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Planned Project...


hooknladderno1

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  • 4 months later...

Okay Guys,

Finally getting started on this project! Decided on O gauge(1/48). Purchased some of the window/door components online - have to wait for those to arrive. Bought both Magic Brik and JTT dressed stone patterned plastic sheet for the stonework. Still have to mock up the walls with cardboard, which won't happen til the weekend with work. Any suggestions on what to use for the permanent walls? I don't have access to a table saw at the moment. The Magic Brik involves a water based brick motar compound. Warping is a concern... Any ideas would be appreciated! Thanks.

David

Edited by hooknladderno1
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Good to see this one finally started..... was wondering what happened to it. Hope you can find accessories in 1/48 scale that will suit. (1/43 may also work as I believe there may be more vehicles, including period fire trucks in that scale. But not so easy to scale out unless you get a scale ruler for 1/43). If you're not going to add vehicles, then 1/48 is probably the way to go.

As 1/48 is 1/4" to a real 1'-0", it's any easy scale to work with and there may be many accessories in the model railroad stores that will work for you.

Looking forward to watching progress.

Tony

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I darkened the dark colors to make it easier to count the block. I would say these are standard 16x8 molded face block. The man door is 11 block high (11 x 8.5 = 93") the door knob 5 block (5 x 8.5 = 42.5in). That would be a standard commercial door around that time, 7'9" door, probable 32" wide.

The Garage door looks to be 8' x 8'

Did you find out what fire truck they used?

http://images46.fotki.com/v28/photos/1/1403291/11775965/FireHouse2-vi.jpg

Anyone know why the Fotki "Code for forums" is not working?

Edited by AzTom
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  • 3 weeks later...

I darkened the dark colors to make it easier to count the block. I would say these are standard 16x8 molded face block. The man door is 11 block high (11 x 8.5 = 93") the door knob 5 block (5 x 8.5 = 42.5in). That would be a standard commercial door around that time, 7'9" door, probable 32" wide.

The Garage door looks to be 8' x 8'

Did you find out what fire truck they used?

http://images46.fotki.com/v28/photos/1/1403291/11775965/FireHouse2-vi.jpg

I think you finally nailed down those heights Tom. Darkening up the photo sure clarified that. (Why didn't I think of that?) Definitely a tip to remember for next time......

Tony

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UPDATE!!!

Hi Guys,

While the forum was down, I finally began to make some drawings and get this party started! As the forum was not accessible, I did not have the discussion of measurements to refer to. Sooooo, I kind of guesstimated using the Grandt Line 1/48 scale 5 panel door as a base. I looked around and could only find one local shop that had any O scale Grandt Line items in stock. I picked up a bag of small windows just for grins, but they were "double hung" with the sash raised open about three inches. It looked too small, and I couldn't figure out how to get the long window into the frame. There were no directions with the windows, so I just ended up ordering directly from Grandt Line. After the order came I realized that both the depot AND factory style windows that I ordered were too big. So, what's a guy to do - cut the down! Another BIG mistake... :wub: The structure of O scale window frames is very fine. I ruined about 8 before deciding on a different approach. I looked over the original windows that I had purchased on the other side of town. I realized with " a little modification", they would work just fine.

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For the exterior, I chose to go with Gator board. I went to a local art supply store, and was disappointed to find that they had no smaller sheets in stock... I explained what I needed the Gaotor board for. A helpful staff member replied that her Dad was a firefighter, and that she would check in their framing dept. to see if they had any scraps. SCORE! She came out with a piece that must have been 16"x 48"! And, no charge! That's what I call service! I had done a lot of reading on cutting Gator board - most recommended against hand cutting it. As I don't currently have access to any machinery, I went at it with gusto! I was pleased to find that a sharp utility knife, spare blades and a drywall T-square made quick work of it. Caution is needed, as the outer skins are made of a melamine type fiber, while the inside foam is much softer. Once door and window shapes were cut out, the actual door and windows were test rit. rough openings were fine tuned.

I had purchased some thin wood siding from the miniature shop that I got the Grandt Line pieces from. I carefully cut and fit them to the roofline and windows. After doing so, I just wasn't happy with the look, as the clapboards were too large and out of scale. I again searched local sources for proper scale siding. I was frustrated to find that Evergreen's largest clapboard siding was still too small... I ended up ordering some Plastruct patterned clapboard on-line. That should arrive next week.

The masonry blocks will be replicated with a product called Magic Brik. It features a cut adhesive backed vinyl mask over which you apply a course masonry textured paste. You remove the mask before the paste fully sets up. This leaves a 3D "brick or block" appearance. I am experimenting with different techniques to more closely replicate the block on the original structure. One such experiment involved using artist’s acrylic gesso medium to vary the texture of the blocks. As the blocks are larger than standard bricks, I chose to use their 1/24 scale brick pattern.

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Sadly, the fire company's 100th Anniversary celebration was last night. :( Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to attend. Obviously, the diorama is not finished yet... But, I will endeavor to do the build justice. I have been watching many videos on diorama making, ground cover, pink/blue insulation foam, tall grass, and tree making. As can be seen in the two photos at the beginning of this thread, it is all there... If you made it through my rambling – Thank you. Stay tuned - Film at 11:00… Thanks for looking!

