In-ko-pah Railroad -- Hotel Torgo

[Ray Dunakin]

I've made some more progress in designing the next building for the town of Dos Manos. It will be a three-story hotel in "Mission Revival" style architecture (arches, stucco and Spanish tile). This will be the largest building I've done so far, and I wanted to make sure I get it right. So to work out the design, I built a mockup out of foam core art board. 

 

This turned out to be kind of fun and a lot easier for me than trying to draw it (I work better in 3D than in 2D). Best of all, it gives me a way to see how it fits into the layout. Here are some shots of the mockup in place on the layout:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The actual model will be made of pvc foam board. This is a material I've never used for modeling before, so I'm curious to see how it works out. I have some 3mm sheets ordered, which is close to 1/4" thick. I also have a couple pieces of 6mm that I picked up from the cut off bin at the local plastics dealer. I plan to use the thicker stuff for the arches.

 

I'm still looking into my options for creating individual Spanish tiles in 1/24th scale.

 

[Rex in Pinetop]

Dos Manos looks like a well worn old town (corregated rusted metal roof on one building and well weathered roof on another etc).  Will wooden and field stone buildings be compatable with stucco and tile?  I guess they are in your part of the country - San Diego.  What are your plans for weathering the stucco?  Will you continue the board walk or will you go with spainish pavers for the hotel walk way?  Do you have any full-scale pictures of similar buildings you are drawing your ideas from?

Great article in GR!

Rex

[Ray Dunakin]

The Mission Revival movement in architecture was at its peak between 1890 and 1915, so it is prototypical for the period and locale of my town. I don't know yet how I will create a weathered stucco appearance, though I don't think it will be difficult. I have a lot of photos (found online) of various Mission-style buildings that I'm using as reference. 

 

I do plan to do something different for the sidewalk in front of this building. Probably simulated concrete, but pavers or flagstones are also a possibility. 

[dwbeckett]

That look's like a large building compared to the rest. But I'm sure It will be better then the rest

Dave

[Ray Dunakin]

I've made a little progress on the actual construction...

 

The main structural components (walls, etc.) were cut from white 6mm PVC foam board. A few parts were made from a piece of black, 1/2" thick PVC board that I picked up a while back from the local plastics dealer.

 

I printed out drawings of the windows onto cardstock, and cut them out to use as templates for laying out the window openings on the walls:

 

 

 

Here's a shot of the front and side wall pieces:

 

 

 

I had to cut a separate piece to go behind the middle section of the front wall, where it extends above the rest of the wall:

 

 

 

The corners and the window openings were rounded off by sanding:

 

 

 

Here's the front wall put together. There is a half-inch gap in the middle section, just above the doorway arch. This is where the balcony will be attached:

 

 

 

Here are some of the parts for the sidewalk and arches:

 

 

 

The window frames are made from strip styrene and are built up in two layers. They are designed to be inserted into the window openings from behind:

 

 

 

 

 

That's all for now. Enjoy!

 

 

[Ray Dunakin]

I've made some more progress...

 

First off, I made the sidewalk out of black, 1/2" thick PVC foam board. I sanded it and scribed joints and cracks into it. Then I sprayed it with a light coat of white primer. The color coats were done with Apple Barrel paints, starting with a mixture of "Sandstone" and "Granite Gray". This was topped with various other colors -- some were applied by flicking them off of an old toothbrush, to give it a speckled look. Others were applied as very thin washes. I also did a "pin wash", which is using a very fine paint brush to apply a thin, black wash into the lines and cracks. Last of all was a bit of Krylon UV matte. Here's some shots of the finished sidewalk:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I added decorative trim to the top of the front walls. This was made from .080" square styrene rod, which was bent to shape and glued in place with Weld-On 16:

 

 

 

 

Then I attached the side walls:

 

 

 

 

 I also sanded and assembled the arch pieces. Bondo was used to fill the joints and to create a bevel on the top of the arch to match the slope of the roof:

 

 

 

 

And here's how it all looks so far. The sidewalk and arches are only temporarily in place and have not yet been permanently attached:

 

 

 

 

That's it for now!

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Here's my latest progress report...

 

First, I applied a thin coat of Bondo to the surface and roughed it up a little:

 

 

 

Later I sanded it down, leaving just a bit of uneven texture on the surface. Next, I built ledges to go under the two large windows in the middle of the front wall. These were built up from various strips of rectangular styrene and styrene quarter-rounds:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I attached the sidewalk to the building. Then I decided that it would be best to paint the lower half of the front wall before adding the arches over the sidewalk. First I gave it a coat of "concrete gray" color. I wanted to give this structure a a little Mexican flavor, so I painted a strip of blue along the bottom of the wall:

 

 

 

 

My first choice of color for the rest of the wall was a pale yellow, but that was much too bright. So I mixed in some terra cotta and came up with this sort of pinkish tan:

 

 

 

 

That color looked pretty good with the blue, but I felt it was still too bright, especially for such a large building. So I tried using some paint that I had mixed to match some of the rocks on the layout. Here's how that turned out:

 

 

 

 

I'm still not sure how I feel about these colors, but for now I'm pressing ahead. I painted the arches to match, and installed them on the building:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also added the rear wall to the building, and have started cutting out pieces for the roof.

