Work on the railroad has been quite limited lately due to Cris’ health issues, however I have managed to get a little bit done. Here’s what I’ve got so far…
First up, I decided that the next building in the town of Dos Manos would be a hotel. I’m still working on the design, but here’s a simple drawing of the front. It will be a “Mission Revival” type building, with Spanish tile roofing, arches supporting the roof over the sidewalk, etc.:
I wanted it to be three stories tall, but I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t overwhelm the other buildings too much. So today I knocked out a very crude mockup and placed it on the layout. I think it will have to be another inch or two taller but I think it will still fit in ok. What do you think? I also need to raise the roof over the sidewalk a bit, and add a few more features to the mockup:
I’m still trying to figure out what material to make the hotel out of. I’d like something about a half inch thick that is totally weatherproof – maybe some expanded PVC board? I’m open to suggestions.
The other project I’ve been working on a little is the site for the town of Mineral Ridge. Back in July and August I started preparing the site by building a miniature concrete retaining wall, supporting a short road up the slope. Now I’ve started creating foundations for the buildings that will eventually line the roadside. Here’s a couple shots of the first two foundations under construction. I made forms out of foam core board…
I made a display model of our future church sanctuary a couple years ago. For roofing I used small diameter PVC tubing split in half, installed like shingles with silicon, and then painted. Are you sure a tile roof (and stucco?) building will fit in with your mining town style? You probably have pictures of such full size buildings to work with?
Spanish Tile roofing: This may not be the correct time of year, but, every spring Michael’s has lots of “Mission Days” supplies whyen the 5th graders build their missions. Couple years back, I got a sheet of (thin plastic) “spanish roof tiles”. I put it on a piece of plywood with 1x1’s around the sides, layed in a 1/2 inch concrete (50-50 mix of portland & sand) with a whole bunch of red die, layer of cheesecloth, and another 1/2 inch concrete. Worked well, but a bit too thick. Just an idea. I’m going to try it again on another building this spring but thinner. (Like I said worked weel until I was moving things around while weeding and tripped over one of the dogs and it fell onto the patio.)
It’s always a pleasure to follow your work on In-Ko-Pah.
I think the building size is correct. Yes, it is larger, but the storey height is quite consistent in all building.
Honestly, if you had a small two storey building a the right of the hotel, everything will blend together wery well. In a building row, you always have a taller building that stands out more than its neighbors. Esthetically, you’ll get a classic “random” formula of 2 small, 1 large, 1 small which looks quite natural to me.
Good luck with your project, hope to see it completed!
![http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/IRR_Dos_Manos_files/Media/IMG_0637/IMG_0637.jpg[/img]](http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/IRR_Dos_Manos_files/Media/IMG_0637/IMG_0637.jpg%5B/img%5D){kind=link}
