Last year, Turkey Hill Dairy vice president of logistics and information services Jim Hatfield (www.turkeyhill.com), stopped in to visit the Choo Choo Barn with his grandsons. When he left, he asked the person working the admissions counter if the owners were in and my daughter, Kristi, went down since neither Linda nor I were working that day. He proceeded to tell Kristi how much he enjoyed the display and that the only thing missing was a Turkey Hill truck and cow. Now around here, the Turkey Hill cow is a sight to be seen. It is a 13 1/2 foot fiberglass and steel Guernsey cow that is on a flat bed trailer that makes its way around to special events in Lancaster and surrounding counties. It’s really an attention grabber. To continue on, he asked Kristi if we would like a cow for on the display. Kristi said that she was sure that I would love to have one, as long as it is of the right scale and all to fit with the rest of the exhibit. So, lo and behold, about 3 weeks later, a 1/64th scale box truck and trailer complete with the Turkey Hill cow arrives. I immediately knew that the truck was a little small so I emailed a big “Thank You” to the dairy and explained that the truck was a little too small but that I was sure the cow and trailer would be fine and that if they gave me permission, I would make a 1/43rd scale truck to pull the cow. My return email gave me the permission to use a different truck and they even said they would provide me with the correct size truck graphics so I could make a bigger truck. WOW! Now that’s pretty cool. It’s pretty exciting that a company the size of Turkey Hill Dairies wants to work with us to get a truck on our display.
So, I took one of the new Athearn 1/50th scale box trucks, measured the sides and back door and emailed those measurements to the marketing department at Turkey Hill dairy. Within a couple of hours, they sent me a high-def PDF image of their truck sides and back door. I printed them out on both our laser printer and a high quality ink jet printer so I had a choice and took everything home, where it all sat until after Jan. 1.
This whole little episode got me to thinking, “Hmm, what’s more Lancaster County than Turkey Hill? Wouldn’t it be cool to make a miniature of a Turkey Hill Minit Market and put it on the layout?” So I went into Kristi’s office and told her my idea and made sure I told it loud enough for Linda to hear. They both thought it sounded great so I fired off an email to the people at Turkey Hill dairy about my great idea. They replied that this sounded really cool but that the dairy and the minit market are two different companies. They did, however, give the contact persons name and phone number so I figured I’d give it a try. This was back in October 2007. After a number of calls, I finally got the right person and was told they thought it was a good idea and that their head of construction would contact me as soon as they got approvals. So I waited and Jan. 1 came around and no one called. I finally got an email and a drawing of a new minit market they were building. I asked if it would be possible to get a set of blueprints since they are usually scaled in ¼” to the foot, which is what I build in. Well, to make a long story short, the head of construction finally got me everything I needed and then some. These people were absolutely wonderful to work with and very cooperative with a little business like ours.
I made photocopies of what I needed from the blueprints they gave me, I figured I’d have to modify them some and I certainly wasn’t going to ruin their prints. The prints for the minit market that they gave me were for a building that was 82’ X 42’, that’s a little too big for our display; it would have been very overpowering. So I took the liberty of trimming it a little. I decided to make it 61' X 36' (15 1/4" X 9") with an entrance on the right since the gas canopy would be on that side instead in front of the store. I sent Scott, my contact, my ideas and he wrote back that whatever I do would be fine with them. WOW, another great guy to work with. So, on February 2, I finally got started on the miniature Turkey Hill Minit Market.
Here are some photos of the building in progress:
I decided that because of time constraints, I wouldn’t be able to make the interior of the store, which was my first plan. The front and side of the actual store are all glass and aluminum strips. I took one of my photocopies and taped it to a piece of Masonite. I then taped a piece of clear Plexiglas to the paper. The Plexiglas was going to be my “glass” so all I had to do was glue on the “aluminum” support structure. I used various sizes of Evergreen styrene to achieve to desired effect. The aluminum that is used on the actual store is anodized instead of silver so I first painted the styrene with Floquil brown. I used the regular Floquil instead of Poly-S because regular Floquil is a solvent based paint and I knew from past experience that it actually etches the styrene and the paint adheres better. I don’t think this practice is especially recommended by Floquil or by any of the modeling magazines but as long as it’s done carefully, it works for me. So I very carefully cut the styrene strips, after the paint had thoroughly dried, and using Ten-X glue, glued the pieces to the Plexiglas. The photocopy underneath gave me the pattern to follow which made the job go much faster. When all was finished, I touched up the styrene that needed it and set it aside and started the other “glass” wall. These walls were made to fit in between the “block” walls that I was making the rest of the store out of. This was actually basswood with simulated block sheeting made by Evergreen.
