TRANSPORT CENTRAL scratch build (using styrene plastic)

swampdaddy41

Active Member
TRANSPORT CENTRAL 1974-2018
(The forever project)


The idea for a large multi-mode transit center was born long, long ago; and, in a place far, far away (actually around 1974). In the late 50’s-60s HO scale buildings were quite frankly dinky and the biggest around were the Revell Bakery, Print shop and Engine House (all basically the same building) in plastic and some Suydam items in thick cardstock. I wanted a very large building to handle trains, streetcars and buses. TRANSPORT CENTRAL was an obvious choice for the name. Starting in 1975 many sets of ‘full size’ drawings were made as my ideas rapidly changed. It’s always pie in the sky for me at first and I envisioned a fully detailed and lighted building with large brass rectangular shapes at each corner with telescoping smaller shapes so each floor could be raised up and locked in place to view the inside. And, as usual, I quickly realized I’d never do this too elaborate idea and so scaled back the plans several times.

1975:
I wanted something modern and up to date that would not look 1900-1930 as many model railroaders liked for their era of operation at that time. Finally certain features looked more and more attractive and some scale floor plans were made. The design was strictly freelance on what I thought would look good and there is no particular building anywhere I was using as the basic model. Eventually a full size cardboard mock-up was made.
1a Transport Central  full sized cardboard mockup 2 small.jpg

PHOTO 1 above: Showing its age, the cardboard mockup still exists after years of storage in an attic or basement. It’s leaning to the right, weakened by moisture absorption. The model as built so far doesn’t nearly match the mockup as reality often differs from dreams. But, this is where TRANSPORT CENTRAL started.

1993:
In the mid-90s I acquired about 20 Kibri plastic “brick” sheets at a good price (approximately 5” x 7” in size) from a dealer who couldn’t sell them. These sheets looked good; but, had one problem in that they varied in thickness being almost 1/8” thick at one end tapering down to around 1/16” at the other end. However, at this point I was gung-ho again and I transferred the dimensions from my drawings to the backside of the Kibri brick sheets; some dimensions had to be altered slightly to accommodate the size of these Kibri sheets. Then I laboriously carved all the fancy widow openings with an Xacto knife (53 of them). Many of the windows were purposefully large ‘picture window types’ to allow a view of what was meant later to be a super-detailed interior with lights. Carving through that thickness of material took forever, and made my fingers sore. Also I had to use a file to smooth out the irregularities in the openings. I glued the sheets together to form the building shell which had dimensions of 15-3/4” wide, 12-7/8” deep (long dimension including the overhang at the front right) and 4-7/16” tall (3 floors). I epoxied Plastruct tubing as vertical and horizontal wall braces to make the building more rigid and to eventually hold the 2nd, 3rd floors and the roof. The horizontal braces for the 2nd floor were wider than those for the 3rd floor to allow the “floors” to be easily dropped in place and to be removed if needed for interior work at later times. The bottom floor was made from Evergreen 1/8” scribed squares sheet (giant size sheet) sprayed light gray.

2a. Transport Central hollow shell 033a.jpg
Photo 2a above: The empty shell was packed away for years as the real world intruded again as in making a living, raising a family, and a 1000 other things. What little modeling I did was strictly ready to run during this time. The wooden ruler on top of the building is 18" one and the metal ruler at the bottom is the General Steel HO scale ruler about 12" which will help you size the building.
Photo 2b below: A large, HO scale tour bus parked by the empty shell gives you a further indication of the large size of this model building

2b. Transport Central 008 cropped & resized.jpg
2005-2006:
I made my last move (I hope) into a new house. Kids are gone, and I’m retired so it’s time to get seriously busy on TRANSPORT CENTRAL before I need transporting to you know where. Next, the inner walls (Evergreen ½” squares) were clamped to the shell and window openings scribed from the outside to guarantee inner and outer windows openings matching up. Laboriously I hand carved and filed smooth 53 more window openings into the inner walls. Evergreen transparent sheets were cut and glued over window openings; and, the inner walls were painted “desert sand” and glued over the window material.