 

 

That's it for now, more later!

 

 

[dwbeckett]

I'm in the mood for Taco's when does the kitchen open......  Looken good

Dave

[Ray Dunakin]

Here's my latest progress report...

 

I built the removable roof for the hotel. I began by building a channel out of rectangular styrene strips and installed it on the inside of the front wall. This will be used to support the roof, and also to catch any rainwater that seeps in between the wall and the roof. A styrene "lip" on the underside of the roof will fit into this channel:

 

 

 

 

I drilled a hole through the side walls at each end of the channel, to allow the water to drain out:

 

 

 

 

I glued a short piece of styrene tube into each of the drainage holes. These will be painted to represent terra cotta pipes:

 

 

 

 

The roof is made from a sheet of PVC and slopes down toward the rear of the building. Short walls were added on each side, along with some brackets, to support the angled "false roof" above the sides of the hotel:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also built some small structures such as this, to detail the roof:

 

 

 

 

Here's how the roof turned out. I still have to add the Spanish tiles on the angled structures on each sides:

 

 

 

 

Here's the underside of the roof. You can see the styrene strips at the front and rear -- one fits into the channel on the front wall, the other fits over the top of the rear wall:

 

 

 

 

A closer view of the underside of the eaves on one side of the roof:

 

 

 

 

Here's a close up of the roof installed on the building. Under the eaves there is a trim board that fits over the top of the side wall:

 

 

 

 

I also built the doors for the main entrance. I started with two doors from Grandt Line. Since they were not intended for use as double doors, I had to remove the molded doorknob hardware by carving and sanding. I glued the two doors together and built up a new door frame around them, using various sizes of rectangular styrene strip. The arched window had to be cut from sheets of styrene:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here the doors are test fitted into the door opening. I still have to make custom door handles:

 

 

 

 

I made a louvered vent for this arch at the top of the hotel, using Evergreen styrene clapboard and styrene strips:

 

 

 

 

And here's how the whole thing looks so far:

 

 

 

 

That's all for now, more to come!

 

[jhsimpson62]

Thanks for sharing Ray. Once again you are creating a real masterpiece.

[Ray Dunakin]

I started work on the Spanish tile roofing...

 

I decided to make individual tiles by splitting 3/8" styrene tubing lengthwise. To do this, I first built a simple jig out of various sizes of styrene strip. It has a narrow slit across the top. When the tube is inserted, I can run the blade of a hobby knife through the slit to score the tube, then turn the tube over and score the other side:

 

 

 

I don't cut the tube all the way through, just most of the way. Then I slice the tube into 3/4" segments. Each segment is then split into two halves, each one representing a tile. I can get 36 tiles from a single 14" tube. Each tile is then sanded to reduce it to a shallower arc, and also to taper it slightly at one end. Here's one of the completed tiles, next to a penny for scale:

 

 

 

 

I started on the left side of the roof covering the sidewalk in front of the hotel. Originally I was not sanding the tiles down as much, and as I worked on this side of the roof I realized they needed to have a shallower profile. So the left side tiles look slightly different than the ones on the right side, but it's not really noticeable. Anyway, here's a photo of the right side, as I was gluing down the first layer of tiles:

 

 

 

 

I glued the tiles down with copious amounts of Liquid Nails, to simulate the mortar that was typically used to fill the gaps. Here's another shot of the right side roof, with most of the second layer of tiles added:

 

 

 

 

Here's a shot of the completed left side of the roof, which was made using mostly the earlier tiles that had a more semi-circular profile:

 

 

 

 

And here's how it all looks so far. I still have to add the last three rows of tiles to the right side, and then I can paint them:

 

 

 

 

That's all for now, more to come as time allows... Cris just started chemo yesterday.

 

 

[dwbeckett]

Do you not ever come up with something new?? I like the roof tile work .

Dave

[ttrigg]

dwbeckett

Do you not ever come up with something new?? I like the roof tile work .

Dave

 

I second that thought!

[TRM]

Hi Ray!  First post for me here on the forum.....What an outstanding piece of scratch building Sir!   Loooking forward to seeing more!!  Thanks for sharing!!

[Stourbridge Lion]

TRM - Welcome to Trains.com!

[Ray Dunakin]

Time for another update...

 

After I got all the styrene "Spanish tiles" glued to the arcade along the front of the hotel, I was ready to paint them. I masked off the rest of the structure so I could spray the tiles with a light coat of white primer:

 

 

 

I painted the tiles using "Craft Smart" brand acrylic paints, which is the house brand at Michael's. They hold up well outdoors, and they have some colors that Apple Barrel doesn't. I brushed on two coats of "terra cotta", letting each coat dry thoroughly and making sure to get paint into all the little nooks and crannies. 

