Got yet another one for my Forum friends. Does anyone know if anyone out there has ever come up with a kit or pieces to make an interior for a HO bank? Specifically I have a Walthers Bailey Savings & Loan building. (Looks like a building that used to be a bank in town. Now commercial space.) I would like to put an interior in it if possible. Thank you for anu assistance that can be provided.
Just some ideas:
Big-Bucks-Bank-insidejob by Edmund, on Flickr
I made some suspended lamp globes that aligned with the same centers as the windows:
Big-Bucks-Bank-LEDs by Edmund, on Flickr
And a variety of stone tinting techniques for the façade:
Big-Bucks-Bank-facade by Edmund, on Flickr
Street-Scene-wide by Edmund, on Flickr
Bank_Clock by Edmund, on Flickr
Good Luck, Ed
I will have to think about those interior ideas. I already have the exterior painted the way I want it. I've reached out to some local resources to see if there are any photos from the prototype building I can work from.
FRRYKid... I've reached out to some local resources to see if there are any photos from the prototype building I can work from.
Wasn't that the bank that Jimmy Stewart ran in the Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life.
Here is a modern shot of the building. https://www.google.com/maps/@46.4060045,-105.8507357,3a,75y,345.85h,103.92t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1spRWmfEHig3o9dev0ZiWPVg!2e0
You can swing around a little to get the full side and work around to see the front.
There can be no doubt that a finished interior to a structure can be a work of art in and of itself, and Ed's work in that regard is among the best. But, I can't help but feel that all the work that goes into finished interiors is lost on a model railroad layout. For the most part, you cannot see it, especially considering that you are mostly viewing your layout from a point above grade level and at some scale difference from the structures themselves. Just my
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrainThere can be no doubt that a finished interior to a structure can be a work of art in and of itself, and Ed's work in that regard is among the best. But, I can't help but feel that all the work that goes into finished interiors is lost on a model railroad layout. For the most part, you cannot see it, especially considering that you are mostly viewing your layout from a point above grade level and at some scale difference from the structures themselves. Just my
Totally agree Rich. And during day light hours, you can't see into a building anyway.
Mike.
My You Tube
mbinsewi richhotrain There can be no doubt that a finished interior to a structure can be a work of art in and of itself, and Ed's work in that regard is among the best. But, I can't help but feel that all the work that goes into finished interiors is lost on a model railroad layout. For the most part, you cannot see it, especially considering that you are mostly viewing your layout from a point above grade level and at some scale difference from the structures themselves. Just my Totally agree Rich. And during day light hours, you can't see into a building anyway. Mike.
richhotrain There can be no doubt that a finished interior to a structure can be a work of art in and of itself, and Ed's work in that regard is among the best. But, I can't help but feel that all the work that goes into finished interiors is lost on a model railroad layout. For the most part, you cannot see it, especially considering that you are mostly viewing your layout from a point above grade level and at some scale difference from the structures themselves. Just my
That depends a great deal on the structure. A printed interior will often suffice but if there is a lot of glass, especially on the ground floor, it is quite easy to see into the interior even during daylight and a lack of any interior will be make a structure look like an empty shell. The corner building of Walthers Merchant's Row V is such a structure.
Walthers - Merchant's Row V - Kit - 10-1/2 x 6-7/8 x 5-5/16" 26.6 x 17.4 x 13.4cm - 933-4041
I have it near an aisle. It needs an interior. A printed one just won't do. I'm using it as a bank and Ed's interior has given me some good ideas.
John-NYBW mbinsewi richhotrain There can be no doubt that a finished interior to a structure can be a work of art in and of itself, and Ed's work in that regard is among the best. But, I can't help but feel that all the work that goes into finished interiors is lost on a model railroad layout. For the most part, you cannot see it, especially considering that you are mostly viewing your layout from a point above grade level and at some scale difference from the structures themselves. Just my Totally agree Rich. And during day light hours, you can't see into a building anyway. Mike. That depends a great deal on the structure. A printed interior will often suffice but if there is a lot of glass, especially on the ground floor, it is quite easy to see into the interior even during daylight and a lack of any interior will be make a structure look like an empty shell. The corner building of Walthers Merchant's Row V is such a structure. Walthers - Merchant's Row V - Kit - 10-1/2 x 6-7/8 x 5-5/16" 26.6 x 17.4 x 13.4cm - 933-4041 I have it near an aisle. It needs an interior. A printed one just won't do. I'm using it as a bank and Ed's interior has given me some good ideas.
