Drug Store Saga, Part 1

I'm calling this a Saga right at the get-go because I can already tell it's going to be one of those builds.  The drug store in the title is the Scale Structures Limited Corner Drug Store.  A classic structure, to be sure, but the model is not without its flaws.  Even on its release in 1972 the folks at Model Railroader took note of how the angles of the bay walls don't match the angle of the ornate wall cap casting.  (More on that later.)  However they also noted one of the kit's strengths; the construction allows for easy rearranging of the walls.

Early in the process, before the fitting frustration set in.

In that regard I have taken things one step beyond.  The space intended for this structure in Ocala Springs is located on an intersection and bounded by a spur at the rear and the next building down the block.  I've got leeway down the block as that next building hasn't been decided yet.  But between the street and the spur I can only go so far.  However, the problem was not that the building was too wide, rather it was too narrow.  I envisioned an alley between the building and the spur, but this space was large enough to shoehorn in another structure.

The solution was to lop off some of the long end of the drug store and glom it onto the shorter side.  Now my structure is a bit more squarish.  Careful measuring meant the window openings could be kept evenly spaced without trimming and the surgery was relatively painless.  But I'm making it sound all too easy.  Before I even reached this point I had struggled with the aforementioned angle difficulty, and realized another aspect the folks at MR noted; the need to carefully read the instructions (many times).  

Note the original rectangular "floor" set onto the roof of my reconfigured structure

This freedom and flexibility in construction means the kit doesn't drop together in a simple sequence of tabs and slots.  The stiffeners inside the structure are the floors.  To begin with I cut new ones from thicker card as I couldn't see the thin stuff provided doing a good job for the long haul, even sprayed with sanding sealer.  This allowed me to correct the issue with the bay wall angles.  You are instructed to measure and mark the floor levels.  The plans give you an indication of where the first floor goes, and the roof along one wall, but not the others.  

And you're instructed to build the thing "upside down", aligning walls from the top.  That's fine for the front walls and bay, but not the back walls which are two different heights.  Add to that the challenge of a too-small wall and laying out the floors gets confusing quickly.  This tiny wall is some sort of mistake, a wrong part.  At first I thought it was N scale but a quick examination with my scale rule checked against the plans and no, I have no idea what this shrunken wall is.  I didn't lose sleep over it but, using the plans, I was able to fabricate a new one which is fine since I had planned to move that wall's windows to a different wall.

"Shrinky Dink" wall in the center, replacement on the left, relocated windows on the right. And all this before I decided to reconfigure the walls.

To recap at this point; building the original kit as instructed is already challenging and then I had to go and make it even more so.  But the problem became the solution.  I don't have a set of precast plastic walls that don't fit, I have cardstock.  Cardstock can be easily replaced.  The card in the kit for the die-cut walls appears to be good quality material.  It cuts cleanly and sands well.  No watermarks but I'd suspect a quality similar to Crescent or Strathmore board.  

This post has already gone far too long so I'll save the tribulations of working with the castings and printed wall textures for another part.  Thanks for reading.

Four Flats - Distressing Decks

The first image is a comparison shot I made to share on my Instagram account.  On the left is the wooden deck that comes with the kit.  Note the wood grain running perpendicular to the grooves.  Note the places where the grooves between the "boards" didn't quite go far enough.  Even if I were to cut in the grooves, then stain this and weather it, the single-piece construction would be blatantly obvious thanks to the out-of-scale wood grain.

The brownish piece on the right is card that I've scribed to match the board size of the kit-supplied deck.  Already at this stage it is an improvement.  The "grain" of the card stock runs parallel to the direction of the boards.  I could simply stain this piece with various browns and grays and it would look great.  However, I prefer to prime cardstock first, especially in this case, to avoid as much warping as possible.  This isn't Strathmore.  It's more like shirt cardboard.  I'm not even sure where I found it.

In this next image is the pathfinder car with its deck primed, and the other three card decks in various stages of distress.  Note the dental tools and Xacto knife I use to add nail marks, cracks, etc. to the boards.  I particularly like the tool with the conical heads, as it is useful for pressing down on a board to make it lower than its neighbor, as well as making drag and scuff marks to imply something heavy has been shifted that dented and gouged the deck.

This last shot is a close-up of the pathfinder model's deck, ready for some color and weathering.  My plan is to paint and weather the deck, then the sides, all brushed on by hand.  I just need to remember what shade of brown I used on the Ocali Creek box car I did a few years back as I want to match it. Honestly, I know I took a picture of the car with the two colors I blended and for the life of me I can't find it. 

Miniature Benchwork

In preparation for building the framework for my next layout, the Pine Branch Park, I decided to try something I'd read about before; building a model of the model.  I enlarged my plan to a scale of 1/8 inch equals 1 inch, or 1-1/2 inch equals a foot.  This allowed me to cut thin strips to represent 1 inch wide material that I could handle without much trouble.  The overall size of the model at this scale works out to 6 inches by 9 inches, keeping the whole thing within a regular sheet of card stock.

Here's what I came up with:

Glamorous, ain't it?  Okay, so maybe it won't win any awards but it has served a very important function.  It showed me a few pitfalls and mistakes I might have made - these are easier to correct and far cheaper in card stock than plywood.  For instance, I want 1 inch flanges on the outer sides and 2 inch flanges on the inner members.  It was also fun to see flat sheets of card become a surprisingly strong framework.  The card stock is glued with Titebond II wood glue.

I will be using 1/4 inch plywood for the actual framework as well as the top.  I hope that by using girder construction for the frame I can avoid the eventual warping that comes from dimensional lumber exposed to temperature and moisture changes, as well as produce a light and strong frame that can be easily handled.  While I won't be moving this railroad as much as I would a portable module, I will be moving it eventually and early in the construction phase may be tipping it on its side to do wiring and turnout control work from the underside.