Old Placerville
Placerville Structures - McCarville Studios Placerville Cafe-Bar
Ny version of Old Placerville will include several structures. The first two, the fuel oil depot and stock pens have already been built; the first from a Ragg's...To Riches kit the second from two Banta Modelworks kits. Three more are beng built from McCarville Studios kits; the cafe-bar, gas station and barn.
The McCarville Studios Placerville Bar-Cafe
I decided to start to with the cafe-bar. I built the model per the instructions with the exception of the laser cut paper shingles included in the kit. Based upon a close examination of the color photo on page 258/259, "The RGS Story, Vol 1" (Sundance Publishing), I came to the conclusion that the included shingles were to large and uniform when compared to those on the prototype. I will probably end up using "peel & stick" shingles from Builders In Scale or Rail Scale Models. In addition, due to the shallow pitch of the porch and rear shed, I decided that rolled roofing would probably be more appropriate than shingles.
Here is a picture of my model waiting for a roof.
Make no mistake that the McCarville Studios kit builds in to a very nice and interesting structure but I do have a couple of observations/suggestions. First I think the instructions could be improved by adding more "how to" along with a couple of pages with larger photographs. I also question the use of MDF for the core material. MDF is brittle, the corners are fragile and it is easily damaged by moisture. Although there is no mention of it in the instructions, it should be sealed, especially the base, to protect the parts from moisture. I exposed a piece of the MDF to water and watched it swell, warp and loose all of its rigidity. As a result, I sealed all of the MDF with two generous coats of flat lacquer before I started any assembly. I think 1/16" or 3/32" of marine plywood would be a better choice of material.
I find that building up the sides to include the siding, windows, doors and trim, were possible, before attaching them to a base makes for easier assembly. And, while there is some mention of interior bracing to prevent warping I think most kit or scratch built structures should include interior bracing regardless of the construction materials. As can be seen in the following photo, I used 3/16" square strip wood to add the bracing. I used Aleen's "Original" Tacky Glue for all of the assembly.
Basic Scenery for Old Placerville
I am using a hillside to transition between the scenery around Old Placerville/Placerville and Ridgway. I used a Woodland Scenics incline set to create the roadway followed by a series of "pink foam" profiles. Eventually the caf-bar and gas station will be located in the foreground between the road and the tracks.
Here is a overall view of Old Placerville. A staging track representing Montrose will be located behind the hillside and between the backdrop that has not yet been installed. The Texeco fuel oil dealer was built from a "Ragg's... To Riches" kit by Bruce Hanley. I built the stock pens using parts from two "Banta Modelworks" kits. The cafe-bar, gas station and bar will be located on the far left.
The profiles were covered by cardboard webbing, a layer of painters paper and then plaster cloth. Generic plaster cloth can be purchased on Amazon for about half the cost of similar products available from hobby shops.
The plaster cloth was then followed up with a layer of Sculptamold.
Basic Ground Cover
The "hard shell" was given mix of white glue and earth colored exterior house paint. Paving sand was sprinkled on to the paint-glue mix along with several colors of fine turf. Once the new backdrop is installed I will add more texture (trees, shrubs, grass, etc) in order to blend the Placerville-Old Placerville-Ridgway scenes together. No, that corrugated shed doesn't belong in the stock pen!
As always, your comments, suggestions & questions are welcome
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