Plasticville Motel Kitbash w/ Custom Paper Interiors now with Lighting and Accessories

Great Idea

Nice!!

Where did you get the sign? I know the  Miller and Walthers sign, but I've never seen that one.

The signs are homemade.

I did one to rebrand my diner and it turned out so well I started going crazy on my whole town.

I've been making blade signs to rebrand my woodland scenic buildings as well.

To make them first I create the sign in photoshop then I duplicate it and flip the words so I can make it double-sided. Then I print them on heavy matte photo paper on my inkjet. Then I cut the signs out of the matte paper to shape with a hobby knife. Next, I  glue them with white glue to 1/4 foam core board. Then I cut the paper off each side of the foam core with a hobby knife. Finally, I cut the foam away leaving a sign cut to shape.

It's pretty good at that point then but the edges are too rough to paint. So to complete it I fill the edges with lightweight spackle. After it dries I can sand the edges and paint them with Acrylic paint to match the face color. It makes a pretty good facsimile of a two-sided metal sign.

Once you get the hang of it you can make just about anything in photoshop...

Thanks for the tutorial

Nice work. And I also thank you for the tutorial.

these need upper floor railings and stairs

give me some dimensions and I can 3D print those.

@AlanRail Wow that would be fantastic! The upper deck is 11" across the face. The sides of the deck are 1.5" deep. The sides would need to be 1 post shorter than the 1.5" assuming the sides would share the corner posts with the front. For the stairs the Deck is 1.5" wide and it is 2.5" high from the base of the 1st floor deck. I'd be happy to reimburse for materials and shipping. Thanks!

Alan is very good about things like that.

Steve

email me some railing styles and stairs you'd like.

do you mind drilling some holes (like 3/32"  or 0.10") for the railing posts?. I can make a drilling template.

Spacing of posts usually 5FT apart scaled to every 1.25"

The posts are 3D printed with a slot so the laser cut fencing can be inserted.

These match a Chicago CTA station railings.

laser etched and cut fencing

there would be a corner post for the edges and an end=post at the stairs

@Stephen Sharpe posted:

I've been working on kitbashing a couple of plasticville motels and a radio station into a two-story motel with office. Inspired by the interiors in my woodland scenic buildings I made a paper shadowbox interior for the rooms, but this got me wondering about readymade paper building interiors for the office and my other Plasticville buildings. . . .  Are there any other resources for paper interiors?

First of all, very nice work on the motel!

I have very limited experience creating or installing interiors, but one of the 'upgrades' I recently did involved creating a cardstock interior to cover the well lighted but completely blank white OEM interior on an MTH operating McDonalds. Basically, I did something along the line you did: I first used pictures of McDonalds service counters (here's a sample)

I then cut and pasted them together virtually, and printed them in the appropriate scale on cardstock to fit the space available. I also covered the floor with a Clever Models texture file print, then 3D printed, painted and installed some booth benches to fit the available space, and fabricated a couple of tables to match. I also printed a picture of my late mother (an inveterate McD's fan!) and me, which was originally taken at a local McD's, and added it to the customer counter array:

I don't have any good hi-res pics of the interior view at hand, but here's a screen grab from one of the videos I did of the upgrade (the figures by the entrance are intended as representations of me, my eldest son, and one of my great-grandsons):

So, while there may be prepared interiors available for kitbashing projects, with a little creativity IMHO it's not too hard to "roll your own", and you can also easily add personal touches that may be more meaningful on your layout than a (perhaps technically better but generic) commercial offering! Good luck!

Here's my attempt at a two story Plasticville motel.

I used the WPLA station as an office too though it turned out I had enough extra parts to make an office. I bought 5 motel kits because 1 was warped.

The extra could have been an office but I turned it into a donut shop.

I've used pictures from the web for interior images. This one "Kristin's Kandy Shop" seemed to have just the right amount of perspective.

"Jiyeon and Annie's Place" is a converted Plasticville firehouse and has both real figures and an interior picture.

Craig

@ctomita posted:

Here's my attempt at a two story Plasticville motel.

I used the WPLA station as an office too though it turned out I had enough extra parts to make an office. I bought 5 motel kits because 1 was warped.

The extra could have been an office but I turned it into a donut shop.

I've used pictures from the web for interior images. This one "Kristin's Kandy Shop" seemed to have just the right amount of perspective.

"Jiyeon and Annie's Place" is a converted Plasticville firehouse and has both real figures and an interior picture.

Craig

I love your Plasticville creations, Craig! Thoughtful and Creative.

