I picked up a MTH building on the cheap. Had a perfect spot for it on the layout. Decided to put all the reading I do here to practicle use. Here are a few pics of the progress:
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Well done, Jeff!
Peter
Looks great! Terry
Great job Jeff!! OK, now tell us how you did it!!!
Alan
Nice little project Jeff. What did you use for the mortar and why white for the interior? I would have thought a dark interior color would have prevented light bleed through but it looks like the white works just fine.
A project like this is a lot of fun and leads to something a bit unique and good looking. Very well done.
Jeff your remake looks great, but it would look even greater on my layout.
Nice job.
Thanks to all for the kind words!
I painted the interior walls white because that's the color I figured they would be in the fifties. The walls are nice and thick so no light bleed through. I kept the original incandescent light in the ceiling. I tried LED but was not happy with light color. I added a small incandescent light to the ceiling of the first floor. The original building was open inside so I made a quick floor of Basswood. I glued wooden strips around inside of building for floor to rest on.
First I removed roof and gutters, door and windows. I then thinned Evening Express brand pre mixed gray powder brick mortar with a few drops of water and applied by finger dipping. Used light pressure of damp paper towel to remove mortar from bricks. Then I painted randomly about 15% of the bricks with Polly scale PRR Tuscan Red. I applied to individual bricks with tip of a rough tooth pick. Then applied India ink mixed with 91% alcohol with a soft brush. Very light mix so I would not over color it. Took 3 applications.
Painted windows and door and rain spouts same color. Did not weather these. Used gold leaf paint for gutter straps, door handle and edges of each window.
Door was not hinged so I used Micro Mark Detail Tack on door where hinges would be on both sides door. This way I could leave door in any position opening from either side.
Roof painted with Poly Scale Special Oxide Red. Toned down with same India ink mix but 5 coats. Then chalk powder to add green and yellow mold in different areas. Brushed on matte varnish but not evenly and some spots none at all to look worn.
Added a few desks and people and that was it.
