(without illustrations)
We have installed the PC WhistleStop Manual, Addendum and Tips lists here for model railroaders and diorama builders. The first part of the manual covers PC WhistleStop. Subsequent sections have plenty of great tips, tricks and techniques for making your miniature scenery realstic. Great for newcomers and old hands!
CLICK HERE! to download a Sampler of PC WhistleStop
On this disk are a selection of buildings, towers, bridges and structures which fit with HO and N scale trains. PC WhistleStop provides you with a complete village for model railroading, dioramas, school projects and wargames. With your computer and a color inkjet printer, you can produce hundreds and thousands of detailed scale buildings.
We invite you to take a closer look at our buildings. There are numerous details. For example, every shop s display window is different inside as well as outside. Many buildings include such small details as signs and wall clocks. The types of building are helpful, too. You can build a small town, village, whistle stop or even part of a city. Houses range from single-family bungalows to apartment buildings to garages and shops. Because you can print as many as you want, it is easy to build entire city neighborhoods in miniature using PC WhistleStop.
The buildings themselves are suitable for both HO and N scale trains. You can enlarge or shrink them, using CorelDraw or a similar drawing program. We chose a size that would fit both, although it is tipped more toward HO. Anyone with moderate skill in computer drawing can change signs and colors, making a virtually unlimited number of edifices.
Note that these buildings are specifically designed to allow a variety of edifices in a limited area. You can pack a village into a pretty small space. This is excellent for small train layouts and school projects where space is a limiting factor. PC WhistleStop gives you buildings which can work together without looking cramped. The variety is enough for most projects, but you can alter these images to create new buildings to suit your needs.
Resize Buildings
Use the Pointer tool in a draw or DTP program to resize buildings. Click once on the building; six boxes will appear. Grab a corner box. Move into the picture for smaller, out for larger. The corner box allows you to resize all parts of the building proportionally. A side or top box will only stretch the building in the desired direction.
Once done, place the pointer in the middle of the page. Move the expanded image on the page so that it fits within a .6" or 5/8" margin around the page. Now you can print. If the image is too large for standard paper, use a heavy legal-sized paper. Remember, when changing paper size, to make all necessary changes in your program s editing screen and in the printer menu. Automatically changing the editing screen does not necessarily change the printer setting!
Brick and Roof Paper
To save money and time, buy colored paper. Brown, green, red and grey are excellent colors. Print them with the roof and brick designs. You will cut them to the appropriate size to use as roofs, brickface, awnings and overhangs. Colored paper is a money and time saving feature. It cuts the use of ink and toner significantly. Also, as it is colored on both sides, you get eaves in the right color. (We use a 24 / 60 earthtoned paper that is stiffer than normal paper.) Brick & Roof files are in PCX format.
* To make brickwork platforms, take a small box 3/8" to 3/4" deep and cover it with brick paper. To make a roof for a platform, cut holes in it. A piece of scrap plastic or a dowel can be used as a pillar. With two pillars and a peaked roof, you have a passenger platform with covered waiting area. Four pillars and a square roof make a fine loading dock or freight platform.
* Roof paper can be used as paneling and brickface for interiors of plastic model kit buildings.
Stairs & Steps
To make steps, use a small square pieces of wood or plastic. Glue them as steps. Steps are found in front of tenements, hotel, and at the side of platforms. If you place a house on a slight rise, there might be a place for steps from the sidewalk level.
Basics
Cut each building free. Place tape on the unprinted inside, as shown. Lay the opposing piece over it, with end touching end. This makes a clean corner. We prefer this method to using tabs. If you need tabs, make them as you cut buildings free. Follow the examples.
To make a roof without using tabs: roll tape into a cylinder and place inside on the eave. Do it on both sides. Lay on the roof and press until roof adheres tightly. If you want, you can cut tabs for roofs.
For a line of buildings the same size, that are tightly packed as in a business district or tenement neighborhood, emplace buildings first. Cut a large roof slab to fit over the group of them. It saves time, it s neat and it preserves the feeling of abutting buildings. If you want, draw a black line on the roof where buildings abut. You can leave an occasional gap between buildings, creating a car port or covered alleyway.
