Junk Yard Diorama

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

I am starting a new diorama; this one being a 4 foot by 4 foot offering.   I have the base built, using old scrap wood that was lying around, in the way.   The beginning will be the garage, which is given the history of an old, small railroad freight depot.  It is constructed of plastic sheet and strip.   The floor/foundation utilizes layered plexiglass for strength.   It will represent being built around the 1880s as a small town freight depot, and thereafter having a multitude of uses, before finally becoming a garage for the junkyard.

This is the base, which is built in modular sections of 2 feet by 4 feet, thus making it more easily transportable, should the need arise.

The floor is designed to fit into the structure to add strength.  The walls are .080 Plastruct sheet.  All will be covered with appropriate flooring and siding material.

 

[cobraman]

That will be one huge diorama !

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

Work continues on the junk yard diorama.

I set a few cars and the base on to get a feel for the final layout of the scene.

The base displays an office area and main work area.   More on the details of it will come later in construction.

I used Plastruct brick for the siding on the walls.   Here I'm displaying the window/door frames in early construction.

 

I set the walls in place to give you an idea of what I'm envisioning this to look like someday.

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

The doors are my focus in these photos.

Working doors are a pain to build, and not something I've ever been successful at, to be sure.

This is the back wall.  It displays a door that has been eliminated, and filed with brick.   In its beginning, it would have received cargo from train cars on a railroad siding.

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

I've made noticeable progress with the garage building.   Three walls are in place, and the office walls have detail weathering to show where covering material has been removed or fallen off.   The doors are working as they should.   I did build them thicker than would be prototypical, but I need the strength due to where they will be located in the final diorama, and access to them will be awkward.

[vincen47]

This will be a fantastic dio. You’ve already got a great start with the brick walls and great weathering. Will you have remnants of the abandoned rail siding? A segment of mostly buried rail, overgrown weeds. That would be neat.

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

You are exactly right on with the abandoned rail and weeds.   I might even have a ghost!

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

This is a series of photos that are of the construction of the loft. I show some of the framework being test fitted, but not permanently installed. The last photos show the final stages, with the light being installed in what will be the ceiling of the office, and the floor completed and weathered. The parts for the plumbing and electrical arrived today, so I can now start installing them. After that I should be able to place the loft.

 

[wrenchr]

Really coming along!! Love the detail and thought you are putting into the building. I work in a very old brick building and another thing that is common when plugging holes and old openings............... is the use of cinder block brick or just wood. But your method is right on as well, no correct way. I think in these old buildings it is just what was handy or cheaper at the time. The old office inside could of been made from red clay brick and those were used to block the rail door, a small pallet of spare bricks tucked in the corner would add some cool realism. The building where I work has or had rail access years ago. The rails behind the building are mostly covered now but on the ends you can see remnants of them. The old doors were just secured permanently closed. Right now part of the back wall where the rails is at was falling and is being rebuilt. The oldest part of the building was built in the earlier 1900's, the teens I have been told. Very old for sure.         

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by wrenchr

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

1 hour ago, wrenchr said:

Really coming along!! Love the detail and thought you are putting into the building. I work in a very old brick building and another thing that is common when plugging holes and old openings............... is the use of cinder block brick or just wood. But your method is right on as well, no correct way. I think in these old buildings it is just what was handy or cheaper at the time. The old office inside could of been made from red clay brick and those were used to block the rail door, a small pallet of spare bricks tucked in the corner would add some cool realism. The building where I work has or had rail access years ago. The rails behind the building are mostly covered now but on the ends you can see remnants of them. The old doors were just secured permanently closed. Right now part of the back wall where the rails is at was falling and is being rebuilt. The oldest part of the building was built in the earlier 1900's, the teens I have been told. Very old for sure.         

 

Thank you very much for that information.   I'm going off of 50+ year old memories of a building I saw as a youth.   Your insights are very helpful.

[wrenchr]

1 hour ago, Kodiak Island Modeler said:

Thank you very much for that information.   I'm going off of 50+ year old memories of a building I saw as a youth.   Your insights are very helpful.

Hi Douglas,

If you ever want any pics just let me know. The old air compressor is cool, has not worked in about 50 years is my guess or the old coal fired boiler. The boiler is bigger than most homes.      

[wrenchr]

15 minutes ago, wrenchr said:

 

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by wrenchr

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

5 minutes ago, wrenchr said:

 

I would love any pictures I can get.   There is no such thing as too much reference material.   If you can send them in the private message.  Thanks.

[wrenchr]

Yup. I'll take some pics of some stuff tonight. Darn night shift................ 

[wrenchr]

The building in its 3 additions through the years amounts to well over three hundred thousand sq ft.

These pics I had already saved are little things that caught my modeling eye so I snapped the pics. In the boiler room which is pretty much a no go zone the new compressors run constant and are very loud so things in there are still like the entire building once was back in the mid 90's when I started working, dingy green wall paint.

The old sprocket just hanging on the wall. I had a closeup of one of the boiler doors. it is dark in this room.

The old hoist beam has never been used in all my years working there, just hangs like that. That is in the plant and was painted the white in the late 90's. It is an off white now. It did brighten it up in the plant though. 

Red clay brick with big metal beams, the beam above that hoist had overhead cranes that would travel down them. We still have one that is functional but never used. 

I'll get some more pics.   

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

Work has continued, and I now am in the process of installing utilities.

 

I want to elaborate on the next photo.   Here we have an instance of the benefits of knowing the history of what you're modeling. In the early years of moving the 'necessities' from outdoors to indoors, it was quite often needful to improvise. Finding space for the little room was not always easy, and it could be shoved into odd areas. In this case it had been placed up in the loft. I'm displaying that over the years, it has been completely removed, and is probably now in the owner's house. Only the capped off plumbing remains.

[PHPaul]

VERY nice!

What are you using for the cast iron soil pipe?  Whatever it is, it looks great!  Very realistic.

[Anglia105E]

Your construction of this diorama is nicely done Douglas . . . In particular, I like the framework for the ceiling and the loft floor, also the piping is most impressive. The whole scene is very realistic, and especially with some natural daylight available to you. Four feet by four feet is a good size for the baseboard, and your weathering and detailing skills are clearly top notch. This building has a story attached to it which makes the project even more interesting . . . I shall be following your progress !

David

[TonyK]

This is amazing! You could stop now and it would be a great diorama. Scary to see how this keeps developing.

[charlie8575]

This is very impressive work.

Charlie Larkin

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

More progress has been made.   Furnishings and equipment have been constructed.

 

[Anglia105E]

This is top class diorama construction Douglas . . . Such fascinating detail . . .

David

[Dominik]

that looks great! i'm very impressed about the "barn", but more i'm excited to see more and more coming together outside. Thats a huge diorama!

[Kodiak Island Modeler]

Technically, this build would go under a separate  section, but because it is part of the diorama, I'll be placing it here.   The wrecker for the junk yard will come from this Ford C-900 kit.

The Ford C-Cab series ran from 1958 to 1991, and I will be representing the latter few years.   I will also present it as a vehicle that served a completely different industry be fore becoming a junkyard wrecker.   The color that I've chosen is gun metal gray.

At this point, I've removed the chrome and painted most chassis parts flat black.   I've also scuffed the tires, some to a degree that they are needing replacement.   There's not much to show yet, but I will update you as progress continues.

 

[Anglia105E]

I think it must be your lighting that really brings this whole diorama scene to life Douglas . . . Such a high level of realism !

David