I am about to begin the painting of Cornerstone Merchant’s Row 1 structure, a project I postponed for too long because I can’t decide which colors to use. If you have this specific structure on your layout, please show me what you have done.
LION uses paints from WalMart or Hobby Lobby.
ROAR
Mine was cut apart and kitbashed so proubly wouldn’t be of any help.
Mine’s a different model in the Merchants’ Row series, but hopefully these examples will help. I found this to be a really nice model that’s quite an eye-catcher, so I gave it a prominent location, dressed it up with an interior and detailed the street scene as well.
I planned things during construction by adding interior floors and walls of foamboard. Some of this is overkill, particularly the second floor where the windows are small and it’s hard to see anything inside, but it takes almost no extra time to print wood, tile or carpet floors on my computer, cut them to size and glue them to the foamboard inside. I also installed both interior and exterior lighting at this point.
This is the lower floor, where the windows are larger and it’s possible to see the details inside. Again, there’s nothing here but foamboard and stuff printed on the computer.
Although the 4 walls are each one piece of molded plastic, they represent multiple buildings with different facades. So, I did a lot of masking and used quite a few colors. I use rattle-can spray paints from the hardware store, mostly. As I recall, I used thinned acrylic paint for the mortar.
Illumination gives the interiors some life. They included a lot of signs with this kit, and I used them as suggestions for the bike shop and the Oriental rug place.
Figures and parking meters make the scene "de
Hi Guy,
Well I don’t have 1, but I bashed 2, 3&4 together…but I also had to change the width to 2 1/2 inches wide, so they would fit as backdrops in a scene which is a work in progress. Everything was made removable, held in with screw’s. Lighting, LED’s and Incandesants are mounted on a scratch built base that slides into buildings…The backs of the buildings are screwed on, with #0 3/8’’ wood screw’s. The interiors, I am working on now…with a whole bunch of SS Ltd. castings. They eventually will be glued to the stores floors, so the slide in lighting/w/walls, will not interfere with them. Making the width’s smaller was not such an easy task, in regards to moulded on detail, like window’s and doors…but it worked out pretty good.
The Brass rod’s under the overpass, are what the wiring is soldered to, so no wires are visible and only takes two wires to disconnect. They also provide power for the lights and hold the bridge in place.
Not yet installed in pic’.
Still a lot to do, on the whole scene!..
Take Care! [:D]
Frank
I built a Merchant’s Row for the Bay Junction project on the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy. The picture is the cover photo right now on MR’s Facebook page.
I have a lot of brick buildings on my layout, from Walthers, DPM and City Classics. One thing that’s lacking in all of them is the interior brick of the parapets around the roof. The plain, flat plastic of the reverse side of the castings just doesn’t make it for me.
Since my layout is low enough that the roofs of my structures are clearly visible, even prominent in some scenes, I dress the roof up a bit. I take brick sheet and cut it into thin strips, three or four bricks high, and then paint and mortar the strips. Then I glue them into place on the interior of the parapets.
For my roofs themselves, I use thin foamboard. I spray it with Rustoleum textured speckled black paint from the hardware store. This gives the closest surface I can easily find to model an asphalt roof. I also picked up a Walthers “Roof Details” set, which gives me a large assortment of smokejacks, vents and blowers to add to the detailing.
Nicely Done!
Actually, whoever it was that did the assembly and painting for the cover of the Walthers box (and there are several good modelers who work there at Walthers) made a good choice of subdued/drab/vintage colors that looks realistic to me. I note they also re-used certain colors from building to building. It is not unusual for the same landlord to own several buildings in the same block and thus they may well be painted at about the same time by the same crews using the same choices of paint.
Dave Nelson
Want more? Take a look at the back of the building, where it’s placed on your layout and how you’re going to illuminate the inside. On my layout, there are tracks between the back of the building and the wall of the train room, and there are windows on the back of the building. You want to block those windows with cardstock if there will be lights inside, because the light shining out will cast an image on the wall of the train room.
Good question. I’m just getting ready to build the same kit.
I kitbash almost all of the kits of this type . . . very few of these buildings can be viewed from both front and back, so I use the backs elsewhere, and replace them on the kit with plain styrene. Gives me two kits for the price of one.
This is an excellent suggestion. When putting together a block of buildings like the Merchant’s Row or DPM structures, you can often replace the rear walls and the interior side walls with plain styrene. You can have the storefronts facing the aisle making a street scene on one side of the tracks. You can then use the rear walls and left over side walls with the window and door details for a block of buildings or flats on the other side of the tracks.
Thank you all. You gave me the motivation to start the project. Here is the first step: painting the brick walls.
Dave, I completely agree with you. The problem is that I am not such a talented modeler.
May 2016 MR page 53 - article on “Painting and Detailing Plastic Kits” - painting a DPM building
Although I posted that in WPF thread a few weeks ago, I decided that those who participated to this thread deserved a follow up. So here are two shots at the buildings after painting. There is still some work to do before I can call this project finished like addind signs, interiors, curtains and shades. As you can see I didn’t detailed them too much as my painting skills are limited and I learned that ‘‘The Evil is in the details’’.
Looking good, Im about to start the same kit,as soon as I work up the nerve.
I understand. This building stood in bare plastic for many years.
Is the front of the buildings molded as one single piece of plastic?
Yes. This building is quite easy to assemble : one front, one back, two sides, one roof for five buildings. The painting is then the more difficult part. At least it was for me.
Yes…As are the backs and roof…
Take Care! [:D]
Frank
EDIT: Kits II & IV together, roofs and backs not on yet! Width’s have been cut down to 2 1/2’’ to make them a backgound scene. Normally they would be 5 1/2’’ to 5 3/4’’ wide.
