New Union Station Progress Update11/3/2020

AlanRail posted:

Randy

Your head-shot would not translate well into a scalable vector graphics file (.svg) that I could use to laser cut.  Do a drawing with dimensions.  OR use your cell-phone and take a picture with a tape measure tape stretched across.

Alan:

I can send you a drawing (done by hand) with measurements. It may take a few days before I can get to it. For the station, I have already glued the bent brass rod into place and I am committed to that method for this building,. But, I plan to use the same windows for several other buildings in the future including my hotel building which is next on the block after the Union Station. So, laser cut window frames with inscribed stones with a key-stone at the top would be GREAT. I would like to attach them to an E-Mail. I sent you an E-Mail inquiry to which I did not receive a reply. Is E-Mail a good way to communicate with you? I can also send you one actual window for more accuracy if you will send me your mailing address in an E-Mail reply.

Thanks again for the offer.

emailed back

Though no pictures today, I sprayed the outside of the building and the roof with white primer. I also primed another test piece with a section of Laun plywood that has a column and a sample of every detailed molding glued to it. Today, I picked up a 4 ounce bottle of Woodland Scenics' Cement Top Coat. Tomorrow, I will brush paint the test piece over the dried primer to make sure of the color as well as to see that it allows all of the details of the decorative molding to be visible. If that succeeds, I will paint the building with the Cement Top Coat paint and post some photographs then.

If it’s the one I have, you will either need to thin the top coat or either way it will be too dark. The color is more like dark wet cement. 

George

The entire statio building is now under white primer and ready to be painted.

Below is my test board with the final paint coat I have selected.

Randy Harrison posted:

The entire statio building is now under white primer and ready to be painted.

Below is my test board with the final paint coat I have selected.

That’s nice. It looks like marble. The station really looks great!

George

George S posted:

Randy Harrison posted:

The entire statio building is now under white primer and ready to be painted.

Below is my test board with the final paint coat I have selected.

That’s nice. It looks like marble. The station really looks great!

George

George:

Thanks for the feedback. It is actually a granite type fleck stone paint from Rustoleum called "Pebble". I am trying to get the effect of a large city building made of either granite or marble.

Your progress is looking great Randy!  Love the Fleckstone paint look!

Another day has been and gone and I have made more progress yet. I masked the building to ready it for painting. Masking is a pain in the posterior!!!!!! I then sprayed the building with the finish coat. Here it is drying in my make-shift spray booth (AKA: large cardboard box) in front of a space heater.

I sprayed it with Rustoleum stone paint. Pictures of the can are in the next 2 photos.

It is best, when spraying flecked stone paint, to spray from at least a foot away for best coverage. If you are too close to the item being sprayed, the concentrated force of the propellant moves the flecks away and leaves bare spots that need to be touched up later.

After the building dried sufficiently, I temporarily assembled all of the outside parts. The final result to date is in the next 2 photos.

The window and door masking protecting the interior is still in place. The building will look much better once the masking is removed and the windows and doors are painted, glazed and installed.

Stay tuned. There is much more to come a I approach completion.

Another set of small steps have been made toward Union Station completion. I have painted all of the windows and doors in gloss black and have highlighted the the door handles and other door ornamentaion with Testor's metalic gold paint (sorry, no photos). Also I primed and painted the letters for the front of the building. The photo is beleow. Do not worry. The letters are not glued in place as of yet. They will be straightened when they are finally glued into place.

The letters are from OGR Forum advertiser, Todd Architectural Models and are available at https://www.toddarchitecturalmodels.com/letter-sets. I have been searching for years to find a letter set that would be compatible with O gauge buildings. Bravo to Todd Architectural Models for finally offering such lettering in such a great variety of type faces at affordable prices.

Stay tuned. There is more to come.

That's going to look great!

George

Hey Randy, I love this. Enjoy your updates. John

Very impressive! I’ve picked up a lot of great tips reading your updates. Thank you!

I’m looking forward to seeing the interior once it is lighted. 

bigtruckpete posted:

Very impressive! I’ve picked up a lot of great tips reading your updates. Thank you!

I’m looking forward to seeing the interior once it is lighted. 

Thank you.  I am temporarily stalled on the lights, but, hope to be making and reporting more progress in the near future. I am also currently glazing the windows and doors. That is a tedious process with my 69 year-old hands that have lost some touch sensation.

The Great Northeastern Railway puts the safety of their passengers first. Today, the brass railings were intalled in the new Union Station.

I used small brass rod for the raillings and bent them with needle-nosed pliers.

Great idea and great job Randy! Looks terrific!   It's also good to have hand rails to keep potential law suits at bay

Today, even though I have only glazed one door and have the rest of the windows and doors to go, I couldn't resist doing a preliminary assembly by snapping the windows into place to get a feel for how the final outcome will be. I am now debating on the best way to power my strip LED's so, once the roof is put on in later photos, there is no adequate internal light. The first 3 photos, the roof was left off so the interior is visible through the windows and doors.

Note the polished brass ornaments and door handles. It is actually Testor's glossy metalic gold paint.

Before I put the roof on for the next 4 photos, I propped up a small LED flashlight in the corner so some of the interior can be seen. Once LED lighting is installed, I hope the interior will be MUCH more visible.

I am very pleased with the outcome of the lettering on the front of the roof. Bravo to Todd Architectural models for making the laser-cut sets of lettering that made this possible. I was originally going to glue the letters in place. But, the letter sets have peel-off backings that exposed self-stick adhesive backing. I was going to use glue because I did not think the adhesive backing on the letters would hold very well with the rough granite finish on the building. I was wrong. The self adhesive backing worked like a charm. They were quite easy to apply.

Hey Randy - FABULOUS!!!!!

It really looks great, Randy!!!

Mark:

Thank you very much. It is coming along. I have enjoyed working on this. When the station, it will be an incentive to finish putting the layout back together. It is currently in shambles.