To build steel bridges, cut pieces free. Fold bridge sections over each other. Bend tab inward. Glue concrete supports to bottom of tabs. Paste roadway section to the top of tabs. For added stability, use a piece of cardboard as roadbed. You can cut away the white paper between girders for added realism.
The square girder sections of Steel Bridge #1 from #3 Industrial makes an excellent tower. Cut two girders free. Fold in an L , like any building. Tape the two L pieces together. You can use a piece of cardboard as a base atop the platform to place a watch shack, tank or other item. For added realism, make four girders as you would a bridge and trim away the white spaces. Glue together: three girders in a triangular design or four as a square. They make unique towers for watchtowers, water tanks, signal platforms, etc. You can use girders as a load for a flatcar.
* Make a main street covered sidewalk for the shopping district. Allow the front of the roof of main street shops to overhand 1 to 3 inches. Fold at the roof s edge so that the overhang is level or banked slightly down. Fix a stanchion to each corner.
* For higher tenements, you can add a second or third story. Just tape one building over the other. But first, the top building has to be modified. Go into a draw program and delete the doors of the top story building. Then, trim and fit. You can make three and four story buildings this way.
* For fire escapes, use leftover plastic fences and plastic ladders. Paint them black or olive green and affix to back or sides of tenements.
* To make trash barrels, cut a drinking straw into 1/2" to 3/8" lengths. Paint them grey or steel inside and out. Make fake trash and load on top. Place alongside tenements or workshops.
* To make leader pipe for buildings, use the empty ink tube from an old disposable ballpoint. Paint it and glue it to the side of the building.
* To make a parking lot, get thin white tape and black paper. Lay out tape on the paper to delineate parking spaces. For added realism, include blue handicapped spaces.
* For overhangs and covered walks , extend the roof of building and fold accordingly. Use scrap plastic or thin dowels for stanchions to support overhang.
* For awnings, cut colored paper into appropriate size and fold as shown. Trim away excess and tape to building. Using the same basic method, make an overhang by using a long awning and adding stanchions at each corner.
* To make windows look like glass, there are several tricks. An oil- based gloss can be painted over them. You might want to get self-sticking laminating plastic. Cut each window to size and stick it onto the building.
To make the covered bridge stronger, a piece of invisible tape is stuck to the underside. Wrap each end up to adhere to the sides of the bridge.
Tanks, Silos and Smokestacks
Use the Brickface and Roof templates to approximate the materials from which your structure is made. Print on colored paper, if feasible. Now, cut paper the height of the tank or stack. Roll paper into the diameter you need. Tape together, and you have a tank, smokestack or silo. Use a round disk of paper for the top of a tank. Silos with round tops can be made from caps found on some household and aerosol products. The dome-shaped caps can be painted silver. Otherwise, cut a disk of roof paper and cut out a small wedge. Now, tape the ends of the wedged section together, This gives a slight conical shape.
For smokestacks: make a disk of roof paper the diameter of the top of the stack. Cut out the inside to make a thin ring. Glue this atop the smokestack. It gives a feeling of thickness to the stack.
Take a long ladder and affix it to the side of smokestacks and tanks for added realism.
Tower tanks usually have a walkway around them. To simulate this, use paper the same color as the tower girders. Cut a disk whose diameter is 1/2" larger than that of the tank. When the tank is centered on the paper, you have a 1/4" catwalk. Use fence or scrap plastic to make a railing around the walkway. The fence will be open 1/4" to 1/2" where the ladder connects to the walkway.
Platforms
Several #3 Industrial buildings have platforms. These go along the wall with the door that s too high off the ground - naturally. On one side goes the ramp. You can cut the door open or leave it shut. A few small boxes on the platform adds a touch of realistic detail!
Lackawanna Platform
* Take a small box, about 4" to 6" long, 3" to 5" wide and 3/8" to 5/8" high. Cover it with wood- pattern roof paper or brick pattern paper. Make a simple ramp of card. In the center, cut two holes. Use plastic scrap or dowels for the outdoor roof support. A piece of green roof paper folded lengthwise makes an excellent platform roof. To finish, put benches under the roof..
