Sunday Scenic Showcase September 22, 2024

@Alan Graziano posted:

Good Morning Everyone,

I will start with a model I constructed in the past. It is a petroleum open top petroleum storage tank with an aluminum geodesic dome cover.  Lets see what you have been working on.

Alan, that is amazing!

Peter

This was a rainly week in Central VA......most of Tuesday; all of Wednesday; and, most of Thursday. Got lots done and it supercharged me to start some new projects......

First, I started experiemnting with materials for a grade crossing.......I found a source on Amazon that sells 1/16" yellow and white tape......and I'm please with it so far.....

Next, I started on some buildings. This is a Korber kit that I must have built in the 90s. It was in pieces and needed a little work......

Here is a picture from the 1993-2003 layout......taken in 2002 (maybe earlier).....it's on the left......

I had three Buildings Unlimited Ameritowne bulding kits to do...... I also had some "already painted" bulding fronts from the same old layout......

Here's another few pictures from 2002.......

I just needed to paint the backs, sides and roof pieces......

.....and, here we are!

......and there we are......I need to move some structures around on the layout......by next week I should have some ideas on how I will re-arrange the "concrete canyons" on my downtown seen. Being a Bronx boy, I am heavily influenced by the neighborhood business districts and the industrial areas in the Bronx that I remember growing up....

From a trip to the "old neighborhood" in June 2022.....

I remember this billboard going up in 1959.....a new bank was being advertised.....it opened in 59 and my mother was one of the original tellers......I am trying to transfer a cut out of this picture on one of my buildings.....

Buhre Avenue station on the number 6.......one stop from the end of the line at Pelham Bay.....

Boy, would I love to model this!

Have a great and safe week, everyone!

Peter

In addition.....I started to ballast areas where I know that no more wiring will be and started to try out what I will do with fencing....

This has been a really productive week!

Hope to see many of you at York.......

Peter

@Putnam Division posted:

In addition.....I started to ballast areas where I know that no more wiring will be and started to try out what I will do with fencing....

This has been a really productive week!

Peter

You certainly have been busy Peter. I can now understand the theme of your layout after seeing those Bronx pictures. All looks great, especially the fire escapes!

Gene

Peter, Would you share a link for the 1/16" striping tape?

@BradFish1 posted:

Peter, Would you share a link for the 1/16" striping tape?

Absolutely.......the rolls are 60' of 1/2", 1/4", 18" and 1/16"

Peter

https://www.amazon.com/DOAY-Pa...Caps%2C79&sr=8-1

No pictures from me this week.  I am still working on the HVAC system for the security officers at my intermodal yard entrance and working on an office for the Superintendent.

@Alan Graziano, the geodesic dome is incredible.  Please share how you constructed it, is it a regular dome with the "seams" overlayed on top of the dome?  One other question about the prototype, since the tank has a floating cover what is the purpose of the geodesic dome?

@Putnam Division, Peter is that bakery Italian or German?  Those seemed to be the two options when I was growing up in the Bronx.  As for the Knickerbocker ad.  Are you going to try that old method of printing it, sanding the back side of the paper until it's real thin and using a ton of white glue to get to settle into the brick work so it looks painted on?  I remember @Jim Policastro writing about that but never got to try it.  I even had some onion skin paper set aside to try using that but I don't think the onion skin made the move to SC.

I wish I had more progress to share on my new project but I’ve been busy with other stuff. I at least got the simulated Insulbrick in place and at some point it will get some more painting and weathering to make it more convincing. I also resin printed a bunch of furniture for the interior. It’s almost ready for final assembly and paint.

@coach joe posted:

No pictures from me this week.  I am still working on the HVAC system for the security officers at my intermodal yard entrance and working on an office for the Superintendent.

@Putnam Division, Peter is that bakery Italian or German?  Those seemed to be the two options when I was growing up in the Bronx.  As for the Knickerbocker ad.  Are you going to try that old method of printing it, sanding the back side of the paper until it's real thin and using a ton of white glue to get to settle into the brick work so it looks painted on?  I remember @Jim Policastro writing about that but never got to try it.  I even had some onion skin paper set aside to try using that but I don't think the onion skin made the move to SC.

Yes….that will be my plan.

Peter

Current focus is on landscaping.  I have a steep wall but wanted some vegetation fall colors, instead of another stone or rock wall.  Already have plenty of those on the smaller layout.

