Fancy Facade Revisited

Something was bothering me about the storefront on my model of the Ensminger Building.  After staring at it on the workbench over a few days I realized it was the doors and windows.  I was really happy with how the small-pane inserts looked but not happy at all with the kit supplied doors and the precast two-in-one clear plastic nonsense.  The solution was to utilize parts from another kit then add more small pane muntins.  This not only more closely matches the prototype but unifies the storefront windows visually.

What follows is a sequence of images showing the step-by-step process of how I modified some N scale windows to fit the tall narrow entry windows, the new doors modified, and the assembly as a whole.

3x4 window cut down to 2x3

Side frame trimmed

Side frame reapplied

Original mullion removed, cut down window installed from behind,
 and a new mullion installed using styrene strip

Same process applied to central double door transom

Doors and side panels installed with kit-supplied entry ceiling

 

Ensminger Veranda Part 2

 ...in which our blogger attempts to bend styrene sheet and glue dissimilar materials together.

Having successfully beveled the posts of the ornate arched trellis castings from Scale Structures Limited, and finished the fancy brickwork on the facade, it was time to assemble this veranda.  First, I needed to determine exactly how and where this veranda would fit on the structure.  I had a pretty good idea that the whole thing would fit between the brick pillars on the wall.  After gluing the castings together and offering them up to the wall, this proved to be the case - exactly so.  

The castings assembled, using a straight edge and spacer for alignment.

Next it was on to the deck.  Rather conveniently the kit has a line of brick protruding from the base of the upper wall that would act as a good ledger.  A quick measurement of the available vertical space between this brick and the storefront below gave me what I needed to begin constructing the deck.  

In true kitmingling fashion I used material from one of donor kits; in this case, the scribed wood floor from the SS Ltd Gazebo.  I measured the assembled castings and cut the sheet to fit.  I pulled some scale lumber from my supplies and created a framework on approximately two foot centers, attaching it to the scribed sheet with wood glue.

Once the glue had set, I attached the deck to the lattice using gel superglue.  I find this works best when gluing wood to metal, especially when there may be a gap to fill.  The gel doesn't absorb into the wood as quickly as a lower viscosity glue, allowing it time to bond to both surfaces despite their different porosity.

Next, the roof.  The prototype is standing seam metal, and I happen to have some styrene "metal" roofing.  But the prototype is also gracefully curved and my styrene is thick.  After a little research I decided to try the hot water method for softening the styrene.  This worked well enough after some grunting and coaxing.  

The other challenge I faced with this roof was creating the ornate rafter tails.  Yes, Tichy makes some, but I don't have them and didn't want to order any and potentially stall the project while I wait for them to arrive.  I decided to try "rolling my own" so to speak by taping scale 2x4s together and gently shaping a profile on one end using files and sanding sticks.  I'm pleased with the results though I'm not sure how visible this will be once the veranda is painted.  It may just be one small detail that adds to the overall ornate feel. 

I measured and marked the underside of the roof and glued the styrene rafters to it using Tamiya extra thin styrene cement.  I love this stuff for bonding styrene to itself.  It goes tacky almost immediately on application and bonds quickly.  This let me apply each rafter at the front edge the go back and gently bend the rafters to the curve of the roof.  The fast acting glue made this a quick and painless process.

To finish the roof I cut and wedges to fit in each end between the curved roof and the top of the arched lattice parts.  On the prototype this is lattice, however, since my ornate posts include lattice already, I decided to use the same v-groove siding as the wooden extension, but running vertically.  I glue the standing seams into the provided grooves on the styrene roof panel and after some trimming and sanding the roof was complete.

I used the same gel superglue to attach the roof to the posts, double checking the alignment to the wall.  Once the veranda is attached I'll add a strip of material as flashing, though I'm pleased to say there's no real gap to hide in this case.  I'll be repeating the same steps on the side porch roof, but first, I need to do something about the storefront doors.  That'll be the subject of the next post.

