The Hillen Station, Baltimore environs in HO Scale

[craftsmankits]

Awesome modeling.  The fire escapes are beautiful.  Wondered how you did the cobblestone road. Appears to be foam insulation that you carved?  One-of-a-kind models are so cool.  Mark

[cuse]

That is some AMAZING work! Every detail holds up to tight photography. There's too many things to point to - just great!

I love the leaves on the roof...I think that's an underutilized detail that really works, in my opinion. Tom Johnson's Cass River is another masterpiece of fine detailing that really makes use of the windswept leaf piles that look so real. So many of us want to throw tires on the roof   but leave out the leaves.

[Still_RichBeau]

Great work as always Matt.
--Rich

[swisstrain]

Outstanding modeling, agree with all the comments made previously. And yes, the fire escapes are spectacular (would be worth a step by step how you made them - hint).

For me, above all, you have captured the "mood" so perfectly.  That frontal shot of the poultry factory with the lady in the lit interior store reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting.

[Rail and Tie]

Darn fine bit of model'n!  Top Drawer!

[Larry C]

Matt that is some very fine modeling. Considering you're scratch building in HO scale makes it even more amazing.

[Michael Hohn]

Beautiful work, Matt.

Mike

[restocarp]

Thank you, all!

Mark, the brick alley is indeed carved insulation foam, as are all of the sidewalks. I covered unsightly gaps with tar patches and weeds.




Urs, the fire escapes come as kits from Walthers. They are easy to assemble and the counterweighted stairs remain movable, which is cool. I painted them with Vallejo German Camo Black Brown. I then weathered it with Brandon powders.

Matt

[deemery]

That's a superb job carving the brickwork.

dave

[Pennman]

Matt,

Looking back at all of the fine details, and yes, it's all fine!
What did you use for the concrete space next to the carved brick street? Was it Durham's
water putty?

Rich

[restocarp]

Rich,

I am not sure which concrete space you are referring to, but I can confidently say that it is foam. The carved brick street, the concrete around the manhole and the sidewalk are all insulation foam. I rip 1" foam into 1/8" strips with a bandsaw. For the sidewalks I add curbs, joints and cracks with a hobby knife. I use a ruler to press some of the sidewalk sections down to create unevenness for variety. The texture that you see is from the bandsaw. I paint it with Cocoon chalk paint(no longer available) and then give it a dark gray or black wash. All that is followed by a pass of Bragdon powders.

For the bricks I cut the rows and brick joints and then push in individual bricks with a piece of strip wood. They are painted with a brick red and individual bricks are picked out in other shades. The tar is black acrylic. The manhole cover is an FSM casting from Railroad Kits, painted with that same Vallejo Camo Black Brown. Again everything is weathered with Bragdon powders. The lighter colored powders add some hints of mortar. The darker add dirt and grime, especially near the edges. Black goes down the center of the travel lanes for oil and such.

The stone pavers in the backyard and all the stone foundations are also insulation foam. They are the same 1/8" strips, textured with a ball of aluminum foil and cut into individual stones.



Matt

[craftsmankits]

Thanks for the info Matt.  At some point, I'll be giving foam insulation a try for cobblestone streets.  I've seen this done before using old paint brushes, with the bristles removed, and squaring the metal tips to make individual bricks, but I was looking for a faster method.  Anything worth doing takes time and patience.  Mark