Some recent work on the In-ko-pah RR

[Greg Hile]

Ray, so glad to see you back at it! As for me, after two years of fits and starts with my vision issues, I think I may truly be back at it again, as well.

One question, good idea to switch out the plastic for glass windows, but what thickness are you using and from where are you sourcing it from?

Greg

[5thwheel]

Ray, so glad to see you back at it! As for me, after two years of fits and starts with my vision issues, I think I may truly be back at it again, as well.

One question, good idea to switch out the plastic for glass windows, but what thickness are you using and from where are you sourcing it from?

Greg

For glass in miniature use dollhouse miniatures methods. Use standard glass but paint the edges black or use black marker.  This will hide the thickness of the glass.

Bill Hudson

[Ray Dunakin]

Ray, so glad to see you back at it! As for me, after two years of fits and starts with my vision issues, I think I may truly be back at it again, as well.

One question, good idea to switch out the plastic for glass windows, but what thickness are you using and from where are you sourcing it from?

Greg

The glass I use is only 0.05" thick. It comes in 12' x 12" sheets:

https://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/m3012.html

When I first started out, I tried using slide cover glass but I couldn't find any large enough for most 1/24th scale windows.


I'm glad to hear your vision has improved enough to allow a return to modeling.

[Ray Dunakin]

For glass in miniature use dollhouse miniatures methods. Use standard glass but paint the edges black or use black marker.  This will hide the thickness of the glass.

Interesting! I'll have to try that sometime, with the glass I'm using.

[Mr Potato Head]

Hey Ray
thanks for that link to the larger pieces of glass
Gil Flores
in exile in Florida

[finescalerr]

Hey, Gil! Make up your mind where you're in exile! (Hopeless ... you're utterly hopeless ....) -- Russ

[Ray Dunakin]

Here's another update...

Prior to painting the exterior, I sprayed the interior with white primer. Then I painted the floor and installed the wainscot. The wainscot was made from .020" thick, V-groove styrene siding, trimmed with .080" half-round rod and a couple different sizes of styrene strips:




The removable rear wall was detailed to match. I extended the paint beyond the ends of the wainscot on this wall, to hide any small gaps that might occur when the wall is in place. The exterior of this wall was painted with straight, brown house paint:






Next I went to work on glazing the windows. Here are the tools I used, and the pieces that were cut to fit the upstairs windows:






I used a toothpick to smear clear silicone caulk on the back of the window frames, then pressed the glass in place:




On these loose window frames there is usually minimal clean up required. Excess silicone is trimmed off with a hobby knife, and if necessary, scraped off using the blade of a very small screwdriver:




Installing the glass in the storefront is much trickier. I had to reach in from the rear of the building to apply the silicone and press the glass into place. As a result there was a lot of smudges and excess silicone on the glass. But eventually I got most of it cleaned off:






The next job was to make and install the corrugated metal roofing. The corrugated metal was made from .001" brass shim stock. I used Dynaflex 230 paintable sealant to glue the metal to the roof:










When this had fully set, I masked off the entire building, leaving only the two roof sections exposed. First I sprayed on a coat of self-etching metal primer, followed by a coat of Rustoleum's "Cold Galvanizing Compound". This paint contains real zinc and gives an authentic galvanized appearance to the metal:




Still to come: Signage, installing the upstairs window and side door, interior details, and lighting.

.

[Bernhard]

Excellent work, Ray. I love the store front and the weathering. Very realistic

Bernhard

[Bill Gill]

Looks really good, Ray! I like the blue trim.
Would the texture/finish of the Rustoleum Cold Galvanizing Compound work at HO scale or would it be too coarse?

[finescalerr]

Satisfactory. -- Russ

[Ray Dunakin]

Looks really good, Ray! I like the blue trim.
Would the texture/finish of the Rustoleum Cold Galvanizing Compound work at HO scale or would it be too coarse?

I think so. Luckily I still had a tiny scrap of HO corrugated aluminum in a box of old detail parts. So I mounted it on a piece of foam core and gave it a quick spray. Just the Cold Galvanizing compound, no primer. Looks ok to me, but I'll try to post a photo later.

[Bill Gill]

Thanks, Ray.

[Ray Dunakin]

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign...

The original structure had a small upright sign mounted on the roof of the overhang, and nothing on the false front. This time I opted to paint the name of the bakery on the false front, in large, vintage style lettering. I printed the sign onto a sheet of inkjet-printable, self-adhesive vinyl. Then I cut out the letters to make a stencil, and mounted it on the building:




At first I applied the paint with a stencil brush, which gave it a stippled appearance. I could have stopped there if I wanted it worn and faint, but I decided it shouldn't be quite so old. So I added a little more paint using an old artist's brush.

When I removed the stencil I found that the paint had bled under it in many places. This was not unexpected, considering the rough surface:




I touched up the edges of the letters by hand, using a fine tip artist's brush. Then I lightly dry-brushed some gray-brown paint over the letters to make them look a bit more worn. Here's the finished sign:




There are several more signs on the building. These are much smaller -- too small to be painted on, at least with my limited skills. So I printed them onto wet-transfer decal paper. I wet the area with a setting solution called "MicroSol". The decals were dipped in water, then transferred to the structure. When the decal was properly positioned, I drenched it with MicroSol and left it to dry:





I had used decals on the old building too, but noticed that the weather wore off the lettering despite being sprayed with Krylon clear coat. So on this structure, after the decals were dry I brushed on some clear gesso to provide an extra layer of protection. Next I lightly applied some paint to give the lettering a weathered appearance:




The signs on the V-groove siding were given the same treatment, with the additional step of gently pressing the decal into the grooves with the blade of a small screwdriver. Weathering was achieving primarily by using the dry-brush technique:








The signs were finished off with a generous coating of Krylon UV-resistant matte clear. I had to mask off the windows and the corrugated metal before spraying the Krylon. Normally I would have added the signs before painting the roof or putting in the glass, but I couldn't find my stock of decal material and had to order more. The place I get it from was going through a move, so my order was delayed.




Next: Installing the second story windows, putting the posts under the overhang, detailing the interior, etc.

.

[finescalerr]

It keeps looking better and you're awfully good with a paintbrush. -- Russ

[Design-HSB]

Hello Ray,

I always admire how perfect you build for a garden railway.
What you show there many don't even create for a diorama.
I build on a comparable scale and can therefore understand this quite well.