place against the front porch edge board and permanently glued to the Gator Board base with yellow carpenter’s glue. I have to be careful lifting the entire structure up because it is possible to damage the delicate brass railings.
Doors and details
After installing all the windows, I no- ticed that I should have planned on some side or rear exit doors. The single window at the rear of each side of the building was removed and a four-panel door was glued into it place. Two sets of concrete stairs and the landings were made from a scrap of oak salvaged from our wood stove’s kindling box. The wood pieces were cut to the width and height dimensions first, then step and rise marks were made on them. Careful sawing with my band saw removed the excess material.
The stairs and landings were painted with the Ivory White paint that had ac- cumulated in the lid of the paint con- tainer. It was kind of, “clumpy,” and when it was dry it looked like concrete. A gentle brushing with the dye and al- cohol mixture helped bring out the de- tails of the clumps.
Brass railings were fashioned in the same manner as those built for the front steps, but instead of gluing every- thing to the Gator Board, these sets of stairs were firmly attached to the side of the building. A small amount of the siding material had to be carved away to attain a snug fit.
The roof can be removed for interior detailing. Making the sub-roof was a complicated process and done with sev- eral pieces of the fiber board. A lot of
fitting and sanding was done before I was happy with the results. The roof panels for the two side wings of the structure were easy to do, but the two for the center took a lot of work. Rather than work with two large panels, both the front and rear portions of this unit were assembled in courses made from pieces that were about an inch wide. Each course was made in two parts, with each end being angled to mate smoothly with their respective side unit roof pieces. The courses over- lapped a bit toward the center and were shortened and butt-glued so that the completed course sat firmly against the adjacent piece.
Three metal chimney castings were positioned in their respective locations and small holes cut through the roofing panels.
Roll roofing, cut from model aircraft “stick kit” covering material, was cut to three-foot scale widths and glued in place with Polly Scale Grimy Black paint. The paper covered the chimney holes, and when dry, that was cut away and the painted chimney castings were glued in place with fast-setting epoxy. The filet of epoxy around each chimney was painted with glossy acrylic black paint to represent tar.
Vents for the indoor plumbing were fashioned from brass tubing and in- stalled in much the same manner as the chimneys.
A couple of building signs were creat- ed with a computer using Photoshop® Elements. A grainy board pattern was created first, then overlaid with the names of the hotel that would be at- tached to each of the wings. Another
sign, highlighting room rates, meals to go and indoor showers, was also made. The signs were printed on cardstock, sealed with Krylon Clear Flat spray and mounted on very thin aircraft ply- wood with the Tacky glue. Because I had included a blackened frame around each of the signs, it was easy to trim them to remove the excess paper. Each sign was attached to the front of the building with the Tacky glue. The roof was weathered with white
dust that I collected from a dry wall project completed many years ago. (Why not? It looked as if it might have a model railroad use!) The black smudges on the side walls were made with powdered pastel chalks by rub- bing them on a piece of sandpaper and dusting the powder onto the boards with a soft brush. The traces of rust from the plumbing vents were done with a light wash of a rust solution made from vinegar and steel wool. It’s about 30 years old now and still as po- tent as when it was created. Orange colored chalk dust was also used to cre- ate rust streaks, and soot from the chimneys was made with more black chalk dust applied over the previously powered roll roofing paper. The Miners’ Union Hotel took several months to complete, but it was a learn- ing experience all the way. Several new modeling methods, at least to me, were tried, and they will be used on future structure projects. About the only thing left to do now is to add a few figures of miners relaxing on the front porch and maybe a couple of members of the mine manager’s family overlooking the scene from the second floor balcony.
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
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