While it's true that seeing interiors may be nearly impossible, that isn't why I try to do some interior scenes.
I enjoy the work. I enjoy trying to make the interior as perfect as possible. I can see it.
It doesn't matter to me who else sees it or doesn't see it, I do it for myself.
York1 John
York1 While it's true that seeing interiors may be nearly impossible, that isn't why I try to do some interior scenes. I enjoy the work. I enjoy trying to make the interior as perfect as possible. I can see it. It doesn't matter to me who else sees it or doesn't see it, I do it for myself.
richhotrain John-NYBW mbinsewi richhotrain There can be no doubt that a finished interior to a structure can be a work of art in and of itself, and Ed's work in that regard is among the best. But, I can't help but feel that all the work that goes into finished interiors is lost on a model railroad layout. For the most part, you cannot see it, especially considering that you are mostly viewing your layout from a point above grade level and at some scale difference from the structures themselves. Just my Totally agree Rich. And during day light hours, you can't see into a building anyway. Mike. That depends a great deal on the structure. A printed interior will often suffice but if there is a lot of glass, especially on the ground floor, it is quite easy to see into the interior even during daylight and a lack of any interior will be make a structure look like an empty shell. The corner building of Walthers Merchant's Row V is such a structure. Walthers - Merchant's Row V - Kit - 10-1/2 x 6-7/8 x 5-5/16" 26.6 x 17.4 x 13.4cm - 933-4041 I have it near an aisle. It needs an interior. A printed one just won't do. I'm using it as a bank and Ed's interior has given me some good ideas. Those Merchant's Row structures have paper window dressings, and they look somewhat fake. When I use Google Maps to travel down streets past store windows, including corner buildings with large windows, you cannot really see inside those windows except what might be right in front of windows. But, detailed interiors are lost, in part because of reflections in the windows of outside traffic. That may be less true in night scenes, but most of us run our layouts in daylight. Again, I am not knocking interior scenes, They are often a hobby within a hobby. I'm just saying that the beautiful finished interiors are lost on most layouts. Rich
Those Merchant's Row structures have paper window dressings, and they look somewhat fake. When I use Google Maps to travel down streets past store windows, including corner buildings with large windows, you cannot really see inside those windows except what might be right in front of windows. But, detailed interiors are lost, in part because of reflections in the windows of outside traffic. That may be less true in night scenes, but most of us run our layouts in daylight. Again, I am not knocking interior scenes, They are often a hobby within a hobby. I'm just saying that the beautiful finished interiors are lost on most layouts.
Every situation is different but for the most part, a printed interior is preferable to nothing at all which shows a structure to be an empty shell. Even in low light, that can be apparent with nothing behind the windows. For the Merchant Row IV and V, I used printed interiors but not the ones provided. The exception is the aforementioned corner unit. That screams for a 3D interior with a little lighting.
John-NYBW Every situation is different but for the most part, a printed interior is preferable to nothing at all which shows a structure to be an empty shell. Even in low light, that can be apparent with nothing behind the windows. For the Merchant Row IV and V, I used printed interiors but not the ones provided. The exception is the aforementioned corner unit. That screams for a 3D interior with a little lighting.
My point, and the subject of this thread, is detailed interiors like tables and chairs, shelves of merchandise, etc. and whether or not that detail can be seen. My feeling is that it is lost on the viewer which is a shame because some modelers put so much time and effort into such a project.
I went a little nuts building an interior for my Santa Fe Santa Ana depot but the multipane windows are difficult to see through. On the layout, the only way to see the interior is to remove the roofs. On the other hand, I have several structures with large storefront windows that required interiors of some kind.
I decorated one building as a clothing store with mannequins in the windows and a photo interior.