The completed veranda set in place (image rotated).

 

Photo Studio Walls and First Colors

In the post "Scratch That" I talked about my choice to scratchbuild the wood extension to the Ensminger Building, the actual photo studio or gallery used by the Ensminger Brothers.  Before getting into the modeling progress, here's a brief word on these men whose name I've been bandying about in recent posts.  This page covers their early history and roots in Iowa:

http://www.pioneerphotographers.com/files/Iowa/Ensminger.html 

More relevant to the structure I'm modeling, is this information from the Orange County Regional History Center:

"The Ensminger brothers were two of the most prominent 19th-century photographers in Central Florida. They moved from Iowa to Florida in time to photograph American troops stationed in Tampa in preparation for the Spanish-American War. In 1884 or 1895, Jefferson Clay Ensminger moved to Sanford, where he opened a photography studio with his brother on the west side of North Park Avenue, just a few blocks from the St. Johns River. J.C. Ensminger was known to be friends with Henry Sanford as well as the official photographer of Henry Plant’s Railway System." 

Now back to the model making.

I used V-groove styrene siding to make the walls.  This was a bit fiddly as I hadn't planned for the corner posts in my measurements and had to allow for it or trim off the ends.  That was made more challenging by the odd dimensions of the pitched roof section.  I carefully built up the wall with the large windows before taping the glass itself (cast into the window frame...grr...) in order to prime.  Once the walls were assembled I did just that, giving it all two thin coats of gray.

After the first light coat of primer.

I also managed to paint the brick structure at my local gaming store's paint night.  I usually bring Star Wars Legion minis, but from time to time I raise some eyebrows (in a good way) by bringing something in HO scale.  For the common brick I used a blend of Georgia Clay and a red color, lightening first with tan and then orange for the successive highlight colors.  For the facing brick on the facade I used a Brown Iron Oxide, darkened with a dark chocolate brown for variation.  Here's the result:

The mortar will come later in the process, closer to final assembly.  I spent last night getting the doors sorted.  I've also made great progress on the veranda and side porch which will be featured in an upcoming post.  Thanks for following along.  Happy Modeling!

Another Crescent Solution

When inspiration strikes you've just got to run with it, especially when it potentially solves a problem that has long plagued me.  The problem?  What to do with that crescent of land along the street across from the business block on my layout.  Since the initial planning days it has been a set of residential homes, a gas station, a park with a horse-car on display and a bandstand, a gas station again, and now?  Now it just might become a streetcar depot.

Here's the latest plan:

Note: the scenic depictions in this plan are NOT to scale.  In particular, the crescent of land where the Streetcar Depot is indicated is in reality narrower than shown.  More about the plan in a minute.  First, the inspiration:

The image above comes from a long-defunct website about the Northern Electric interurban line and its depot in Woodland, California, near Sacramento.  Thanks to the Internet Archive the site is still accessible here.  I've long wanted to include some Spanish Colonial architecture on the layout as it helps set the locale and the era, central Florida in the 1920s.  Though 2000 miles distant, this structure contains elements I want to include; the arcade, the tile roof, the parapet ornamentations and most importantly the trolley inside the building.

I was never totally happy with the original stub-end streetcar line down the center of the street, ending abruptly at the intersection of Orange Avenue and some as-yet-unnamed street.  Some of the ideas for what to put in the crescent were in response to that discomfort.  I had pondered sending the track around the corner and down the alley to the site of an old barn, the former car barn for the horse-drawn car now turned into an automobile mechanic's shop.  That'd work, sure, and would fit nicely into the overall narrative of evolving transportation in the 20s, but as that area evolved that plan changed as well.  

For a brief moment I considered running the line all the way down that un-named street past the motorcycle cop indicated on the plan above with a second line extending past the mainline station but the thought of building six rail crossings - dummies even! - gave me shivers.  Terminating the line at the crescent made sense logistically as well as narratively as long as some sort of terminus was located there.  Before I had imagined selling trolley tickets from a storefront; a common practice even depicted on the cover of Middleton's tome, The Interurban Era.  However, this new structure makes the storytelling simpler and more direct.

