1/24th scale simulated stone building

[multicam]

Stunning work, Ray! The color of cement and stone look great. Love the detail given to the individual stones. Really makes it look real. Nicely done sir!

[Ray Dunakin]

The exterior is nearing completion...

 

After taking the photos in my last post, I still wasn't satisfied with the painted stones on the side of the building. There was too much variation, and the colors weren't close enough to the real stone walls nearby. So I modified the stones I'd already painted, and then completed the remainder of the wall. Here's how it looks now:

 

 

I'm still not entirely happy with it, but it's close. I will probably try to tint some more of the stones, and perhaps do a very thin wash over the whole wall. But for now this will have to suffice -- we have an open house tomorrow. BTW, I also painted the front wall, which was much simpler. It received a solid coat of Apple Barrel "Country Tan". 

 

 

The window frames were painted white. The front panels and door were painted dark brown:

 

I painted these by hand using a small, pointed brush. Getting a sharp, clean edge between the frame and door was tricky. I painted everything white first. Then I painted the panels and door brown, building up the color a little at a time in thin layers. Then I had to touch up the white, and then touch up the brown. Eventually it reached a point where it was acceptable, though not quite perfect:

 

 

The front windows and door assembly is only very slightly weathered, not enough to really show much in this photo. I glued the 2mm glass to the rear using clear silicone sealant, and also added a doorknob. The doorknob is an Ozark Miniatures casting, with the oversized keyhole filled in with putty:

 

 

The upstairs windows were painted white and given a bit more weathering, since it's likely they would not be repainted as frequently. The weathering was done by lightly applying random streaks of gray-brown, using a ratty old brush. After painting was completed, the glass was glued onto the rear:

 

The attic vents were painted in the same manner. Then the rear of each vent was painted black, and a fine brass screen glued into place:

 

Next, I glued a back onto the sides of the vent, to form a box which is open at the top. This will allow the vent to function, while keeping out any rain that might blow in:

 

 

The "rolled roofing" material was painted black, then given several thin washes of white following by some brownish gray washes. This simulates the appearance of roofing which is somewhat aged and weathered yet still in reasonably good condition. I also painted the access hatch and glued in the smokejack and vent pipe:

 

 

And here's how it all looks so far:

 

 

A closeup of the side window:

 

 

This shot is looking towards the townsite from across the layout:

 

 

Besides making possible further adjustments to the color of the stones, I also need to create some signs and other small details. Then I have to start on the interiors.

 

 

[TRM]

Still in awe here Ray!! Stellar building!! Original thoughts on how to get what you are thinking of is key....great stuff!!!

[Leon]

Ditto what T said.Everything you do is amazing.

[multicam]

Outstanding modeling going on here, Ray! Awesome work! Man, I can't wait to see the interior!

[Ray Dunakin]

I decided I wanted a couple faded, old signs on the side of this building. I searched online for pics of "ghost signs" and other old wall signs, and studied them to get a feel for the lettering styles, layout and weathered appearance...


First would be a sign for the bank which originally occupied the structure. I laid out a simple design and printed it onto self-adhesive vinyl. Then I masked the background area and used a stencil brush to stipple in some charcoal black:




When the background had dried, I cut out the lettering from the vinyl and positioned the mask over the background area. Then I stippled in some off-white:




After removing the mask, I touched up the edges of the letters, and painted in some brown spots and tints. Here's the completed sign:




This simple sign had turned out well, so now I was ready to try something a little more complicated. The next sign would be an old ad, in several colors. I worked up a design I liked and printed out two copies onto self-adhesive vinyl:




Then I cut a mask for the entire background and stippled on a thin, spotty coat of off-white. When this dried, I masked the border, and positioned the vinyl "tamale" cutout, then painted the background a mottled red color:




Next I cut out the lettering, and laid the vinyl mask over the red background:




The letters were painted off-white, and the tamale was painted in shades of pale yellow and brown:




When the mask was removed, it looked pretty ugly! The rough surface had allowed paint to bleed under the edges of the mask, so there was a lot of touch up needed. I also needed to add the "red hot" lettering to the center of the tamale:




I cut a mask for the "red hot" lettering and painted it. Then I touched up all the edges, hand painted a thin drop shadow on the lettering, and added a black outline around the tamale. Finally, the entire wall was given a very wash of "mortar" colored paint, while the building was laid on its side. This helped to fade out the signs, and also toned down the colors of the stones a bit and very subtly tied the whole thing together:




Here's how it all looks now:






That's all for now...

[Leon]

Ray that looks fantastic.Could swear it's the real thing.

[multicam]

Fantastic paintwork Ray! Truly inspiring:) you might even try some hairspray underneath next time and chip them a bit. Just a thought:) Looks superb!

[deafpanzer]

WOW! Outstanding work on the signs!!!

[Paul P.]

Hi Ray just read through the whole thing and this is amazing, museum quality stuff

Paul

[DeafStuG]

Wow, Great work so Beautiful !

[Deleted]

Beyond incredible

[Steve Zuleski]

This is some really cool work Ray. Where's this train set up at? I'd like to see a panoramic set of pics, looks increduble!!

Bookmarked! Cheers, Ski.

[auldyin]

This is the best tutorial I've ever seen

[sammuel]

I'm a nut for detail!

Your project is very inspiring.

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks!

[Ray Dunakin]

I finished the exterior of this structure in 2015. Then I set it aside for a while until I could figure out how to complete the interior. I wanted to make it a silversmith shop and gallery, in homage to my brother who was a creator of fine art jewelry. Sadly, he and his wife passed away a few months later. After that it was a long time before I could bear to even think of finishing the model.

I finally completed the signage, interior details, and lights in 2020. The ground floor is the jewelry gallery, housed in a former bank building. The second floor is the workshop. All of the interior details are scratch built with the exception of a few small tools.
















Oh, and as you can see, in the intervening years I added more buildings to the town...







.

[mustang1989]

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Now how cool is THIS??!! Man that came out of left field and hit me in the head right there!! Truly awing and inspiring work. I could sit and look at this for hours and see something new every time.

My condolences goes out to you on the loss of your brother as well as his wife Ray. Such a loss would stop me in my tracks for a while too. This is such a great tribute to him.

Welcome back to the forum Ray. It's really good to see you again.

[Tobi]

Well said Joe.

Ray, one can see the love that went into it.

[chromdome35]

Wow, what phenomenal work! The attention to detail is off the charts.

This reminds me very much of a local town, Eureka Springs Arkansas. It has the same style of streets & sidewalks going up a steep hill. When I first saw your pictures, I had to go read the description to see if you were modeling Eureka Springs.

[Steve Zuleski]

Sure is nice to see the final on this incredible build. Calling this Museum work would be a bit short, more like "life like" work. Impressive Ray, and thanks for posting the updates.

[Prop Duster]

Thank you for the grand tutorial on how to build a building. Very enjoyable and inspiring.

[buddho]

Your work is mindboggling! So impressive.

[captfue]

Fantastic detail!!!! great job

[reserve]

Ten years back I was awed by this. Ten years later I'm still awed by this

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks guys!

[kwt]

Oh wow.... this is awesome!

[Tojo72]

My thoughts exactly,just awesome

[fifer]

That work is just Spectacular !!!!

[garydavis-Rest In Peace]

Ray...you are an ARTIST my friend. I just went through the whole post from beginning to end. Outstanding craftsman ship. Very inspiring to say the least. Thank you very much for posting the up-date.