Willmodels Deli & Grocery build (2 story hotel)

I originally went on E-bay to find the small Barber Shop kit that Chris Brimley built.  When I noticed Willmodels had a couple of other kits I felt compelled to buy them as well.  Although the kit is similar to some of the DPM resin kits, there are some differences & enough that made me want to purchase & construct the 2 story hotel kit.  The kit like the others in their line are cast resin,  that come with all 4 walls molded in a grey resin.

There are 6 separate windows, a door, separate detail molded roof, a molded stone foundation, clear window glazing, & 2 sets of steps.  Also included is a molded frame for an exterior sign & a sheet with some waterslide decals of signs, advertising, & a sheet with window treatments. I used 4 main acrylic colors as base coats; Rust-oleum “American Accents” Cinnamon, Rust-oleum “American Accents” Teal, Rust-oleum “American Accents” London Grey, Krylon White. 

I should have washed the pieces off prior to painting, especially with acrylic spray paints.  If you don’t get all of the mold release agents & other resin dust off, your finish can look blotchy.  Mine looked alright, but not as good as I would have liked. 



I find it best to do the majority of painting, weathering, decal setting & detailing prior to assembly, while you can still lay the pieces flat.  I applied a coat of Apple Barrel Antique white water based paint over the side & rear walls, let it sit for just a few seconds & wiped it off to create the mortar lines.



The front of the building is painted brick & stone.  I dulled down the color with some blue gray, dry brushed on.  The masonry trim is also the same blue gray color.  I didn’t like the front door that was provided, as it was a full door, no glass, & a business like this would have a glass panel door.  I found one in my scrap box, cut it to fit, & painted both the front & back doors Delta Ceramcoat raw sienna.

The decals aren’t the ones supplied with the kit.  Instead of a small hotel, my building is going to be a deli & grocery.  The signage on the side of the building, are water slide decals & thinned down paper signs.  I sand down the backs of plain paper signs until their extremely thin, then, I apply glue via an Elmers glue stick & apply them to the building.  I work them into the surface so they are in the grooves & mortar lines of the building.  The sign in the front is by Vector Cut. http://www.vectorcut.com

On the back, I attached a Vector Cut security gate over the door & laid some wood decking over their concrete loading dock.

The exhaust vent is also by Vector Cut. I think it’s so cool to be able to see the fan blades behind the grill. It gives it so much depth. The roof is straight forward, has good tarpaper lines molded in & they even took the time to fit it around the pillars. I added one strip of painters tape along the front seam as it wasn’t as tight as I would’ve liked.

It’s a pretty easy kit to assemble. I used C/A adhesive to join the walls & foundation. I raised the sidewalk in the front so it will match up with its neighbor building, but left the foundation exposed on the other side & back. I also used my favorite Aleenes Tacky glue to apply the clear window glazing, as I’ve found that whenever the glazing is near C/A it tends to fog up the clear plastic.

Not that you can see it, other than along the inside roofline, but I really liked their having molded the brick detail on both sides of the side wall pieces. That way along the roof line it looks like it should & even on the interior you see exposed brick walls.



Storm Lake Mobil (Part Deux)

1st I sorted the pieces by what color
they would need to be painted. Then
I taped them onto a piece of scrap
MDF board.



After a light coat of red or white I'm ready
for assembly.





I like to use Aleenes "Tacky" glue.  You
can find it any craft store.  It holds really well
& even within 24 hours you can still manipulate
items with little to no damage.  I square up my walls
& the tab & slot design goes together quickly.



I put a thin strip of blue painters tape
around the roofs perimeter. This hides any
imperfections in the corners as well as
adds a coped effect.  When it's painted the
tape has a crinkled effect similar to rolled
roofing material.









I added some bracing as well as a
lip to attach the cardboard roof to.



The garage doors are layered so
you get a real crisp paint line

as well as depth to the door.

I made one of the doors 3/4 open so

I could add a car on a lift inside.



Without the doors it's pretty stark white.
The 2 round windows are a nice touch
& they have an added block behind
them for added depth.  The round edifice
over the doors is a piece of dowel rod.



The garage floor is pre-scribed Plastruct
sidewalk, painted barn wood gray &
in the office area I used a red fine tip
permanent marker for a checker
board floor & some scrap wood painted
red for a counter. The lift is a toothpick
with a cut & formed scrap of sheet plastic. 
All of that is painted aluminum & some
dry brushed black for wear.



Once the floor & the building are united
it comes together.  The window glazing
is clear plastic.  The signs are all plain
white paper.  I glued the signs on with
an Elmer's glue stick. I like those because
they go on flat, don't drip, & the paper
can be manipulated without worrying
about tearing.

Here's just another angle on the building.
There aren't a lot of parts to the structure
itself, so it goes together relatively
quickly.





The roof, as previously stated is simply cardboard.
I scribed some tar paper lines onto it to give
it some texture.  I then painted it black & added
some white dry brushing.  The dry brushing helps to bring out some details in the scribing & of the taped coving.





.......Coming up next?  Where to plant this in the city?



The "Storm Lake Mobil" Builld

I thought I would attempt to do a build blog.  To follow along as I construct the "Storm Lake Mobil" kit from JL Innovative Design (http://www.jlinnovativedesign.com/) .  I'll probably be plagerising every other build blog I've ever looked at before, but I'm new to all of this, & the way I see blogging is that it's a new extension of the hobby, that I enjoy. (Even if I only have 1 follower of my blog!)  It's a diary of sorts & like the hobby of model railroading, is very cathartic!

So here goes!  I can't promise the build to go quickly, as life must still go on in the real world, but I will do the best I can. 

