CAD and first try at styrene scratchbuilding

I photographed and measured the exterior in detail, drew it in CAD, and now I'm creating a rough scratch build in sheet styrene. The brick arches are beyond my abilities, I hope to have a better version laser engraved in wood, if my CAD work is good enough. (If not, I'll practice until it is good enough) 

The building is a nice size at 100 ft long, just enough to spot 3x40 ft cars.  It is 48 feet wide, which is small on some layouts but too deep for the spot I have planned.  I'm cutting the depth to 24 ft.

This building really lends itself to modular construction.  Each section is exactly 12 ft wide center to center. The joints can be hidden by the brick columns. The sections have 3 variations, 

On the track side there are 2 variations:

1. Two windows
2. One  window and one 8 ft door. 

On the other side (not shown) there is 

1. One window and one 5 ft wide door
2. Two windows, same as shown

Building the cornice

The upper corners have a decoration of a 1x3 foot granite block.  The brick is bumped out to support it.

This is a first try, I see I'll have to get more styrene sheet and create another model from scratch, and learn from the mistakes

Photo of the corner

re-creating it with basswood painted grey

Lookin’ Good

I must say you do good work. I love the older brick buildings, especially when they’re in use providing railroad traffic. There’s quite a few projects similar to your’s on the NEB&W Facebook site. Probably on YouTube as well.

Barry P

Similar issue & solution

Very nice!

I'm looking forward to following your progress!

looking good

Doug, this is looking good. Please keep us posted.

Back in the day, even simple brick factories and warehouses has some ornamentation that adds character.

I have laser-cut some simple cornices, and recently commissioned  a friend to make some brick corners using 3D printing.

2-story brick depot at Springfield, IL (as paper model)

Some years ago, someone produced scale drawings of a 2-story brick depot at Springfield, IL with a connection to Abe Lincoln. It's available as a free pdf download. While it was designed as a paper model, the drawings can easily be used for modeling by other methods.

https://www2.illinois.gov/dnrhistoric/Preserve/Pages/construct_Depot.aspx

"Documenting" a vintage structure with drawings and photographs can be a major way of preserving it.

And, sometimes, a local or regional historical society would welcome a diorama or model of a structure from their area.

Don't know how I missed this

but I'm following with great interest now!

Very interesting project and definitely challenging. 

Missed this as well

Following with interest. 

Making freight doors

All your interest has encouraged me to get out of my shell and start working on it again.

The freight doors are inset 8 inches from the brick surface.  The prototype walls are 2 bricks thick, and the door rises up, or slides, inside.  The granite sills are simulated by a strip of styrene painted grey under every window and door.

The doors are Evergreen sheet styrene, #2080 V-groove .080" spacing x.020 thick. The .080 is between a scale 6 and 8 inch board width. I blended a medium green from craft paints, thinned it a bit, and gave them several coats.  If I used un-thinned craft paint, it would fill the grooves.  I think the styrene showing through looks like faded paint.

The thick brick walls were simulated by 1/8 inch balsa strips glued inside and painted brick or grey outside.  Apologies for the strange angle.  It was very important the balsa was aligned with the cut opening.  It did not matter if the wood extended too far to the sides or too high - you never see it.

Making window mullions printed on clear acetate

In the past I made elaborate windows on transparent acetate used for overhead projectors.  Transparent sheets are still available.  I print on plain paper and have the local copy shop print on the acetate.

Here is an overall view of the process.  On the left I printed various sizes of windows on plain paper - it involved much test fitting and re-drawing.  I went through 20 sheets of plain paper before I was happy. In the center I am test fitting some paper copies on the side wall. In the upper right are some left over clear acetate windows I used for a scratch built roundhouse.

This closeup shows the test fitting, I cut out the paper windows and taped them to the back of the brick sheet.  Look on the left at the sequence of tall, thin windows.  On the far left I drew the window mullions to the exact prototype dimensions. Unfortunately, the hand-cut window opening in the brick sheet have tiny variations, and sometimes the mullions left gaps at the side or top.  I made the frame wider and taller, and it filled the gaps, but the 1 inch frame was too small to see.  And the prototype arch radius looked like a straight line. 

I continued to compromise, making the mullions thicker and the radius smaller, until, on the final right-hand drawing, the frame extends well behind the brick, allowing for slight misalignment, and the arch radius is down to 12 inches from 48 inches. 

Sticking to the exact prototype does not always look best, especially with my limited modeling skills.  I try for an effect or feeling that suggests the real thing and is within my skills.   Like, If I could not make brick arches like the real building, at least I could make arches in the window frames.  The basement windows were boarded up, and there was no door on the side, so I guessed at what would look right for the time (circa 1900).

I printed everything black, then it occurred to me we have a color printer.  [face palm].  I changed the black to a medium green and re-printed the sheet.

Next week I will take the original artwork to the copy shop and have them make 2 color copies of the windows on clear acetate

Mark

Thanks for that link. Lots of paper buildings on that site to download and build. Very cool.