Pasadena Train Station Model - Part 7

 

I finished my model this weekend. All that is left now is to complete the landscaping.

Pasadena Train Station Model - Part 6

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. 

Pasadena Train Station Model - Part 3

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. 

Pasadena Train Station Model - Part 2

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.

Pasadena Train Station Model - Part 1

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.

Scale Models

I wanted to be an architect for much of my early life and I spent many hours drawing awesome house designs and making models, which I also love. Here is a series of architectural models I have built over the years. One is a cardboard kit of a Frank Lloyd Wright house; a few are for the design of an artist's cabin in the mountains; and one is a study model of an artist's community with studio space, gallery space and living space. These were stored in the attic space above my studio, collecting dust when I found them after a few years. I cleaned them up and had a friend make some acrylic museum boxes for them. Now they are on display in my studio.