Beyond the narrative role it brings more balance to the scene, visually.  Specifically the structure is taller and offers more mass than other options.  Once the track and paving are in place I suspect this effect will be felt more fully.  That's one of the reasons I decided to shift the street track closer to the crescent, to lend its mass to that shape.  The other is for ease of pole-planning, locating the trolley wire on one side of the street hanging from single-arm poles.  There's prototype precedent for this offset arrangement in Ybor City, Tampa, by the way. 

Enough chatter, here's the photocopied foam-core mock-up:

I've left the roof off, for now.  Walls are enough to determine the footprint and rough size overall.  The arcade is built from that kitmingler's darling, the Revell Engine House.  The station building itself is the Model Power (Pola) Station.  (No, really, that's what it's called, simply "Station".  Ugh.  Might as well throw "vintage" and "brick" on there too.  Technically correct but really useless descriptors.) 

Here are a couple more angles to locate the scene on the larger layout:

Note the Ensminger Building in the foreground.

You may have noticed that both of the donor structures are entirely brick.  Should I go ahead with this plan, I'd be trying something with this kitbash that I've wanted to try for some time now.  I'm going to stucco the walls, hiding unwanted windows in the process, leaving the brick detail exposed like window arches and the cornice detail.  This isn't so common in real life but I have seen a few examples out there and I think it will look great.  I could just build the whole thing from scratch but for now I'll keep the kitbash option in the forefront.  I'm really happy with this idea, far more than the other possibilities for this plot.  Up next, Ensminger progress. 

 

Scratch That

With the facade complete I took the next steps to assemble the core of the brick structure; applying brick texture to the back of the cornice, filling gaps with putty and creating a peak on the rear wall.  Next I assembled the walls using the kit-supplied alignment pegs and mid-level brace.  This is a nice way of ensuring the walls are plumb and square; thanks, Kibri!

Next I could begin pondering how I'd construct the photo studio add-on.  I had originally planned to use a Life-Like General Store, a structure I had kitbashed once before, years ago.  I nixed this idea because of the windows; there are too many on the kit and the prototype only has a handful.  

Test fitting with the Life-Like components gave me a feel for the relative size of the add-on and revealed an interesting geometry.  Placing the peak of the studio roof in line with the second story door then aligning the back studio wall with the side wall of the brick structure means that studio wall is slightly higher than the rest.  Based on the photos I have I suspect this was the case for the prototype structure.  Enlarge the photo below and trace the planks along the wall that says "Photograph Gallery", to see what I mean.

With these factors in play I decided to scratchbuild the studio using v-groove styrene sheet and window castings from my collection of parts.  My first order of business was to double check the fit of the structure in place on the layout.  Then I could begin making a simple-enough drawing to provide the necessary data to begin cutting parts.

The green framed windows came from the Grocery store kit and will need to be masked before I can prime them, as they're cast with the clear plastic and green plastic in one piece.  The metal windows are of unknown origin, though I suspect they're Alexander.  My brick structure isn't as wide as the prototype, so my high studio wall will be higher than the original, but that's okay.  This sort of situation is part of the fun of kitbashing, when reality suggests something out of the ordinary.  

I genuinely believe that the limitations imposed by real-life situations often produce more interesting models than we can imagine.  Studying photos of real places builds a library of possibilities which we can access to create realistic models with great interest.  Just as the freelancer studies real locomotives to produce a plausible steam engine for their pike, so to the kitbasher (and kit designers!) must study real structures so that their creations have a ring of authenticity.

A Fancy Facade for the Ensminger Building

Work on the Ensminger Building continued yesterday, making a start on the facade.  Studying the photo of the prototype I made a quick sketch on graph paper of the details as built, then simplified it into the basic outline, shape and form.  Satisfied that I could match the overall impression, I dove into the kit-mingling with abandon as if possessed by the spirit of Art Curren himself.  

