Some recent work on the In-ko-pah RR

[finescalerr]

Ray, that is some of your best work and the street scene at the top is first rate. Most satisfactory. -- Russ

[Bill Gill]

Ray, That's wonderful! Wonderful tribute, wonderful work, wonderful model!

[Barney]

Amazing stuff this and a excellent tribute - with atmosphere and the night shots of the mine just make it
  Barney

[Hydrostat]

That shop interior is really something. It's absolutely amazing how well the printed jewelry works. Stunning!

A wonderful small place to perpetuate your brother's memory.

[Lawton Maner]

When are you going to open the jail?  That would give Russ a place to send those of us he is upset with. 

[finescalerr]

We don't need no stinkin' jail, Lawton. Just stand in the corner! -- ssuR

[TRAINS1941]

Ray your usual wonderful work.  And the outstanding detail you do.

Jerry

[Ray Dunakin]

After seven years of constant exposure to the elements, the building's exterior was in remarkably good shape. However it did need a little bit of refurbishing.




The stones on the front of the building were resin castings. These castings shrank slightly, leaving unsightly gaps, and a few had come loose:




I filled the gaps, using a gritty, acrylic putty made for artists, called "ceramic stucco". The excess paste cleans off with water. I thought that the gritty texture would be a nice effect but it ended up leaving tiny traces of grit on the stones too. It's not bad enough to bother redoing it, but if I were to do this again on another building I'd use plain acrylic paste.




After filling the gaps I repainted the entire front of the structure, and weathered it with grime and "bird poop" on the ledges.




The east side of the building was textured and painted to look like random stone construction, very similar in appearance to the real stone retaining wall on the cliff behind the building. This area still looked good, with only slight fading. I touched up the paint on a few stones here and there just to make it "pop" a little.

However, the two signs on this side of the building were badly faded and becoming nearly unreadable. I went over them with some fresh painted, applied by hand with a brush. I made the colors more vivid so they wouldn't fade so quickly.






Unsurprisingly, the top of the building had the most wear due to pounding rain and hail. In some places the paint was nearly worn off. I sanded them to give the surface "tooth" and repainted them.






Next I went to work making a sign for gallery. This would fit in the arch above the storefront. I used Slater PlastiKard letters and glued them to 0.040" styrene rods. I placed a thin strip of brass between the rods to keep them properly spaced while gluing the letters with solvent. Once the letters were secured I removed the brass.






The entire sign was sprayed with flat black paint. Then I used a fine brush to apply gold paint to the front of the letters. The styrene rods were trimmed to fit the arch, and the sign was glued into place:




Smaller signs for the windows were printed on self-adhesive vinyl. These were mounted on a brass strip and glued in place on the inside of the storefront. Then the storefront was glued into the building.




That's all for now. The next step is creating interior details for the second floor, which will be the jewelry-making workshop.


.

[finescalerr]

I keep reminding myself your models have to live outdoors 24/7 when the vast majority of indoor models can't even compare. One thing worries me: The Dunakin Gallery sign. It seems a bit fragile. Heat, cold, water, and UV rays may damage it more quickly than you expect. Despite my concern for the lettering's durability, everything looks first rate. -- Russ

[Bill Gill]

That building held up really well, surprisingly well considering the harsh environment. Good work repointing the stones and the spiffy new gallery is a
nice addition to the town.

[Bernhard]

I admire your attention to detail. This shop is a really nice tribute to your brother.

Bernhard

[Ray Dunakin]

Took a break from modeling to do the videos from my Nevada trip. Now I finally have something to report...

I wanted the second story of this building to be a silversmithing workshop. I only had one very tiny photo of my brother's workshop, which gave me a rough idea of how it should look. I also Googled some photos of similar workshops which helped me get a better idea of the details.

I started by making a bunch of tools and other items to hang on a simulated pegboard:




I also modeled a slab cutter, which is a special saw for cutting raw stone into slices. The largest part was made from a block of Sintra PVC, sanded to shape and skinned with .020" styrene:










Another machine I modeled is a combination trim saw and cabochon grinder/polisher:






I made a lot of other items, installed them in the room, and added lights:






A couple shots looking into the room from outside the window:






The last thing I did was make a pair of exterior lamps to light up the store front. After finishing the wiring the building was complete and I installed it on the layout:














I had also wanted to make a lighted "Jewelry" sign to the exterior, but my idea for that didn't work out. I may try a different way to make that work at some later date. And eventually I want to make scale figures of my brother and his wife to occupy the building.


.

[finescalerr]

Outstanding, Ray. -- Russ

[Hydrostat]

Ray,

I'm with Russ. I really like those interior shots and i admire your patience to create those seemingly countless small tools and items. What was the problem with the lighted sign?

Volker

[Lawton Maner]

Nice 21st century building adaption from a New Mexico tourist town in a 19th century mining town.  Next you can remodel the hardware store into a fern bar or a Starbucks.

Russ:
I'm headed to a corner.