For some of mine see:  Unique Plasticville Buildings (warrenvillerailroad.com)

@AlanRail Your laser-cut railing fences are amazing! The level of detail you can achieve is awesome. I think for my low-rent motel a simple railing would suffice. Posts scaled to every 1.25" is perfect!  I like the simplicity of the rails @ctomita used... If I had my choice, I'd have all 3 rails the same diameter with an open toe kick (is that what you call the open space below the bottom rail and above the floor?) I have no problem drilling the post holes as it is a much better way to attach the verticals.

@Steve Tyler The McDs looks great and I love the addition of your Mom!  I never thought of adding "my" people to the interior inhabitants. Now you've got me thinking...

@ctomita Your Motel was one of my inspirations!  Your other interiors are great I love the mix of the photos with one or two 3D pieces to draw the eye forward and add depth to the scene.

This process has gotten me thinking about the concept of using a 3D printed bases say a simple TV with legs or a soda machine with flat blanks on the face, sides, back with 1/16 deep flat recess, then using a 300dpi printed image for the face and sides, back. I think you'd get the best of both worlds.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments! 

Thanks to everyone for the likes and kind words.

Stephen - combining figures and picture backdrops has worked for me and is a lot less work than creating full interiors.  Here is another, card stock not Plasticville.

When I saw the pool tables I just had to find a place for them on my layout.

I like people to enjoy seeing my layout so all the buildings have a connection to friends and family.  My niece Kristin once told me her dream job was owning a candy store so I built one.  My nieces Jiyeon and Annie love Mac & Cheese and Jiyeon is a musician.  Sam and June are friends that love donuts. Tux is my cat.

Craig

first draft

@ctomita love the pool hall! That's a perfect blend of backdrop and 3D figures.

@AlanRail Yes... perfect! The railings and two-flight staircase are great.

Steve  here's a version with support columns.

Nice... I already have the deck, I don't need the support columns or the deck on mine.

To all posters:

WOW !!!

Great thread, models, & ideas !!!

Thank you all for sharing your experience !!!

CB&Q Bill

PRINT PIECES  HOLES FOR RAILING POSTS IN STAIR NOT SHOWN

@AlanRail Could you rotate the steps to the front? So the overall length is 11"? When I submitted the plans to my building inspector (wife) she said it would not be wise to put stairs "in" the pool. She suggested I give up a couple of parking spots out front instead.

ctomita:

Where did the pool tables come from?

Thanks

Charlie

Charlie,

I bought the pool tables from a Chinese seller on eBay.  The seller's id is toygogo.  I've bought dozens of items (mostly figures) from him/her.  The painting is always superb.  They are 1/64 since I model in S scale.  It takes a month to get them of which 10 days is the transit time. Some of the figures were in packaging labeled "Race Medal".

Craig

John,

Warrenville is a very nice town.  I particularly liked the Warrenville Arms.  I wish I could mask and paint as well as you do.  A lot of my buildings are images printed on card stock because it is easier to put color in an image than paint a building!

Craig

@Lionelski posted:

I love your Plasticville creations, Craig! Thoughtful and Creative.

For some of mine see:  Unique Plasticville Buildings (warrenvillerailroad.com)

Amazing work that you did!

Steve

sure you don't want the stairs on the other side, as you oriented them but closer to the office?

I already have the 1.5" platform extending on the far side (built as part of the 2nd floor deck) so I need to put the steps on that end. 

@Lionelski Love your Warenville Plasticville kit bashes. Great inspiration!

the one on the right moves the stair as you wanted

the one on the left  moves the double landing stair closer to the office AND adds a small width "rear egress" stair near the pool.

@AlanRail The one with egress is cool, but since I'm modeling ~1963 we don't need to meet fire safety codes. For me the one on the right would be perfect!

Another possible source for a Motel Office.

The Plasticville motel and apartment came fron Littletown by Banner in about 1955. The 1956/1057 Littletown catalog described item LT400 Motel Office and two Motels. The office is the same as the first floor of the apartment house. This set can be put together from later Plasticville parts. Attached is a copy of page 12 of the catalog. Sorry the quality is not better but you can see the results.

Steve

OK  ====>burn baby burn!

no fire access for your guests!! 

Wow... that looks great!

Kitbashed from two plasticville motels

@Terry Luft Very nice, the corner unit and roof line make it totally unique. Your printed neon is a perfect blend of realism. I wish I could lite my neons with El wire, but I'm pretty sure it's too small.

@alanrail The railings have arrived!  The box was a work of art holding a precious gem. I mocked them up, and they will fit perfectly. Next up is a little spur cleanup, painting them white, and prepping the "concrete" for attachment. I will post pics when it's safe to go upstairs!

Thank you!

That vertical post is begging for a sign...