After the main part of the building was pretty much done, I started working on the front gable. Unfortunately, I didn’t get many photos from here on out. Once again, March 15 was fast approaching and I was working in my workshop every waking moment I was at home. If you don’t believe me, ask my wife Linda. She becomes a widow in the winter. I’m in my workshop every evening from 6 or 6:30 until 11 or 12. So, the photo shoot ended up being unimportant. Of course, I now wish I would have taken the time. The gable was the fun part! I made three until I got it right. I then had to figure out what I was going to do with the two logos on the front. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to make 3-D logos, it was just a matter of how I was going to do it. I contacted Scott at Turkey Hill and asked if he could send me graphic of their logos. Within a short time, I had an email with the attached hi-res logos. I took measurements of both logos on the blueprint and made my conversion so they would fit on the front of the gable. I resized the logos I was sent using PhotoImpact and printed multiple logos on self-stick paper. Working on the logo first, I rough cut it out, pealed the back off and stuck it on a piece of 1/4” Plexiglas. I rough cut this out using my band saw then moved to my disk sander. I bought a Craftsman combination belt/disk sander at a garage sale a couple years ago for $10.00 because the seller said the belt wouldn’t stay on. I took it home and found that the belt worked fine but the disk part wouldn’t stay tight on the shaft, no matter how hard I tightened it. I looked in my junk drawers and found a new set screw and replaced it. That’s all there was to fixing it. The old set screw was just not tightening up for some reason. Anyway, I put a fine sanding disk on the sander and very carefully, sanded the piece of Plexiglas right up to the edge of the logo. I painted this edge with the same paint that I used on the building and set it aside. Now to tackle the words, “Turkey Hill”.
Front of Gable Graphic
I had printed the words Turkey Hill at the same time as I printed the logo on the self stick paper. I rough cut the words and placed them on a piece of 3/16” Lucite. I put the Plexiglas in a small tabletop vise and using an X-Acto jeweler’s saw and a Mascot H100S spiral cut sawblade, I very carefully cut each letter out. I then used a small, fine file and trimmed the edges of the letters so they were exactly the size that was printed on the self-stick paper. I then painted each letter with 3 coats of Tamiya Acrylic Clear Red paint. This paint is getting hard to find, luckily I have a couple bottles of it. I use the same paint on white LEDs. The paint also comes in clear blue which changes a white LED to a blue LED. I give the LEDs about three coats of paint also. They look good on police cars and emergency vehicles. Anyway, I also set the letters aside to completely dry. The next thing to tackle was how I was going to mount the letters and logo on the front of the gable and backlight them. I eventually (after some trial and error) decided to take a piece of clear acetate and cut it to the same size as the front of the gable. I then glued the logo and the words on the acetate at the proper position, marked the place on the gable end that was made of basswood and cut the basswood out. I placed three flourette bulbs behind the front of the gable, one positioned behind the logo and two positioned behind the words Turkey Hill. I painted the front of the acetate the same color as the rest of the building with three coats because I didn’t want any light coming through the acetate, except at the logo and words. I glued the acetate to the front of the gable and touched up a few spots of paint. I then drilled a hole through the roof and ran my wires through it. I had already marked the roof with the position of the gable so I glued the gable onto the roof. I set this aside until my glue was good and dry.