3. Transport Central 001a cropped resized.jpg
Photo 3 above: Empty shell now has windows and inner walls making this a rock solid and heavy plastic structure. Substructures being test fitted to the interior to be glued in later on and it’s definitely light proof. Notice the 3rd floor is still awaiting the 'inner walls'.

Various sub-buildings are being test fitted; the large square one in the top center of photo 3 is the “elevator/restroom housing” and wiring feed for lights will come through here. Inner buildings (sub-units) have Evergreen ½” tiles on the side toward the middle and various computer printed wallpaper on the sides. Each sub-unit was constructed of Evergreen plastic sheets and shapes and finished completely on the workbench before being installed.

The first floor ceiling and floor of the 2nd story is a sandwich of materials as thick as the wall brace that will support it; this space was designed originally for bulbs, later rethought to individual LEDs And, again, reduced to much more versatile SMD strips of LEDs. Sub-units on the 1st story will be:

1. a small ticket office,
2. the “elevator/restroom housing” for the wiring; and,
3. the most elaborate item on the floor, a combination car rental agency, dispatchers office for the rear loading bays, snack bar, and stairway to the 2nd floor.

4a Transport Central IN pix 015 cropped resized.jpg
Photo 4a above: Ceiling of the first floor showing 10 giant lights (5mm individual LEDs which need resistors). The first floor needs more lights which may be added later on.
Photo 4b below: Other side of the ceiling which shows the wiring and strengthening beams of the sandwich.
4b Transport Central IN pix 016 cropped resized.jpg
Next the flooring of the 2nd story was made from Evergreen ¼” scribed sheet sprayed the same light gray as the bottom floor. Several pieces were required and they are just lain in place as 2nd floor sub-units will be screwed to the ‘sandwich’ holding them securely in place. The left center of the floor is cut out as a large atrium which will run through to the roof for natural and artificial lighting to help illuminate the building. Sub units are test fitted and then removed for detailing latter on the work bench.
Photo 4c below: 2nd story floor is in place with the "elevator/restroom" housing holding it in place And, I am ready to work on the 2nd story ceiling sandwich.

4c Transport Central  set 4 pix 001 CR.jpg
2010-2011: building the second floor
The second floor ceiling/sandwich was constructed and test fitted in a similar manner; and, in the photo it is marked with an X for 15 individual LEDs. However, technology to the rescue and I’ve switched to SMD LEDs which will simplify both the installation and wiring. Lights will be added and photographed as soon as the SMDs arrive from China. Again, Evergreen ¼” scribed material was used for the flooring of the 3rd story. In Photo 5c, the preliminary wiring harness is done but not yet hooked up as I am experimenting with resistors to dim these extra bright lights a bit.
5a Transport Central IN pix 022 cropped resized.jpg
Photo 5a above: Ceiling of the 2nd floor showing the substituted SMDs in place of regular LEDs (10 strips were used, it's a big building)
Photo 5b below: Topside of the sandwich after the SMDs were installed showing the wiring mess not fully hooked up yet as I am experimenting with resistors to lower the brightness a bit.
5b Transport Central IN pix 021 cropped resized.jpg
End of Part 1 (to be continued)
 

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swampdaddy41

Active Member
TRANSPORT CENTRAL, part 2
First floor continued
Dark gray tabs sticking out at the edges of this ceiling sandwich hold the floor at the level of the beams on the outside walls. Light green colored squares are hold downs for the wiring; red circles are usually where a 2-56 thd/inch machine screw will go. Red and black X’s on photo 5b are where I was originally planning on putting 5mm individual LED lights.

