GHOSTBUSTERS FIREHOUSE Scratch Build

[Carlb]

I applied 8 separate pieces of Monster Modelworks brick sheet to the walls. I used only a primer coat of Burnt Sienna for now.

All sections attached.

A prominent feature on the building are these vertical sawtooth borders along the 2nd & 3rd floor windows.

My first idea to make them failed, so I settled on a simple jig. (16) .02" X .125" (.5mm X 3.2mm) styrene strips are butted side by side against each other, with .02" X .156" (.5mm x 4mm) for the top & bottom to fit the space properly. I fashioned a 3 sided frame to the exact dimension: 2.79" (71mm), then carved out notches in a piece of strip wood that each styrene strip would slide into. Then trimmed to the correct width. A test piece is laying in back.

Eight sections complete.

Installing around all 4 window sections.

Moving up above the windows, the largest ledge was built up from more Evergreen strip. I made a 1/2" (12.5mm) tall balsa "spacer" to keep the trim in the right place, and hold it level for drying.

The next section up is brick again, here gluing more sheet in place.

Till next time...

 

[RayLuis]

I applied 8 separate pieces of Monster Modelworks brick sheet to the walls. I used only a primer coat of Burnt Sienna for now.

View attachment 1724000

All sections attached.

View attachment 1724001

A prominent feature on the building are these vertical sawtooth borders along the 2nd & 3rd floor windows.

View attachment 1724002

My first idea to make them failed, so I settled on a simple jig. (16) .02" X .125" (.5mm X 3.2mm) styrene strips are butted side by side against each other, with .02" X .156" (.5mm x 4mm) for the top & bottom to fit the space properly. I fashioned a 3 sided frame to the exact dimension: 2.79" (71mm), then carved out notches in a piece of strip wood that each styrene strip would slide into. Then trimmed to the correct width. A test piece is laying in back.

View attachment 1724003

Eight sections complete.

View attachment 1724004

Installing around all 4 window sections.

View attachment 1724005

Moving up above the windows, the largest ledge was built up from more Evergreen strip. I made a 1/2" (12.5mm) tall balsa "spacer" to keep the trim in the right place, and hold it level for drying.

View attachment 1724006

The next section up is brick again, here gluing more sheet in place.

View attachment 1724007

Till next time...

Wow that's starting to actually look like the real firehouse.

 

[Carlb]

Thanks RayLuis, appreciate you following my progress.

 

[Iskelderon]

Great idea with that stepped section.
I recently bought a Brother cutting plotter, so I'll probably be able to abuse that when I'll build my version.

Did you find any good references of the roof?
Google Maps shows a lot of stuff up there while Bing lets you zoom in more but has a lower resolution of it, but the only thing I could find online is this partial distance view.

The matte overpaint in the movie was mostly featureless, probably to spare them the need to animate any complex debris blowing away in the roof explosion scene. Fan recreations and the cartoon and comics all put different stuff up there or leave it blank.

 

[joberg]

Great updates Carl and great results. Love the way you're putting all of those moldings together (we're thinking alike in that I do the same)
Are you going to paint the light stone work with different shades or leave it pristine?

 

[Carlb]

Iskelderob- Thank you. I have no idea when it was taken, but the roof photo I found has almost nothing up there.
I will keep mine that way...Which model "Brother" machine did you purchase?

 

[Carlb]

Joberg- Thank you, good to hear from you, you were "gone" for so long.

I am going to keep the stonework a single shade. I experimented with a "blocky" appearance on some scrap,
and didn't look quite right. Perhaps a larger scale would show it off more appropriately.

 

[Iskelderon]

Iskelderob- Thank you. I have no idea when it was taken, but the roof photo I found has almost nothing up there.
I will keep mine that way...Which model "Brother" machine did you purchase?

No idea when the other stuff was added.
I bought a CM300, an older used starter model. Only cost me 80 bucks, but the downside is that it can only score/cut up to 0.3mm styrene, so I have to stack the stuff I want to build.
For example: I'm building a diorama of the Jurassic Park gate right now and planned for two layers for the outline and one layer for the inner letter.

 

[Bloop]

Great idea with that stepped section.
I recently bought a Brother cutting plotter, so I'll probably be able to abuse that when I'll build my version.

Did you find any good references of the roof?
Google Maps shows a lot of stuff up there while Bing lets you zoom in more but has a lower resolution of it, but the only thing I could find online is this partial distance view.
View attachment 1724735

The matte overpaint in the movie was mostly featureless, probably to spare them the need to animate any complex debris blowing away in the roof explosion scene. Fan recreations and the cartoon and comics all put different stuff up there or leave it blank.