I started work on the gas canopy by first making the edge graphics in PhotoShop. Using my set of blueprints, I decided the size I was going to make my canopy. I then made a box using ¼” clear Plexiglas the size of the canopy. After gluing the box together, I cut two pieces of white styrene the size of the box, one for the top and one for the bottom. Taking a couple die-cast cars, I decided where the gas pump islands should be in relationship to the canopy. I then decided where the best position for some “down” lighting should be to properly light the area during the night scene. I glued the bottom piece of styrene to the Plexiglas box. I drilled holes to mount white LEDs from the inside so they would shine down and glued them in place. I then made another box out of basswood using the same thickness of wood as the outside Plexiglas box. I fastened a bunch of 6.3 volt bulbs to the outside of the wooden box so these bulbs will illuminate the canopy graphics. This is why I used clear Plexiglas for the outside box. The wooden box will also serve as an anchor for the posts that will hold everything up. The posts, which are actually brass tubes, will be my “chase” for the wires that connect to the lights and LEDs. I soldered resistors to each LED and ran wires around to each one. I also soldered wires on to the bulbs.
Canopy Graphic
I drilled through the wooden box to accept the brass tubes. I had already cut the tubes to the length I thought looked the best for the canopy. Using basswood strips, I made two “islands”, on for the bottom of each set of poles. I placed the second piece of styrene on the top of the canopy and drilled pilot holes for #0 X ½” self-tapping screws. I then screwed the top on the canopy, drilled out the “islands” and pushed them onto the tubes. When I measured the brass tubes, I allowed an extra ½” of tube to extend into the top of the display. I then cut the self-stick paper with the canopy graphics and adhered them to the sides of the canopy. I used Plastruct gas pumps until I either find more modern ones or eventually make my own and glued them to the “islands”.
By this time, the glue was more than dry on the gable. So now it was time to start shingling the roof. I used gray roofing from WSR (Fred Dole Productions). It’s actually a 10” X 16” sheet of shingle material but I like to modify it a little. Instead of just cutting out a flat piece of shingle stock, I like to give my roofs a little but of depth. I do have a couple buildings that I used flat shingle material that I plan to re-do at some time. I start by taking the shingle material and cutting it into strips that are two shingles wide. I use an X-Acto with a NEW #11 blade and a metal 18” ruler. This is one of those times that you will need extra #11 blades. It doesn’t take long for one to get dull and when that happens, you’re in for either a sloppy job or a cut finger, or both. Once an entire sheet is cut into strips, I started shingling! But first, II measured the depth of a row of shingles and then made a mark on the edge of the roof, the depth of one row. I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I did this on both sides of the roof. I then drew a line from one side of the roof to the other, the whole way up the roof. These lines will serve as guides when laying the shingles. I started by laying a bead of Elmer’s wood glue at the bottom edge of the roof and then laid the first strip down so the bottom edge is flush with the edge of the roof. I always leave the shingle overhang on both sides of the roof. I trim them after the glue is dry. I pressed the row of shingles down to make sure they were snug against the roof. I then laid another bead of glue on the top edge of the shingles I had just put down and placed the next two rows of shingles on top, overlapping the one row I just glued down. I kept this up, overlapping one of the previous rows of shingles the whole way to the top. This is a very time consuming job but it looks a lot better than just gluing the shingle paper on the roof. Also, when doing a roof this way, I use twice as much shingle material as I would if I just used the flat paper.
Once the back was finished, I moved on to the front. I made my marks and drew my guide lines on the front side and on both sides of the gable. I then started on the right side of the roof section and worked up to the peak of the gable. I was very careful to cut the shingles that where on the side of the gable so they fit into the gable/roof joint. I then moved over to the left side and again worked up to the peak of the gable. I finished the front of the roof from there on up using full lengths of shingles. I then did the same for the gable, laying one row at a time until I reached the top of both sides. WSR gives you a “cap” piece that’s about 16” long. I used one on the main roof and on the gable. Once the glue was dry, I trimmed the excess shingle strips off the sides of the roof.