Stairways between the floors are an important feature and are made from the stairs of Heljan pedestrian overpasses. These stairs were once available separately but I’ve not seen them lately as a separate item. I am sure other stairs could be used. I used them as I calculated the height of each floor by how high they would go. One set of stairs is in the atrium, the other stairs start at the right rear of the building. Sub-units on the second floor are:
1. the Elevator/Restroom housing for utility wiring
2. the Maintain Barbershop (fully detailed but mostly hidden from the outside)
3. a dispatchers office for the streetcar/bus loading bays in the front of the building

Some friends have wondered why I detail things that won’t be seen and I have several reasons. Partly I’m following the original idea of telescoping beams to raise the floors to view the super detailing and mostly because I like to do a complete building and I’ll know they are there. Lastly the photos will document things and can be shown to visitors.
6a Transport Central set 4 pix 007 CR.jpg
Photo 6a above: The 2nd story ceiling-sandwich is finished; the rats nest of wiring had been ‘tamed’ and held below the flooring level that will go on top of the sandwich.
Photo 6b below: The third story flooring has been laid in place and the usual elevator-restroom housing securing it in place for the moment.

6b Transport Central set 4 pix 009 resized.jpg

Notice the stairway in the atrium up from the second floor in photo 6b.


2013: building the third floor
The third floor will be the most elaborate and have the most details and outside windows to see them. The center piece will be a large restaurant in the “overhang” area of the first floor which extends over the ground area loading bays for streetcars, etc. I have on hand dozens of Prieser details for the restaurant which will be up-scale. Sub units on the 3rd floor will be:
1. the usual Elevator/Restroom housing (for wiring to pass through)
2. TARC, Transit Authority of River City, office headquarters for the local transit authority
3. Betty’s Boutique for the last minute travelers needs
4. Topside LUAU restaurant fully detailed


2018: building the roof
Going in a straight progression I would construct the roof next. At this moment I have not even thought about the roof design; but, it will have the obvious in a ‘skylight’ over the atrium area, large elevator roof housing (for elevator motors, etc.) and various other pieces of roof furniture. Eliminated (for now) from the original too elaborate plan is a roof garden Tiki bar with an outside elevator to the ground. Skipping around the roof for the moment I will show the interior detail of the sub units constructed so far.

2013 – 2018 DETAILING THE INTERIOR – building the sub-units adding people, other stuff:
The first floor
Each sub-unit was constructed on the workbench and test fitted to the floor it belongs on until the fit was as needed. Then it was secured by drilling holes and using a 2-56 machine screw in each. The fun step is last as the sub-unit is removed from the building and detailed on the workbench by gluing matching tiles on the side toward the atrium, gluing various wallpaper to the sides and windows and doors if needed. The inside of each sub-unit gets wallpaper and other decorations as needed if you can view the inside from a wall window. And, when finished, they are reinstalled on the proper floor.

The “elevator/restroom housing” is common to all three floors and they mostly look alike though the 1st floor one is slightly larger. Each has signage on the front directing people to the elevators or the restrooms. My computer printer (with fresh cartridges) managed crisp, 6 point type which was cut and glued to the tiles. The left side has wallpaper with two elevator doors drawn on it in photo program and printed. The right side of each has a man’s and woman’s restroom doors. The outside wall behind these units on floors one and two has slit windows while the one on the third floor has larger (but not picture) windows.

IN1 Transport Central cropped resized.jpg
Photo IN1 above: front of an elevator/restroom sub-unit (highly enlarged)
Photo IN2 below: left and right sides of an elevator/restroom sub-unit (highly enlarged)

IN2 Transport Central cropped resized.jpg
To the left of the first floor main entrance is a bank of 4 old-fashioned telephone booths as it is quite noisy in the busy first floor. These are from a Bachmann detail kit and are glued as a unit with a roof over them. Further along that wall to the right is a group of 3 ticket machines (for the local transit served by the building) plus a small ticket office with an agent inside for those traveling longer distances. Ticket machines are from an internet image glued to a plastic shape and mounted on the floor.

IN3 Transport Central 018 cropped small.jpg

Photo IN3 above: showing the telephones, ticket machines, and small ticket office. To the left is the main front entrance of this large building. Plenty of people in here after final details are added.
To the right of the building is an Hertz car rental, a dispatcher’s office overlooking the rear loading bays, stairs to the second floor and, lastly, a snack bar. The snack bar is part of an Atlas kit cut to a triangular shape with some customers on stools at the front.
IN4 Transport Central 013a cropped small.jpg

Photo IN4 above: left wall showing the Hertz office, no room for enterprise as shown on the front wall.
Photo IN5 below: front wall showing the signs for the car rentals and the snack bar angling off to the right. The snack bar when installed has the overhead canopy, a waiter right behind the counter, and a short order cook inside (not shown).