 

Then I used a mix of gray shades to paint any exposed "mortar". After this dried, I touched up the tiles with some more "terra cotta" color, then went over some of the tiles with a mix of terra cotta and "red brick" color. For even more subtle variation, I also mixed up a lighter, slightly yellower shade of terra cotta and applied it to a few tiles. Then I weathered them a little with a thin wash of dark brown. Here's how they turned out:

 

 

 

There is a sort of fake roof over the parapet on each side of the building. I added tiles to these. The tiles nearest the front of the building had to be shaped to fit against the upright part of the wall. I still need to add tiles across the ridge of each parapet:

 

 

 

 I also painted the rest of the front wall, and both sides, and painted the trim in a contrasting color. There's still some touching up to do, and weathering, and I haven't painted the rear wall yet. But here's how it all looks so far:

 

 

 

 

And here's a shot of the unfinished building temporarily in place on the layout:

 

 

 

Enjoy!

[captain perry]

That looks Great Ray!!!

I was interested to see how you did the tile roof...looks perfect...er...imperfect as it should!

I look forward to seeing more!

[Ray Dunakin]

A little more progress...

 

I painted the main doors of the hotel using several thin layers of yellowish brown. I weathered it with a little gray wash near the bottom, and then a very thin black wash. The handles were painted a metallic brass color, with some greenish gray weathering. When the paint on the doors had dried, I masked them off with Scotch tape so I could paint the frame. The frame was painted with the same "wine" red color that I used for the hotel's trim:

 

 

I still have to cut glass for the windows, but here's how it looks temporarily installed on the building:

 

 

 

I finished putting the styrene "Spanish tiles" on the parapet roof on each side of the building. I used spackle to represent the large areas of mortar under the ridge tiles. The tiles were then painted as described earlier:

 

 

 

 

Then I finished the rest of the roof. I masked off the locations for the detail structures, then painted the top of the roof using concrete gray latex exterior paint. After brushing on the paint, I stippled it to eliminate the out of scale brush strokes and give the paint a little texture. I painted the underside of the eaves the same color as the walls. Next, I glued on the detail structures, and weathered the whole thing with thin washes of acrylics, and topped it off with a coat of Krylon UV matte clear:

 

 

 

 

And here's the whole thing as it is, so far:

 

 

 

I still haven't painted the rear wall of the building. I'm trying to decide whether to add any detail to it, or just leave it blank. Most of the rear wall will be against a cliff, and the rest will only be visible from one angle, so it may not be worth the trouble. Other tasks awaiting completion are finishing and installing the window frames, adding signs and a few other exterior details, weathering the building, adding lighting, and some interior details.

 

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Well it's been a long time but I finally have some more progress to report...

 

In March I built the window frames out of styrene strips. They're a very simple design, intended to be inserted into the openings from the inside. I built them in two layers, beginning with the larger outer frame that acts as a sort of flange against the interior of the wall. I used strips of scrap styrene as a spacer to center the vertical muntin:

 

 

 

Then I added the horizontal muntins, aligning them by eye to the marks I made on the frame:

 

 

 

 

The second layer is the part of the frame that fits into the window opening. It was built separately, then was glued to the outer frame:

 

 

 

 

 

The two larger window frames were built in the same manner:

 

 

 

 

The frames were then sprayed with white primer and painted a dark maroon color using Apple Barrel craft acrylics. To simulate a slightly worn and peeled look, I used a rough, old brush to lightly drybrush some grayish brown streaks. Then the frames were sprayed with Krylon UV clear matte finish.

 

I glazed the windows with real, 2mm thick glass. Due to the simple design of the frames I only had to cut the glass into rectangles of approximate size and shape. These were glued to the back of the frames using clear silicone. 

 

I only plan to detail the lobby and one or two rooms, so I needed curtains. I've tried various approaches to curtains, usually using lace. This time I tried cutting thin linen into strips, saturating it in acrylic matte medium, and then running it through a paper crimper. Getting it through the crimper was a little tricky, and of course very messy, but it did hold the shape pretty well. (Be sure to wash the crimper immediately!)  

 

I dried the crimped strips of linen on a sheet of wax paper sprayed with Pam. When dry, I ran them through the crimper one more time. The the strips were cut to fit the windows and glued to the rear of the glass using a paintable silicone sealant. The sealant was applied only at the edges so it would not be visible through the windows. Here are a couple shots of the finished windows:

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the clear silicone was visible around the muntins, as you can see on the above photo. I later cut it off with a sharp hobby knife. 

 

Before installing the windows, I printed a decal for the sign above the entrance. After applying the decal I touched it up with paint to blend it into the surface and to make it look less like a decal. 

 

Next I weathered the building using thin washes of gray and brownish-black. Occasionally I mixed some of these colors into the base coat and used that for finer strokes. When the weathering was finished I coated the entire structure with Krylon UV matte. 

 

Finally, the windows were installed, using paintable silicone sealant to glue them in place and fill small gaps. Then I touched up the sealant with paint as needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got all this done just in time to put the hotel on the layout for the West Coast Regional Tour on July 7. However there are still a few things that need to be done, such as the interior, the lighting, and a few other small details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all for now. Enjoy!

 

 

[captain perry]

I would like to book a room for two!  Great building and great photograpy!