A building in the same scene but against the backdrop used photo interiors.
The Mission Music store is close to the aisle and so required a full interior. I found the "wallpaper" on line and printed it at a scale so the figure would be life sized. The rest was just gluing the "wallpaper" to the interior of the building. Basic shelving units were built from styrene and "stocked" using more printed internet images. The hardest part was scratch building the drum set visible inside the front doors. The building interior is lit whenever the layout is powered up so the interior is visible.
My Balboa backdrop structures use "tinted" windows and/or printed images or draperies to hide the interiors. The (fictitious) joint Santa Ana & Newport and Pacific Electric depot in the center uses tinted windows. Window signage hides the Crab Cooker interior on the left, while interior draperies hide the interior of the building on the right.
Probably the most difficult, but also satisfying, interior was that of the liquor store in Costa Mesa. The triangular building has large storefront windows front and rear meaning you can actually see through the building to the street behind. I again assembled shelving units from styrene sheet and started to stock the shelves with various 3D shapes. It didn't take very long to realize this would take me about 6 months to complete stocking the shelves! I instead looked up images of store shelving on the internet and printed out appropriate images in approximate HO scale. I then cut out strips of items and glued them to similar lengths of styrene angle. intermixing the printed and 3D items on the shelving yielded a very convincing appearance of stocked shelves. I also printed out various product logos and signs in appropriate sizes to add to the interior walls.
A checkout counter near the doors, more interior and window signs, plus a few shoppers completed the look.
This last group of structures use printed interiors on the first floor and printed draperies/shades on the upper floors.
Hornblower
My home town had a bank building that was nearly identical. All of the windows, and except for the large upper windows, had opaque white curtains. The large uppers on the side were sealed up by concrete plugs. The large upper windows on the front had the same white curtains.
The door was the only place you could see inside, but there was a second door inside, creating a glass enclosed vestibule. These two doors made it appear very dark inside and the vestibule was really the only thing that you could see into.
It hasn't been a bank for a while. It was a PNC, but when they merged with National City, they retained the larger National City across the street and sold the building. The only thing that changed is the signage and the plug where the ATM was. Other than that, this building looks the same as it did 30 years ago. Can't see it.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/WKAFJfu9Zh9HEmfdA
NittanyLion My home town had a bank building that was nearly identical. All of the windows, and except for the large upper windows, had opaque white curtains. The large uppers on the side were sealed up by concrete plugs. The large upper windows on the front had the same white curtains. The door was the only place you could see inside, but there was a second door inside, creating a glass enclosed vestibule. These two doors made it appear very dark inside and the vestibule was really the only thing that you could see into. It hasn't been a bank for a while. It was a PNC, but when they merged with National City, they retained the larger National City across the street and sold the building. The only thing that changed is the signage and the plug where the ATM was. Other than that, this building looks the same as it did 30 years ago. Can't see it. https://maps.app.goo.gl/WKAFJfu9Zh9HEmfdA
Sounds very much like this structure except for the concrete plugs.
It's a CMR kit and my favorite structure on the layout. It doesn't yet have an interior or lighting but that could happen down the road. The curtains make it unnecessary because it looks dark inside but a well lit and well executed interior could make it a real show stopper.
MidlandMike FRRYKid ... I've reached out to some local resources to see if there are any photos from the prototype building I can work from. Wasn't that the bank that Jimmy Stewart ran in the Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life.
FRRYKid ... I've reached out to some local resources to see if there are any photos from the prototype building I can work from.
That was the Bailey Building and Loan.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
On a trip up to visit family in Duluth, I passed through Ashland, WI. I got off the highway because the downtown looked kind of cool and ended up seeing a building that looked remarkably similar and made me think of this thread. It's at Main and 4th. Building is flipped and it doesn't have arched windows but gosh is it similar
And now I just stumbled across anther one on my 80 mile bicyle ride journey today - American Hardware - near the trail head 4832 grand ave, duluth
NorthsideChiAnd now I just stumbled across anther one
State-Bank by Edmund, on Flickr
Duluth by Edmund, on Flickr
Regards, Ed