One of my current projects is a long abandoned coaling station. I model diesel (mostly 70’s to modern) and I wanted this structure to look like it hasn’t been used since the 50’s.
I started with this Bachmann coaling station I picked up at the LHS.
I then stripped the roof off it and weathered it appropriately.
Next I rubbed aluminum foil into the contours of the original roof and spray painted it a rust color.
The next step was to cut and place rafters where the original roof had been.
I weathered the rafters with a wash of gray paint and alcohol.
The next step was to cut the roofing into scale 4x10 foot pieces.
I then used white glue and a pair of tweezers to place the sheets where I wanted them. I used the tweezers to tease the bends into them. First one side:
I was thinking more like mid 80’s to late 90’s. I modeled the roof after the roof of my grandfather’s old welding shop. The building was over 50 years old and the roof was in much the same shape just before the building was torn down in the late 90’s. Almost all the color you see is rust. I used several color variations.
Jeff-- I really like what you’ve done. Just a thought–in the fairly wet climate that you model, I’m wondering if you might have the rust ‘leeching’ just a little down the sides of the coaling station itself. As if rainwater had leaked the rust between the joints of the galvanized roof. I know out here in the Sierra, which can get pretty wet during the winter, that older, disused mining and industrial buildings with galvanized roofs tend to have a kind of ‘rust’ color under the eaves where the water has leached the rust onto the building itself.
Interesting concept, and the basic colors are good. My question is with the condition of the roof.
Are you modeling an area with nothing but gentle breezes? Or is Hurricane (Fillintheblank) or a supercell likely to drop by for a visit. If the latter, all those really loose pieces of tin are going to be a flying debris hazard.
Old windpower sailors have a saying, “The wind is always fairer aloft.” What they really mean is that the wind grows stronger as you climb higher. A roof on a low building somewhat protected by trees and adjacent structures won’t be subject to the full wrath of Mother Nature. That coaling tower is pretty tall…
A good point. Winds here are usually on the calm side of the scale as we don’t get much in the way of hurricane force winds here. Tornodoes and straight line winds on the other hand are a different matter and this is the type of damage and stress I’ve shown in the roof panels. It would fit right in with the majority of the old structures along the line here.
