Here is the Adams Ave 1 kit. It has a pawn shop, bar, liquor store and Tatto parlor.This was actually the first building I started on, so a couple of painting mistakes didn't transfer to the Trackside Tavern building. Also, the doors don't fill the openings quite as nicely, so it doesn't have quite the finished feel. Also, I goofed and painted the "Fast Loan" on the wrong wall, so had to reverse the liquor store and pawn shop One other kit critique, and I don't have a good solution, either, but the signs are not photo quality. Look fine when "looking at an N scale model" but don't for photos. See the Archie's Place and Tatto sign, in particular. Photo paper with high density printing would be too thick, but regular paper and printIng isn't right, either. Not the same problem at larger scales. As I said, I don't have a solution, but hope Randy gives some thought to it. Here is the front And the left side Right side And rear All in all, a very interesting build, and will look good in the seedy section of town
Since I was in a building mood, I finally went ahead and built up these two Branchline Company Houses. These are laser cut kits, and doing all those windows are tedious, but worth the effort. Instead of using the Branchline shingles, which are a solid plastic sheet that sticks to the sub-roof, I instead used RSLaserKits shingles. I think it really adds to the houses. The one on the left has been recently painted and a new roof installed. The red one on the right is in danger of hearing from the HOA.
Ha! I think tedious is shedding a conservative light on the gawd-forsaken process that is assembling all those windows. And to think, I've got probably at least 20 or so of the branchline company houses to do by layout's end :-( Yours do look quite fantastic I might add, and you're right too, using those shingles really does add to it. Might have to give them a go next time around.
It has been a while since I did any non-city work, but I finally decided to add some landscaping to the lift out bridge. For the life of the layout, this bridge across the door has been simply painted flat foam on the frame. While I never took any full on pictures, and I am not certain why, here are reminders of the two ends Last weekend I started laying some hydrocal cast rocks, and a thin coat of plaster texturing. After allowing to dry overnight, I colored using WS earth tones Continued....
The desert turned out well, but still needed the addition of some sanded grout around the base of the rocks and in random areas to give variety to the texture. And, ballast is needed. These photos are pre ballast The nice part about the lift out bridge: I could lift it out, and work on a table! Continued...
I got the ballast down yesterday, and finishing touch up around the track work this morning. Here is the module outside on the table Still need to add some "loose" rock, flora and fauna Continued...
And here is the bridge back in place. Still have to work the transitions at the ends. Outside looking in From over the mountains And, the normal operator's view Not sure what these two late 50's commuters are doing out here, except I got them for my birthday this weekend!
looks good Rick... sure wish i could ballast around them ^%$$#$*^#&$#$&(*$&%# slider switches better on mine...grrrrrrrrrr
That isn't ballast there! I painted the roadbed the same color as the ballast, and very carefully avoid putting any rock or glue near the slider switches or the point rails.
I have made some yucca plants, using Mike Fifer's technique. Here they are after construction, and drying.
Mike, yes very easy. Photos were taken about two hours after the package with the WS flowers arrived. Thanks for the speedy delivery. Maybe took about 30 minutes for all ten, after getting everything gathered. George, ugh.
At long last, the backdrop for the yard is up! These are a series of photos I took out in Sunol, that my daughter PhotoShopped together into a single panorama, and taking out I-680. It is about 7 feet wide, and is mounted to the vinyl backdrop I stretched around the layout when initially constructing the benchwork.
