With the floor plate finished, it was time to bite the bullet and prepare the site for the model.
There were two things: the gaping hole from the sale of Saulenas and the curb cut that led to the parking lot.
I chose to make a laminate concoction to create the height that matches the existing pavement level. It worked out to a piece of ply, a piece of very old Masonite, two pieces of modern MDF and a single sheet of the water color paper I’m using. To get a good shape I first made a paper template with common paper. When this seemed to be correct, I transferred this shape to the thcker watercolor paper, and this to the top layer 1/8" aircraft plywood. I cut this out on the scroll saw and used this piece to create all the rest.
In this image, I put a duct tape handle on to lift the ply sheet out of the hole.
The curb cut—if you go way back in this endless thread—was a plaster casting I made with a very old technology of making a latex rubber mold. This literally was my first foray into reproducing parts other than hand building them. I removed the casting with a small chisel and hammer.
Here’s the pile of pieces before any gluing. The total height was a tad over 3/4".
I glued on a layer, clamped and after the Aleen’s Tacky Glue set up, did the same for the next layer and so one. This way I was able to control all the layers since they can squirm out under the clamping pressure. Notice that there are lots of little pieces making up the layers. I have tons of scrap lying around and put a lot of it to good use. The only two edges that needed to be really clean were the adjacent sides from the corner. The other edges will be buried next to the existing paving.
Here was the last layer going on. Notice also that the inside is open and as is the top plate. I left this space to wire all the control circuits for the LEDs. This is the simplist way to handle all the wiring, rather than doing it in the building. All the floors have lead wires soldered on.
It took further sanding on the belt sander to have the piece slip in. Didn’t take too long.
While the layers were curing I built the curb cut filler piece using exactly the same recipe for the layers. A little filler and you “won’t even know it happened” paraphrasing the ServePro commercials.
Here’s the finished base in place for test.
From this view you can see how high the curb is on the corner. This is due to the foam underlayment being high in that corner. I don’t want to screw around with that foam and it was just as high when Sulenas was there.
So with the base made I had to try the building on it.
Instead of attempting to match the existing concrete color, I’m going to repaint all the concrete so it will match.
I finish painting the chimney.
I have to finish the design of the barber pole and get back to painting all the furniture. The project’s pace is speeding up now and shouldn’t be long before it’s open for business.
20/20 hindsight taught me today that I could have saved a lot of work if I would have traced the bases of both Saulenas and the Gravely building before packing and shipping them. It would have been especially useful for the Gravely which is located smack dab in the center of town and very hard to reach in every direction, and I’m getting too old to climb up on the layout. I don’t have any young kids around that could do it. I want to put the latest building I’m designing in that spot.