Southern California Downtown Structures
OK, I'ev unearthed a few of my in-progress kits from my stack of in-progress kits....and I'lll offer advance warning, most of these are very in progress. Also, I'm not sure how to attach an image next to it's description, so the pics are at the bottom of the posting.
One suggestion that I have is to modify kits from European countries. Pola and Kibri make high quality kits, and I've found they're easy to Americanize; I qm in the process of building a downtown shop reminescent of one in the middle of Oldtown Pasadena from a Pola "Bad Durkheim" station kit.
http://www.walthers.com/prodimage/79939597/35565289936747.gif (n-scale version). Pola kits like this are nice because the ornate trim is all seperate: I just built the kit without it. I haven't installed windows yet, but they will be done from behind in the upper, stucco portion of the building. I replaced the standings-seam metal roof with vacuum-formed clay tile from plastruct, and not added the gabled tile roofs over the outer portions of the building, opting for flat roofs with air conditioning equipment behind a cornice. This is a fairly large building, but some of the smaller Pola kits I've seen can be modified in much the same fashion.
There is a spray paint I really like for HO scale stucco. It's by Krylon, their 'Textured Elegance' Designer Finish. I purchased the can I use at Micheals Crafts. It is a tan color, but I usually paint over it after it is cured. The house I've attached with this paint started as a Model Power green house with over-sized clapboards. It's actually a little too contemporary for the 50's, but the technique will work.
As far as houses, I think 'Barb's Bungalow' from Atlas is a good Southern California staple, and I've also attached an image of DPM's Emry Lane
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/243-404 These two Victorian Queen Anne houses are nice, but so small that I didn't think they looked right until I placed them one behind the other on a 'lot', like a pair of small rental properties. A lot of little homes like this sprung up in the postwar building boom, but I rarely see it modelled.
I hope this helps.
Chris Roy
and I want that changed! It's California, late 1950's and I know that I would like some mission-revival style buildings, but don't know who makes them, or if anybody does! 
