Who has experience in scratchbuilding bigger office buildings, specifically brick buildings? I am building Tacoma ca. 1953 and have decided that "generic" brick buildings as a backdrop behind Union Station simply would not do. So I looked at old photos (the "Tacoma Public Library" at http://search.tpl.lib.wa.us/images/ is extremely valuable) to see how it looked like in the '50s. After assembling the pictures the initial attempts on scrathbuilding started. I did 7 buildings so far, a few more to go. As an example here is the Original: And this is my version: The lettering is correct for the early 50s as the building changed ownership. This is a overview over Pacific Avenue (before the domed Union Station was build) This is my version (though from the other side): Has anybody experience in replicating "real" buildings? What process / materials worked for you? Many Thanks Dirk
No experience in replicating, but it sure looks like you have a great start. Buildings you have done so far, look great to me.
Very well done! I have some experience from my architectural modeling days. Although mostly I built from plans, there were a few projects that were add-ons to existing buildings. These were mostly brick churches, some with stone fascades. They were 1:96 or 1:192 scale. I bought or ordered my materials from a local hobby store--it had architectural supply catalogs, which aren't that much different from model train supply catalogs. Brick sheets are too thin to build with them alone, except for small structures. I see you used DPM parts in places; I did also. Getting dimensions is usually a matter of estimation. If you know the dimension of something in a picture, you can usually figure out other dimensions. And you'll usually come pretty close. It can be tedious--counting the rows of bricks in a five-story building will give you an exact dimension. If you can take pictures of a building, you can always leave a stick (or something) of known measurements in the pictures. The devil is in the details. For things like brick arches, I used to make molds or jigs if I couldn't find something close enough. There's also a modeling clay that dries hard and white (and fragile) for one-of-a-kind features. One trick I learned about mullions in windows from the curator at the Mystic Seaport (1.128) model: score the back of acetate with an Exacto blade for the mullions, then put a drop of white india ink and let it spread in the scores, then wipe it off.