Building Switches
All of our buildings can be used for multiple purposes. Here are a few of them:
Lackawanna Station: By changing signs, this building can be a post office, rural bus stop or way station, cafe / restaurant, or a church. You can make a steeple from cardstock. With a Draw program, you can use the Fill tool to change the building's color. This works nicely, because it won t wipe out windows, doors or other basic features.
Police Station: we made a tenement and a hotel from our original police station. It can also become an office building, doctor s professional building, small hospital or municipal building. For a hospital, build a small carport on the side. Using a draw program, duplicate the door. Place the doors together to make a double door. Over them, make a small Emergency Entrance sign.
Garage: cut out a doorway on the panel opposite the entrance. Mount on a cardstock bridge and place it in the background. The garage can be shortened and used as a woodshed or shanty.
Lackawanna Platform: Place beside the truck house. Use it for a loading dock for a freight hauling company. Instead of placing the Station roof, build an awning from the side of the truck house to cover part of the platform.
Truck House: Build a double truck house from two buildings to make a large firehouse. Remove the sign. Make one large sign that says Fire Dept . Over each door, have a smaller sign. One might read Engine #11" for a pumper truck, and the other Ladder #14" for a hook-and-ladder.
Bungalow: shorten the bungalow lengthwise. It can be used for a guard shack or shanty. You can elongate the side of the house for a longer house. Duplicate a window to fill in space on the longer sides.
Public Works: In one yard, gather the Lackawanna Platform, truck house and roadside shop. The shop becomes the main office; the truck house is the maintenance shed. Place a fence around the area. A guard shack at the gate helps, too!
Freight station: build a second platform, and place a truck house on it . Build Lackawanna Platform, but make a wider roof. The two platforms together make a good freight station. Beside the small ramp, place a roadside shop. Change the sign to read Dispatcher along with the name of the railroad.
A Step Further
The purpose of PC WhistleStop is to provide a variety of attractive trackside buildings without the unattractive expense of model kits. As you have probably already seen, our buildings look as good as a model kit. We did our homework! If you want your diorama of layout to look more realistic, you can use a few standard model railroad pieces without spending a lot of money.
People: unpainted sets of trackside people are relatively inexpensive. They aren t hard to paint, despite their small size. Unpainted sets generally give you more than 30 figures; painted sets only give a very expensive handful and a small variety.
Street items: most places sell unpainted sets that include a few telephone poles, light poles, mail boxes, park benches and fireplugs. Buy unpainted. They are really easy to paint. You usually don t have much painting to do because many items are cast in colored plastic.
Vehicles: small size cars can be gotten in most toy stores. Some sell large collections at low prices. You don t need the fancier, more expensive tiny cars the kids want. This is scenery, not Let s play Daytona! Big kits in plastic or metal generally include a police car, fire truck, work trucks and an assortment of vehicles. Plastic cars can easily be painted; you can glue signs to the side of trucks.
Truck Houses: place the vehicle just inside the door, or have it coming out the door halfway. If you use more than one garage in your diorama, don t place trucks all the same. Have one inside, one outside, and one halfway.
Park benches: place benches on Lackawanna Platform under the awning, against the Hotel and Police Station, and at any bus depot or other transit point. There are usually benches outside a hospital. Put a couple of seated people on them.
Fireplugs: place one on the back end of the Lackawanna Platform. Fireplugs are often found in maintenance yards and at stations.
Mailboxes: Of course, one goes outside the post office! Put one on the Platform or beside the Lackawanna Station.
Lightpoles: Place on the Platform, in maintenance yards, and in front of the Police Station, Hospital and Truck House.
Signals: Most model railroading shops sell sets of non-functional railroad signs and signals. They don t do anything, but they look good. Place near crossings and along the main line. Use appropriately, but don t overdo it.
Lichen: lichen is sold in hobby shops to be used as bushes, hedges, treetops, etc. A box of mixed lichen can have many uses.
Power Tricks for Added Effects
Here are a few little tricks to give your diorama or layout added appeal. Try them, and see what they do for you!
Association: we associate certain things with certain professions and activities. By using this mental habit, it is possible to add life to a scene. The concept of association is simple, but it packs a lot of power.
