In-ko-pah RR: Dos Manos depot

[Bexley]

You should probably paint it, though.

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks!

I've started painting it. Got the "wood" color done on the porch yesterday, now I'm doing the shack. When finished, the shack will have a worn and faded coat of red with white trim. I also plan to do some signs on it.

[finescalerr]

That's a good sign .... -- ssuR

[Stoker]

You should probably paint it, though.

Or make the sign read "Tortas de Casa Blanca"  

[Seattle Dave]

Or you could build another and then name them "Dos Banos"......

[Ray Dunakin]

Well, I was going to try to hold off posting more pics of this until it was finished, but I'm so tickled with the way it's turning out, I couldn't resist. This has been a really fun build!

I've finished painting it, including many hand-painted signs. Still have to add the corrugated metal to the main roof. Also need to add some light fixtures and other exterior details, and glue the porch to the building. Also need to finish the surrounding landscape, and the stairs/path leading up to the building on either side. Eventually I'll build and detail the interior too. Here's how it looks so far:













Enjoy!

[Chuck Doan]

That turned out great! Love the signs and the coloring.

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks Chuck! I forgot to mention the door and window are Grandt Line parts.

[Hydrostat]

You put me in a dilemma. How can I signalize speechlessness without speaking/posting something?

Aside of this rather philosophical approach to my condition: this is very convincing. The last picture with the blurred background rocks would pass for 1:1 scale, if the building was finished. I like the "clean" hand painted signs as well as the somewhat crooked "freehand" additions and the threatening "EAT" on the wall.

Volker

[lab-dad]

excellent!

I would be curious to see/hear how you did all those awesome signs!

-Marty

[JohnTolcher]

Very nice!! I love the sign writing too, the aged appearance of the wood and roofing, great stuff!

[Ray Dunakin]

Volker, Marty, John, thanks for the kind words! Much appreciated!

The sign on the top of the front of the building (Serenity's Sandwich Shack) and the sign on the front of the porch (Sandwiches/Cold Drinks) was done with stencils. I laid out the lettering in Pages on my iMac, and printed it onto self-adhesive vinyl. Then I cut out the letters, peeled off the vinyl and placed it in position. I applied the paint using a combination of light, dry-brushing, and stippling. After removing the stencil, I touched it up as needed with a fine brush. Then I painted the dark outline by hand using a good, #0 artist's brush.

The large signs on the sides that say, "Cold Drinks" were tricky. Because of the battens, I couldn't use a stencil. So I used a pink colored pencil to very lightly lay out the shapes of the letters. This was not done to any detail, just very rough forms, like stick-figure letters, mainly to make sure I the size and spacing would fit the area. Then I hand-painted it with a #1 brush, using very thinned down paint and mostly kind of dry-brushing it. The outlines were done as before, with a #0 brush. The saving grace is that I was going for a not-very-professional look for the signs on the sides.

The smaller signs were were supposed to be very amateurish and crude, so I just winged it, painting them freehand with the #0 brush.

One thing that really helps when painting freehand, whether lettering or any other small detail, is that the hand holding the brush should have at least one finger resting against the model. This makes a big difference in steadying your hand.

[Hydrostat]

Especially the mixture of those different kinds of executions makes a difference and tells a story beneath the actual sandwich shack. Idon't exactly remember where it was posted, but there was a picture of an depression time street with wooden buildings and one barbershop after one other. Your model reminds me a lot to this scene.

Volker

[finescalerr]

Most satisfactory. -- Russ

[TRAINS1941]

Wow Ray!  Makes me want to wander around there and have a nice cold one.

Beautiful work.

Jerry