I finished building my second structure. It’s the Walthers Cornerstone Series # 933-3007 - 2 stall engine house. This was my first attempt at mortaring brick. As you can see in the photos, I need a little more experience. I will weather it soon.
I built a similar structure for my first layout, back in the 80s, and I toned it down a little by painting the doors and window trim a light brown or tan. That green was just a little garish for my tastes. Your engine house looks fine. Try getting some chalks (really cheap at Wal-Mart) to add a little weathering and some Testor’s Dull-cote to get rid of that plastic structure sheen…
Nice work. Here’s my version. I’m leaving the roof removeable in case something gets stuck inside. I have to work on my technique for adding soot stains.
I’m going to be installing my roundhouse later today, I’ll post pics.
Nice work. The mortor looks good. The amount of weathering will make a big difference. Will it be a new building or old and somewhat delapitated?
Nice work, weathering is the key. I am going to try the paper brick on the inside of the ones I need to build. Going to leave the roof off on 9 of the 21 bays for the round house.
I think it is great that your structure can out so well. Have you seen the book on Building Structures? I got a copy and will try their ideas on some of the Buildings.
Have you ever tried the India ink method?
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Marlon: Funny you should mention the green color, I wasn’t real crazy about it myself. I experimented with a few different colors on the green sprues that the doors and windows came on, but didn’t really find another color I liked so I just went with the green. My next purchase is going to be weathering chalks and india ink. I will post some more pictures after weathering.
Dan: Your version looks good too. Good idea leaving the roof loose, considering the depth of the building. I know what you mean about the soot stains, weathering in general takes a lot of practice from what I have read. My first attempt on a box car was a disaster.
Art: Thanks, I am planning on it being an old building, (30 to 40 years) well used but maintained. Any suggestions on what and where to weather?
George: Thanks, I am planning on buying a book on Scratch Building Structures. I also bought some of the paper brick to try for this. I have very vivid memories of the prototype yard office for my layout and haven’t seen anything that comes close, so I think that will be my first scratch build attempt. I have not tried the India Ink method yet, but am planning to in the near future.
Thanks again everyone for the comments and suggestions, I appreciate it. Good modeling, John
John, a very nice first start. I would suggest painting the entire structure. My first attempts went un-painted and used the colored plastic as the color scheme, these structures just do not look as good as the models that are completly painted. A good example of this is the roof on the model you have made. It looks like this is supposed to be a metal roof. This will look great with rust streaks and grime on it. If it is still in its raw plastic state, you will find it hard to get subtle and realistic weathering on it.
This is my engine house, an IHC, not finished yet.
The flash enhances the bright areas, so it looks less “grungy” than in real life. I used the baking-flour-and-dullcoat method of mortaring, and weathered it with a thin India Ink wash. I went with dirty white on these windows, which enhanced the worn-out, tired look I was going for. For my roundhouse, I used “moss green” spray paint, which comes out much darker than any of the other greens I’ve tried.
Someone suggested brush-painting for roof colors. I did that, and I like the results. I hand-mix black, gray and a bit of white, but I don’t mix it too well, so that the painted surface does not come out completely uniform.
The foundation is a rock wall casting, cut down to 2-brick strips.
Very nice MisterBeasley, I hope to start working on my weathering techniques soon, your post certainly gives me something to shoot for. Thanks,
John
Looks pretty good,Weathering is one thing that scares me,When I do try it I’m gonna use chalks.
They make weathering chalk that has a glue in it that sticks to the surface. I have just tried a few, but it is wonderful to get what you want and and have it there after you spray the dull coat, and in some instances not want a top coat. I am no expert on this, but for me it is easier and better than trying to get the chalk right.
For weathering models, I like the top of the line stuff. Take a look here: http://www.bragdonent.com/weather.htm
It may be a bit pricier than Mall Wart, but I guarentee you will find this stuff is great to use.
Hey thats pretty snazzy looking… good job!!!
Hey that’s a good link. Looking for something like this.
Thanks.
Heck, it looks good to me. I have a building I might have to try that technique on.
Nice pics!!!
James
Ray,
Thanks for the advice on the Bragdon weathering powders. They sound like the way to go to me. I ordered the 12 color kit tonight. Now it remains to be seen what I can do with them. Thanks again, John.
I think it looks great. Brick mortar is always tuff for me.
Congratz on completing your second building! I like that structure, and you’ve done well on the brick work. Paint and weather the roof, doors, windows and trim and you’ll have one very special piece for you layout.
Trevor