Rail200 - buildings finished

The buildings have finally been completed, painted with Vallejo acrylics. The brickwork was painted with my usual technique of picking out a few bricks in different shades to the base red primer, then a coat of mortar colour which is then wiped off in a diagonal direction. I painted the arches, lintel and capping bricks in something approaching "engineering blue" bricks though I'm not sure I got the shade right, the result looks effective though. 

The stores building platform paving has had a few washes over the grey primer, while the "lead" roof is left in primer grey because I couldn't think of a better finish! The doors are closed - actually on double-sided tape so they could be opened up later if needed - and black paper behind the windows hides the lack of depth. The airbrush was used to put smoke stains over the entrance as though locos have lingered there. 

On the boiler house my plan for fixing the doors has actually worked, although they can't be closed because they overlap! I think I'd narrowed the doorway slightly to make the building fit the space and the door to be central to the track, though the doors will never be closed anyway. The metal chimney has come out well with a hint of rust speckles and smoke staining with the airbrush. 

The engine shed roof used the Vallejo "rust and chipping effects" I first tried earlier this year, but this time I airbrushed rather than brush-painted the chipping medium which has given a more effective patchy effect, and "chipped" off the black layer about an hour after applying it. I'm very happy with the result, still not convinced by the vent flues but they look better for being rusty!

Inside, I fitted a yellow LED under the centre brace, and the wiring for that and the front wall lamp runs down inside the far wall. The dirty whitewashed Slater's brick inner false wall works well when viewed through the open doors, while the windows have been smoked with the airbrush. Oh, and look - the doors actually close!

The canopy was airbrushed green for a neat finish then given a dirty wash to emphasise the planking, while the top was finished in a dark grey-brown. However, as can be seen, the top didn't fit snugly into the frame as it has taken on a more acute angle. I couldn't see a way to glue this down, the contact patches are far to small. 

I fitted pairs of plastic fillet plates into the underside of the ridge, spaced to sit either side of two of the roof trusses. A 1mm hole through the plates allows a pin (paperclip wire) to pass through. 

With the top of the roof in place the wire pins pass under the peak of the trusses forming a strong mechanical fixing.

As you can see, this pulls the top into place neatly. In fact, no further fixing seems necessary, but I'll fix the pins with a blob of glue. 

I'm very pleased with how the station has come out, it has just the right blend of a grand facility of humble construction. It's well kept, but since locos run through it the ends and inside of the canopy and the roof glazing are smoke stained. 

Like the engine shed, a thin inner wall tidies up the back of the windows in case of a look under the canopy. The finials are rather vulnerable, one has been knocked off and refixed twice already!