Saturday, February 7, 2009

Whistlestop Junction - Bar Mills





With modern packaging, it is truly amazing how a kit of a train station can come in such a tiny parcel. Bar Mills offers many of their individual kits this way.  This little depot is a great kit for modellers who choose to model any area in North America as it resembles your typical "Whistlestop" station. 

First task after opening the box is to lay all the contents out. The laser cut items go together so well that it is almost as easy as doing a jigsaw puzzle!

I chose to paint my station in the standard Boston and Maine colours...Depot Buff and Maroon. I applied the paint as a wash so as not to plug in any of the fine details with too thick of a paint.  Before painting, I braced the interior side of each wall section to help avoid warping.

With the walls all painted, it is a simple matter of lining everything up, making sure all is square and glueing the wall pieces togethers. My heavy weights come in handy with this job...although there are a number of different methods out there to brace and ensure the degree of squareness.

The roof section is added and the depot is installed around the platform. Starting to look like a station to me!

This side view demonstrates some of the dry brush weathering on the side of the station depot. Some figures and other details have been added.


This angle shot shows the almost finished product. I just have to place some posters and signs around and it should be done. Then, place it on the shelf and await the layout extension job!
To see a more detailed account of this build, visit http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19611
To see more offerings by Bar Mills, visit http://www.barmillsmodels.com/
Thanks, Mike Hamer - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada


After awhile, I decided to place this handsome little depot on a mini-diorama.


I purchased a simple wooden picture frame from Michael's to use as a base.


The stand of trees in the background are not part of the diorama.  They are on their own stand and simply are used for a background for photography purposes.


I call the diorama "Beyond Milepost 27.


I call it this because many of my favourite musicians passed away at the tender age of 27.  It is my hope that the gentleman standing on the lplatform will board the train here at Milepost 27 and he'll travel beyond Milepost 28, 29 and so on to live a long and fulfilling life.


Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Robert Johnson, Brian Jones and Amy Winehouse are but a few members of Club 27, those famous musicians who never made it to their 28th birthday.


The additional structure on the diorama is a shack that came in a Full Steam Ahead kit offering called Black Cove Harbor.  In total, six shack kits were offered in that kit.


A few more views of the diorama.


An aerial one.

The Bar Mills depot is a really nice looking structure.


My guitar friend waiting for the train.



Thanks for checking in on my build!  Have a nice day!  Mike Hamer

Again, to view a more in-depth account of the build at the Railroad Line Forum, paste the link below into your address bar above 
http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19611

To view an exchange of views about the diorama itself, paste this link into your address bar.
http://www.railroad-line.com/discussion/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=41263

3 comments:

  1. I enjoy reading your posts. Keep up the good work! A dumb question if you don't mind: where did you obtain the metal weights you show in this post?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi JD, Not a dumb question at all! I purchased them at a local metal dealership in an industrial park near Ottawa's Museum of Science and Technology. The weights are "ends" that are useless for the company but great for modellers! (PS. It was great meeting you and having you over!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I realized your blog are so helpful keep it up.Awings nz

    ReplyDelete