Hospital: have the ambulance at the Emergency entrance. Place two or three people painted with white clothing near the entrance. We associate white outfits with hospitals. By placing the right people there in the right colored clothes, you put a slice of life in your layout. Note that the folks going in and out the front entrance normally wear regular clothing.
Police station: there is usually a police car or two outside the station, and a couple of officers hanging around by the entrance. Police stations are rarely scenes of frenetic activity.
Fire House: firemen use their spare time maintaining equipment. Have figures painted in blue uniforms polishing the truck or lining up fire hoses outside the building.
Lackawanna Platform: except in one-horse towns which get two trains a day, there s usually a schedule of trains heading for several destinations. Some folks are waiting for a later train, and some are rushing for the train that s due in three minutes. Have a mix of seated persons, standing figures, and people walking to an from the platform. Place some boxes on the platform at one end, and if possible, include a man with a hand truck. Don t forget a trash barrel on the platform!
Post Office: most folks headed in and out are customers. You can have one postman headed out of the building. Have a post office vehicle parked by the back door.
Bungalows: you can buy plastic fences at a hobby shop. Fence in the yards. For added life, have a postman making his rounds. A man pushing a lawnmower also adds to the picture. You can make the lawnmower from scrap plastic.
Truck yards: Have a tractor trailer or two backed up to the loading dock. Have a couple of trailers without tractors backed up, too. Park one tractor on the side. Cut a square of dark paper and paste it to a figure to look like a clipboard. He should be on the loading dock beside an open trailer. Add hand trucks and a forklift for added effect, plus boxes, crates and barrels.
Restaurant: A common sight is the cook and waiter taking a smoke break in back. You can also place a busboy in back emptying trash into a barrel or dumpster.
Boat shop: wouldn t it look nice to have a pickup pulling a boat on a trailer parked outside this shop?
Army base: military vehicles are always parked properly. Have a couple of soldiers walking about. To camouflage them, paint their uniforms green, and then add tiny splotches of brown and tan. The man in the guardshack can wear dress uniform.
Business street: along the street, there will be various people carrying packages. A woman with a stroller is a common sight. Normally, when there are several shops, at least one will be receiving a delivery. Behind the fish store, there will usually be cats waiting for scraps.
Railside Diner: among vehicles parked outside the diner, include a police car and a utility truck. Diners attract working folks, and those with the best food attract local police and truckers. Make your diner look like a working Joe s place.
Momo s Pizza: a couple of tables outside, cafe style, add to the effect. If you make beach umbrellas for the tables, make then red, white and green for a pizzeria.
Joe Garage: along with gas pumps, make a simple air pump. Leave some tires lying alongside the building, and perhaps a battery or two. Park a tow truck alongside the building. Don't forget to leave a gas can or two around.
Painting People
There are a few quick tricks to painting people for trackside scenes. When painting HO or N figures, detail is difficulty for all but the very experienced. For layouts, you don t have to make each one a masterpiece. Here are a few tricks of the trade:
Colors: the pros have learned that when painting people, flat colors are best. You can find sets of flat paints that have a good, basic inventory of colors. We used to use military flats by Testors. The set included desert tan, which made for a good flesh tone. People do not dress in the same colors one might use for model cars. There are a lot of dark and subdued colors, such as dark brown, dark green, olive green and dark blue. The blues are useful for anything from uniforms to blue jeans and coveralls.
The technique: take each figure and paint the basic color. Figure it like this: what does a person put on first? Jeans come before overcoats, so paint the jeans color first. Let the figure dry, and then come back and paint the overcoat a dark brown. After the clothes, paint exposed skin: hands and heads. When the head dries, a spot of paint on top of the head and running toward the back serves as hair. Even if the figure wears a hat, some hair is usually exposed. When the hair dries, paint the hat, shoes, and any special equipment like mailbags or backpacks.
You don t have to paint belts. They are too small and usually aren t noticed. unless you have real skill, leave it alone! A mess is worse than no belt!
To finish, add any special extras. A drop of gold or yellow is a badge for the policeman; a dip of silver or light grey is the symbol on the conductor s hat. Just make a quick dab with a toothpick to apply these specials. Don t paint buttons! They are too small and would not be noticed.
