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.