Bernard's Project

[Bernard]

Well, I did a lot of thinking of what I wanted to do for my project and I was going around in circles with my choices. So I said why don't I do something that I can use on my layout and is there an area that needs work. And here is a photo of the section of my layout I've been putting off.

One of the problems I have with my layout is that practically all of my buildings were from a previous layout and are all European in design. I need to make the layout look more like Japan with modern buildings and skyscrapers. So that is what I decided to do, make skyscrapers as my project.

[Bernard]

I set one basic rule for myself, I have to use materials that I have on hand. Since I've made a lot of wooden ship models, I have plenty of wood on storage and that is also my favorite material to model with. I began looking at Skyscrapers in Tokyo and came upon this photo:

[Bernard]

I took a piece of foam board and made a graph on it with 1" squares in order align my design on. After making the squares I put a piece of wax paper on it so the design doesn't stick to the board after I apply the wood glue.

Next step was to cut the pieces of wood strips for the frame of the skyscraper, glue the ends together and pin the frame down to the board.

[Bernard]

Next, I looked at the photo of the skyscraper and determined how to design the windows and I used pieces of mahogany wood with overlaps on the side of the frame in order to connect the side walls when I make them.

For the windows I plan to use the plastic that is usually the tops of gift boxes for ties, wallets or your wife's good gloves. (I still have a few months before winter until she finds out that the plastic tops are missing ::))

Now I have to make the front of the building and sides.

[CaptOblivious]

Can't wait to see how it turns out! Could you tell us a little more about the building you are building? How big, how many stories? What business are in it, a little (perhaps made-up) "historical" background?

[Bernard]

Alright, the next step was to put together the front section of the skyscraper using the same material. I used the rear panel to align the slates to the front section with overhang on the wood slates.


The second photo shows the side frames measured against the front and back pieces.

[Bernard]

Alright its been awhile since my last post on my project. I did make a couple of mistakes but the biggest one was misplacing my camera, so I borrowed an older camera.
Here is an update on my skyscrapers.

I had all the walls done so I decided to put it together before painting each wall and then adding the glass. I know putting in the plastic for the windows later might be a chore but I wanted to see if everything meshed together. So the first 2 photo show the frame of the skyscraper together.

[Bernard]

Aaaaaah!! I put it on the layout to see how it would look in the area that it will be placed and it's way too big. I totally miscalculated on its size. What to do. So I looked at it again and I said, "why not cut it in half and make 2 skyscrapers instead, and design a different front for one and a different back for the other." So that is what you will see in the next photos:

[Bernard]

That went smoother than I thought it would so after I made the new walls I put the 2 skyscrapers together and you can see a little difference between the 2 buildings.

Now since I used all scrape wood lying around from other projects, the next step was to paint them grey and see how they look. The next step will be to get some colored plastic gel paper, (smoke colored) and use that for the windows.

[Masioka]

This is really interesting. Nice work!  :)

[Martijn Meerts]

From the first pictures I was wondering how that was ever going to look like skyscraper.. Now I know =)

[Bernard]

Martijn - when I first put it together I was also wondering how this was going to be a skyscraper. :o
That's when I decided to cut it in half.

[SubwayHypes]

wow keep this updated i love custom built things.