As you can see it's a laser cut wood kit with plastic doors & windows, a few metal parts, & plain paper signs.  It looks pretty easy & the instructions look well thought out & practical.

"EL" AKA Run up

I'm in the home stretch on the ore dock run up.  It took a total of 10 "Imagine That" ( http://imaginethatlaserart.com/ ) elevated 2 track extension kits to complete.  The kits are really easy to build & have awesome detail.  They are laser cut wood kits & they have a natural patina from the wood & laser cut/burnish marks.  I wanted mine to match another painted bridge that adjoins it so I matched the paint & dry brushed the aged detail.  I did have to adjust one section where there's a curve & I wanted to add a switch/control tower.  The tower is a "JL Innovative Design" ( http://www.jlinnovative.com/ ) Avon St. Elevated Tower it's also a wood kit.  I thought it would add some uniqueness to the over all scene.  Some the the ideas I got were from a book on Iron Ore railroads titled, "The lake Superior Iron Ore Rasilroads" by Patrick Dorin (1977)  Some of the trackage leading up to the dock ( which I've termed "run ups") looked a bit like the "Elevated tracks".  So I thought using the Imagine that kits would work just fine.  I would've liked to lay the track myself onto the "El" but I'm not good enough or willing to be frustrated enough to try & attempt to create an "N" scale turnout from scratch.  So Peco & Atlas flex track will suffice!

Sectional's Complete

As you can see I've built all the sectional pieces, there are now a total of 8 sections. The original 2 are 8' x 32". The other 6 are 6' x 32". I haven't made the upper level yet on these sections primarily because I haven't quite decided yet on the way I'm going to get the train from one level tothe other. I'm not a fan of helix', too much unseen trackage. I'm leaning towards a sort of Tehachapi loop kind of set up so I won't have this long continuous uphill climb. That would take up to much realestate.

Here are a few more shots of the lead up to the ore dock that I've been working on as well as the kitbashed bridges & some roadway underneath them. I had to start some of them or working on them afterwords would have been a pain.

The last 2 shots are from the other side of the city showing lead up bridge at a different angle. You can also get an idea as to how how these 2 sections join as apposed to how they used to be joined (from an earlier blog post). The last shot I did for Lynn Lunde. I met her & Bob at the national convention in Milwaukee last month. I sent her some pictures of one of their buildings (Schwitters Department store) that I completed. I think it turned out pretty well.

A New Angle

The "L" becomes an "I" as the 2 existing sections take on a new shape!

I'm pretty happy with my decision to switch from a fixed layout to a sectional. I'm still not sure about how I will get up to the 2nd level but that'll be worked out in time. I took off all the shelf layout parts from around the wall as I was once again inspired by an article in Model Railroader. I want shallow scenes {Approx. 16", w/ the exception of the one city section} so I can have full use of both sides of each section. This meant that having the wall shelving wasn't fitting the bill. I've mapped out the sections on the floor in blue painters tape & have allowed for ample aisles to make moving around the layout comfortable. It did mean some annexation of some of the existing family room area. There was no grumbling about it from the natives so I guess it's alright. The sectional also allows for some creativity as you can see the city has taken on a new shape, from an "L" to an "I".

The ore boat is actually a modified HO scale kit.

A side shot of the waterfront area, the water is matte medium & I still need to add the water effects.

A view looking north from the waterfront.

A side view of the Gazette & Daily Advertiser building & the backside of the Greyhound Bus Terminal.

A front view of the Northern Light Hotel, Randolphs Restaurant is on the 6th Floor.

A side view of the Northern Light Hotel. {2 kitbashed DPM kits}

Time Flies!

A look at the passenger platforms at the station & south into the tunnel approach.
A straight on shot of the passenger terminal. Still needs a lot of detailing.

Looking north into the passenger station tunnel, w/ lights!
The engine facility w/ turntable is under construction.

A look north to the front of the Keller Furniture complex.

An arial shot of new sawdust collector & structures.

A close up shot of some of the buildings along the waterfront w/ their new pilings.

Looking south at the Keller Furniture plant w/ my scratchbuilt sawdust collector & loader.

A view of some of the elevated track that will lead up to the ore dock.

The peninsula is where the ore dock will sit.

A look at the latest add on completed yesterday to the KTLC News studio. a garage entrance.

A multi-story housing project. (Kitbashed 4 tenement backgound buildings & a Brachs candy building on the side)

Looking at the rougher part of town near the industrial district.

Some of the industrial district, still needs a lot of detailing....

A look at the business district taking shape.

Lets see, my last post was Sept. 16 2009.... Wow, it's now almost 7 months later!! I'd like to say time flies when your having fun, but I've been busy making $$ to keep the empire afloat. A great deal has changed since the last post, as you can tell by the photos. Currently I'm working on the waterfront area. Just finished a Model Tech wood structure (Roscoes small engine repair) as an addition to my Keller furniture manufacturing facility. I also scratchbuilt a sawdust collector & loader w/ bits of odds & ends that I had laying around. I thought it turned out pretty good. I also did some street running in the harbor town area. It was a bit of a pain to have to scratch out all the plaster w/ some dental tools along the trackage but it was the only way I could think of doing it to make it look alright. I want to add another wood structure to the scene, American model Builders kits "Nine Mile House & Tavern" kit. I thought the wood structures were more fitting in the harbor area.

I also completed 4 "Imagine That" elevated track sections for the lead up to the ore dock. The are really easy kits to build & look great. Unfortunately, because they look so good, I'm thinking about adding a couple more so the whole city section has them instead of some other form of bridge or embankment.