Thing-a-Mabob from DigiCompTron-A-Matics once  

On a more serious note, I've often had debates with myself about the back edge of 3d flats like this. Should I let the back be flush, as if the giant space laser cut the structure?  Or should I add the wall/kerb along the back edge, as if the structure stops at the backdrop?

dave

DynaCompuTron-A-Matics is viewable from a range of angles. Also the depth goes to zero at the left. Neither make your question easy to answer.

The thing that bothers me most about extending objects touching a backdrop into it is that perspective only looks good from one point-of-view. I've tried it three times on my layout.  One I got right from a "LP's eye view".  One came out looking OK from more or less standing height.  The third is the Gothic Arch Dairy Barn and I might try repainting it someday.

I really like your DigiCompuTron-A-Matics building. I am always amazed how 3 or 4 layers of laser cut material can make such a realistic looking facade.  Well done!

Darryl, the wall segments I show in the first photo are 3D injection molded styrene. This kit isn't well-known; I mentioned that I'd never seen anything in the modeling press about it when I started writing.

Impressive structure James.....

Thanks, Greg and Darryl.  Last night I took 'current' photos of it; one more sign added, kerb for the elevator house.






I'm thinking most or all the rooftop antennas should be photos mounted on the backdrop. I hope to find good starting points online.

James,

Wow, I love that structure. Very well done and looks great.

Tom

Howdy James, 

Excellent work on the structure.  It is massive.

Have fun,
mike