Dos Manos - Building #4

[Ray Dunakin]

I didn't get much time to work on the model today but still managed to get the frame built for the roof of the drugstore's balcony.






When I first worked out the rough plan for this building in my 3D program, I made the store's false front taller. Then when I started putting together the foam-core form to make that part of the structure, it looked way too tall. So I cut a little over an inch off of it. Now I wish I hadn't done that! I would have preferred more space for the sign that will be painted on the front of the building.

[Chuck Doan]

Glad its on the rebound!

[Malachi Constant]

That's some nice work with a lot of angly, anglicized, angular or angst-invoking bits of styrene there. 

I think I even see little notches in some of the bits for structural integrity ... and maybe I'm having an MC Escher moment here, but I can't quite tell if the back is higher than the front ... it looks like it ... but then I keep following these stairs that go nowhere and then back to where they started and ... nevermind.

Enjoying the build ...
Dallas

[Ray Dunakin]

I'm making good progress on this building, and getting close to completion! First off, I decided to replace the original desk lamp with something a little slimmer. Instead of running the bulb leads through a brass tube, I twisted the leads together, coated them with glue, and then painted them gold. The result isn't perfect but it is an improvement:




I finished the balcony railings. Thin, vertical brass rods were soldered on at each end. The square horizontal pieces fit into styrene "boards" that will be glued to the balcony posts:




The roof of the balcony was created using individual styrene "planks". Each plank was textured with simulated wood grain. I used an X-acto knife to carve large cracks into some of the boards, and cut away small broken sections:





Finally, the balcony was painted to look like aged, weathered wood. The railings were then painted and glued into place. I had to touch up the paint on the posts afterwards, as the solvent made the paint come off at the slightest touch.






Next I will partially cover the balcony roof with some sort of worn out roofing material -- I haven't yet decided whether it will be rusty metal, shingles, or something else. In any case, parts of the material will be missing, leaving some of those nicely weathered planks exposed.

I'm still debating whether or not I should add a little bit of worn, peeled paint to the balcony's wood.

Once the balcony is finished, I'll installed the arched doors into the doorways, and paint a sign on the front wall. Then I'll glue the balcony to the building.

[finescalerr]

And after all that you're still going to let the thing cook in the sun, freeze in the cold, and suffer the effects of sprinklers, rain, dew, winds, bugs, and the other ravages of nature? You must be NUTS! -- Russ

[Ray Dunakin]

I'm still trying to decide what to do with the balcony roof, so I'd like some opinions...

I'm leaning towards a standing-seam metal roof such as this one, with some of the panels torn or missing to reveal the weathered wood:




But I was thinking of maybe doing it in old, green copper instead of rusted tin. Copper roofing was uncommon on Old West buildings, but not completely unheard of, especially for small, prominent features such as this balcony. I would use rusted tin on the main roof of the structure.

What do you think?

[Malachi Constant]

Hmm, dunno ... Spanish tile is the first thing that pops to mind when I look at that structure ...

Store looks fairly new and well-kept ... somehow green copper sounds kind of wrong ... though a new copper roof might actually look good with the coloring ...

Hoping others will chime in with some better ideas and/or stronger opinions ...

Red standing seam would play off the trim on the lower level ... and go with the idea of the store front trying to create visual appeal to passers-by ...

Cheers,
Dallas

[Ray Dunakin]

Yeah, the more I think about it, it just seems like the copper wouldn't be quite right for this.

Red-painted metal would tie it in better with the lower half of the building... though I still want to make it rusty, with pieces missing. My thinking is that this part of the structure would have received little maintenance over the years, being in a hard to reach place, especially since it's a non-critical roof (leaks won't matter much) and the balcony hasn't been used much since the upstairs was converted from living quarters to office/storage space.

[Ray Dunakin]

Time for another progress report...

I painted the sign on the front of the store over the weekend. First I made a stencil by printing the word "drugs" on a sheet of printable, self-adhesive vinyl. I cut out the lettering, stuck the stencil to the building, masked off the surrounding area, then sprayed it with flat black paint. Turned out pretty well:







As you can see, I also finished both the main roof, and the balcony roof. On the balcony, I used .001" brass sheet to create individual strips of "standing-seam" metal roofing. I wanted it to look rusty, with sections torn and missing to expose some of the weathered wood.

The metal strips were first spray painted flat black. Then I stippled on several layers of color using Apple Barrel acrylic paints -- mainly Chocolate Brown (more of a red-brown than chocolate), Espresso, Nutmeg Brown, and a mix of Black and Dutch Blue. This was topped with a coat of Krylon UV Matte finish.

(I had considered painting them red, but changed my mind after seeing how it looked. It seemed too garish distracting from the rest of the structure.)




The main roof was .060" styrene sheet, braced underneath with heavier square strips. Then I used .020" x .250" styrene strips on the sides, creating an overlap on the sides of the building. The standing seams were simulated with strips of .020" x .060" styrene. Painting was handled the same at described above.

This morning we had some visitors come to see the railroad, so I put the building out on the townsite. Here are some shots of how it looks so far:









I still have to add a few small details, and finish wiring the lights.

[finescalerr]

Nobody would ever guess you had to "save" that model. It turned out swell. -- Russ

[Frederic Testard]

It's a great structure, both inside and outside, Ray.

[NORCALLOGGER]

Ray,
That came out just superb.
The whole "town" scene in that last picture looks great.
Looks like your brother could use a little sun

Keep up the great work.
Rick

[Malachi Constant]

I'd photo the balcony roof decision a success ... along with all the rest of the build.   Looks great in place ... fits the scene ... and your outstanding figures really give a lot of life to the place.  Well done!

Cheers,
Dallas

[Damn Cranky]

Beautiful work.  The whole thing came together nicely, and it fits the layout perfectly.

[Ray Dunakin]

Yet another progress report...

I added the sign over the door of the drugstore, and also installed and wired all the lights. Here are a few test photos I shot this evening:









You can see more pics beginning here:

http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/IRR_Dos_Manos.html#144


I've also begun work on detailing the interior of my previous building. It's the white building with the "Cora's Closet" sign. I originally planned to make it a dress shop but now I'm going to make it a bakery, called "Cora's Cakes". So far I've built a glass display and several shelves, and I'm in the middle of sculpting lots of cakes, pies, breads and pastries out of polyclay. Sorry, no pics of this stuff yet.

I have to set my modeling aside for a bit now... I'm leaving on the 28th for my annual Mojave/Nevada camping trip. I'll be exploring old mines and ghost towns, and also doing some rocket aerial photography. That was my main hobby before I started building the layout. So for the next few days I have to go through all my camping and rocketry stuff and make sure everything's in order, fresh batteries in cameras and altimeters, etc.