View attachment 1724737

The stuff on the roof in the partial view looks pretty new - I'm guessing it's a new HVAC system(?) - and doesn't seem like it was on the firehouse back in the 80s.

Great work, Carlb! Making a scale firehouse was supposed to be my first project when I got my FDM printer. Now it's few years later, I added a resin printer and still haven't started working on it. Hopefully I'll get to it sooner than later, and I'll be using your thread as a guide when I do!

 

[Carlb]

Igkelderon- Wow- 80 bucks for that cutter is a great deal!

Bloop- Thanks very much. Feel free to ask any questions at any time.. There are no "secrets" with me.

 

[modelerdave]

I love this! Twenty-one recipes for a paint match?! I would have said, "Eh, looks like concrete," and just gone with what I could get from a bottle! (But I'm lazy like that.)

I worked at a movie theater during my senior year of high school and Ghostbusters played for at least eight months before it finally left. I think that and E.T. were the two longest running films when I was there. I've seen it soooo many times and still love every second of it.

 

[joberg]

Joberg- Thank you, good to hear from you, you were "gone" for so long.

I am going to keep the stonework a single shade. I experimented with a "blocky" appearance on some scrap,
and didn't look quite right. Perhaps a larger scale would show it off more appropriately.

Yep, the different shades are really subtle and it's easy to over do it

 

[Carlb]

modelerdave- I appreciate your following the build. I almost never mix my own colors and prefer straight out of a bottle.
But this time, I just couldn't find anything close...(at least to my eye)...sometimes things just get out of hand !

 

[Carlb]

The large corbels supporting the top ledge are very ornate, and nothing was available commercially, even close.... in the dimensions required. I estimated 5/8" (15mm) long and 7/32"(5mm) deep. There are 10 corbels, so I'll make 20 pieces, because I'll sandwich two together to build up the width of .06'"(1.5mm).

I tried two methods. The first was to make a master corbel (painted black in the upper left corner), copy that onto .03" (.75mm) styrene, and cut each one out individually.

I also glued many styrene blanks together, and filed them down as a group. Both methods took a huge amount of time, but even with the "group file" method, each unit still required individual tweaking and sanding. So for me- no substantial advantage to either method.

Another detail, between the two horizontal ledges near the roof line, are these raised brick "panels".

I simply cut brick sheet into the appropriate shapes and glued them down.

Brick panels & corbels now painted and installed.

The 3rd floor window opening was dressed out with a styrene keystone and trim. Testing the frame for fit....

Till next time...

 

[joberg]

Great job Carl...my only concern about the corbels is that your lower molding seems to protrude too much, leaving out the 3 little squares at the bottom of the corbels...my 2 cents worth of course Eager to see your next update!

 

[Carlb]

Thanks Joberg, and you're 2 cents is right....I simplified the corbels and eliminated several of its details...including the 3 squares..
which is why I made the ledge a bit wider...At NVD (normal viewing distance), it's barely noticeable.

 

[Carlb]

The tops of all the walls are covered with cap blocks. I filed vertical mortar lines every 13 mm into .03" x .08" (.78mm x 2mm) strips of styrene on a simple jig, which holds the piece in place and keeps my ruler (and file) square.

I primed the strips a "barnwood" gray and glued them on the inside and outside perimeters slightly above the brick wall sheeting....

Next, I filled the "channel" created by the strips with gray tinted drywall compound.
This will shrink a bit and need a 2nd coat.

After the drywall compound dried, I scribed mortar lines into them, matching the others. Complete, with 1st coats of paint.

Starting on the large front vehicle door, building right on top of a copy of an online photo scaled to 1/87. Using strip wood in .04" x .06", .04" x .156" and .04" x .206". (1mm x 1.68mm, 1mm x 4mm, 1mm x 5.25mm)

Painted Apple Barrel "Flamenco Red".

In place, but no window glass yet.....

Experimenting with printing the muntins for that door on an average clear piece of scrap acetate.. let it dry for a few days....I have previously used transparency film, but I just wanted to test it......Actually, not looking bad at all.

Till next time...

 

[joberg]

Looking good Carl...and getting there by the update

 

[Carlb]

Thanks Joberg....Much more to do....
Appreciate all the "likes" too...

 

[Cameron]

Killer work.