Dos Manos - Building #4

[Ray Dunakin]

I've made a lot of progress on the upstairs office of the drugstore. The interior is almost finished. I used some 1/24th scale dollhouse furniture for the desk, chairs and bookcase. They're a bit crude but I made a few modifications, and heavily aged/distressed them to fit this old, grungy office space. I also made a small cabinet and a lot of boxes and other details. The desk lamp will have a working bulb. Here are some test shots: 

 


The walls are "weathered" to look stained and a little grimy, and the floor was painted to look like old, worn linoleum:

 

 


I still need to add a few more details, and put in the ceiling and lights. I've built the door and window frames but need to add "glass" and then install them into the openings. I also need to build the roof.

There are a couple more pics on my website, beginning here: 

http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/IRR_Dos_Manos.html#115

Enjoy!

[Malachi Constant]

Ray --

Pretty much looks like I could just walk into any of those rooms ... for some goofy reason, the oval metal trash can stands out as a familiar old object in my memory ... the junk spilling into cardboard boxes is a nice touch and those look good ...

Also reminds me a bit of my Grandmother's house ... with the high ceilings and heavy molding around the top.  The walls were plaster, so all pictures were hung from wires going up to the wood molding.

One object stands out as not quite fitting in to me ... the lamp on the desk looks heavy and awkward.  A more delicate piece would look better there.

PS -- I had to stop and admire the light switch! 

Cheers,
Dallas

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks! Yes, the desk lamp bothers me too. But I wanted it to work, and couldn't fit the bulb leads through anything smaller.

[JohnP]

Jeepers Ray that is incredible. The bottles and boxes are a delight to look at. I like the look of the place with the old shelves and lamps. So much more humane than a CVS or Walgreens! 

You might want to look into using surface mount LEDs for lighting small objects if you're good with a soldering iron. You could use magnet wire for the leads so they would fit anywhere. The LED would need a resistor as usual.

John

[Ray Dunakin]

Funny thing about that waste basket -- I made it from a piece of an oval-shaped plastic tube I've been saving for something like 25 years. I knew if I ever got back into model building, I'd eventually find a use for such a unique item.

[Ray Dunakin]

Here's another brief update on my progress...



I've installed the "glass" in the drugstore's windows and door, and glued the whole assembly into place on the front of the building. The ceiling lamps are installed and the bulbs wired up in such a way that it will be simple to replace any bulb that burns out. The ceiling assembly connects to the power via a tiny two-pin plug, so the whole assembly can be removed as needed. The upstairs portion of the building will connect via a second plug.

The sidewalk is finished and installed, along with two pillars made from brass tube, and the lower part of the upstairs balcony.

Additionl new pics begin here:

http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/IRR_Dos_Manos.html#117

Enjoy!   

[Ray Dunakin]

This afternoon I decided that the balcony really needed to sag a little bit, between the two support pillars. Ideally the sag should have been added before that part of the structure was installed on the building. So I placed the building on a slope, shielded the storefront, and put a lead weight on the bottom section of the balcony. Then I poured boiling water over it. This softened the styrene enough to let it sag just a little, and when cool it held that shape.

The rest of the balcony structure will be given a matching sag when it's built.

[finescalerr]

And you plan on leaving that little work of art outdoors? -- Russ

[Ray Dunakin]

A really good idea turned out to be a really bad idea...

The balcony of this drugstore is in two sections. There's a thin, simple piece attached to the ground floor of the building, which acts as a "ceiling" over the sidewalk and provides a way to mate the upstairs portion to the downstairs portion. As seen in my previous posts, I have already installed the groundfloor piece, and used boiling water to induce an appropriate sag.

So I've been building the rest of the balcony, which will attach to the upstairs part of the building. It's a more complex structure, with decorative trim. Rather than trying to bend each piece of styrene to the correct curve to replicate the sag, I had what seemed like a good idea at the time. I built the structure, complete with decking, and even added the simulated wood grain texturing. Then I placed the whole thing on blocks to support the rear and sides, so that only the front end would sag -- and put it in the oven on low heat (about 225 degrees).

In just a couple minutes it was becoming soft enough to sag when I placed a lead weight on it. Unfortunately the heat was having other effects as well. The deck planks became severely warped and distorted. The "liquid weld" glue joints softened more than the styrene, and all the joints shifted. The individual components failed to bend as one unit.

End result: A lot of time and effort wasted.

It looks like I can salvage the frame, after stripping off the deck planks. The deck will need to be replaced. The frame had to be almost completely disassembled. I bent the front section of the frame separately, by hand, after pouring hot water on it.

[finescalerr]

Rather disappointing. -- Russ

[Chuck Doan]

Sorry to hear it Ray. I think we've all been there.

[Ray Dunakin]

I successfully repaired and rebuilt the balcony frame and replaced the deck. In these photos you can see the way it sags a little in the middle. You can also see how this part of the balcony will be attached to the upstairs part of the building, and how it slips over the lower portion which is attached to the ground floor. I still have to add the railings, posts and roof, and then paint the whole thing. :






I wanted the balcony railings to look like slightly ornate wrought iron or cast iron. It took me a while to come up with a suitable way to do this, without excessive amounts of labor. I found some cheap wooden boxes at Michael's. These boxes have a somewhat elaborate metal grill in the top. I cut this grill into sections and soldered the sections to 1/16" square brass tubes:





In the above photo, the railing still needs to be cleaned up, excess solder removed, and the horizontal members trimmed to the appropriate length.

[Scratchman]

Ray,very nice job inside and out.

Gordon Birrell

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77318580@N00/

[TRAINS1941]

Ray
Nice fix.  It looks to be getting back in shape.  The inside work way more than adequate.

Jerry

[Malachi Constant]

Hi Ray --

Glad you got the "fix" on the balcony ... I've done myself in with "clever" use of steam before. 

Looks like a good find on the railings too ....

Cheers,
Dallas