Come along on our adventure

[trainwhiz20]

Hmm... sounds like a horrible experience. I try to stick with Elmer's Rubber Cement, Testor's Liquid Cement, or Superglue. Never had that happen.


Yes, I do look forward to hearing about the boys. If it helps, I'm only 15! You guys are doing a great job so far--very inspiring!

 

[emt49]

c.b the roads looking good and the 5 1/5 inch looks like it will work out good keep the pics comming good work guys

 

[spitfire]

Cabdriver, I only use CAA glue when I have to, like with resin kits and metal parts. For styrene I use Ambroid Pro-Weld. It is a liquid styrene solvent that my LHS owner recommended back when I was just starting. I admit I was skeptical at first, since I grew up using model cement, but I was an instant convert.
The way it works is by capillary action. You put the pieces you want to glue together, and while holding them in place, put a little bit of the solvent at the joint. It will flow in, and basically by melting the surfaces, weld them together.
Warning: don't use too much, and don't get your thumb in the way. If it flows under a thumb you will have a lovely raised imprint of said digit. Only fix for that is to cover the building in ivy. Ever wonder why there are so many ivy-covered buildings on people's layouts????

Val

 

[Ralph]

For styrene I use Ambroid Pro-Weld. It is a liquid styrene solvent that my LHS owner recommended back when I was just starting.
Val

Thanks for the tip Val! And cabdriver, I haven't heard of such a problem as you described but will benefit from your experience!
Ralph

 

[cabdriver]

Watch Out For Ca !!

Guys, thanks all for your responses regarding the CA situation. I have to say, this is really frustrating! If this, in fact, is the case, that the CA glue fumes interact with the styrene, then you really need to keep it in the open air -- don't put the pieces you have been working on in an enclosed area. I have now seen first hand how just the CA near the plastic coverings for windows can cause this frosting/chaulking effect. I used some CA (Zap-a-Gap CA+) on some side walls near the windows, and next thing I see, they are fogging up with a chaulk like residue. I am really interested to know if this is a known phenomenon so if anyone else has seen this please advise!

Thanks also for the suggestions on the type of glue you guys are using. I guess we went for the quick weld scenario -- once again, quick is not always good! We've used this stuff with many other modeling scenarios in the past, but now that I think about it, none of them had any sort of enclosure (ie, building with front, back, and sides) or glass (plastic windows inside said enclosure), so maybe we just didn't come across it.

All you experienced modelers out there -- ever seen this??

 

[cabdriver]

Spitfire, I'm getting out my ivy as we speak!

 

[cabdriver]

Here's a look at one of the model buildings that we are working on. The new one on the left is the one that was "hit" by the CA problem I referenced in my previous thread. We have tried to fix all of the chaulk like problems -- hope it doesn't show too much . In addition, we are showing you guys what we think the spacing is going to be on the layout. The new building on the left is going to be an Italian grocery store. We are planning on adding some sidewalk in front of this building, similar to the multi-function building next to it. We are considering this multi-function building to house a hobby shop (naturally :thumb: ) and a barber shop (when I was a kid, I actually worked in a barber shop sweeping floors and shining shoes -- my parents really had a work ethic!! ). Number 1 son is planning on creating a barber pole for the outside of the building using a cylinder made from the plastic that holds the building pieces together in the kit -- what an awesome idea! We are planning an alley in between the two buildings as you can see. I really like the look of an alley way between the buildings. At the end of the multi-function building, we will plan on having another road perpendicular to Main Street.

 

[cabdriver]

One more picture of the problem building.

 

[cabdriver]

Now that I look at it, this picture looks worse than it is. I am picking up the reflection off of the paint on the front of the building. Oh, well. Looks like the chaulk problem all over -- in real life (or proto-life) it looks much better -- the chaulk problem is not very evident -- more like the first picture.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

I was going to say, It doesn't look bad. I have had windshields on some of the locos I've done fog so bad that I had to remove and replace them.
Even in the second photo it actually looks as though you weathered the windows as if they need washed.
Yea, thats it. Put a couple of people with buckets and squeegees in front of the building and tell everyone your technique for modeling dirty windows.