Uniforms: there are several basic uniform colors in the US. For figures working in any of these fields, begin by painting them the uniform color.
Uniforms:
Dark blue: police, railroad conductors and porters, firemen, auto mechanics.
Dark green: maintenance men, landscapers
Grey: postmen, crossing guards
Brown: sanitation men, track gangs, delivery men
White: hospital personnel, cooks
Camouflage: Army and Marine personnel
Shoe colors:
Black: police, railroad conductors & porters, firemen, postmen, crossing guards, cooks, delivery men, military personnel
Brown: Maintenance, mechanics, outdoor workers.
White: hospital personnel
Special hats and headgear (usually headgear is the same color as the uniform. These are a few exceptions):
Military helmets: camouflage or olive green
Construction helmets: red, orange or yellow
Motorcycle and mounted police helmets: white or pale blue, with black brim
Bikers: bikers mainly wear black, red, blue or white helmets
Railroad porters: red caps with black brim
Firemen: older helmets were black; modern helmets are yellow. The chief wears a white helmet.
For uniformed figures, paint the entire figure in the uniform color and let dry. Later, come back and paint the shoes the appropriate color. Paint hands and head. When head dries, paint a splotch of hair on back. Later, come back and paint headgear the uniform color.
Street clothes: if you watch people, you ll notice that very, very few wear bright colored pants. White pants are only used by medical personnel and cooks. Many wear blue jeans, which can be painted in a pale or dark blue.
The jackets worn in Fall and Spring are usually simple colors. Bright colors are rare. Jackets are normally subdued darks and lights, but not brights. The same goes for shirts and blouses. White shirts and blouses appear from time to time, but most people wear other colors.
Overcoats, raincoats and winter clothes are normally subdued earth tones.
People color: one rarely sees a town where people are all the same color. Even in towns which are predominantly one ethnic group or race, you still see other groups. Reflect this in the figurines you paint. A little diversity goes a long way toward realism.
For Whites, use fleshtone. Vary hair color. Half will have brown hair. The rest will be blond (yellow), red (orange) or raven (black) haired. Use brown with black hair for African Americans. For Asians, use fleshtone with black hair. You only need a little diversity for realism.
Animals
There are tricks for painting livestock and other animals. It doesn t take much to impart some heavy- duty realism here!
Black parts: almost all animals have black hooves and black noses. There are exceptions. Horse, pig, and cat noses are not black. Dogs, cats, rabbits and ruminants don t have hooves. Most animals have dark brown or black eyes. For general animal painting, the black hoof / black snoot is convenient, with exceptions noted above.
Horse white: Most horses are shades of brown, a few being pure black or pure white, and a small scattering of palominos blonde and pintos spotted. Except for white, black and palomino horses, you can paint their manes and tales either the body color or black. And with the same exceptions, a simple trick to make a horse look realistic involves putting a dab of white paint between the eyes and running toward the nose. Many horses have this star.
Piggie pink: most pigs are white, with a few black and a few spotted. White pigs are actually a very dull grey, because they re filthy. The snout is always pink.
Cow spots: Cows are generally spotted black and white, with a few all- black or all-white, and a few browns and brown spotted.
A pen can be made of plastic fence. Hogs are always penned. Livestock pens are common at trackside in places where there s a cattle trade. The inside of any animal pen is usually pure dirt. No vegetation grows there. Pens are normally free of rocks. Remember to add gates or ramps as needed.
Make an Army Base
Army buildings are generally painted white with green trim. They are usually arranged in order. To turn these buildings into an Army base, the key word is uniformity. Add a few military vehicles, such as ROCO Minitanks or other HO Scale vehicles. If you re doing the current military, remember that vehicles are painted in camouflage patterns and that the US no longer uses the jeep. For earlier eras, say from 1950 to 1985, jeeps will be prevalent.
Prior to 1980, most military vehicles were painted a standard OD green. Only a few were camouflaged. Soldiers wore olive drab fatigues.
An Army camp is not a gun-o-rama show. Most guns are out of sight in arms rooms. The only appearance of firearms might be a soldier on guard duty. In a peacetime setting, very few soldiers will wear helmets. The fatigue cap is the headgear of choice.
