Further out shot

Here's one more shot of the mockup/core from further out showing how it now fits in with the surrounding area.

the red barn supply house look...very nice..

I too look at some scrap or box, or even discarded pieces of wood , and think ...how could i use this or could i use this on the lay out somewhere... sometimes think its a curse...

Oh, and Michael,..  thank you for the inspirational idea of using boxes for mock ups... true told ..ive been struggling

More progress

Spent a bit of the morning doing this. Added a foamcore base and a loading dock. Things continue to evolve in a direction I like. The painting with craft acrylics is a quick thing and helps with visualization.

Building

Looking good.  Its amazing what a coat of paint does to a mock up.

That seems to be a nice fit,

That seems to be a nice fit, I like the extension to the left with the lower roofline. 

Experimenting with doors

Working out sizes and placement. I think I like the contrast in sizes here between the back/loading dock area and the front. So I'm thinking three of the larger doors on the back half with two windows in between them and then two of either door or the combination shown on the lower section with a window between those. The arched "front door" is another idea but I'm not as sure about it as I am track side.

Much to my chagrin I didn't realize that my Tichy window and door assortment is more full of windows than anything else and only has one of each of the larger doors pictured so I have to place an order for more of what I decide on. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. I've had a lot of input so far and it's been very helpful.

Looking good

I think this is coming together.

If you never showed the

If you never showed the progress photos, we would not know this was a dog supported structure!

Windows 1.0

Since I'm waiting on doors and have plenty of windows I thought I'd try to make some choices. I think I like it as it's laid out now.

Honestly, I was slow to learn the value of even the simplest mock ups even though my model railroad hero, John Allen, was a notorious "planner" and mocked up or built reduced scale models of all kinds of things. I've always had a good ability to visualize but you can't really rely on that too much alone because you end up with things like roofs with too high a pitch. It took the mock up to show me it just didn't look right.

One thing I did learn from John Allen and not everybody knows about him is that he never did the extra work of detailing something that was never seen. This building will only be done on three sides and if not for one chance viewing angle of the far end could probably get by finished on two sides.

Looking good

Now the question is will this be a dog food manufacturer?  "Pappy's Hound Vittles" or such? .....DaveB

"Olroy"

It's a Walmart store brand of dog food know as Ol' Roy so the working name of the business has been along those lines.

"Olroy Transfer Co." or "Olroy Freight supply" Something like that...

Ol' Roy's Lumber Company

With a slogan of "You can fetch your sticks here, boy!" 

Sorry.  Couldn't resist.

Janet N.

Bricks

Still waiting on the rest of the doors from Tichy and it might be a long wait what with the holiday mail slowdown. I experimented with the brick sheet I have and did the wall I have all the parts for. The brick sheet is from an old "Classic Miniatures" kit that I bought for a few dollars at a flea market. I actually bought two of it so I can build the kit as intended plus have scratch building material. Since the sheet is white, I experimented with an acrylic wash and dry brushing for the bricks. The window and doors are just tacked into place and not fully cemented yet.

Looking good Michael

Now that you covered up the printing on the wall and spruced it up a bit, it doesn't look like a dogs breakfast any more..    hehe 

Randy

Roof Roof...

I asked Henry, who is the consumer of the food, what went on top of the building and he said "roof". Anyway, I added roof material and took a stab at a trial color. Once the rest of the doors get here I can move on...

It is looking better & better.

I think it has got to the point where it is no longer a stand in space holder, but can be considered a nice model.

Michael

That looks darn good for a "stand in" building.  Nice job!  

BTW, my four legged companion is a "Henry", too - a beagle.  What breed is your Henry?

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA

Henry B. Hound Esq.

Henry is a Basset Hound so his full name is Henry B. Hound Esq. The whole idea has been to turn the box into a usable bldg. but I didn't know if I could pull it off or if I was going to have to start over once I had the size and proportions established. At this point, I think it's safe to say that this isn't going to be a "stand in" anymore. It's not perfect and has a few flaws that show up under close inspection and scrutiny but with the viewing distance and angles involved, I think it's going to work out very well.

Since it looks like the doors

Since it looks like the doors I need to continue further progress on the building are not going to arrive till after the holidays, I'm trying to keep the creative juices flowing by working out other details of the scene like the roads.

I roughed in the basic continuation of the road with '"giftbox" cardboard and lightweight spackling compound. I like it because, it's not messy, it really doesn't want to stick to anything but itself which makes for easy cleanup. That does make it harder to work with though but with a little practice I've managed to learn how to make it do what I want it to. Once it dries, it stays put and is flexible, kind of like foam and it holds shape. The structure looks set in the front area but it's still removable right now.

I also worked on the roof some more. The area behind this scene where the log car is probably comes next after my current couple of projects around Blackwater. It's intended to be a small log loading area but right now it's kind of an eyesore.

  "The whole idea has been

Hi Michael,   The building looks great . As it evolved did you go back and add interior bracing to the initial cardboard mock up? .....DaveB

Bracing

The first thing I did was cut foamcore to fit inside the boxes at the bottom and glued it which squared and firmed everything up pretty well. Then I glued that to a larger single base of foam core that includes the raised loading dock which is another narrow piece of foamcore. I added an extra roof "truss" to the center of each section. Those were made from heavier cardboard. I've got some popsicle sticks somewhere that I might add here and there inside for even more firming up but right now it's holding shape pretty well.

More roadwork, ballasting

The doors I need to continue working on the building remain stuck somewhere between North Carolina and here so I'm focusing on the area around the building and taking care of things I've been putting off like ballasting. Took some shots of how it's all looking from various angles.

Excellent recycling project!

I have great appreciation for this building since 1) you did a fantastic job on it! 2) I similarly built a structure for my son's module.  I'll have to post an updated photo tomorrow, but here's a 1000-word explanation: The core is made of a pair of identical cereal boxes, glued together on their largest side.  The "concrete foundation" is made from a Taco Bell bag.  Corrugated siding is made from a shipping box, with one side delaminated.  Dock doors are Walthers parts.  Rooftop air conditioner is also a Walthers part, with a magnet installed in the base, which attaches to a remnant of an Athearn contact strip!

Keep up the great work!

-Fuzzy

Added a small ridge

I decided I needed a little more visual breakup between the short storage track behind the building and the rearmost tight curve so I added a small ridge and plugged in a tree where I thought it might look good. Compare this to the shots above and look at the apparent distance added by the small land form. I've really gone about as far as I can go right now till I can finish the building.

This is a pic of the foreground area in front and I'm percolating ideas as to what to do with it. My initial thought was an open wooden loading dock with some sort of lifting frame and a block and tackle and I still think that's a valid route because it will leave it relatively open and uncluttered. If I can ever get around to building a static grass applicator this would be a perfect place to try it out. You can also see where I've started a small alteration in the fascia to soften an inside corner with an angle.