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Reply to "20x8 Train Layout Build - 24 Feb 21 Update: New Switch Tower, and things are looking Up!"

I'm still working on the York Hotel improvements noted above (among other things), but in the mean time I've finished a seven-story Ameritowne kitbash.   The lower 3 stories are mostly a building I found on ebay, while the upper 4 stories represent a small hoard of Ameritowne parts I had handy (including the remnants of a 6 story hotel).  The building is shown incomplete in some of the above photos.   I've had the main structure done for some time, but finally found the motivation to add the interior, lighting, wiring harness, and final details:

 

First, of course, was the 1st floor store and interior.   Each of our cats has a building dedicated to them on the layout which relates to their "claim to fame".   Star (aka the supervisor) is our resident puker, so she got the somewhat dubious honor of a carpet cleaning business.   All the interior details are printed paper, folder and positioned for a 3-D look.  Building number is the year we got her:

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Here's the full building.   The lighted Gusteau's sign on the top is an exact match for the Gusteau's sign "downtown" on the AGHR layout - great movie, BTW.  The sign is just printed card stock, though it is mounted to a framework that includes miller engineering support frames.   Fire escapes are standard Tichy ones, and (this is kinda hard to see) there are also gutter downspouts on this side of the building made from Plastruct parts and some homemade components:

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A few things to point out here... 

-The clock is, of course, lighted and makes the building a little more unique (its one of the "wehonest" ones - I'm a big wehonest fan). 

-I really like how people silhouettes add to the realism of the building as well.  I picked up those silhouette people at Red Caboose in Denver a while ago - one of my better purchases!   

-The window "shades" were cut using scrapbooking scissors to get the serrated shape

-I went with a wash for the mortar on this building...   in my experience, lightweight spackle seems to work best on smaller buildings or those with deep mortar lines, while washes are more efficient for the big buildings or those with shallow mortar (this building being both).

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No fire escape or downspouts on this side... but it does provide a good shot of the lower roof deck.  Here I used medium grit sandpaper painted black.   This is BY FAR the best technique I've found for making a convincing roof surface.

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This building started out as a product of scraps and chance ebay finds bashed together into something tall-ish doe downtown... but in the end it has become one of my favorites for its uniqueness.

More to come!  Several additional buildings, a UFO, and a kitbashed Zeppelin are in work!

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
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