Bruce Chandler said:
David Russell said:
Holy Crap …Did I actually pay attention for once!!!
I can’t…Doug said the name is Rosseau Hotel…not sure where I got the “N” from…
Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions. I’ve got a few other projects before I do another large building…
That came out great Bruce. Those fire escapes really make it.
Our little riverside burg’s downtown in Missouri looks like it was built from DPM’s little HO scale kits and it has a large 3 story brick hotel where highway crosses river. http://www.hotelfrederick.com/
Fine looking building, Bruce. And like the guys all said, the fire escape (or as people say, “ec-scape”) does add character. As usual, you have inspired me to get off my butt–once I finish Photoshopping about 1000 images of NT stuff.
A random thought regarding having room for a large structure: why not just forget about modeling a town and turn over all of your yard to modeling a city? Cram that space with buildings standing, umm, rear-end-orfice to elbow. Streets crammed with pedestrians, cars, and trucks, etc. I’m thinkin’ Franklin and South Manchester, George Sellios incredible HO layout. Only in large scale. So far the only place I’ve seen guys do cityscapes in large scale is on modular, indoor layouts at train shows. You could be the first to do it in a garden.
Or not.
Bruce, so I went back and reread the whole thread and have some questions, some comments and a tip.
Question: how did you afix the brick sheet to the plexiglas? What did you paint the walls with? Brush? Spray can? I like the mottled look.
Comments about Choppers: with styrene, which is all I use, they often don’t cut true, especially angles. I’ve tried pressing or pushing every which way, to no avail. Of course, Northwest would tell you that’s why they invented the True Sander, but I’m too lazy to add another step to the process. I do know one thing: them Chopper blades do a great job slicing into your fingers when you least expect it. :0
My window-making tip: I would like to try using glass and even had the local glass man cut me a few small squares to make multi-pane windows, which I haven’t tried. My thought is to go to one of those stained glass hobby stores and get some thin pieces of glass that I could cut to size. Glue them to a large pane of glass, then use the whole thing as a jig. When making windows on our outdoor glass tabletop, I kinda half-ass everything right on the surface and have found that MEK activated melting styrene don’t stick very much to the tabletop. And if it does, a gentle nudge or pry with a hobby knife blade pops it loose.
Joe,
I glued it on with the very thin acrylic cement I got from TAP Plastics. I swish the sheet around a bit before it sets, hoping this will help it to NOT deform the plastic sheet.
I painted with a stiff brush, about 1" wide, but had multiple colors out…so it was more mottled colors. The stiff brush helps with that effect. As a side note, I first thought about painting the individual bricks. I did about 3 of them and decided I didn’t have THAT much time to do it.
I typically cut only 90 degree angles with the chopper…haven’t had much luck with the other angles.
A glass backed jig is an idea, but I really haven’t had that much problem with the plywood. Yeah, it sticks, but I can overcome that.
A busy yard would be pretty cool, but my yard is a peninsula and I need to access it from all sides. So far, there’s just the yard office there, and that’s probably thw way it will stay.
Thanks, Bruce. Hey, I was thinking–after seeing your photos of you cutting 90-degree angles on your Chopper–why did ya do that? My last set of windows for my two story house project (another work in progress) I just cut side and end pieces straight on and just stuck 'em together. In real windows, they don’t do 90-degree corners, so why subject yourself to the extra work? My feeling is, once ya slap some paint on 'em, maybe distress the “wood” a bit (put in some grain), nobody will see the joints.
Just my two cents worth. Not trying to out-Bruce ya.
Joe Rusz said:
My window-making tip: I would like to try using glass and even had the local glass man cut me a few small squares to make multi-pane windows, which I haven’t tried. My thought is to go to one of those stained glass hobby stores and get some thin pieces of glass that I could cut to size. Glue them to a large pane of glass, then use the whole thing as a jig. When making windows on our outdoor glass tabletop, I kinda half-ass everything right on the surface and have found that MEK activated melting styrene don’t stick very much to the tabletop. And if it does, a gentle nudge or pry with a hobby knife blade pops it loose.
Joe, you might want to try science supplies and get slide cover glass. They do come in a few different sizes, but are very thin
Joe Rusz said:
Thanks, Bruce. Hey, I was thinking–after seeing your photos of you cutting 90-degree angles on your Chopper–why did ya do that? My last set of windows for my two story house project (another work in progress) I just cut side and end pieces straight on and just stuck 'em together. In real windows, they don’t do 90-degree corners, so why subject yourself to the extra work? My feeling is, once ya slap some paint on 'em, maybe distress the “wood” a bit (put in some grain), nobody will see the joints.
Just my two cents worth. Not trying to out-Bruce ya.
OK. I confess. I am missing the point completely. Straight on? What’s the difference?
Dave, thanks, good tip.
Bruce, I see the problem. Early in your thread you posted a photo of Chopper II in action, cutting what appears to be wood strips at 45-degree angles. I assumed that was your shot, not a product shot from Northwest, and jumped to the conclusion that you cut your styrene at a 45-degree angle too, just like in the product shot. But on closer inspection (is there any other kind?) I noticed that your windows do not have 45-degree cuts, just straight ones, i.e. perpendicular to the styrene strip, and that the pieces just butt up against each other.
So, as Roseanne Rosana Donna of SNL used to say, “Never mind.”
Joe, there is a problem cutting angles…not that you can’t cut them OK, it’s just that you have zero control over the length when you do.
If you wanted a 45 degree cut in each end, I’m not sure how you would get them all to be identical in length.
Bruce, et al,
A good many years ago, in a scale too small to see (for me anyway) I read an article on getting angled cuts ‘perfect’. The author used a small bench top disc sander and set up an angled guide fence. He advised to cut the pieces slightly (up to interpretation) long, then sand them to the exact length.
A great way to do it if you are going for contest quality models, but a bit time consuming for general stuff.
Thought the commentary might be worth something to the perfectionists (I can sometimes fall into that category).
Bob C.
Bruce, Bob (Ted, Carol and Alice),
Yep, sanding is the way to true up them angled cuts, which is why I don’t do that much. I did make 45-degree angled cuts for the door frames on one of my unfinished projects, and they look nice. But as I wrote, way too much work for me.
Yes, Bob, I too fall into that perfectionist category ocassionally. In fact, when I look at my 1:20.3 styrene station, built several years ago, I marvel at how anal I was. It’s the best work I’ve ever done and is like, 96.5-percent finished (I’ve thought about adding corbels under the eaves).
Joe,
Let’s not get anal retentive … 
BC
Bob,
So right. Actually, I told myself I should make a To-Do list like my wife does, and just follow it.
That would get all of these uncompleted projects off the table in my home office (three works in progress hiding there), off the dining room table (one more there) and in a proper place on the living room floor (two more there). Mind you, we are talking about things like adding an interior, or porch roof supports, or painting and/or applying the roof material (tin, shingles). Or in the extreme, gluing all the walls together–after painting, which is a whole 'nuther ball game. Now I’m seeeing some great work from Chandler and Dunakin, to name a few, and I wanta jump back in the deep end. Maybe take a shot at Precision Board or Sintra, especially for making brick and stone walls.
Right now though, I am trying to unscramble my iPhone images (about 1,100) and make sense of my Lightroom and Photoshop folders so I can find stuff. Been at it for four days. Opened a folder marked “New Folder” and found six files, including one 32 meg, hiding inside. As you can see, organization is not my strong suit.
So, what’s new with you?