Project Corner: Part 3

Last time we left off with painted walls. Since then, I painted some of the details, applied several washed of India Ink, and touched up some of the exposed stone with some highlight paint colors.

Once the walls looked good, I cut out the signs provided by the kit, applied them with white glue, burnished them into the brick and wall cracks, then gave them some light weathering using some paints and dry brushing.

My next step was to add the detail parts: electrical boxes and conduit, security bars on some of the doors and windows, a couple of door awnings, a fire escape, and a few Woodland Scenics door lights.

After all of these details were added, I went back and touched up some spots with more weathering – applied with paint and dry brushing. Hint: Weathering buildings goes a long way towards hiding any inconsisitencies, glue spots and other mistakes made during the building process.

That is all for this update. In our final installment, I will show you how the backdrop building is installed on the layout and all the details that will be added to the scene: barrels, crates, boxes, trash, trucks, people and more.

Project Corner Part 2:

It’s time for the next installment of Project Corner. Continueing with the Downtown Deco building kit, we left off last time with th wall sections being glued together with a foam board backing. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the next couple of steps.

A few days later, when the glue was dry, I cut the foam board around the wall sections, then sprayed a coat of grey grey Rust-oleum primer. The instructions say that adding a primer before painting helps keep the future coats of paint from “soaking” into the plaster too much. Plaster is very absorbant.

Then, I taped off sections of the individual walls and gave them light spray coats (also Rust-Oleum) of white, red, and orange.

This dried for a week or so until I was able to work on the project again.

Today I brush painted the black stripe on the white brick wall, and painted some washes of grey, black and burnt umber on various wall sections.

The plastered areas of this section need some work!

This is the wall section after today’s painting session. I will let it dry and get back to it in a few days. Next time I will paint the doors, highlight some cracks, joints and plastered areas, then add some more washes to the whole project.

Stay tuned for part 3.

Project Corner:

Follow along as we add a new building to the layout. Most of us have not constructed a Downtown Deco kit before, so we are figuring it out. We love a new challenge.

This kit will be added to the Beaver Falls area of the layout, where we need a few background buildings.

This is how the kit comes packaged. Lots of bubble wrap to protect the plaster wall sections, some bags of plaster detail parts, a bag of styrene doors and windows, some wire and printed signs for the businesses.

Several pages of detailed instructions and painting tips.

These are the plaster walls sections that represent several different businesses. Step 1 is to sand and clean all the flashing from the windows, doors and edges of the walls. Step 2 is to make sure the styrene windows and doors fit correctly. This took some additional sanding and shaving. I used a file and an old xacto knife for scraping.

Once all the pieces are sanded, I dry fit all the wall sections to double check the fit. The instructions recommend a 2 part epoxy, white glue or wood glue. I chose to use Aleene’s Tacky glue. Once the walls are glued, the instructions recommend glueing a flat piece of wood to the back for support. I chose to glue the wall sections to foam core board while glueing the sections together. In the picture above, I have everything glued together and to the foam core board, with some weights to hold it down. When the glue dries, I will cut the foam core board around the wall sections.

Watch this page for Part 2 of this series…..

Work Night at the CSME

The second Wednesday of each month is a work night. Several members worked on the layout, a few ran trains, and the board had its bimonthly meeting.

Big steam rolls through Beaver Falls.

A new industry has popped up in Beaver Falls.

A new industry has popped up in Mary’s River, Nick’s Junk Yard

Another view of Nick’s

Also in Mary’s River, a new brewery has opened.

Workshop Night at the CSME

Each month we host a workshop night at the clubhouse. This evening, one of our members shared his knowledge of 3D printing with us.

Intro of 3D printing

Example of a filament 3D printer

There was a lot of interest in what 3D printing has to offer the hobby of model railroading.

3D printed building facade.

G scale 3D print

3D printed HO scale hopper

Other work around the layout:

Angel’s Camp logging area is coming along nicely.

Boudreaux Overalls factory in Beaver Falls

Red Rock

Details in Red Rock

Work Night

Working on some new track at the south end of Beaver Falls
Mary’s Peak is taking shape.
Beaver Falls yard redo.

Last Wednesday was a work night at the CSME. There were quite a few members working on projects. There will be a lot of progress to see when our annual open house weekends come up in November. I hear rumors of an extension with some street running track, a new mountain or two, and the circus may be in town.

Open House a Success!

Thanks to all who attended our two weekends of Open House this year. We hoped you enjoyed seeing our model train layout. We’ve spent the last year working hard on our trains and scenery and are making great progress.

Your visit allowed us to share our hobby and helped us pay the bills so we can continue to share our love of model railroading with the community. 

Thanks again and we hope to see you next year!