Open this image in a new tab for a really big view.

I had previously gathered potential donor material for the ornate brick cornice and brought out those bits. I began by sawing away the detail from the cornice of the AHM Fire House.  The upper section split in two and flipped vertically would create the dental bits on either side of my facade, framed between bonus brick pillars from the Grocery store...more on that in a minute.  The lower sections would provide more dental detail for the four pillars of the cornice.

The green bit is the original kit cornice; lovely, but not what I want.

An unknown source provided the peaked section in the center, filed and cut to give a sawtooth look.  I drilled and enlarged ventilation holes in a pattern on that section following the prototype's example.  Additional vertical brick bits from the Fire House wall were added here and there.  In the end this is what it looked like:

Pleased with this result I returned to the bench after dinner and pondered the storefront.  The prototype is loaded with details I'd love to include.  However, since I am trying to stay within the donor kit's boundaries for the sake of time and resources, I have to live with the limitations this imposes.  I decided to correct one element, turning the four-pane display windows into something closer to the prototype though still far from accurate.  

To do this I'd need to cut away the window muntins to make a large plate glass window.  Still, if I could recreate that stained glass look above the large windows, that'd be even better.  Digging through my windows collection I found some very fine N scale windows I honestly thought I'd never use.  Never say never, and keep everything.  These little gems were a near-perfect fit into the kit window openings.

I cut away the kit's horizontal muntins and cut away three panes from the N scale windows.  Then I glued in the N scale windows from behind and reattached the muntins beneath, now as mullions.  Once that had set up I cut away the remaining vertical muntin.  Here is the result, set beneath the upper story facade:

Now a word about "bonus parts" and the problems with this kit.  Full disclosure; when I worked at Walthers part of my job was writing kit instructions.  Spend enough time reading model train discussions online and you may find someone complaining about Walthers kit instructions.  I'm not spilling any trade-secret beans to say they're aware of this.  One of the complaints you might find out there is the problem of "bonus parts", or a sprue with too many parts leaving the modeler unsure if they've built the kit correctly.  This kit is no exception, with several sprues of windows, doors and walls that aren't used in the grocery store building.

Here's part of the problem: this structure didn't start life as a Walthers kit.  It is most clearly a Kibri kit, utilizing parts from their product line (one part is even stamped "Kibri").  Kibri 38393, the ice cream parlor, uses the same side panels - and construction method - as Lee's Grocery and Lee's includes the storefront and windows from Kibri 38393 in its box though they're not needed for the grocery store.  Got it?  Good.  As a result the modeler, having completed Lee's Grocery, will be left with an assortment of parts for their bits box.  There's nothing on the instruction sheet to indicate this.  This can be needlessly confusing and a single line of text calling out the extra parts would go a long way towards helping resolve this issue.

Admittedly it's not a big deal for most modelers.  We can figure it out.  For kitbashers, the leftover parts are a boon.  As mentioned above I used a "bonus" short wall section to create the brick pillars for the cornice and I'll be using the windows and doors, not designed for this structure, to create doors for the upper floor veranda access.  I'm not criticizing Walthers for this; in my last post I commented on Scale Structures Limited's creative use of parts to make the gazebo (it appears "The Store" might be the original kit those parts were intended for, though even then they're cut apart.  Curious to see those instructions...).  A person could argue that economy of scale and creative re-use of parts go hand in hand and keep us modelers supplied with kits at a reasonable price.  I'll buy that.

 

Ensminger Veranda Part 1

No, the Shifter isn't finished, but while the gloss varnish cures I'm following my interest and starting work on the Ensminger Building, beginning with the elaborate veranda.  I'm using parts that aren't an exact match but follow the "rule of cool" and the spirit of kitbashing, using something I've already got in stock at the home hobby shop.  This is the Scale Structures Limited Gazebo kit, from which I'll be using the fancy posts and arched lattice detail, the ornate railing and the scribed floor plank sheet.

