Scratchbuilding Wesolowski Chemical
To weather the bottom of the wood structure, it was placed on a paintbrush loaded with a solution of india ink diluted in alcohol (above). As the wood absored the stain, the structure was moved slightly and the process repeated. Campbell’s corrugated alu-
to use asphalt shingles for mine and discovered a fantastic product made by Northeastern: Pre-Assembled Shingles (HGSHG14). They’re paper shingles that resemble asphalt shingles, and come in 3¹/₂″×8″ sections in a variety of colors. I chose charcoal. I glued these to the styrene sub-roof with five-minute epoxy. The roof on the right side of the building is slightly longer than the roofing material, so I had to butt two sections together near the dormer roof. I later covered the seam with a pipe made of wire. The shingle packs also come with pieces that can be used as valley flashing or a ridge cap; I used them for both. I brought each of the roof sections to my spray booth and painted them Flo- quil Grimy Black. Because the shingles are made of paper, I used Floquil paint. A water-based paint could cause them to swell and buckle. I also painted the inside of the roof so that the overhang wouldn’t have to be hand-painted later on. Then, I used five-minute epoxy to glue them down to the frame, holding them in place with dollhouse clothes pins that I’d bought at a craft store. The clothes pins are perfect for any number of modeling and scratchbuild- ing uses because they hold an object securely without crushing it. The roof of the lean-to addition was
made from Campbell’s corrugated alu- minum. (Believe it or not, I found an “older” package of these, circa 1980, in my scratchbuilding drawer, too!) I cut enough scale 42″×72″ pieces to allow for side-to-side and top-to-bottom over- lap. Each section was first painted CP Gray, then given a very light drybrush- ing with both Polly Scale Aluminum and Rust paints, for a nicely weathered appearance.
The ventilator house on the roof was built from ¹/₁₆″ scribed siding, and the walkway was made from stained
78
minum was used on the lean-to roof (right). The sections were first painted with CP Gray then drybrushed with Polly Scale Aluminum and Rust, which produced a weathered appearance. They were at- tached at various overlapping angles to give the roof a rustic look.
2″×8″ stripwood. The roof was built in the same way as the main roof. As a final touch, I used scale 2″×8″’s to create trim boards where the roof meets the walls, and painted those Wisconsin Central Maroon. Next, I scratchbuilt the loading dock using scale 2″×10″ boards for the deck, along with scale 6″×6″ stock for the legs and 2″×4″ bracing. All wood was first distressed with a razor saw to give it the impression of cracks and grain. It was then cut to length using a North- west Shortline Chopper and soaked in the india ink and alcohol stain. I re- discovered an old technique for build- ing the stringers for the stairs, by first edge-gluing scale 2″×8″’s together in a staggered fashion, then, once the glue dried, cutting them at an angle. I scratchbuilt a pair of dock doors
from ¹/₁₆″ spaced scribed siding and glued them in a half-open position, and added a piece of flooring behind the doors, also using the ¹/₁₆″ scribed siding.
Final details With the main parts of the building in-place, it was time to add the myriad of details that would give the building even
more character. I envisioned
Wesolowski Chemical as being a place that mixes a variety of chemicals to create new compounds, so besides on- ground tanks, I wanted the roof to car- ry one or two gravity-fed chemical reservoirs. I chose a horizontal tank from
Walthers’ Modulars Storage Tanks (No. 933-3197) and used a razor saw to cut the supports to the same angle as the roof. Then, I built a series pipes us- ing 24-gauge solid copper wire, bend- ing them around a pen to direct them to various places on the roof. To create the illusion of pipe joints, I cut very narrow pieces of heat shrink tubing and placed them at regular intervals
A small plastic vial became a tank for the right side of the building. It was painted CP Gray and lightly weathered. A stripwood tank platform was constructed support the tank and to accomodate the roof angle.
along the pipes. The tank was painted blue, weathered and attached to the roof with five-minute epoxy. The pipes were painted CP Gray. I added .020″ thick styrene disks, made with a paper punch, to the spots where the pipes en- tered the roof. Small pieces of scale 2″× 10″ planks hold the pipes up off the roof surface.
I also built another “pipe” from wire to cover the seam where the two sec- tions of Northeastern roofing material had to be joined. For variety’s sake, I painted this Polly Scale Grimy Black. For odds and ends, I rummaged through my "future details" bin and found a small, plastic vial which looked perfect as a rooftop tank for the right side of the building. I painted it CP
JANUARY 2014
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100