Photo of the Day/Note on the Dominion

So what are we looking at?  First off I am fairly certain this is the Illinois Central yards in Chicago.  The two incredible landmark buildings are the Wrigley Building (left) and the Tribune Tower.

Just a little note for everyone on the Sunday Dominion update, I am trying to get a few things done, so I have something to post on, the first part is small but made a large difference.  The other isn't huge but six out of eight of you will like it, that is if I can get it done.  Also Sunday like the rest of the week is going to be busy, so the update wont come till latter than usual.

My Copper Patina Mix REVILED!

The most common question I have had since I began the Dominion Building over a year ago is "what did you use or how did you get the patina on your roof?"  I even had one person ask if I was using "reindeer piss", he was joking of course.  

I feel like everyone thinks I am using some kind of secret formula, but I guess I come forward and revile the smoke and mirrors I use to create the magic.   So here it goes . . .

I just mixed three colors of paint!

Kind of disappointing huh?  Now here comes the real disappointing part, I don't know what the exact mixture is!  My guess is 1/2 green, 1/4 blue and 1/4 white, the reason I don't know is I just kept adding blue or white to the green till it felt right.  The key is the blue and I would add it first, then lighten it up with the white.  

Now here comes the next trick to making it look real.  Once you have the paint down and you have given it ample time to cure, attack it with a very liberal coat of india ink/alcohol, but do it fast and then don't touch it because the alcohol will wash away the paint.  When it dries you can add further coats if needed but the first is good enough, I will usually touch up spots and add shadowing later.  Then after it is dry add highlights and some texture by dry brushing with white paint.  But remember you NEED to weather it for it to look right, just the paint mix alone wont work.  

But thats about it, sorry if I disappointed you.  If you still have further questions please ask me and I will try to answer it.  

These are the exact paint colors I used to make the patina and the resulting color (I think my mix could use a little more blue), any other brand should work just fine as well.

Dominion Building Update - Sidewalks

This Sundays update is coming to you early for obvious reasons (Go Steelers!).  I also need to apologize that I did not get anywhere as much work done as I wanted to.  It has been a busy week and a very nasty cold has swept through my family, I am just now getting it.

So the few things that I did manage to complete are the billboard on the one end that I posted about a few days ago.  The other is a plate for the building to rest-upon, and make the building look a little more finished.  It will be nice to display it on the plate because it will be a few years until it has a permanent home.  

The plate was cast from plaster in a mold that I built from styrene.  I sprayed a little Pam onto a paper towel and gave the mold a good rubdown.  The Pam acts as a release agent because you cant flex plastic like a rubber mold.  Also don't spray the Pam directly on the mold, rubbing it in with a paper towel is sufficient and gives you an even coat.  If you are careful with the mold you can get a few pours out of it, which comes in handy when you don't mix enough plaster and by the time you get the next batch ready, the first has setup too far to work it (not like that has ever happened to me).  I popped the casting out after just a few hours so I could easily add the expansion joints in the sidewalks by using a dull #11 X-acto blade.

Once the casting was mostly dry, I began staining (not painting) the plaster with washes of my favorite India ink/Alcohol mix, if have been following me you know that I love this stuff.  I stained the sidewalks, curbing and gutters with a fairly light wash (test it first on the bottom or on an area that wont be visible).  Make sure that you scribe in a line separating the street and the gutter, it helps to prevent the darker street wash from bleeding into the lighter.  I was very liberal with my washes to ensure that it was getting into all of the seams.  The street is simply a darker wash, I added a little more ink into the existing mix (a little india ink goes a very long way, so use it sparingly).  

The storm drains were very easy to make but add allot detail.  On the mold I had glued a 3/8" long strip of styrene.  Later I painted some .010x.080" strip a dark grey, cut it to length and glued it in.  The lamp I bought from Miniatronics (72-032-01), and it is very close to the bishops crook style that was used throughout New York.  It was molded in black so I panted it a olive drab to match a few pictures.  I made up the street signs from paper and styrene, they were a little more time consuming to make than I thought but I think they look okay.  The fire call-box I built from styrene again, then painted.  I used figures & benches from Woodland Scenics for the bus stop but I made the sign, I have a few more figures that I will add later as the building gets closer to being done.  The mail box is from Period Miniatures, I think.  Then I added a few things of garbage.