Let the filing begin!

The original kit instructions call for filing away a 30-35 degree angle from the rear of each upright post on the arched lattice sections in order to butt them together and create the illusion that two posts are in fact one.  I've got issues with this approach.  On the original model this would result in an unsightly gap behind the "post", where the two almost-halves meet.  In no gazebo ever have I seen two posts joined in this way as one conjoined post, but rather a single turned wood post is used with the railings attached to it.  This is what the drawings show but you'd have trouble making the kit parts align properly building it as instructed.

Getting closer...

However for my application of the parts, where the posts will be filed on a 45 degree bevel, the resulting post will indeed be just that - a single post comprised of two actual post halves.  I'll have a gap to deal with no matter how carefully and accurately I file them down but I can fix that with putty.  Where two arched lattice sections meet I'd need to either remove one post entirely or file away half of each post again, but this time producing a gap that's harder to hide.  For that reason I elected to remove one post and fill any gaps on that joint as needed.  The trick of course is to file slightly more from behind so the front is a tight fit, but there's that unsightly gap issue again. Sure, it is unlikely to be seen from a normal viewing angle but I'll know it's there!

Almost there (note, they're upside down)

The front veranda is deep - as deep as one arched lattice section - while the side veranda is shallower.  This works out well as the SS Ltd kit comes with 6 arched lattice sections.  I'll use 4 for the front veranda, 2 for the side veranda.  It also includes six sections of ornate railing which also must be shortened on each end to fit between the posts - note, this is what the original kit calls for!  I'll need all six and then some short bits which is fine since I've got a set of shorter railings, identical to the kit parts except half as long, which I'll use for the sides of the shallower veranda.

Section on the right de-flashed

I'd love to know what structure these parts were originally designed for, because the kluge required to turn these parts into a gazebo seems challenging.  However, it is often required of the kitbasher, indeed incumbent upon the modeler to see beyond the part as intended into the future purpose of the part as yet unknown.  In that respect I admire Jon Stetz, the designer of the SS Ltd Gazebo, for his creative use of such beautiful parts.  Perhaps my creative re-use of these parts might someday inspire another modeler to go and do likewise.

Model Railroad Myths and Memes: Whose Train Set is it?

  

I recently came across this cartoon, fed to me by Facebook.  I asked an AI art generator to redraw this comic strip - apologies to Bill O'Malley - with a different ending that showed the father and son playing together.  I prefer a "both-and" scenario to an "either-or" in this case.
 

There's much more that can be said about this, much more.  But I'll let the images speak for themselves and leave the interpretation up to the beholder.  The question still stands: Whose train set is it?

 

The Back Door and The Signs, with special guest, AI

I felt bad for the back wall of the Candy Shop after talking it up in the previous post but not sharing an image.  So, I took a picture of the wall to show its concrete stoop and details as well as a couple close-up shots of the posters.  The little vent fan on the wall is from Vector Cut, sadly, now out of production.  The rest are metal castings of unknown origin.

Why wasn't this included in the kit? (and why isn't the door inset?)

You can still get coffee at the candy shop.  The little face is a period-accurate election poster.

The roof was stippled but painting that brick was a back-and-forth process that took forever.

But I'm burying the lead here...after a conversation with Jim at 30 Squares I decided to play around with AI to generate a sign.  I used Canva, as it was the first search result returned.  The process was super easy, turning text into an image.  Here's the prompt I used:

Rooftop Sign for a 1920s business called the "Lemon Drop Candy Shop" featuring a large lemon with leaves and the text "Lemon Drop Candy Shop" in a period appropriate typeface

Here are the results that I liked best:

WOW.  I had thought I'd get a graphic, not a photo-realistic image.  But boy am I glad I didn't get what I expected.  Novelty architecture really became popular in the 1920s and 30s and these signs are a nod to that style, perfect for my railroad's era.  It wouldn't be too hard to make a big lemon out of Milliput along with some stylized leaves.  The large panel means the text could be used on both sides for a ridge-line sign.  I've got some raised styrene letters, though I might search around for a different typeface for variety's sake.  

