In-ko-pah RR: Brick building

[Ray Dunakin]

I've finished the roof and rear wall, using the same design as described on my previous build. The rear wall is removable for access to the interior, and is not detailed because it will be positioned against a cliff:



I also built two box-like structures to contain the interior details. These slide out of the main structure:




I had planned to use resin "stone" castings over the window and door arches. However, when I laid them out on the model, it just didn't look right to me. So I went with Plan B -- brick arches. These were made from 1mm thick Sintra PVC, scribed, cut to shape and glued into place:




I've started building the frames for the windows and door. So far only the most basic part of the frames has been done, using .080" x .125" strips of styrene. There are still more details to be added. Here they are temporarily fitted into the building:




Because this building is supposed to be rundown and weathered, I scribed some woodgrain into the styrene strips prior to cutting them to fit. The curved part was made by bending one of the strips around a small saucepan, then heating it by holding it above the electric burner on our stove:




Here's a shot of the building temporarily in position on the foundation:




I also screwed something up... My first attempt at scribing the bricks at the forward edge of the side wall was a complete disaster. The red putty used to smooth the joint crumbles when scribed, and the joints tend to cause the scribing tool to go off course.  I think it would have worked better if I'd used an epoxy putty. Also, I goofed up the spacing of the mortar lines. I'll have to put some more thought into this before making another attempt.




.

[Hydrostat]

Ray,

this looks very good. Sintra seems to be called Forex in Germany. I think I'll give it a try; I like your results very much and the material seems to be stable, too.

Volker

[Chuck Doan]

Well you learned fast because the rest of your bricks look great!

[Ray Dunakin]

I've finished the doors and windows for the ground floor. The doors were built up from strips of .020" styrene. although it's not visible in the photo, the doors and frames all have simulated wood grain. The door handles will be added after the doors are painted:







.

[Ray Dunakin]

I finished building the frames for the upstairs windows. Here's one of them:




Then I decided it would be fun to have an old air conditioner hanging out one of the windows. I was inspired by this building in Tonopah, NV:




The air conditioner I modeled is meant to be older and has a simpler design. It will also function as a vent for the structure, to equalize the interior air pressure and prevent build up of humidity:




Here's how it turned out. I still have to add the glass:








I had wanted to paint the AC a color other than white, and this yellowish-tan was the only thing I had on hand. I'm not sure it's the best choice but it'll do. Adding the bird poop, rust and grime was fun.

.

[Chuck Doan]

Nice touch, it looks great, and functional too!

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks. Seeing it in these close up photos, I've noticed a couple things that still need a bit of work to make the weathering look right.

[finescalerr]

Well, perfect or not, you seem to be getting pretty good at this stuff. -- Russ

[Malachi Constant]

The bird poop is a nice touch!  Er, well, not really a nice touch ... but it looks good ... no, not that either ... 

Um, keep up the fine work!    -- Dallas

[TRAINS1941]

Great detail.  Looks great.

Jerry

[BKLN]

Ray,
this will be a true highlight on the In-Ko-Pah, if this AC is an indicator for what we can expect for the rest of the building. I can't wait to see the brick treatment.

[Ray Dunakin]

More progress... I'm finally getting to the fun part: painting!

I started by coating the exterior of the building with the same concrete-colored exterior latex paint that I used on my previous building:




Then I made a couple small, flat stamps out of scraps of Sintra PVC. The larger one is about .5" x 1.75". The smaller one is about 5/8" long and less than an half inch wide:




I used a paint brush to apply a thin layer of paint to the face of the stamp. Then I press it down onto the brick surface. The paint sticks to the raised face of the bricks, defining their shape. The smaller stamp was used to get into narrow places:






Obviously it doesn't cover everything, especially on the "decayed" bricks, and so there is a lot of touching up that has to be done using a fine brush. Still, it beats painting each brick one by one.

Here's a close up shot of the bricks after touching up:




The upper portion of the side walls has a small section of bricks which will be visible above the adjoining buildings. As you may recall, I had used automotive spot putty to smooth the joints, which caused problems when I tried to scribe the lines using the custom tools I made. What I ended up doing was using a carbide tipped metal scribe, and going over it fairly lightly to avoid crumbling the putty. The photo below shows how it turned out. It's not great but it'll do. It'll look better after I touch up the paint in the mortar lines do a few other little things:




Here are a couple shots of the building in progress, setting on the foundation:






More to come... Enjoy!

[finescalerr]

I still can't get past the idea that you are doing all this wonderful stuff for an OUTDOOR layout. The elements are not your models' best friend. -- Russ

[TRAINS1941]

Ray that is just so dam good.  I can't believe this is outdoor either.

Jerry

[Ray Dunakin]

Made some more progress, and in interesting turn of events...

I wanted to have some very old, worn and faded signs on the building. But first, I felt that a lot of the mortar lines were too deep, especially where the signs would be. So after experimenting on a test piece, I discovered that my concrete colored latex paint could be mixed with DAP "Dynaflex 230" paintable sealant, which I then rubbed into the grooves. I had to do small sections at a time, quickly washing off the excess with a damp cloth and a paper towel. This worked extremely well, much better then when I had tried it with paint only. So I may have to reconsider my whole approach before I create my next brick building. Anyway, here's how it turned out:




I masked off the area for the signs, and painted in the background color. I dabbed the paint on using a piece of gray foam from a cheap foam paintbrush. Then I used a fine-tipped brush to hand-paint some blotches of solid color, and also to blend in some tints. In this photo you can also see where I experimented with some hand-painted chipping. It looked good so I stopped there. The chipping really needed to be done after the lettering was added:




The lettering was printed out on self-adhesive vinyl. You can find inkjet printable vinyl on ebay. I cut out the letters and positioned the mask onto the building. I tried using the foam to apply the paint but it couldn't get down near the edges of the mask, so I ended up stippling it with an old, small brush.

After removing the mask, I used a fine brush to add some lighter shades of gray. Then I added the chipping, again painting it by hand with a fine point brush:





And here are some close ups of the smaller, vertical signs:














The windows and doors were temporarily inserted in the structure. I still have to finish painting the door and add glass to the windows. I also need to paint the stone walls on the sides of the building, paint the roof and add smokejacks, etc. Then I'll do some weathering on the overall structure. But currently I'm deciding whether I want to add any more signs.






That's it for now, more later. Enjoy!

.