Southern Press

O

ocalicreek

Member
May 4, 2005
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Puyallup, WA
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Okay, next one out of the barrel.

This one started life as an ERTL structure (later bought by RDA and LL, I think) for the brick building and more Plasticville for the loading dock.

The challenges here were the general placement and beveling the corners on the brick structure. Creating the bay window was fun, using windows from the brick structure and styrene. Roofing material on the extension is from Paper Creek.

I had a little trouble painting the sign. I followed the pattern of painting a white band across then sticking on letters and painting the darker green color over the stickers. Well, the green paint was too wet and bled under the white leaving ragged edges. SO I touched up the letters by hand with white paint and distressed them at the same time.

All in all a challenging and fun kitbash. I still have a couple ERTL bits and pieces. One of the kits was the Easton Mill...can't think of the other off hand. There's a diorama with some of those componants awaiting more attention, someday. This structure and base was sold on ebay as well.

x dock detail.JPG

x front left.JPG

x front right.JPG

3 more pics in the next post.
 
x front right close.JPG

x overall.JPG

x rear left.JPG

The base was made in the same way as the Fish Building, lightweight spackle over foam. This building also included a light over the loading dock office door. The dust collector on the side of the building was from Walther's. They sell those separately and it makes a nice detail, IMO, with loads of industrial character.

Looking back at these pictures, I think the most satisfying parts of this kitbash were the concrete loading dock and stairs, the RR tie bumpers on the driveway side, and the dust collector. That thing just fit the windows dead on, almost like it was made for them.
 
Great work!! What I don't understand is HOW you can bear to sell them!!
I've also found that most kits are only good as a starting point for a "custom" building, never been able to just build one as made.
 
Dave, sometimes I don't know how I managed to do it either. We were living in a place where our income was dismal...were it not for the fact that we were in a parsonage, well, lets just say we actually qualified for a Habitat for Humanity house (we didn't apply, we just fit the income bracket).

This hobby is a pricey one and I'm sure if I didn't like latte's so much I'd be able to afford more. I guess all of us make financial choices, some good, some bad. I remember at the time on ebay there were a number of built & weathered structures fetching a good price so I figured it might be a good way to supplement my hobby cash, er, I guess supplement isn't the right word. Provide might be better.

All in all I built three structures specifically for sale on ebay (Fish Building, Southern Press, and a modified Walther's Interlocking tower). My angle was the scenicked base, so that the buyer could use them just as a diorama if they wanted. Looking back I'd have rather kept the structures myself and just pinched pennies elsewhere. Now although we're in a better place I still don't have a hobby allowance, per se, but spending a few dollars here and there isn't going to sink us.

One really good thing that came out of all this - Necessity really is the mother of invention. Poverty and scarcity (not that we were ever 'poor' living here in the U.S.) are motivators too. What it encouraged me to do was explore the days of 'dollar models' and kitchen table modeling. I also make different purchasing choices now, like spending a few extra dollars on a higher quality tool and learning to use it vs. shelling out for the mass-produced part I could easily make myself with some practice.

Didn't mean to get on a soapbox...thanks for the reply.:oops::wave:
 
Well , that explains a lot, too bad the circumstanes were so dire that it became neccessary to do that. I hope your situation has improved a bunch.
Nothing wrong with learning to do a lot with a little & inovating in materials for any reason.
I've been asked many times why I don't sell some of my efforts---well, for one reason , I work so dang slow that I'll be darned if I'm gonna work that CHEAP--- be about a nickle an hour ----- at best!!

I hope to see more of your great modeling , we will ALL be waiting.
 
Dave,

Thanks again. I too am waiting to see more of my great modeling! :p It's not hard to sit here at the computer since it is in the house and being stationary is easier on the shingles. I can keep an eye on the kiddo while the wife watches the baby. (No touchee babee as long as I'm contagious). Rumour has it she'll be taking them out to Target soon so I will have some time to myself, if I'm not asleep. The drugs I'm taking to shorten the duration of the rash and numb the pain are almost worse than the rash itself!

My situation has improved quite a bit, really. And before things got difficult I had been keeping an eye out for bargains. I picked up a few lots of old kits off ebay and occasionally at a train show here or there. I have managed to squirrel away enough to keep me busy for a long time...providing I have enough glue & #11 blades!:violin1:

As far as time, well, I just considered the time spent building as fun for me. I can't ever sell that so why try to put a price tag on it? I thought about adding it in somehow, but a selling point was mentioning that I was charging enough to cover the cost of materials and not much more.

PLUS, I'm an infernal packrat. I try to recycle/repurpose as much as I can and that means reusing bits of this and that. I have been blown away by Robin's creations in cardstock, but I have decided to limit my pile of cardstock to a few select pieces. Should I launch into another cardstock structure it shouldn't take long to acquire a good supply.:twisted:
 
Galen, i have to hand it to you, you do some AMAZING work and i love all the details and weathering you put into these buildings!!! I LOVE that single dust collector you added, it adds so much character to the building, i have a few of these Walthers dust collector kits for detailing my buildings, but i never thought of modeling a singe collector like you did with this building instead of the 3 that they come like in the kits.... Thanks for posting another great building :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
Found it!

I knew I had a scan of the box top for the original brick structure used in this kitbash...just had to find the file. SO, here 'tis, the Delaney Iron Works:
ERTL Delaney Iron Works.jpg

The primary structure is the brick section in the center. I still have to find a use for the large stone structure and the loading dock. The connecting second floor bridge made it into the kitbash but with the roof flipped around so it was on the other side.

These ERTL kits are interesting...the castings are nice but crude, somehow. For instance on the brick structure if you look closely the details such as the window arches and standout section near the base don't line up with each other. It's not terribly noticable, IMO, but having worked closely with it I did catch it and it was a little irritating.

Anyway, thanks Josh. With this shot I also found pics of that Interlocking Tower so eventually I'll start a thread for that one too. Enjoy it now because a dry spell is coming, between the holidays and possibly moving two hours north. Hopefully I can finish a couple in-progress projects before then and pack a few to work on until we're in our next place.
 
Impressive work! Your finishes, weathering and signage are all very convincing. The bay window came out quite nicely as well. Bravo!

Hope your condition is better soon! :)
 
Thanks, tetters! Keep in mind I 'cranked this one out' back in 2004.

One of the most productive periods of modeling had to have been that time in between finishing Seminary and my first parish, about a year. We didn't have kids yet and were living with my in-laws, crammed into my wife's old bedroom, all our stuff in storage except for one flat plastic tub with some tools, paints and a few kits. I set up my portable workbench (a 2'x2' piece of 3/4" ply with a 1"x2" fence around the back and sides) in the spare room next to a window.

We worked whenever we could, usually subbing at local Christian schools, but I still had plenty of time to model (pastors only work Sundays, right?sign1) The Ulrich coach in another thread over in the HO section was started in that period, as well as building a Downtown Deco plaster structure and the Ocali Outfitters kitbash...another thread for another day. The interlocking tower was built at the in-laws, while this one was completed at the parsonage.
 
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