Jim 68cuda
Well-Known Member
Always thought that one thing lacking, in HO scale structures, was a good mid century modern motel as were so commonly seen in the 50's through the 80's (and even now in some areas). When building my layout, the only one I could find was the Plasticville Motel. With paint and detailing, it actually doesn't look bad and it found a place on my layout. Now Wathers has released two kits. The Motor Hotel (comes with sign and separate office) and the Motor Hotel With Office and Restaurant (same kit but with the addition of a stand alone restaurant). I ordered one of each believing that the 12 unit motel was a little small for a facility that had a sizable stand alone restaurant as well. I don't actually know what I'm going to do with it when complete as there's no room on the layout for it. But, I like the kit, and I'm trying to figure out the best arrangement for the structures to look right and take up the least amount of real estate. The kit doesn't come with a pool, but a pool is easy enough to make using Smalltown USA sidewalks and a rippled plastic "water" sheet from Noch or Faller.
Not quite finished building the kit, but the most difficult part was painting the stand alone sign in multiple colors. There was alot of masking and painting and remasking and repainting followed by alot of touch up work. Hope I don't screw up the decals when I get to that point. One thing I don't like on the decals is that on the restaurant's attached sign, the word "Restaurant" (arranged vertically on the sign) would be unreadable as the roof overhang will bisect the word. On the structures themselves, the balcony railing and stairways are the most difficult parts to not screw up. I found the stairway easiest to install with the inside railing preglued to the steps but the outside railing left off until the stairs were in place (instructions said to attach both railings to the stairs before install).
The structure comes molded in very bland colors. I did an internet search of mid century modern motels, do-wop architecture, googie style architecture and motels in Wildwood, New Jersey (largest concentration of surviving Do-wop 1950's architecture in the U.S.), to try to get some building ideas and paint colors. If the walls had been molded in a stone pattern rather than brick, I would have gone a different route, but I ended up going with white painted walls with turquoise trim as that seemed to be the most common color scheme on this type of motel.
As I arrange the structures on a 24"x36" piece of foam core board, I find that the two motel buildings (24 rooms total),the office, and the restaurant, along with a pool, and sufficient parking for the hotel and restaurant, take up almost the entire six square feet. Even it this ends up being a diorama rather than finding a home on my layout, that seems too big. To complicate matters further, I look at the roof for the extra unused office from the second kit, and think, that would be a great canopy to add to the restaurant for carhop service. I've looked at attaching the office to the end of one of the motel structures and I've considered leaving it stand alone. With two kits there is a second unused office. I have considered using the unused front wall of the second office on the back of the stand alone office such that the office would be accessible by guests from the pool. Thought about shortening the unused roof of the second office to create a shaded sitting area by the pool at the back of the office as well. Just looking for suggestions before I go any further. Has anyone else built these kits yet?
Not quite finished building the kit, but the most difficult part was painting the stand alone sign in multiple colors. There was alot of masking and painting and remasking and repainting followed by alot of touch up work. Hope I don't screw up the decals when I get to that point. One thing I don't like on the decals is that on the restaurant's attached sign, the word "Restaurant" (arranged vertically on the sign) would be unreadable as the roof overhang will bisect the word. On the structures themselves, the balcony railing and stairways are the most difficult parts to not screw up. I found the stairway easiest to install with the inside railing preglued to the steps but the outside railing left off until the stairs were in place (instructions said to attach both railings to the stairs before install).
The structure comes molded in very bland colors. I did an internet search of mid century modern motels, do-wop architecture, googie style architecture and motels in Wildwood, New Jersey (largest concentration of surviving Do-wop 1950's architecture in the U.S.), to try to get some building ideas and paint colors. If the walls had been molded in a stone pattern rather than brick, I would have gone a different route, but I ended up going with white painted walls with turquoise trim as that seemed to be the most common color scheme on this type of motel.
As I arrange the structures on a 24"x36" piece of foam core board, I find that the two motel buildings (24 rooms total),the office, and the restaurant, along with a pool, and sufficient parking for the hotel and restaurant, take up almost the entire six square feet. Even it this ends up being a diorama rather than finding a home on my layout, that seems too big. To complicate matters further, I look at the roof for the extra unused office from the second kit, and think, that would be a great canopy to add to the restaurant for carhop service. I've looked at attaching the office to the end of one of the motel structures and I've considered leaving it stand alone. With two kits there is a second unused office. I have considered using the unused front wall of the second office on the back of the stand alone office such that the office would be accessible by guests from the pool. Thought about shortening the unused roof of the second office to create a shaded sitting area by the pool at the back of the office as well. Just looking for suggestions before I go any further. Has anyone else built these kits yet?