This is exciting.  Happy modeling, and thanks for reading.

 

From Coffee to Candy

This is a post I've been waiting to make and the reason may be more interesting than the result.  You see, for a short while I worked remotely for Wm. K. Walthers, Inc. as a copywriter.  One of my tasks was writing kit instructions, and this kit is "one of mine".  Since I live in California and Walthers' headquarters is in Wisconsin, I was sent pre-production samples in order to assemble them and get a feel for any difficulties or challenges a modeler might have when assembling the kits.

I completed this handsome little building almost exactly one year ago, however the kit wasn't available to purchase until recently so I had to sit on the pictures until then.  Since this structure could easily fit into my 1920's era I decided to complete it and add some interior detail, just for fun.  The multi-pane windows means much of that detail won't be visible, even when lit, but I have left the roof removable - easily done in this kit due to the one-piece roof - so that the interior can be shown to visitors.  

I added a little concrete pad to the rear entrance (not shown) and used it as a place for adding exterior details such as a trash can, bottles, etc.  I'm not sure why it wasn't included in the kit as the door sits high above the foundation otherwise.  My sample didn't come with any signs but I believe the kit does; I chose a few from my stock that work for my interpretation of the structure.  As marketed by Walthers it is a coffee shop, however, it could easily be repurposed for any number of uses.  I chose to make mine a candy shop.  Ocala had one back in the old days called the "Candy Kitchen".  When I get around to making a sign for mine it will be the "Lemon Drop Candy Shop", to help anchor it in Florida.

The interior was made mostly from scratch, with only the sink, chairs, fruit basket and a few cans on the shelves from castings.  I'm most proud of the glass case and the scale on the counter.  The scale is a replica of a "Toledo" type counter scale, a detail I imagined would be useful in a candy shop.  I don't know if they came in red, but I like it and it stands out.  The "tile" floor is made from the interior pattern on a security envelope; I collect these for just this sort of purpose.  The colored plates under the candy in the case are cut from a printed cereal box; they're the color registry circles for the print inks.  The candy is simply construction paper cut into bits.  

Without going into the details, the copywriter position at Walthers was eliminated and we amicably parted ways last summer.  However, during my time there I was sent a small pile of kit samples and no doubt more of these will make their way onto the layout - Lee's Grocery is the next one to be used as the Ensminger building, though I didn't write the instructions for that kit...why I have that kit is a different story for another time.  I'm still debating if the Candy Shop will have a home at Ocala Springs or elsewhere.  I'm just glad I can finally blog about it here.  Thanks for reading.

Prime Time

Our winter warm snap provided a window in which I could prime the Shifter.  Prior to priming I repaired a few fallen details (Super Glue wasn't so super after all...) and Dremel'd out a bit more space in the tender for the new decoder.  I masked headlights, motor, electrical connections and a few other places, then set the boiler on a home made stand.  The other parts I sprayed on a turntable or held by the tape.  The Tamiya Fine Surface Primer, Gray, laid down well and smoothly.  That's a big worry off my mind!  Up next...will I airbrush the black or paint by hand?  We'll see.

 

Ensminger Preparations

As of the writing of this post I've got a short window in the winter weather for priming the Shifter over the next few days.  I do my priming work in the garage - search the blog for that keyword for more information on that space and its shortcomings.  It looks to be cold again after our current warm snap so I'm not sure when I'll get to actually paint it after allowing time for the primer to fully cure.  It could be a while.

