Model Tech Studios makes an interesting craftsman kit that builds three low relief urban tenements. What makes them particularly actractive is that each of the buildings is different in appearance, rather than just mirroring one another. Two are classic Boston triple-deckers. The third, instead of having the porches at the rear, has individual small private porches for each appartment set off to the sides of the building.
The current expansion of my layout involves the building of a small, circa 1940, river city of about 25,000 population, for which these tenements fit in perfectly. Situated on a bluff overlooking the railroad's facilities, the space for the city scene is quite limited in depth, so all the structures must be either low relief, or raised photo flats.
I opened the Model Tech kit yesterday and started out by building the odd-ball tenement, rather than one of the two classic triple-deckers. To have the appearance I wished for this building it was necessary to fabricate several additional walls from my stash of clapboard stock (apparent as the patchwork wall in the second image, below).
This afternoon's glue-up completed the basic structure short of the roof, porch overhang for the top floor and the porches themselves. I'm not quite sure yet just what color I'll apply to the structure, but it will probably be a lighter hue to enhance the tenement's apparent size in the scene (the triple-deckers are each a bit smaller).
The first image shows the tenement face on. Note the opened windows here and there. The windows are each two pieces of laser-cut ultra thin plywood and given the very close tolerances necessary to get the pieces aligned, the least enjoyable part of the project.
In this second image the view is more from one side, showing better the building's setbacks where the porches go.
NYW&B
The current expansion of my layout involves the building of a small, circa 1940, river city of about 25,000 population, for which these tenements fit in perfectly. Situated on a bluff overlooking the railroad's facilities, the space for the city scene is quite limited in depth, so all the structures must be either low relief, or raised photo flats.
I opened the Model Tech kit yesterday and started out by building the odd-ball tenement, rather than one of the two classic triple-deckers. To have the appearance I wished for this building it was necessary to fabricate several additional walls from my stash of clapboard stock (apparent as the patchwork wall in the second image, below).
This afternoon's glue-up completed the basic structure short of the roof, porch overhang for the top floor and the porches themselves. I'm not quite sure yet just what color I'll apply to the structure, but it will probably be a lighter hue to enhance the tenement's apparent size in the scene (the triple-deckers are each a bit smaller).
The first image shows the tenement face on. Note the opened windows here and there. The windows are each two pieces of laser-cut ultra thin plywood and given the very close tolerances necessary to get the pieces aligned, the least enjoyable part of the project.
In this second image the view is more from one side, showing better the building's setbacks where the porches go.
NYW&B
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