This is the final step of the Pasadena Train Station Model. I used a small touch of ACC glue to attach an N-scale passenger car to the track and I mounted two Mini-Metals taxi cabs to the pick up area. My friend Yung made a case from 1/4" acrylic. It will now join my other architectural models on display in my studio.
I have completed my train station model. I used ground foam for the grass and yarrow weeds covered with spray mount and coarse ground foam for the trees. I marked the sidewalk seams with pencil, and used thinned Woodland Scenics acrylic paint for the street and parking lot. My friend Yung is making an acrylic case for it. Then I will add it to my collection of architectural models.
I decided to mount my train station model to a 3/4" piece of plywood, add some scale size track with ballast, and add some landscaping. This will be a stand alone display model, with an acrylic case, to match my other architectural models. Here is my progress so far.
I finished my model this weekend. All that is left now is to complete the landscaping.
I finished the freight depot addition yesterday. Those familiar with the real station will notice that I have shortened the structure be removing the section between the freight depot and the station office.
Here are some progress photos of this weekend's work. I finished blocking out all of different station components using thin card stock, which I later painted with a thin wash of watercolor in order to get a sense of the finished station, and I built the final entry arch and trainmen's room.
Here are some progress photos of my train station model. I decided to add a freight/baggage room, so I did some sketches to explore how it could work while still keeping an abbreviated station design.
The station will need signage, so I Googled Amtrak signage standards and made my own.
The original station color was lighter, almost white. Mine is closer to the raw sienna color it is now.
Due to the small size of my train layout I will be modifying my station slightly: I am removing the freight and baggage area. I studied this modification by tracing over the plans, elevations and photos of Rich Cobb's model. It is much shorter, but it still is balanced and has the feel of a small town station.
As I mentioned in previous posts, I have sketched the Pasadena Train Station for years. Many years ago I would stop by in the evenings with my boys and wait for the evening westbound Amtrak to arrive. It is a beautiful station. These photos were taken before the station was relocated, and refurbished. The bottom two images are of a beautiful HO scale model built by Rich Cobb which is currently at the Whistle Stop train store in Pasadena.
The previous exercise was a prototype; something to practice on and get ready for the real model.
The final base is an Ampersand gessoe'd hardboard panel onto which I sprayed a few coats of RustOleum grey primer. The primer left a nice rough texture that I will eventually add hardscape lines and landscape areas to. I cut out a profile board of the floor plan and attached it to the baseboard with carpenter's glue.
My new method for the walls consists of transferring the elevations to the board by means of a scratch awl - putting tiny pricks through the drawing at the corners and then drawing the plan onto cold press illustration board with an 0.5mm pencil. I then added a light wash of raw sienna to warm up the wall color and to give it some texture. After that had dried I painted the window and door areas with colbalt turquoise light and finished with a dark mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt umber to suggest windows. I will add some finishing touches with pastel after the model is complete.
The walls were glued to the base and the roof was added, which I made by ruling parallel lines 1/16" apart and doing a wash of burnt sienna and cadmium red. I added a little off-white pastel to the roof and sprayed some workable fixative to deaden the brightness and to look more like a tile roof.
My goal in this exercise is not to do a typical model railroad building that is indistinguishable from the real thing, but rather to build a scale model much like an architect would to present his concept to a client. I am also fascinated by British railway modelers who make beautiful structure models out of card stock.
