Missouri History Museum Model
Railroad Layout
Tips and techniques for building a model structure
DPM "Front Street"
text and photos by Richard Schumacher
This page is "building" in more ways than
one. You can follow the step-by-step process for
completing this HO scale model building. While I am
writing this article, I thought you would still like to
see the photos. Come back to read the completed article
in late October. Click any of the photos to see a
larger, high resolution version.
See companion article on basics
of assembling plastic structures. This will help
with the truing of the walls require with this DPM kit.
Remove pieces from sprues with rail nippers.
Assemble the four wall sections with Plastruct
plastic weld general plastic solvent cement making sure
the building is square. Attach the chimney sections to
the side walls. The main doors are recessed behind the
front wall. Cut two strips of plastic (provided in the
kit) and glue to each side of the door. After the glue
sets, adjust the angle of these strips until it matches
the door opening. Glue a piece of Walthers or Spectrum
sidewalk behind each door opening so the door will match
the height of the outside sidewalk later. Glue the door
assembly in place. A section of the strip material is
glued on the top of the door frame to complete the
doorway.
Cut the roof to size with scissors (test for size
with a piece of notebook paper first, and then cut the
roof plastic using the notebook paper as a template.
Turn the building upside down, apply glue to the bottoms
of the chimneys, and drop the roof in place. Add roof
supports. File chimney tops flat. Add leftover strip of
roof plastic at bottom front, aligned flush with the two
corners of the buildings. This will complete the
blending with the sidewalk.
Wash the building with a couple drops of dishwashing
detergent and water. Allow to dry. Paint the whole
structure, including the top of the roof, with Badger
Model-flex 16-87 "DM&IR Maroon." This is
easiest done with an airbrush. Make sure not to miss the
doors, doorframes, and inside edge of the roof.
Paint the stone cornices, window arches, and window
headers and sills with Badger Model-flex 16-103
"Armor Sand." Paint the ironwork on front, the
chimney tops, and the back door with 16-01 "Engine
Black." You could also paint all of the window
frames on the second floor and back will with the 16-01
"Engine Black," although I didn't in these
photos. Add decal signs on the end walls, set with
Walthers Solvaset 904-470. The signs on this building
were leftover from a Bachmann Spectrum building.
Microscale makes a number of building sign decal sets.
Blend the building colors using weathering chalks.
Your weathering, like the water which carries it in real
life, flows from top to bottom. My favorite weathering
chalk is the SMC-901 set by Stoney Mountain. I lightly
weathered this structure, emphasizing some streaks down
from the chimneys, and rubbed medium gray chalk into the
dental molding of the cornices to show off the detail.
Make sure to weather over the decal signs as you do the
walls. I left the doors and windows unweathered. Seal
the chalk weathering with a light coat of Testor's 1260
"Dullcote" clear flat lacquer overcoat
Cut clear plastic window material to fit, making sure
to test fit each piece. Start with the upper floor on
the building front. The Windows were cemented to the
back side of the walls with Woodland Scenics
"Hob-e-Tac" adhesive. This adhesive holds the
windows in place on contact and won't craze them like
plastic cements or superglue. Add strips of masking tape
to the inside of the glass to represent shades. I
printed a "warehouse interior" from the download section of our website
on a color printer on heavy paper and cemented it behind
the rear first floor windows.
Cut to size and slide in a piece of black
construction paper so you can't see through the
building. The black also intensifies the reflections
from the glass. I painted the back side of the glass
behind the two apartment stairwell doors with Badger
Model-flex 16-01 "Engine Black."
I glued two figures in the front windows looking out.
On the Missouri Historical Society layout (where this
building is now displayed), there is a road construction
scene in front of this structure - people would be
looking out the windows watching. The front windows are
large enough they need some sort of interior. The two
figures, and curved warehouse interior color prints
(downloaded from our website), quickly provides a
reasonable looking interior.
Whether close-up, or at a distance, the basic
interior behind the front windows makes the structure
look "complete." N scale light brown ballast,
to simulate a gravel roof, was glued to the roof with
Elmer's white glue. Apply the white glue to the roof,
spread evenly so it covers the entire rooftop, and
sprinkle with the ballast.
Read more about the Gateway Division's small model railroad layouts and
track plans.
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