Bernheim as a company was bought by Heaven Hill Distilleries years ago and they still offer Bourbon with that brand name. This distillery was from a picture in 1870 as was a distillery that was in Pleasure Ridge Park, a SW L'ville suburb (now part of the Metro area). It was razed during Prohibition, right after which the Shapira family purchased their first still. They still own Heaven Hill and it's in its 5th generation.
I saw the picture in the lobby of Heaven Hill's current, modern distillery west of Downtown. I was waiting for a private plant tour by Dennis Potter, the plant manager, and saw the picture hanging on the wall. It caught my eye and I wondered if I could build it. I wanted something with Bourbon in it on my layout. I didn't know how I was going to make it, but finally decided to laser cut the parts and found Andre Garcia at River Leaf to do the cutting. The rest, as they say, is history.
I finished grouting and aging all the parts.
I was disappointed in the Vallejo paints for brick buildings which are going to get additional materials layered on. It didn't hold up to either the grout squeegeeing or, and especially, the alcohol wash. I started applying the alcohol wash to the kitchen front. I should have testing it on a less obvious area. The alcohol immediately started to remove the color coat leaving the grey Tamiya primer showing through. I stopped at that point and sprayed the whole model with Testor's Dull Coat to provide a barrier. It worked and prevented further erosion of the color coat.
I can't go back and add color. That train has left the station. Since all the brick lines are filled with grout, any attempts to re-color will destroy the texture of the piece. I have to live with it. It's objectionable, but no too much. And one could argue it adds character.
I was also unhappy with the unevenness of the alcohol wash. I kept going back over it with washes that contained less India Ink to remove the dark streaks. Unfortunately, the more times you touch it, the worse it gets.
I may use some weathering powders to further reduce the mottled appearance. Last thing I did yesterday was to throw a coat of acrylic craft paint (Pewter Gray) to clean up the walls. I'm also going to paint the floors for the same reason. There's no plan to install an interior and it was specifically rejected when I suggested it (Whew!), so the coloring is just to make the interior lighting more pleasing.
Next up will be the windows. I think this build is going much faster than the first time, but I may be deluding myself.
Have a nice weekend!
