Nachoman's kitbash 09 summer challenge

[nachoman]

I really need to start wrapping this thing up, as I have other non-train related stuff that I need to get done, and this contest is ending soon. I am afraid that I won't be able to add all the details I had originally planned.

I painted the walls with model master burnt sienna. The color was okay, but it was too uniform for my liking. It looked like painted or new brick. Remember, my prototype is a stone structure built around 1900 in a rather remote mining town filled with smelters and smokestacks. I wouldn't expect to see a pristine brick building there. So, I tried adding a tan colored wash as a mortar, and things looked better, but again it still looked to much like bricks, and the seams and differences between the DPM and Walthers sections really stood out. Then, I decided to use the tan wash over the whole building, and it looked much better, but too light. So, I added a brown wash, and am now happy with the results. I'd still rather have a stone building, but if that was the case this would be a scratchbuild, and part of my goal was to see what I could do with the modular components.

I brush panted top cornice and the lower front with a craft store white. I have noticed that the craft store paints go on smoother if you first thin them with about 25-50% water. The roof is strips of masking tape cut to look like sheets of roofing felt (which I am assuming is an appropriate roofing material for this location during my era). I then painted the roof with a black brown and white mixture to give it a dirty gray look. The effect is good (looks better in person) but the roof lacks details like roof jacks or possibly a stairwell exit.

Next up is to paint and install the windows, paint the front door, and build a loading dock and walkway along the track side of the building.