 

[cabdriver]

Ray, awesome idea :thumb: . I'll be looking for the window washing crew this weekend. I may decide to rip out and replace the plastic windows, but honestly, when you look at it live the windows actually look pretty clear. I think the camera flash might make it look worse that it really is. I'll look for a better time to take pic and see what you all think. Either way, I'm going for a window washing crew!

One question -- what color do you guys paint the inside of your buildings? I now realize that we spent so much time working on the outsides of our buildings, and no time on the inside of the buildings, but the inside is what you see through the windows. I realize now that I have looked at the finished buildings that I did not paint the inside of the building, and it has the regular plastic color to it. I'm not happy with this. Do you paint the walls different from the floor? Do you paint the walls prototypical of what the inside of the particular building would be painted, or do you need to paint it something different due to the way it will look on the layout? Do you paint it differently if the inside of the building has a light source versus if it does not? Do you "furnish" the insides of your buildings, or is that overkill (I'm concerned about creating a "doll house" look). What do you think?

 

[cabdriver]

By the way, what do you guys think about the alley in between the buildings? We're thinking of making the alley just slightly wider than one car width -- this is probably realistic. We can then add trash cans, etc in the alley. We think we will make the alley "gravel asphalt" using the fine "cinder" Woodlands Scenics application. The other option would be to pour a road bed and color it asphalt similar to the road. We haven't decided for sure whether to put a parking lot behind the buildings, but we would need to be consistent with the paving surface there, should we decide to have it.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Buildings with large windows do look better with some kind of modeled interior.
It can be as simple as installing curtains in the upper stories and posters in the store front windows to a fully detailed interior.
One trick I have done was to cut out a photo of a store interior from a magazine and install it on the inside of the windows or a false wall about 1/4" back from the windows.

How much traffic will the alley see?
If the alley only services the two buildings I would stick with your original plan. If the alley services other establishments or you do install the rear parking, you might consider the asphalt.

 

[spitfire]

Cabdriver, as Ray says a lot of people put curtains in the windows to hide the bare interiors. Others superdetail interiors, but usually only if the windows are very large, like a storefront and if it's going to be lighted.

You should also check out the search feature here at the Gauge, as there have been a few threads on roads and building interiors, with photos that might answer some of your questions in a more visual way.

As an example, here's a storefront I did awhile back.

Val

 

[cabdriver]

Ray, what a great suggestion. Since our building has some rather large display windows at street level, we should look at doing what you suggest. I like the idea of providing some consistency in what the store sells and what the viewer sees in the layout.

 

[cabdriver]

Spitfire, thanks for the post. Your building looks amazing. :thumb: I'd love to hear how you did the brickwork. I like your window approach -- I think we could do something very similar. It's very helpful to see another modelers work for inspiration! :thumb: We have so much to do that I'm hoping we can make some real progress this weekend.

 

[cabdriver]

Ray, in regard to the alley -- we're thinking that we should pave the alley with the same approach as we did the road -- make it an actual road surface with ashphalt color applied -- much narrower of course. We think this might be more realistic, then have the gravel (Woodlands Scenics cinder material) form the back parking lot -- lots of alley ways led to back parking that was gravel based in the 60s. Current thoughts only.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Sounds like a good plan for the alley.

 

[spitfire]

Thanks Cabdriver. The brickwork was painted with an orange/black mix and the mortar was done with spackle afterwards. You put on a thin coat and scrape it off with a scrap piece of styrene. The spackle stays in the grooves, and looks like mortar. It also dulls down the bricks a little bit. The only tricky part is around windows and other projections where the spackle likes to get caught. Sometime you have to go in with the dull end of a blade to get it out of unwanted places like that.

Val

 

[cabdriver]

Thanks Spitfire for sharing your technique. What a great idea. :thumb: :thumb: We're going to try it on one of the buildings on our layout if we can. The look is super realistic! :thumb: