For the roof, I took some careful measurements all around and was greatly relieved to discover each side and each end were the same dimension. Thus, the roof could be a true rectangle without me needed to compensate for an error somewhere. I laid the roof out one one large piece of 0.060" styrene. It turns out the building was 381mm long, and each peaked roof panel was 101mm wide.
Many times for peaked roofs I have to do each side individually but I hoped I could just cut the rectangle, scribe it down the middle, and then bend it carefully so that it held together as one which would just drop on. For added security, I put a few pieces of blue painter's tape on the other side to act as a hinge of sorts. Well, it turned into two pieces but the tape held strong.
I set it on the building and shifted it around until I was happy with the arrangement and the overlap was equal on all four sides. Then, I brushed MEK along all four joints and let it sit a good long while to cure. Because I had added absolutely no interior roof bracing to this point, it was sagging a bit. I gently turned it over and arranged it so one of the roof panels was perfectly flat on my workbench.
Then, I started adding pieces of 0.060" styrene bracing to the roof panel lying flat, and I tied them into the walls. Admittedly it looks a bit helter skelter but it results in a nice strong bond and there is very little precision involved. I just used the scraps that I had and pieced it all together. During this process I had some metal weights on the roof panel ensuring it stayed flat. I didn't have my braces go near the roof peak centerline as I wanted to add bracing running the full length and it would have gotten in the way. Also, the other roof panel is barely attached to the sides of the building so I didn't go near it. Then, I let these braces sit an hour to harden.
After that, I flipped it so the other roof panel was flat and then I repeated the process. To finish it off, I dropped in a piece of 3/16" diameter tubing along the roof peak seam. Anything round serves as a "universal adapter" brace and it rolled right into the crack where it belonged. For additional strength, I added some more braces from styrene tying the roof ones together so that everything was now one, solid unit.
Naturally, if I was adding a visible interior I would have approached it entirely different, but I wasn't... so I didn't. As it was, I decided to add an office in one corner visible through the windows so I hacked away part of what I added in one area.
I set it on the layout to confirm that I liked its size. I did, and there was lots of around it for ancillary structures or scenery. It didn't feel cramped in the area.
Moving on to the roof, I used Plastruct #91512. I ordered two packages even though based on the square inches I needed one should have been sufficient. It was glued down one edge at a time, though access holes weren't drilled through the roof. The pitch of the roof combined with the underside grooves in the corrugations allowed the MEK to flow down and secure it all over.
I trimmed the edge of each piece in the package to square it up and also allow each piece to mate up with the adjoining one and maintain the consistent spacing of the corrugations. But this is why you buy two packages of material: I could either cut/paste the remainder to cover the last section OR open up a new package to cover it without unnecessary gaps. I broke open the second package. Naturally, my extra supply now has a lot in it for the next project.
Even still, I wasn't paying enough attention and ended up with a slightly visible joint along one area. Note that the material on the right looks from the second package looks like the stuff on the left but it is a different color and felt like a different density too. It is as if it was manufacturered on a different day.
I used styrene strips and L-angles to frame up all the doorways.
To prevent any light leaks from the inside interior lights, I spray painted everything on the inside with black paint. I did it outside, I wore gloves, and I hope I got it all. The exterior is being painted too and combined that should do the job.
One rule about scratchbuilding is that you should figure out and acquire the window castings you plan to use before you cut the openings for them. I couldn't find suitable castings so I knew I would build my own, but since there were only three it seemed a pretty simple proposition. Accurately measuring the openings for the windows took three attempts though. First, I tried tracing the openings but the corrugations gave me false borders. Then, I set clear styrene over them and marked the corners, and connected them with lines. This worked well, but the stryene I used to frame the windows wasn't correct. By my third attempt, I got it right.
I built them on some 0.005" thick clear styrene. Once everything cured, I cut away the clear styrene leaving perfect (ahem) castings. I then glued in vertical posts. Once I had them done, I test fit each into the building and made slight adjustments with a file to the window openings until they perfectly slipped in.
With the assurance that my windows would (should?) fit fine into the walls, I could finally proceed to painting. I gave the building a bath in soapy water and let it dry for a day. Then, I sprayed everything with flat white and let it dry for a week.
I recently took a road trip and during the course of driving 500 miles I observed every corrugated steel building I could find. And I realized that they are not all the same. Sometimes everything was painted in one color, and sometimes the doors and corner trim are painted white or lighter contrasting colors. Sometimes the lower portion of the walls are sprayed a lighter color for contrast, but usually there aren't. Sometimes there are vertical bracing or trim pieces at the corner and in the middle and sometimes there aren't any. For my building, I had carte blanche to do whatever I wanted and have it be prototypical... somewhere.
So, I first masked all the doors with blue tape (to keep their white primer pristine) and then sprayed the body with Valspar Hunter Green (#84211), which was a nice dark green. It took several coats as the corrugations left some areas hidden. The 90+ degree heat outside helped it dry fast, but then I removed the masking tape and let it sit for a week in my basement to fully cure.
I noticed a week later that Walthers sells an HO scale Fertilzer Distributer kit with a similar building painted in a similar color! I swear I hadn't seen it when I built my model.
The remaining white primer paint wasn't perfect, but it did help. Then, I did a lot of masking with a lot of blue tape so that only the doors were visible and I sprayed them flat white. The coverage, even over the preexisting white, wasn't perfect around the door frames. Rather then risk spraying too much white and having it bleed under the paint onto the hunter green I called it good enough. Weathering will take care of any inconsistencies in the white. While the flat white paint was out I also sprayed the window castings.
After another full week to let it all dry, I masked the roof and painted it flat white. Then, I superglued in the window frames.
After a week I gave it a spray of flat finish and lightly weathered it with oil paint washes, mostly focusing on the roof. I don't know what it is about these structures but I rarely see them rust. They always look in great shape, and the only weathering that ever occurs is the color sometimes fades over time. I imagine that this company takes pride in their image so I didn't want it to look too neglected.
It came out pretty good, though I may decide to add some additional coloring to the roof. However, looking at lots of online satelite photos showed that many roofs just stay this color and slowly build up dirt on the edges over time.
I used clear styrene for the windows, secured in place with canopy glue. I did each wall at a time so to give the glazing the best chance for staying put. Naturally, superglue would have fogged the windows so I avoided that.
While this all was going on I also built an interior for the corner room that will be visible through the windows. It is nothing more than styrene strips and bits, along with some random castings from my box; some stripwood cut into rectangles to look like cardboard boxes; a pair of commercial 3D castings of chairs I bought on Ebay for a previous project (I don't see myself scratchbuilding chairs anytime soon); and a table made from styrene resting on a piece of 5/8" I-beam laid on its side. The floor is overlaid with an index card spray painted burnt orange to look like 1970s shag carpet! Groovy. It total it took about 45 minutes to assemble.
I later decided to expand the office a bit more and removed another corner brace and added the second room on the left. I then downloaded some tank car diagrams and even a Bob Ross painting to help decorate the insides. These types of details will likely never be seen, but just building them was great fun for me.
I bought several figures for the office but they are barely visible through the windows, so I only glued one in place. She needed a bit of persuasion to stay upright while the glue dried.
Now I just need to finalize on what this industry will actually be.
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