Question for owners of Atlas' Elektra Theatre

Scott - looking at photos of the theatre and it looks like a side cut far enough so that you get all of the lobby would be fine.

I can't tell how far the lobby goes into the interior of the building. 

The lobby goes back about 1.5 inches. The other issue (assuming you want lights) is the ribbon wire and electrical connection to the marquee. Those will add a couple more inches to the depth. If you can, look at a Miller Engineering sign to get a better idea of those dimensions. I'd plan on at least 5 inches if you want a lighted, background theater.

Hey Scott.

I took some pics and dimensions for you. I assume you could cut it CAREFULLY but the base is screwed fast and I did not want to take it all apart.

Hope this helps.

I also have the Woodland Scenics one too. Even though the Atlas (Walthers) one has a lot of cool lights, I may be using the WS one in my town scene. Not sure if I want to hang on to the Atlas one or not but that decision is a few months away.

Donald

Hey Scott, one more thing. 

The power supply plug for the lights is in the back wall. You will have to move that if you want to enjoy the marquee. 

Donald

How much of those things that are taking up space behind the lobby could be relocated underneath and hidden by a "well"  under the building or under the street?

@Jim - I definitely want to keep the lobby and basically lose the extraneous building behind it.  I expected that there might be a plug / terminals to move. 

@Donald - Thanks so much for those pictures and measurements.  That helps tremendously.  I like the WS theatre building better than the Atlas, but the animated sign is really what draws me to the Atlas building.  Looks doable if i want to chop the building to about 6" or thereabouts. 

Of course now I'm wondering if there's something I could do to the Woodland Scenics building to give it some light animation

ScottV posted:

Of course now I'm wondering if there's something I could do to the Woodland Scenics building to give it some light animation

A Miller Engineering sign might be just what you need.

David... i was just on the Miller Engineering site when you replied.  Of course, now I'm like ... "I WANT ONE OF EVERYTHING!"  hahaha.   Yeah. Their sign may just work to make the Woodland Scenics building more lively.

I had a non-working Palace theater that I modified a bit. I replaced the marquee with three Miller Engineering signs and altered the front and roof of the building to hide some of the connections and where the old sign had been. I imagine these same signs would work with the Ameri Towne theater. 

Jim, thanks for the view of the connections to those Miller Engineering signs. That looks sweet.

Do those ribbon connectors go to a board that's driving the animation/power?  I read that those signs run on 4.5v, so that's perfect.  Did you have to mod the sign connector at all, or was the installation a matter of cutting the slot in the building and after that you were good-to-go?

You're welcome.

Yes, the ribbon connectors go to a board that drives the animation. In my case, there were two boards: one for the Casablanca sign and the other that powered the double-sided Capital sign. I did not have to modify the signs at all; just the building - particularly the roof. To cover that wire/connection, I used an HO roof air conditioner that was part of a Walthers pieces/parts, roof detail kit. I added the tile roof to help hide the cut on the front of the building. I got the idea from looking at the Akron's Civic theater. As for the round windows, they help break up the façade. I would have preferred square windows, but round holes were much easier to make.

I hope this helps.

Jim