Has anyone added the Miller Theater Marquee sign to the front of their Walther's Rivoli Theater kit? The Rivoli kit wrap-around marquee turns out to be too large to easily match up to the Miller marquee # 59982. I considered cutting a thin opening in the Rivoli wrap, then bending the Miller sign contact to slide it through and attach the power plug. Asked Miller's about it, but since the bend would have to be nearly 90 degrees, they don't recommend it. Miller said I should have purchased their larger sign, but that wasn't mentioned on their web site, and since I've already spent the money I'd like to make it work if I can. Any thoughts/suggestions/ideas?? Thanks!
Hi Jeff1952:
As a result of your post, I just discovered that I have the same problem (I haven't built the theater yet obviously).
I went to Miller Engineering's web site to look for the larger marquee sign but I couldn't find any theater signing at all so I'm not sure what they are recommending.
The Miller #59982 theater sign will leave about 3/4" of blank space at the ends of the Rivoli sign. I don't think that is a huge issue but it is certainly not ideal. This may call for some kit bashing, but in the interim I will send Miller an e-mail to find out exactly what signs they do offer.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Dave,
Is this the site You looked at? All Miller signs that are made and many other products You will find here. I have six of their signs, along with other products from them and they have been very helpful to Me:
http://lights4models.com/index.php/
The sign in the pic'. is a large Miller sign. It has 46 different flashing arrangements.....I just happened to take the pic' when it was all lit-up. I have a couple of their Z-scale signs that I'm working on. Do a little navigating and You should find what You are looking for...I saw them.
Take Care!
Frank
I added some Miller EL signs to a Walthers theater I did for a customer. I modified the theater to look more art deco, but the principal is the same ....
Also added lots of extra LED lighting which really brings it alive ....
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
That really looks great, Mark!
Mark:
I'll agree with Frank. The theater looks fantastic.
I was doing some head scratching about how to make the Miller theater sign fit the Walthers Rivoli Theater and you have shown a most eloquent solution.
Thanks
It DOES look awesome Mark. Thanks for the pix (one of those being worth a thousand words).
Thanks guys. That extra wasted space at each end of the theater marquee is almost imperative in order to install that huge plug onto the back of the sign inside. Unless the sign wraps tight enough to insert the building at 90 degrees, you need that space to accomodate the plug at an angle.
My client provided the sign, so I wasn't real keen on doing any trimming for fear of damaging the sign and having to replace it myself ! I cut two vertical slots in the wall and inserted both ends of the sign through the slots. The non-plug end was inserted just enough to apply some glue to hold it in place. The plug end was inserted enough to match the position of the other end. Hope these pictures help ....
Thanks Mark!! Really appreciate your input, and the additional pix!!
Jeff
As for the marquee structure itself, I just couldn't get the one that comes with the kit to work to my satisfaction, so I scratched one sizing it to fit the Miller sign ....
OK Mark!!
Thanks for the additional details! Now we don't have to re-invent the wheel.
Jeff.
Thanks for the clarification on the larger sign. No wonder I couldn't find it on the Miller site since I was looking under HO scale items.
This is a link to the Miller site for both marquees
http://www.microstru.com/1181-2.html
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Brilliant!! I'll do the same thing. Its the perfect solutuon, yet it never occurred to me. I likely would have spent god-knows-how-long trying to adapt the kit marquee to fit! Thanks again Mark! I'm probably going to steal your LED idea also :)
Mark,
I wanted to add my thanks as well for the design and photos you provided for adding the Miller Engineering signs to the Walthers theater.
Our train club had one of the retired Palace Theaters on the layout but the Miller sign on it had taken some licks. None of the signs were working 100% nor was the controller working as expected. I think that I could have adapted a new controller to make it work but since the signs weren't working either, there wasn't much point in trying that. I found that those signs were no longer available from Miller Engineering so I had to find another option and that was when I found this thread.
I followed your overall design but modified where necessary based on the materials that I had available. I also added a little more light behind the "coming attractions" posters and in the lobby as our building had a basic photo backdrop of a concession stand and I wanted that to show up.
It is now back on the layout and the club members love it. Thank you for your creative efforts and for sharing them with the rest of us.