Still working on buildings

With the holidays, there hasn't been a lot of time to work on the layout. But, I've done some more work on my three new retail buildings.

I still need to paint and add a lot of details, but I've been working on all three at once.

The three story building on the right/foreground in the above picture will be "cut" in half by the front of the layout. I will paint the "wall" that is even with the front of the layout black,

I am going for a look where the buildings are closer to the tracks for this section of the layout.

I still need to add the windows to the larger building in the background. I initially cut the openings for the windows and then add the windows next. This usually involves a large amount of filing and sanding. This makes for a tighter fit of the windows. I also have a fire escape to add to the back of this building.

Merry Christmas to all

Merry Christmas to all!

 

 

When I made this we had no snow, of course now Chicago is under a blizzard watch, so maybe it'll be a white Christmas afterall!

 

Thanks

The start of a building boom

To switch gears, I decided to start working on some buildings that will go along my short stretch of Southport Ave.  So far I've got the fronts done on two buildings and the shell of another. Just like the CTA, I decided to lease out the space underneath the tracks for a retail building.

Construction is pretty simple: brick sheets from the N Scale Architect (facades) or JTT (sides and back ... save some $$$), and Evergreen sheet and strip styrene.

I have also started work on the Southport station...

I always build the facade first, then the rest of the building. The sheets and strips are layered to give the buildings some depth. Small sections of bricks are also cut out to give the brick facades more relief. 

Inbound Platform is finally done

I have finally finished the inbound platform at my Southport station.

I still need to create the stairways and the station house. I am planning on having the stairways laser cut. I just need to create the drawings.

And of course I need to finish the ground underneath the tracks, the background buildings, and a whole lot more. One step at a time.