IN5 Transport Central 014 - 2012 SA 1.3 front.jpg
IN6 Transport Central 013 - 2012 SA 1.3 right.jpg

Photo IN6 above: showing the right side with the short order cook (internet picture), the back stairs to the 2nd floor, and to the right the dispatchers office door.
Photo IN7 below: Inside of the dispatcher’s office which faces an outside window in the rear and has a dispatcher in it when installed on the first floor.

IN7 Transport Central 014 cropped small.jpg
A bank of soft drink machines was glued to the floor at the front of the infamous “elevator/restroom housing” to add a splash of color to the waiting area. Trash cans, ticket machines and more vending machines fill the interior. Groups of benches with lots of people were added to the first floor plus many standing – walking people to round out the detailing. Over 50 people are on the first floor to add to the image of a busy city building (these are mostly those economical figures cheaply had from China sales sites with some minor retouching).
Photo IN8 below: Bank of soft drink machines, ticket machine to the left; and, some of the benches and people in the lobby area. More of everything added later on.
IN8 Transport Central 021 cropped small.jpg

End of part 2, to be continued
 

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Revell-Fan

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@swampdaddy41 , I really enjoy seeing your builds. I'm glad you share them with us, even if they are 40+ years in the making. Impressive dedication, I must say, and I think I'm not alone with this opinion. Great work! :)
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
@swampdaddy41 , I really enjoy seeing your builds. I'm glad you share them with us, even if they are 40+ years in the making. Impressive dedication, I must say, and I think I'm not alone with this opinion. Great work! :)
Thanks Revell-Fan. This is my one ultimate project, one of a kind and done in detail whether it all can be seen or not. And, I am quite enthusiastic to share it. The best part of all is being able to have text and pictures together to tell a coherent story. Hopefully, it will encourage others to work in plastic for scratch building and attempt a unique design of their own.

Prior to getting back on Zealot I would have photos one place, text on another site and it was confusing to those trying to understand what I was doing. The TRANSPORT CENTRAL story is far from finished though chapters posted here will be slower coming as I am almost up to the present on what I've done so far. Fortunately I took photos for my own benefit as I went along and the photos used so far are also quite old with the exception of the second floor lights and wiring which were finished this week. And, in the case of the first floor it would now be impossible to take sub-unit photos as everything is glued in place and angles are hard for the camera. Direct uploading of photos to the site is the big bonus for sharing this project.

Have fun modeling, Swamp Daddy
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
TRANSPORT CENTRAL, Part 3
The second floor
First off is the “elevator/restroom housing” which is basically just like the one on the first floor but a bit less deep to allow for the walkway past it. No need to picture it again here. Next is the Manetain Barbershop in the top left corner of the floor. Originally it was to have two large picture windows in it but only got one; but, I went on and completely detailed it anyway using the interior from one of the many AHM, IHC, etc. barbershop kits made by POLA. Instead of a picture window on to the atrium I copied a barbershop picture from the internet and put it behind the window opening.
Photo IN9a below: Outside of the Manetain Barbershop with striped poles (from the atrium side)
IN9a Transport Central barbershop cropped small.jpg
Photo IN9b below: Inside of the Manetain Barbershop showing the fully detailed interior; very little of it shows on the outside from the rear of the building. More people have been added than show in this photo.
IN9b Transport Central Barbershop interior cropped small.jpg
The third sub-unit on the second floor is the transit Dispatcher’s Office which overlooks the front loading bays on the ground level. It has wallpaper but no furniture inside or wall decorations yet as some electronics may go in here to run traffic signals for the loading bays. This has no window glass in the outside window as of yet as eventually it may get a bow window to overlook the loading area. How detailed this eventually gets will depend on whether electronics to control traffic signals go in here or on the roof somewhere.
Photo IN10a below: the rear of the Dispatcher’s Office with the back stairs going to the third floor and an additional grouping of soda machines.
IN10a Transport Central ouside Dispatcher cropped small.jpg
Photo 10b below: the inside of the dispatcher’s office, not fully designed yet

