Al's auto parts/Cafe by Stoney Creek Designs in O scale

[Yoshi Ueda]

I have been working on the Al's Auto Parts/Cafe kit from Stoney Creek Designs for over two weeks. I have assembled it correctly following the instructions with no modifications. I love the warm look of the structure which was designed by Stoney Creek Designs. I am a big fan of Stoney Creek Designs even though there will be no new kits in the future.

[Lawton Maner]

Well and cleanly done. As many small town buildings built prior to building codes it looks like it just grew as the owner(s) needed more space. 

I'm waiting for the building to be "planted"onto a diorama so you can surround it with the clutter which brings it to life.

[Mobilgas]

I seen some of his kits bring stupid money on Evil Bay now 

[finescalerr]

Beautiful job, Yoshi. -- Russ

[Yoshi Ueda]

Thanks. In fact, I am dreaming of a land expansion for my layout. I am planning to put some structures there to further develop the city. This structure is one of them.

[Ray Dunakin]

Looks great! I like how compact that structure is, while still having lots of interesting shapes and details.

[Stuart]

I like it.  I enjoy all the various textures i.e. clapboard, plank, tar paper, brick, shingles etc. and the various paint colors and weathered wood.

[Lawton Maner]

How about adding a figure of Russ up on the balcony in his underwear, with a cup of coffee in one hand and scratching himself inappropriately with the other!

Move over Nick I need to spend the night in your corner.

[finescalerr]

Lawton, I don't drink coffee but thank you for standing in the corner. -- Russ

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

I don't drink coffee

Well there's your problem, right there!

[finescalerr]

Must you reveal that to everyone? -- Russ

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

This is by way of general digression and is no criticism of the modelling here (or anyone else for that matter).

I'm not a follower of US prototype and practice, other than being incidentally exposed, so this is genuine and long-held curiosity:

Buildings like Al's Autos/cafe crop up regularly.  Are they based on real buildings?  This seems unlikely as the stud height of the cafe looks to exceed the width and it would be impractical to carry out either business within the premises I'd have thought.  Generally such structures appear to have greatly compressed floor plans while retaining height. Clearly there is a popular style, of which Al's is an example. I can see the practicality of small footprint buildings for model railways too.

They are attractive models, but not (to me) at all realistic. For me the effect is something like a well weathered Thomas the tank engine - Great work that's unconvincing in total. Yet some layouts feature entire towns of such structures.

So:
Do they represent some prototype I'm unfamiliar with (ie am I showing my ignorance)?
If so, was it common?
If not, why are they so enduringly popular?

[finescalerr]

You have deduced the truth and expressed it rather eloquently, Lawrence. Many structure kits incorporate an artistically enhanced aspect somebody discovered, or imagined could have been, on an actual structure. But the kit's overall design may be from Fantasyland. From that you may conclude buildings of those dimensions and with one or more of those features were very uncommon.

The kits are popular because they combine an appearance hobbyists like with a size suitable to many layouts and dioramas. Excellent scratchbuilders in Australia have created dozens of beautiful similarly styled structures. They are not unique to the U.S. but American kit manufactures such as George Sellios (Fine Scale Miniatures) may have created the style.

What you have noticed are the two main schools of modeling: Artistic license vs. realism. To bring all of this back to Yoshi's model, Roger Malinowski, the owner of Stoney Creek Designs, is a graphic artist. His talent spawned an extensive line of outstanding kits and earned him quite a reputation among narrow gauge modelers. All of his kits reflect the same general "could have been" approach and style and some have become collectible. Roger also happens to be a really nice guy.

Russ

[Lawton Maner]

On the other hand there is a barber shop in Ashland, Va 1 block south of the RF&P station that is an 8 foot wide fill-in and it is only a door and window wide.  It is part of a block of stores and has been there for over half a century. 

On most model railroads real estate is at a premium and most of the time there has to be a selective compression of structures.  Many of the structures representing factories are far to small to justify being rail served.  On the other hand there are some that only are large enough to receive 1 or 2 cars at a time.  The freight house in Robertsdale, Pa on the East Broad Top was one of them.  It fed the company store and the coal mines in the area and had about a 20x40 footprint.

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

You have deduced the truth and expressed it rather eloquently, Lawrence. Many structure kits incorporate an artistically enhanced aspect somebody discovered, or imagined could have been, on an actual structure. But the kit's overall design may be from Fantasyland. From that you may conclude buildings of those dimensions and with one or more of those features were very uncommon.

The kits are popular because they combine an appearance hobbyists like with a size suitable to many layouts and dioramas. Excellent scratchbuilders in Australia have created dozens of beautiful similarly styled structures. They are not unique to the U.S. but American kit manufactures such as George Sellios (Fine Scale Miniatures) may have created the style.

What you have noticed are the two main schools of modeling: Artistic license vs. realism. To bring all of this back to Yoshi's model, Roger Malinowski, the owner of Stoney Creek Designs, is a graphic artist. His talent spawned an extensive line of outstanding kits and earned him quite a reputation among narrow gauge modelers. All of his kits reflect the same general "could have been" approach and style and some have become collectible. Roger also happens to be a really nice guy.

Russ

More or less as I thought then.  To Lawton's point, small and narrow buildings certainly exist in NZ (and undoubtedly elsewhere) but they are relatively rare.  I guess what surprises me is that this 'caricature' school of modelling is so popular (maybe pervasive). While it doesn't tempt me, I can see the practical and artistic appeal.  We have exponents of the Sellios school locally as well.