Town Planning

I laid out the buildings I have for Cuspidor town and think this will be close to the final configuration.  Hill Street leading up to the bluff will be narrow and the road will be hemmed in by the buildings and walkways.  I will play around with the levels to create a bit of vertical interest.

A shed made from bits.

A few days ago I was rummaging through my box of wall bits and found a couple of broken pieces of plaster brick wall, a few inches square.  I felt it was too good to waste but would only make a small structure so with a bit of wood, glue and  an old Woodland Scenics metal casting and some gash doors, this is what I came up with. If I say so meself I reckon it came out pretty natty.

Now named for USA modeller and friend on Trainlife  forum Neal Multz who lives under a massive operating layout wiring miles of track.

Cuspidor City Hall and Courthouse

A relic of the town's glory days  of gold, silver and other precious metals now too rambling for its purpose.  This was cobbled together from a Kibri schoolhouse kit and Americanised with a flat roof and the appropriate flag for the time. 

I widened the side walls as the first incarnation was just a narrow flat.

Quiet lunch break,

What happened in court dear?

Miss Anna's Gentleman's Pleasure Palace

My niece is an effervescent young lady who likes to have a good time so what better "proprietress" to choose for this salubrious addition to Cuspidor's social life?  The basis for this background flat was an old Lytler and Lytler styrene and metal kit. I built the front as per the kit but the downstairs frontage consisted of a template and nothing else.  Poo!  So I cut out a styrene wall and inserted MDC windows and L&L front entrance.  I wanted a stucco wall and used a spray of 3m adhesive followed with a fine sifting of talc. I dabbed on cream acrylic when it was dry then scraped away a small spot which I scribed for brick then painted red. MDC shutters sprayed white covered with Sharpie gold gave a faded glory appearance. After all this is the depression and even the "entertainment" business isn't proof against that.  I need to get a red micro LED for a door lamp to complete the ambiance.

Cuspidor's Founding Father

Here is the magnificent bronze statue of Alonzo Phleming, the first European to set foot in the Cuspidor Valley.  An early Mountain Man, trapper and explorer he was famed for inventing the world's first collapsible, travelling spittoon, in honour of which he named the valley "Cuspidor"

The statue will take pride of place in front of the City Hall, high on the bluff where he will look out over the valley.

In reality he needs to be bronze patinated as he's a bit gold at the moment.

Getting the road surfaces down

I bit the bullet and got some more tile grout in beige and spread it on my dirt roads.  It's a bugger to get smooth, I found a piece of plastic card worked best after trowelling it on.

It will need fine tuning when dried and then I can finish painting the rock and walls in Cuspidor then paint and treat the road surfaces.

Another Skid Row shack made literally from scrap bits.

I’m on a bit of a roll creating the hovels for my Skid Row.  This tiny shack was made quite literally from scrap.  I found a 1 inch wide strip of ancient Northeastern board and batten siding in my wood drawer which I trimmed square and then cut into slices. These were patched together to make the walls and I installed some rather rough British made laser cut windows and a door. I primed with rattle can grey then semi dry brushed in ivory acrylic followed with black spirit wash and powders to age it. Some rolled seam roofing treated with acid etchant then painted and topped with a plastic smoke jack and there you are. A couple of enjoyable hours with a result at the end.

The shack in question is on the left, next to Ben Tresize.

Tarted up.

In situ

The home of a Cornish emigre miner on Cuspidor's Skid Row.

Scratchbuilt quick and dirty miner's shack.  I won't use milled siding again for any others as it gives too even  and smart a finish. It took a lot of work to make it look this shabby.

Schmitt's Pool Hall

Another confection from the scrapbox. 

Cut and spliced front

Side walls added

Finished

In rough location

Group of three buildings finished

The office and residence of noted local Attorney at Law E. Pismo Clam. Esq,.

This started life as a nondescript little wooden building I threw together 20 odd years ago and which I nearly scrapped.  As it was, with a little bit of tweaking and some easy detailing I think it will be a fitting addition to the town of Cuspidor.

I chopped the back wall off to fit an angled location. I'd originally coloured it with a red Floquil stain but redid it in a gold craft acrylic and added a smokejack, some junk and a roof hatch to the roof.  Blinds and curtains were followed by a painted sign made from Clover House dry print letters on a painted black ground and a triangular shingle made from stripwood with signs cobbled up on my pc. The shingle took six goes to glue together but was worth the effort.

A rough box

Simple roof details

Getting there

Done

Cuspidor Boiler works made from an old plastic kit.

Here is my kitbashed boilerworks. Plastic can look good if you take a bit of time and care.