With that in mind I've begun preparing for the next project.  Behold the "Ensminger Building" (my name for it based on the sign on the fence):

Sanford, Florida has been a gold mine of inspirational photos for modeling central Florida in the 1920s.  While perusing old photos online this structure caught my fancy and wouldn't let go.  I knew someday I'd have to model it.  To that end I contacted the Sanford Historical Society to see if more views of the building were available.  I was delighted to see this image arrive in my inbox:

  

Open in a new tab for a much larger image.  Photo courtesy of the Sanford Historical Society.

I've always maintained that no matter how neat a structure kit might be, that is, a structure created simply from the imagination of a kit designer, there's almost always a more interesting prototype structure waiting to be miniaturized.  Of course someone had to design the prototype but they're not thinking of how it might work on a train layout, rather how it would function in the real world where it will really be built and inhabited.  I think we lose something when we rely solely on our imaginations to create a structure kit instead of following a suitable prototype.

That said, I'm not recreating the town of Sanford in miniature, nor building a replica for a museum, so I won't be building a strictly accurate reproduction in miniature.  I could invest the time learning CAD and having those ornate porch railings laser cut no doubt at great expense, or creating the brick walls in 3D and resin printing them (I don't own a resin printer but have friends that do, so it isn't a far off notion).  However, while I might enjoy that process, that's not the direction I'm going to take on this building.  Inspired by a recent trip to the California State Railroad Museum, specifically standing in the presence of Malcolm Furlow's San Juan Central, I'm going to kitbash it.

I've got three donor kits for the cause: a Walthers Lee's Grocery kit, an SS Ltd Gazebo and a Life Like General Store.  These should allow me to get reasonably close to the prototype but more importantly will capture, I hope, the character of the place.  Features of the core core structure, such as the storefront and the tall arch-top windows, are interesting, but those elements are overshadowed by the signs, porches, ornate brick cornice and the photo studio tacked on the back.  

I measured the spot where the structure will sit, displacing the fire station that I had planned to put there.  It will fit - just - but that's even better.  I like the look of urban scenes in which the tracks seem a little too close to the structures, creating narrow passageways, alleys, etc.  See the image below for the tracing I made as a template.

I also took into account the porch extending over the sidewalk.  In my research into historic Florida buildings I found many such structures.  These verandahs were one way to manage the heat, providing shade for the structure itself and a place for its occupants to sit and catch a breeze.  However, it is a feature I see seldom modeled.  (That could be due to porches and verandahs falling out of favor as the air conditioner and changes in architectural style made them unnecessary or undesirable.  Not many modelers accurately model the 1920s.  However, they should be more prevalent on late 1800s or turn-of-the-century era layouts)  Another case of reality being more interesting than common kit stock.  Here's the ornate casting from the SS Ltd gazebo laying on the resin sidewalk casting; a perfect fit.

Meant to be.

I won't get into the details beyond this overview until I begin the project in earnest.  The other reason I'm choosing to kitbash and come close enough is time.  I don't want to take forever and a day to make the perfect structure, rather, I'll be happy with a unique structure that captures the flavor and character I'm looking for and is done in a reasonable amount of time.  

More to come as it happens.  Thanks for reading.

Golden Time

Upon returning from an inspiring visit to the California State Railroad Museum, I spent a lovely vacation day adding bits to The Shifter.  It took the whole day, in a way, because I'd add a bit then step away to let the glue cure before adding the next bit, waiting, adding another, and so on.  The process is enjoyable, especially when all the parts are at hand and ready to install.

There are still a few bits to add.  Careful observers may notice that at some point in the sequence one of the pop valves falls off the auxiliary turret - not to worry, I have it and will reattach it along with the whistle.  There's also one pipe to run from the engineer's side tank back to the cab, and I need to decide if I want to run piping for the air hoses beyond the pilot.  Otherwise, the detailing is done...well...except for adding the headlight but that's more about the wiring and getting a little in-line plug installed inside the boiler.  That's next.

cab seats

piping from turret to injectors

piping from turret to compressor

"water glass" piping

gauges, before moving, and brake stand

gauges after moving and quadrant

injector control rods

injector water feed line and overflow with diffuser