Placerville Cafe-Bar & Gas Station
I finally got around to adding a few trees to the hillside behind the cafe-bar and the gas station which allowed me to set these two structures in place. I still need the sign over the entry to the cafe-bar, a few more details, vehicles and figures. In the not to distant future, I need to get out the static grass applicator and add a few shrubs.
Placerville Depot Restrooms
The Placerville Depot restrooms is the last of 4 McCarville Studios structure kits I bought to finish off the Placerville scene. The restrooms were painted to match the depot and the kit provided shingles were replaced with peel & stick versions that were a better match to ones already on my Placerville depot.
Here are the components laid out on the desk ready for assembly.
After the walls were attached to the base, I discouvered the alignment tabs on the walls extended out beyond the surface of the adjoining wall making it impossible to get the corner trim to lay flat. Had I realized this before the walls were glued together it would have been an easy fix. Fixing the problem after the walls were glued together involved cutting, sanding and repainting. The trim material was also replaced with something a bit wider to achieve a good corner joint and cover the alignment tabs.
I found it interesting that the plans show and the photos appear to show that both doors were on the same end of the building. It seems to me that it would have been more logical to separate the restrooms (men & women) by placing the doors on opposite ends with a separating wall built across the width of the building.
The restrooms temporarily set in place next to the depot. With a few minor changes, the kit builds into nice little addition to the depot scene.
Placerville Structure Recap
The Placerville structures along Front Street from north to south. Click on the pictures to enlarge.
The Placerville structures along the tracks from south to north. Click on the pictures to enlarge
Ridgway Depot
Yep.... The depot is coming along... slowly. Since the wainscoting had a tendency to warp, I had to use clamps to hold it in place while the glue set. And, since I only have four clamps that would work, the wainscoting took about a week to install. The rib rail, that separates the wainscoting from the clapboard siding, only took a couple of hours to install.
While the glue is drying on the clapboard walls sections, shingles are being applied to the upper wall sections. Due to the size of the depot and the cost of replacing the kit supplied shingles with peel & stick versions, I decided to go with the laser cut versions provided with the kit. The kit instructions recommend using 3M Super 77 spray adhesive for attaching the shingles. I have never had much success using this method; it's difficult to control where the spray glue goes and I find it very unforgiving. Instead, double sided tape is used. The tape is available from Wild West Models https://www.wildwestmodels.com/products/details-tools.html I highly recommend it. In addition Wild West Models has a excellent line of laser cut kits and accessories in multiple scales.
The Signs of Progress
I like to keep my work room neat! For years this was a home office. I took it over about 15 years ago when it was no longer needed for that purpose. Pam, my tolerant bride of almost 42 years, rarely steps foot in this room. She prefers to close the door and ignore the mess.