David

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For most of us, the forum being down was a bad thing but in your case you made some outstanding progress. This is really progressing nicely and I'm thrilled to see you're striving for accuracy and not cutting corners. As for cutting the gator board, I've found that making three passes with a new #11 X-acto blade along a straight edge works best for me; one for the top outer layer, one for the inner foam and the last one for the backside outer layer.

Glad you're back at this and I'll be watching closely.

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Please forgive me as I know you're just test fitting, but isn't that paned window upside down? While you probably are just test fitting, If it somehow found it's way into the finished build, and I had said nothing, I would be angry with myself. As many posts are misinterpreted, I am taking pains to make my motive for pointing this out very clear. It's a great looking build so far!

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Please forgive me as I know you're just test fitting, but isn't that paned window upside down? While you probably are just test fitting, If it somehow found it's way into the finished build, and I had said nothing, I would be angry with myself. As many posts are misinterpreted, I am taking pains to make my motive for pointing this out very clear. It's a great looking build so far!

No Tom,

You are correct! With the site back up, I was anxious to get some "In Progress" photos taken. This meant re-arranging a few areas so that I could set up my "photo area"... Thanks for your attention to detail. That's what makes your builds so great! :D

Guys,

Thank you for your comments as well! I am trying to balance searching for a job, shopping, cooking, and taxiing my boys around, with finding time to build. Can't wait for the clapboard siding to arrive, so that I came mock it up and proceed with the Magic Brik block work.

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The clapboard siding arrived yesterday! Three of the four sides are cut and glued in place. Hope to have time to place the final piece today. Sprayed a test scrap of the siding with Krylon Hunter Green. As the photos are black and white, and no one is still alive who can tell us what the original color was, I will take some "artistic license... I also sprayed the test brick/block pattern above with some light colored Rustoleum texture paint. I am pleased with the results. Sorry no pictures yet. Will post some ASAP. Thanks.

David

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Update!!!

The fire station siding is complete. I had a chance to visit back home a few months ago. As some here had suggested, often building materials were sourced from the same suppliers. My best friend and I rode around the area where the firehouse was located, and found an old schoolhouse built around the same time. We measured and photographed the masonry work.

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After returning home, I placed the Magic Brick masonry coating on the building.

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As you can see, the mortar joints are only about 1/2" wide. After applying gesso to duplicate the high points on the stone, I will apply more in the recesses of the joints to minimize the joint width and make the stone appear larger. The exposed basement will receive a stucco treatment. Still lots to do... Thanks for looking!

David

Edited by hooknladderno1
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  • 3 months later...

I can highly recommend a brush-on product for the stucco finish.I bought Liquitex brand product they call Ceramic Stucco.I found in a Micheal's crafts store in the artist supply section.It adheres very well and you can sand it down after it dries overnight to get just the texture you want.You can see how it looks by checking out my 1925 Indian Gas station in the diorama section of this site.I did not paint mine after application.I thought it looked more natural that way.

Your project is looking very good.Also glad to see that you still find time to build even with all the other things going on in your life.I look forward to watching your updates as you post them.

Be sure to sign up for both Micheals crafts and Hobbt Lobby email lists.They will send you a discount coupon every week for a 40% discount on one regularly priced item.Great way to save some of those hard earned dollars!

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Thanks Tom,

The project has been on the "back burner" for a little bit. I actually have the Liquitex Ceramic Stucco, Vallejo Pumice, and regular gesso. I have been playing with all of them and am finding that each works well for different applications. I have applied some of the gesso to both the "block" surfaces to reproduce the irregular surface detail as well as to the mortar lines to fill in some of the definition of them. The prototype local building had much narrower mortar lines than the Magic Brik as shown above.

David

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  • 2 years later...

Hi Gang,

After a long while on the back burner, this project is back on the bench!  Lots of progress since the last update.  I will try to do this in some hat of a chronological order.  When we last left off, the block work was filled with acrylic artist's gesso to give the appearance of very thin mortar lines as on the 1:1 building.

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Pink foam polystyrene insulation was added to make up the bulk of the ground work.

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Meanwhile, the apparatus bay door was scratchbuilt.  As it was my first such effort, I was quite pleased.

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While the only two original photos that exist do not show it, it is logical that there was a cellar door to the rear of the building.  So using some artistic license and a period correct design, a cellar door entrance was fashioned...

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The polystyrene was covered with a mix of toilet paper and white glue.  You may also notice that a tree has grown behind the firehouse as in the original photo.

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Below is my first attempt at growing a tree.  As you can see, my efforts were a little short.  So, the tree was cut, a new base was formed, and you see the final result.

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The wire was covered with acrylic latex caulk that was textured with a tooth pick and bamboo skewer. 

While it looks more like something from Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas", I'm pretty proud of my first tree.  It remains a workin progress...

 

Edited by hooknladderno1
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