IN10b Transport Central inside Dispatcher cropped small.jpg

There is a large open area in the upper right of this floor behind the Dispatcher’s Office (photo 4c) which may eventually be a lounge area for bus passengers awaiting long distance coaches. It was, in the original plan, going to be doorways and elevated walkways to the trains; and stairs down to the tracks. No trains will serve this building now as I have a separate train station for them elsewhere.
The third floor
The first sub-unit is the “elevator-restroom” which is used to anchor the flooring material in place; but, as it is identical to the 2nd floor one (and nearly so to the first floor one), it is not pictured here. Next I built the gift shop, Betty’s Boutique, which wraps around the stairway coming up from floor two. It is enhanced with some windows and doors leftover from other kits to give it a bit of a 3D look.


IN11a Transport Central 026 3rd floor gift shop left side (3.3).jpg
Photo IN11a above: is the left wall of the boutique showing the entry door and store window.
Photo IN11b below: the right wall of the boutique which wraps around the stairway from the second floor and has another store window.
IN11b Transport Central 027 gift shop right side (3.3).jpg
Photo IN11c below: shows the interior of the boutique if viewed from the back of the building as it spans 3 large picture windows
IN11c Transport Central 028 gift shop inside (3.3).jpg

End of part 3 (to be continued)
 
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swampdaddy41

Active Member
TRANSPORT CENTRAL, Part 4
The third floor continued
Part 3 is the end of the previously completed areas of the building; starting with Part 4,I am now in real time (2018) with construction. Continuing with the 3rd floor sub-units, finished today (11/3/18) is the TARC office, which like the barbershop directly under it, has a full interior applied even though it now only has two windows at the rear to view it. Eliminated was a picture window on the left side from the original plans. Office furniture is from a Kibri 8120 kit. Other makers have similar things available. Six people from various sources round out the interior

Photo IN12a below shows the front (at the left) of the TARC office in Transport Central; and, the right side at the right of the photo -- signs added as needed.

Copy of IN12a combo TRANSPORT CENTRAL resized.jpg
Photo IN12b below: is the inside of the office taken as from an outside window.
IN12c Transport Central set 5 pix TARC from rear resized.jpg
Photo IN12c below: is the inside of the office taken from the left side and slightly above. Note material in the bookcase floating in the air, this will be fixed but I probably will not take another photo.
IN12d Transport Central set 5 pix TARC office from left side resized.jpg
The last major sub-unit on the 3rd floor is the Luau Room restaurant which will be tackled in two phases starting with the kitchen (starting 11-4-18). It is a dummy unit with no interior but with wallpaper applied to the outside in the same color schemes as the regular units and signs applied it will look OK. At the rear, near the employee entrance is a Diet Coke machine attached to the wall of the kitchen. There will be other vending machines directly applied to the outside wall next to the coke machine as the third floor is finished up.

IN13a Transport Central set 5 pix Kitchen front resized.jpg
Photo IN13a above: shows the Luau Room kitchen from the front (atrium side); visible at the left is a Diet Coke machine which will be next to the outside wall. Apparently even a jitter correcting camera cannot solve all problems as noted by the blurry sign pointing to the vending machines.

Photo IN13b below: the left wall is seen with the entrance for kitchen employees; the red rectangle is the Diet Coke machine from the side.

IN13b Transport Central set 5 pix Kitchen left side resized.jpg
Photo IN13c below: is the right side of the kitchen which is inside the restaurant itself. Some imperfections show in these enlarged photos which are not noticeable when viewed in actual size on the model. This is especially true if looking through windows from the outside.
IN13c Transport Central set 5 pix Kitchen right side resized.jpg

Next to be tackled will be the Luau Room’s dining area which in real life would be small in area but by HO standards it is quite large and will have many tables and people. The dining area will be the most extensive of all the sub-units and will have as much detail as I can squeeze in. My biggest grip so far -- pulling those silver hairs out after I've worked on it; they seem to go everywhere.