I still need to add a few fire hydrants and couple minor details, I don't want too much so the attention stays on the building.  Unfortunately next week is looking grim for construction time, so we shall see what I can finish up.  Please ask if you have any questions on something that I may have missed or didn't explain very well.  Sometime this week I will post about how I created the patina on the roof, I have been getting many questions on this.

Sorry about the blurry pictures, I need to download that Helicon Focus program.

 

Billboard Frame #2

This is the billboards and frames for the other side of the Dominion.  I wont go into much detail on how I built this set because the construction is basically the same as before on the Lets Build a Billboard Frame post from a few weeks ago.  

What I did change from before is first I simplified the design a bit, second I used a different paint scheme and third I used .060" I-beams for the vertical beams.  I wanted this one to be different from the first set, originally I wanted to go more ornate but unfortunately once the building is place on a layout this side of the building will never be seen.  I will reuse the signs in another location eventually because the are too good to be hidden.  

I want to thank Frank Giacobbe for making these wonderful signs for me, he does a first class job.

Dominion Sign Mockup

I have been messing around with doing the sign on top, I still am waiting to see what everybody thinks in the poll.  I have had a few emails and posts on why I should build it but I have seen a few no's, and I would like to know why you feel that way.    My mind isn't 100% made up but I am leaning to building it.  

I threw this together today, it still has a bit of work left, but I felt it was worth the time to get a feel for it and I can make dimensioned plans right off the drawings fairly easily, (that is if I can remember how).  I haven't used this program for about a year now and I am a little rustier than I thought I would be.  If you are curious, the program I am using is called Inventor, it is made by Autodesk, the company that makes AutoCAD and 3DStudio Max.

The lettering on the sign will be a white if it gets built, I changed it to a light grey so it would show up a little better for your viewing pleasure.  What you read on the sign is exactly how it reads in the picture, and this will be a very big sign as well, it will stand a scale 24' tall and 73' wide.  

Dominion Sign Poll

There is a sign on top of the Dominion in this picture and I don't know when it was taken down.  My question is should I spend the time trying to reproduce it?  Or don't worry about it?  I want to know the opinion of everyone of you.  

Thanks

Dominion Building Update - Doors, Windows and Roof's oh' my

This little guy is getting so close to being done, but I am having mixed feelings.  On one hand I cant wait to move onto other projects, and then on the other hand I am sad cause I haven't slaved away on one specific thing for so long sense, well, forever.  

What I finished off first this week was the doors and entry on the bottom corner of the building.  It was quite simple but I think I pulled it of okay.  First I framed the two doors from .010x.040" strip, and cut a bar from .015" brass wire .  After the glue dried I gave it a once over with a Prismacolor Metallic Silver (PM-117) marker.  I built the box for the entry from some scrap .020" sheet styrene, then painted to match the outside.  On the prototype I noticed there was a cast iron gate that is on the side walls when opened, so I used a section of Gold Medal Models iron fence painted flat black.

My next task was to finish off the roof, but before I could do that I needed to add the glazing and shades on the top five floors due to the fact the roof would be fixed and I couldn't reach the windows from the bottom very well.  Not much to talk about in this step other than the glazing was cut from .010" acetate and the shades are a light grey card stock.

I was then able to begin work, I cut the sheet of .020" sheet to fit the alloted space and then glued it in.  I than began work on the railing across the cap of the roof.  The balusters are from Plastruct (BLAC-200) and the posts are cut from .080" square strip styrene, and the little ball on top is. . . a. . . its a sprinkle, you know for cupcakes, ice cream and toping off posts.  I then painted the railing to match the grey on the bottom three floors.  The railing on the prototype could only be done by etching metal and I don't yet have the power to do that.

I then built the little mechanical house on top from sheet and strip styrene.  I also did a poor job at making a skylight, I want a few of these so I hope I can make less embarrassing ones soon.  That is the water tower I built a few weeks ago and I will be putting it up, even though there isn't one on the prototype.  My justification for this is that the prototype is in Vancouver, BC and there are mountains there so water pressure is not an issue.  But as my building will be going into a fictional version of NYC, the water tower is justified.  I wont do too much more to the roof because 95% of the rooftops I looked at during this era are quite clean and clutter free, but a little garbage looks good.

I finished most of the glazing and shades on the right side and will finish the left tonight.  There is so very few big things left to do, it down to details now.  Well see what gets done for next Sundays update, I don't even know.