Okie dokie I have several questions. You can see by my postcount, I am VERY new to this hobby. I have read books, modelrailroader magazine, various kalmbach books. I am having issues with several things, and request the opinions of everyone here. I appreciate your time.
1. Roofs- with the kits ones bought, what color would you suggest I use on a brick building (flat roof) The layout is based in 1910. Also do you have pictures of this?
2. Figures- how do you stand these guys and gals up?
3. Scratchbuilding- I want to scratchbuild a bank, BUT there are two columes in the front of it. What do you suggest in making these? (toothpicks, match sticks?)
4. Making tree stumps- What kind of clay do you use? I used wood filler but the paint made the thing look glossy.
5. Decals- How do you make signs? Does the decal making software allow for custom signs? Pictures would be nice to see if you have them. I have seen buildings where a entire side of a building was painted as a advertisement, how would you do this?
For HO scale figures, I drill a very small hole in one leg and glue a cut off sewing pin into it.
Dowels or order ready-made Doric columns that are made by a couple of vendors.
Plaster with gerbil bedding, which is shredded wood, mixed into it.
I use ready-made signs from Blair Line or other source and heavily weather them.
Suggestion: Ask your questions one at a time instead of all in one post. I could have provided much more detailed answers to each of your questions, but don’t feel like spending so much time at the keyboard.
For roofs, take the styrene roof that came with the kit, spread some Elmer’s glue over the whole thing with your finger, sprinkle playbox sand over it, shake off the excess, and spray paint it gray and/or black. Instant ballasted roof.
To make people stand, put a tiny dollop of white glue on the bottom of one foot.
I spray the roof with Rustoleum speckled paint in black. This is a specialty paint that has a gritty, uneven texture. It’s finer-grained than using sand. I usually will weather it a bit with powders and finally spray with Dul-Cote to flatten the color down some more.
I use Aileen’s Tacky Glue, which you can buy at craft stores like Michaels or A.C. Moore. It is pretty thick and tacky right out of the container, and dries firm, but you can still remove the figures easily without leaving their feet behind on the sidewalk.
That might depend on scale. Evergreen and Plastruct make all kinds of plastic shapes, girders, tubes, etc., that might fit your needs. You’ll want thicker columns in HO than you would in N. Also, consider various scrap items like plastic coffee stirrers.