I then glued the “glass” walls in place and found a piece of acetate that was colored black and cut it to size to fit behind my glass walls. The black acetate came from a Vox Vodka gift box. Again, proving I throw nothing away. When I was making the main structure, I used a piece of 1/2” square piece of poplar that I got at Home Depot and glued this around the bottom of the inside of the building. This gave the sides of the structure a lot of strength and also gave me something to use as an anchor to the display. I then took a piece of ¼” Plexiglas and measured it as a base for the building. I cut the Plexiglas 1” longer and 1” wider for the sidewalk on the front and side of the store. I scribed 1” squares onto the “sidewalk and painted I with Floquil Concrete. I drilled holes in the Plexiglas and counter sunk the holes for flat head screws so I could fasten the floor to the building, via the 1/2” poplar wood pieces. I then drilled holes in the bottom of the Plexiglas for mounting on the display. I drilled these holes 5/64” because I planned to use #8 sheet metal screws and they will fit snuggly into a 5/64” hole.
At the Choo Choo Barn, I took a big piece of corrugated cardboard and made a template of the place that was going to be the new home for the minit market. I decided to wait until the last moment to take the mini-mall off just in case some calamity happened and I wouldn’t be able to finish the job before we opened on the 15th. Stranger things have happened! (http://www.choochoobarn.com/backstage.php?page=012003) I used ¼” tempered Masonite to put the whole scene on. This way, I could get it all set up in my workshop, take it apart, transport it to the Choo Choo Barn and put it all back together again. Using the cardboard template, I cut the Masonite to match. I figured I’d make any final cuts when I got everything to the Choo Choo Barn and ready to put it in place. I set the building on the Masonite as well as the canopy and marked their positions. I took the Plexiglas base off the bottom of the minit market building, placed it back on the Masonite and made marks where to drill holes to fasten the Plexiglas. I drilled the holes and turned the Masonite over and counter-sunk them. I then drilled additional holes for wiring. I then drilled the holes for the brass tubes that hold the canopy. I was now ready to take everything to the Choo Choo Barn.
OK, believe it or not, it’s March 13! WE OPEN IN TWO DAYS! At 9:00 a.m., I head out to the display with a hammer and a chisel. Now, obviously, this is not the time to be chiseling landscaping out on the display, but I’m on a mission and nothing’s gonna stop me now. The night before, I took the mini-mall off so I wouldn’t have to do that. I climbed on top of the display, forget the scaffolding, it’s all put away for the summer, and started to chisel the old parking lot up. It only took me about an hour to get everything ready for the Masonite. I wasn’t wasting any time. Eric came out into the display, made a comment and walked back into the workshop. It didn’t bother me because he wasn’t going to have to do any of the work to get it ready. If it took me the next two days, well, that’s on me! After a couple of adjustments with my saber saw, I was ready to make the final fit. I made marks on the plywood that is the base of the layout where the screws that hold the building on the Masonite are. I painted the Masonite black to simulate a parking lot and left it to dry. I drilled 1 ½” holes at these marks and also drilled oversized holes in the layout for the wiring for the lights. It’s a lot easier to run wires through oversized hole than it is ¼” holes and I was going to cover them up anyway so it really didn’t matter how big they were. When the paint was dry, I screwed the Masonite down to the display with flathead screws that were countersunk into the Masonite. I got the gas canopy ready and fit it on the Masonite where it belonged. Once this was all done, I mixed up some Road System Smooth-It by woodland scenics to fill in the landscaping that got torn out and to cover the counter-sunk holes. Smooth-It is very fine and it dries very quickly. By the time I got this done, it was almost 5:00. It wasn’t time to go home because I had a lot of last minute things to fix.
The next day, the 14th, I grabbed a piece of sandpaper and started sanding the Smooth-It to get rid of the blobs and the extra that was on the parking lot. Everything got vacuumed and I was ready to start landscaping. I added trees, grass, fencing, cars, figures and other details until I thought I was done. As everyone knows, you can detail a scene like this forever. Its 11:43, time to put the new Turkey Hill Minit Market on the display. I got everything on, screwed down, wires run and working and I even had time to spare. That didn’t mean it was time to go home. We didn’t do that until 11:00 p.m. that night. Talk about working until the last minute!
This is quite an insightful posting on the miniature model of Turkey Hill Minit Market. Builders and architects would surely find it interesting.
Posted by: Building Equipment | May 05, 2009 at 06:44 AM