End of part 4 (to be continued)
 

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paper hollywood

Active Member
This model is endlessly impressive. It sort of reminds me of the steel multi-level gas station playset I had as a kid, but you're taking the idea much further. And I'll stop feeling guilty about taking six months or a year to finish a model. Just take your time and do it the way you want it.
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
This model is endlessly impressive. It sort of reminds me of the steel multi-level gas station playset I had as a kid, but you're taking the idea much further. And I'll stop feeling guilty about taking six months or a year to finish a model. Just take your time and do it the way you want it.
Well paper hollywood, I must confess there quite are a few of those 6 month to one year projects laying around here awaiting the final touches. But, certainly, Transport Central is the Great, great granddaddy of them all.:) I've developed a bit of arthritis in my finger joints (partly old age and partly the job I used to do) and I guess I'm anxious to finish this one off before it gets worse.

It is certainly nice to be in "high gear" on this one finally. Just got power back after 4 days (first storm of the year got me) and hope to have another part of the Transport Central saga ready soon.

Have fun modeling, Swamp Daddy :King:
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
TRANSPORT CENTRAL, Part 5
The Luau Room gets started
(11-19-2018) Starting in on the dining area of the Luau Room I found problems with previously purchased items that I had put away to use in this area when I got around to decorating it. I had previously purchased Preiser kit No17219 which consists of 4 buffet serving tables, 8 tables for eating patrons and 32 chairs for diners. This kit looks amazing in the photos and when in the packaging; but, upon opening the package these items are apparently smaller than HO with the tables being only 23” high and the chairs so small (though good looking) that HO people looked like 350 pounders sitting on them and would NOT fit under the eating tables. Table length and width are so small that food would be hard to place for anyone at the table much less for four eaters at each table. I haven’t the heart to try and scratch build such fancy tables so I’ll raise these and use different chairs. Preiser makes a number of chefs and I have a bunch of them. They also make kit #17220 table wear and food. It’s going to be hard to paint the food but eventually I’ll get that done to add to the serving tables. I got out some packages from China of 1/100 people that I sometimes use in the interior of a building to make it look larger or more crowded. Bingo, these fit the chairs and under the buffet tables easily. This kit of tables and chairs and similar ones by Preiser are obviously much closer to 1/100 than 1/87. Nearing the home stretch on the interior I weaken once more (the fancy entrance discussed later being the first weaken) and will use 1/100 people at the tables (with a lot of repainting) and better grade 1/87 people in the serving line. Too bad Preiser is offering undersized items as HO scale.
IN14a Transport Central  003 CR.jpg
Photo IN14a above: shows the interior of the Luau Room dining area as populated with the Preiser buffet tables and 1/100th people sitting in the buffet table chairs. I did this a few days ago and looked at it for a day or so; and, it looks OK until you put a chef or two in there and then the diners look like midgets next to Paul Bunyan. One HO-size person is about in the center next to the midgets.
Photo IN14b below: Notice the HO size person sitting in an HO size chair next to the undersized buffet table and 1/100th person. In a very short time I un-weaken on using 1/100 people and undersized stuff and decide I can make buffet tables myself (if I have to) which won’t be as nice as the Preiser ones but at least will be in scale. I’ve ordered some different tables and chairs on-line (not Preiser) which I hope will be scale; but, if not, I’ll make what I need.

IN14b Transport Central 004 CR.jpg
After looking at the dining area for several days trying to convince myself it will be ok with some 1/87 people (Chefs and others) and many, many 1/100 people as seated diners, I decide it simply does NOT look right and I decide to either make my own tables or buy someone else’s.

While waiting on stuff to be delivered I am a bit mad so I take a break and build a McDonalds kit from Vollmer. It looks good and though arranged differently than the ones in the US it does have the familiar golden arches. Next I build a Faller metal shredding plant (quite difficult even though a premade kit). May post photos of them in the gallery later on as I built them as stock per the instructions.