I carved foam and then glued pieces of ceiling tiles as a base.  Painted the ceiling tiles to look like rock outcroppings.  Painted the foam and then glued clay dirt from the yard as a base.  More to come and need to hide the seams on the removable panel with vegetation.

also added a lighted figure to the mine opening, but need to adjust and add the floor covering.

Found some vintage modeling compound at a local train show.  Positive is the color looks good enough without painting, negative is it took a week to fully dry. Added some carved foam rock carving for interest.  Plan is to cover with vegetation and add a small pond next to the track.

Here's the hybrid building backgrounds project that I have been working on, construction photos were in last week's scenic thread. This attempt at forced perspective or compressed perspective involves 3 different buildings and two smokestacks, varying scales among them all. The impression I aimed for was a rundown factory in front and then two buildings set behind it, with a bit of 3-d relief. So far, I've only got one of the 3 buildings outfitted with light bulbs and wiring.

The C-Liner approaching the South Main Street crossing...

The past few weeks I’ve been working on an industrial crossing and adjacent lot for the industry. The way I positioned the building puts the truck loading dock near the railroad tracks, so I need to make the crossing larger to accommodate tractor trailers backing into the dock.
I made the RR crossing with 3/16” square bass wood cut into ~10’ lengths. I also used 1/16” and 1/32” strip wood to fill gaps around the center rail and the inside flange areas. I’m making the lot using 0.040 styrene. Here are some pics test-fitting pieces of the concrete lot.

@Putnam Division posted:

This was a rainly week in Central VA......most of Tuesday; all of Wednesday; and, most of Thursday. Got lots done and it supercharged me to start some new projects......

First, I started experiemnting with materials for a grade crossing.......I found a source on Amazon that sells 1/16" yellow and white tape......and I'm please with it so far.....

Next, I started on some buildings. This is a Korber kit that I must have built in the 90s. It was in pieces and needed a little work......

Here is a picture from the 1993-2003 layout......taken in 2002 (maybe earlier).....it's on the left......

I had three Buildings Unlimited Ameritowne bulding kits to do...... I also had some "already painted" bulding fronts from the same old layout......

Here's another few pictures from 2002.......

I just needed to paint the backs, sides and roof pieces......

.....and, here we are!

......and there we are......I need to move some structures around on the layout......by next week I should have some ideas on how I will re-arrange the "concrete canyons" on my downtown seen. Being a Bronx boy, I am heavily influenced by the neighborhood business districts and the industrial areas in the Bronx that I remember growing up....

From a trip to the "old neighborhood" in June 2022.....

I remember this billboard going up in 1959.....a new bank was being advertised.....it opened in 59 and my mother was one of the original tellers......I am trying to transfer a cut out of this picture on one of my buildings.....

Buhre Avenue station on the number 6.......one stop from the end of the line at Pelham Bay.....

Boy, would I love to model this!

Have a great and safe week, everyone!

Peter

love the progress Pete as well as the oldNeighborhood photos.  You need to add that elevated line and station to your plans!

I was inspired by Putnam Division (thanks Peter!) to break out my Tichy fire escapes kit and get going.  It is a bit fiddly and I made some mistakes but they do go together nicely and add fine detail to any building.  I assembled these with Proweld styrene cement.  I'd recommend having a square scrap of wood to hold the rails square while the cement cures.

I have to add the back rail to the stairs, figure out the stairs down to ground level then paint and secure to the building.
I put together all six in the kit because, knowing me, I'll forget what I learned in assembling when I next focus on detailing a building.

Great work everyone. There is a lot to look at today.

Coach,

I made the dome by cutting a circle of .015 styrene a little larger in diameter than the tank. Additional scribed circles were cut to create the triangular shaped dome pieces. The straight lines on the triangles were scribed also. I then bent the pieces at the cuts to create the dome shape. Once I got the shape uniform, I added strips and circles at each connection.
I am such a cave-man when I work. I feel like I am the John Henry of model building.

Great work, everyone!

Peter

I am writing this post at 11:30 PM EDT on 9\22\2024. So, by the letter of the law, it is still Sunday.

Ms. Zora Maya finished the weathering on the repainted Plasticville switch tower that we showed last week partially weathered. Below is her finished product.

@Randy Harrison, Zora did a tremendous job.  I like how she paid attention to the stairs while weathering the tower.  She got the typical wear and tear on the risers.