Johnson's Loft and Boat Works kit - Part 2

The day is long over and the night shift is hard at work getting the packages ready for the next day. I decided to add some lighting to this building since I had a good amount of interior details to show off.

 White River Packaging

Completing the Railway Design Associate kit as a warehouse

The summer is over and I did accomplish some modelling on those hot and humid summer days.  The beginning of this project can be found in my June 23, 2012 post. Most of the basic construction is covered there. Here the painting and detailing finishes the warehouse project.

The Johnson's Loft and Boat Works has become my White River Packaging a warehouse to be used on my layout extension. The finished structure has been mounted on GatorBoard and has interior lighting to accent my interior details and figures. I added a length of HOn30 narrow gauge track to the scene with a flat car waiting to be loaded. I found standard gauge rails and boxcars just dwarfs the building. In my layout scene there will be standard gauge trackage running near the other side of the building giving the impression it could be loaded from either side although no loading doors are found on the rear.

Once all the walls were secured with additional bracing added to the interior I gave all the walls, cupola, windows and doors a coat of Floquil reefer white. I should mention the cupola did not go together as the instructions mention. Although they are laser cut wood, they are a very poor fit. I did a lot of sanding and cutting to get the basic shape. I then added additional trim to dress it up and hide the gaps. I added a finial to the peak. The cupola roof also looked rough so I used leftover copper roofing from my NorthEastern Scale Models barn kit. The copper roofing got a dusting of Floquil grimy black and jade. I only added some light chalk weathering to the walls and cupola at this point.

A truck has backs up to the loading dock were it will be loaded with local deliveries.

An overhead view of my completed diorama. A short length of narrow gauge rail is used to bring in shipments as required.

The stone base below the walls got brush painted with washes of Floquil pine stain, thinned Floquil black over  a coat of Floquil gray primer. I then used some chalks to highlight some of the stones and the bolts and rods under the loading doors.

The roof needed two triangular supports to hold things together. It was painted Floquil Lark Dk. Gray #132 followed by a coat of Floquil dust while the gray was still wet. I used a heavy dose of chalk and Bragdon weathering to finish off the effect. Three seagulls are added giving the roof more interest. These are #85006 Sheepscott Scale Products.

I added the large pulley wheel which is laser cut wood. I stained and chalked it to resemble old wood. The chain added is 42 links per inch and is painted a rusty black colour.

The building has three floors to detail. I added as many details as I could cram inside each door opening. Most of the details are from Juneco but I also used some laser cut Bent chairs from Full Steam Ahead which look great. These were sample give aways at last years Fine Scale Model Railroader Expo. I also added the sample give away press from RailroadKits, also from last years Expo.

The packaging house is set on the Gatorfoam and the ties for the siding are already laid out.

The structure is mounted on Gatorfoam. I painted the base an earth colour then added mainly Woodland Scenics ground foam and Scenic Express weed tuffs. In some areas near the tracks I actually used some real cinders that I found some years ago in the Bellows Falls yard. The tracks are hand laid painted and weathered. I used crushed limestone screenings for the ballast. The stone steps are added at one end of the structure. The stone loading dock that should have been located at the double door loading area on the buildings side was moved to the far end for truck loading. To make the scene come alive I added a truck for loading and as many workers as I could squeeze in between the details. I still have to add the sign but that will come shorty once I get my laser printer operational.

White River Packaging is going to be a happening place now that it is finished...George

A look inside during a regular evening shift.

The back side of the structure is all windows.