In-ko-pah RR: Another brick building, 1/24th scale

[deafpanzer]

WOW! AMAZING work... I am afraid my jaw hit the floor... hard!

[DeafStuG]

Amazing, looks good realistic, I can see at small electronics components inside the little plastic bin box in the parts drawers and vacuum values parts boxes. Great work!

[John Everett]

Damn!

[Leon]

WOW Ray!!!!!!!!!! Fantastic work on the vacuum tube boxes,scopes and instuments.Everything looks so real.

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks, everyone!

[Ray Dunakin]

I've been busy making lots of little interior details. Here's a quick look at a few of them...


I made a simple workbench stool out of styrene rod and a piece of 1mm Sintra. I don't have a shot of it painted yet:






I found some photos of various old radio repair manuals online. Then I fussed with them in Photoshop to create cover art. I printed out a bunch of them on self-adhesive vinyl, cut them out, and applied them to cores made of either Sintra or styrene, depending on the thickness required:







I also made a row of books, to be tucked away in the back. I used a shot of books on a shelf, applied it to 6mm Sintra, and cut it to shape. Then I painted the exposed Sintra to match the books:




And I just finished a radio chassis! The vacuum tubes were turned from acrylic rod, using a drill as a crude lathe:








Still have lots more to do.

[Leon]

WOW!!!! John your scratch work abilities are outstanding .The manuals and radio chassis look fantastic.

[deafpanzer]

Man those books look fantastic! Great idea about printing on stickers. Keep your work coming!

[John Everett]

Does it tune in the Little Orphan Annie show?

"Be sure to drink your Ovaltine!"

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks guys!

This level of detail is really over the top, since the only way it will ever be seen inside the model is in photos. But I'm having fun with it, and the windows are big enough that I need some kind of detail inside anyway.

BTW, I considered having the tubes light up, but decided it was more trouble than it was worth.

[Ray Dunakin]

More interior details, more modeling madness…

Here are a pair of aerosol cans. To make them, I rounded the end of a 1/8" styrene tube, then glued in a piece of styrene rod. The can on the right has a cap, the one on the left does not. I sanded down the end of the rod to represent the spray nozzle. I didn't bother labeling them for specific products, but just used some leftover labels from when I was detailing my drugstore:




Still more details -- needle nose pliers and a pair of screwdrivers, all made from brass tubes and rod:




I wanted to have some of the radios plugged into outlets, so I came up with these simplified plugs made of brass tubes. They'll be inserted into holes drilled into the outlets:




Here are some shots of how the interior looks so far. There are more details needed but it's getting there. Note the stand for the soldering iron -- I made it from a tiny spring that I pulled out of an old camera:








The stool was painted to look like it had been repainted several times, with layers of old paint showing through where the paint was worn and chipped:




Here you can see two of the power cords from the console radios, plugged into the simulated outlets:





Enjoy!

[John Everett]

Well, those are a couple of nice reference pictures from an old radio store. How did you get color images from that era?

But when are you going to start building a scale model?

How did you do the outlets, decal on styrene plate?

[Leon]

Ray! Your attention to detail with the outlets and power cords is fantastic.

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks!

John, the outlets are photos, printed onto self-adhesive vinyl. The ones are rear wall are simply stuck to the wall, with the printed image alone providing the illusion of depth. The outlets under the workbench were stuck to small blocks of Sintra.

[Ray Dunakin]

I wanted the radio shop to have fluorescent lights, but of course there are no working fluorescent lights in 1/24th scale. However I had an idea for a way to possibly simulate the appearance of working fluorescents...

I started by using 1/16" acrylic rods to represent the tubes. Small rounded bits of styrene strip were glued to the ends:




The base of the fixture was made from a strip of .100" x .250" styrene. Three 1/8" holes were drilled through it:




I used thin sheet brass to make the reflectors:




After painting the fixture white, I glued on the tubes. To help disperse the light and to give the tubes a somewhat frosted look, I brushed on a very thin coat of fluorescent white paint that I had leftover from a Halloween project years ago:




I marked the positions of the three holes and drilled three larger holes in the ceiling. Then the fixture was glued in place. Three 3mm LEDs were inserted into the fixture, through the holes in the ceiling. You can just barely see the rounded ends of the LEDs showing through in this photo:




When I first connected a battery to the leads I was disappointed… the beam from the LEDs simply made three bright spots on the acrylic rods. However, when I tried photographing it, I found that it looks perfect in photos! Here are some test shots, looking through the windows of the building:
















At this point I think I'm done with the radio shop. Next will be the barbershop details.

[Leon]

WOW Ray!!!!! Very ingenious way to make the lights.You nailed these perfectly.

[deafpanzer]

WOW! This is so sick... love those lights!!!

[delta]

Amazing!!! Amazing work on every little bit of this, lights to manuals.

[John Everett]

Holy crap!

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks guys!

[TRM]

SOme real first rate building as usual Ray!! Always a treat to see you work!! Thanks for sharing!!

[kaytermarram]

Real hardcore! What can I say whats not said before?? I love this kind of scratchbuilding and this all looks so weirdly real, its unbelievable. Master work in museum style.

Frank

[coro69]

just awesome lovely... in my opinion a piece of art...

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks!

[Ray Dunakin]

Here are some shots of the building in place on the layout. Note the worn, old sign on the foundation next to the stairs. I painted that mostly by hand, which was a pain. It wasn't very sharp either but didn't need to be. Then I roughed it up with sandpaper:




Here it is shortly after sunset...







Imagine how great this scene will look when all the buildings have interiors and lights:









Enjoy!

[delta]

These last photos look 100% absolutely real and full scale. There's simply nothing to suggest these aren't actual buildings somewhere.

Just curious, is "Tom's Servos" an MST3K reference?

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks Delta, and yes that is a reference to my favorite (defunct) TV show! There are a couple other MST3K references on the layout, such as the Hotel Torgo in the town of Dos Manos. Those are a little more obscure since they relate to a specific episode.

[delta]

Nice! The Master would approve

[Ray Dunakin]

At the risk of boring everyone, here's another shot of the town… The green stuff is moss or algae, brought on by the shady and relatively damp conditions on the layout at this time of year...

[Leon]

Ray!This is looking really fantastic .Love the night pic with the lights on.