MELGAR,
Thanks so much for your interest and ongoing support. Your diner model post helped encourage me to move forward. In fact, I've consulted the photo that you provided that shows the interior of your Moe's Diner several times. I did notice that your windows were uniform and I saw the wood side posts. But, I didn't realize that they had to be cut out in the earlier kits - although you did mention a certain amount of scratch building.
If you already have some photos on hand of your windows and their construction, I would welcome the posts. But don't go to any extra trouble. I suspect that, with enough thinking and experimenting, the solution to creating authentic-looking sash hung windows will come to me. Some of it is "analysis paralysis" and some of it is that I really have schoolwork that I should do (!).
My choices are to add the overlapping upper stained glass and lower clear window sashes to the inside (easy) or add them to the outside and add trim. (The latter would look more prototypical and perhaps add depth to the windows, but it's harder for a first time modeler).
Trying to even out the window widths probably isn't worth the effort. I'm just going to work with what I have on this model. Windows often were changed and resized on prototypes.
One thing that puzzles me about the kit instructions is the placement of the floor. The instructions describe how to decorate the floor and then say to not put it in yet. But they never show how to put it in, nor say when to do so.
It looks like the floor should be suspended about midway on the side walls, obviously just under the door frame. However, it's not clear how the floor will be attached to the sides. The bottom of the diner has a "skirt" of sorts on the outside that looks longer than the diner sides but it is structurally weak. I probably just need to take all the interior pieces and line them up. They look very different than what is in your model. And, now that I have a better idea of the interior paint scheme and can move forward, it may be easier to figure out how the floor will be supported. If it's via gluing it to the bottom edge of the interior wainscoting-like trim, that may be a problem because I don't intend to use the wall trim.
Perhaps I can scan the details sometime if this is unclear and too rambling ...
Thanks again!
Tomlinson Run Railroad