I ordered both Faller and Kibri table and chair kits and none look much better than the Preiser ones as to all sizes when they arrive. I am calmer now after building the two kits in-between deciding not to mix 1/87 and 1/100 and ordering new stuff. I then take the Preiser serving tables and slice one in half and add each half to a full size one. Much better and they will be used. For dining tables I did the same with the ones from Faller increasing each by 50% and they were about the right height. I used the bulky chairs from other Faller kits bought long ago. Now everything is bigger and better and I will use higher quality “HO” people with them. The dining area has 9 large picture windows and this already looks much better when viewing from the outside.

The dining room receives the initial makeover and looks much, much better to me with full size people and accessories. Less tables in it but a bit more space between them and nicer people (Preiser and Woodland Scenics instead of the cheap Chinese ones).


IN16 TC Luau Room pix 002.jpg
Photo IN 15 above: the Luau Room now populated with larger tables and chairs plus 1/87 people and the wall between the main building and the dining room fitted in place.

Photo IN 16 below: a shot through the window doesn’t do justice to what the eye sees. I’ll try to learn how to change the depth of focus (f-stop & exposure time) on this digital camera. I may have to start using a tripod for stability.

IN19 TC Luau Room pix 005.jpg
Yet to come is the food on all the tables (lots of painting on that), wall décor and plants. Most such restaurants had lots kitsch décor, a mishmash of things people would think Polynesian in origin.

End of Part 5 (to be continued)
 
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swampdaddy41

Active Member
In an otherwise blah day, the first of the tropical foliage arrived. Ordered 4 items from the same dealer on the same day (same time); and apparently the slow plane from China has spread them out. Ordering from China is certainly cheap on modeling items; but the service is poor. The Luau Room will have to wait some more for the decor. ;). Hopefully the rest arrives before Christmas. I will be taking the building apart down to floor 1 a last time to install HO people in the halls, etc. and a photo will be posted, ditto for floor 2 and floor 3 at which time I hope I do not have to do this again for a long, long time. More soon I hope.

Have fun modeling, Swamp Daddy :eek:
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
Well, 2nd type of tropical plant arrived today; but, where are #3 & #4 :eek: . Who knows, only the Shadow, and he ain't talking. Hopefully next week they will arrive and I can design some type of decor for my Luau Room. Busy mailing cards and presents around the country to my missing (from here) relatives. Hope to start on the TC roof design soon. Putting this article on Zealot has sped up my project quite a bit.

Have fun modeling, Swamp Daddy :sticktongue:
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
Plant types 3 & 4 here today, Friday the 14th. Everything really too large for HO so I'll have to do some creative shrinking. Should have photos soon to finish off the Luau Room and all sub-units inside the building. I hope to work on the roof soon, maybe done around Christmas time. More later on. Thanks to all for the comments.

Have fun modeling, Swamp Daddy thumbsup
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
Some more figures added to floor 3; but, no real progress on this one. The "food" for the buffet tables is microscopic. Some the size of a couple of pin heads; and I am having trouble with painting them. Hope to finish off floor 3 and figure out how to do a roof soon.:(

Have fun modeling, Swamp Daddy
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
If you are wondering about how I managed to stretch this project out over so many years, painting the table food is a prime example. This should have been done in January or by February 2019. But, as usual, one thing and another interfered and I still haven't painted the food nor started work on the roof to the building. Hope to get back to it soon plus a couple of other projects started in the meantime. The real world has also kept me quite busy. :animated:
Have fun modeling, Swamp Daddy (the molasses version now)
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
When things went TapaTalk I could not log-in for a number of weeks. They must have fixed the software for now, 07-29-19, I can log in again. Will check other threads as I notice none of the photos are there at the moment.. Software people are always "re-inventing the wheel". Hope things smooth out soon.

more to come on Transport Central eventually, Swamp Daddy
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
Well, rebuilt this thread's photos as well as I could. Hope the article still makes sense to readers. Will work on new material after putting photos in other threads again.

Have fun modeling anyway, Swamp Daddy
 
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