Military installations are characterized by order and neatness. Keep that in mind if you add an Army depot to your layout.
Flora: Plants and Shrubs
In designing your layout, you have to consider two kinds of plant life: wild and landscaped. Plants make a difference. The nice thing about lichen is that it gives you all kinds of plants at a low cost.
Hotel Hoboken: if this is supposed to be a good hotel, a small hedge or tree outside can help.
Trees: get a twig and place lichen on it. This is an inexpensive tree. Make a base of cardboard, paint it, and don t forget to paint the tree s roots on there!
Hedges: Instead of a fence, make a hedge of lichen around one or more houses.
Church: churches normally have some kind of plant, hedge or bushes planted outside.
For Advanced Modelers
Experienced model builders won t want to give up plastic kits. They don t have to. With PC WhistleStop, they can use computer technology to enhance their train layouts.
Backdrops and skylines: for way back on your layout, you can make a facade of building fronts using PC WhistleStop. Just print normally and cut the facades free, then paste them where you need them.
Interiors: By trimming, you can use PC WhistleStop walls to make interior walls, woodwork, etc. It s like having scale wood paneling and brickface.
Scenics: In places where space is at a premium, you can cut the plate glass windows from these buildings and insert them behind open windows.
Filler: until you find the plastic kit you need, use a PC WhistleStop edifice to fill that space on your layout. Nobody need know that it s a printed paper house!
Power Draw Techniques
Our buildings open in CorelDraw somewhere between HO and N. Use your computer program to resize buildings to a new size. Click on the image, and six boxes will appear around it. Take a corner box and drag it, so that the entire building is structures accordingly. Push into the image to make it smaller, and pull out to make it bigger.
If you know how to use a Draw program, you can Ungroup each image. Select a door by scoring around it with the pointer tool. Six boxes will appear. You can enlarge or shrink the door to suit whichever scale your prefer.
Don t like the building s color? In CorelDraw, after Ungrouping everything, select the wall panels. Click each in sequence as you hold down the Shift key. Then, open the Fill tool. Go into the ... Menu. Click on the dotted image, and other designs will appear. Choose from the brick or line patterns. Click twice. Now, you will see the new pattern. To the right are the colors. Select Back for a new overall color. Exit, and your building will be the new pattern and color.
Don t like our signs? Ungroup, and then remove them. Or remove the lettering and place new lettering of your own, using Artistic Text. Choose a fill color. Using the Pen tool icon, choose an outline color for your new sign.
We offer a full range of trackside figures, animals, street scene items, park items, signs, non-operational signals and other goodies to enhance the PC WhistleStop! structures. The enclosed catalog will tell you what we have so you can add the finishing touches to your scenery.
Published by
T. Sheil
PO Box 080437
Staten Island, NY 10308-0005
Copyright 1996 T. Sheil & A. Sheil All Rights Reserved
For #5 Seaside
This manual is to supplement the regular PC WhistleStop! documentation.
Our Seaside collection is based in structures found on Staten Island's South & Midland Beach area, the Jersey Shore (Belmar, Avon-by- the-Sea, Spring Lake & Bradley Beach) and Long Island. We have done our best to faithfully reproduce the kind of structures found in seaside regions. Our #4 Module will provide you with an attractive shore scene, complete with bungalows, motels, concessions and boardwalk. We have also given instructions for a marina and fishing pier.
The accuracy of this set has a lot to do with the designer s own seaside experiences. He saw the summer fun, and also had business down the shore in the off season. Having learned the peculiarities of seaside life and business, he has brought together this unique assortment of shore structures. You will notice the pastel-colored buildings, for instance. It s all part of that strange anomaly called the Shore, be that the old Staten Island s Midland Beach, the Jersey Shore, Long Island or old (pre-Casino) Atlantic City.
Motels: there are two ways to make them. For a single story motel, use the front panel with doorways and the back panel attached to a sloped roof. We suggest overhanging the roof to make a covered walkway (see manual). Make two or more peak roofed motels and place them together in an L formation. The office can be the lead building.
For two-story motels, cut the angled panel off the front panel and replace it with the loose level panel. For the back, use the back panel with level side panel. Make a plain roof and overhang one to two inches. Now, make the second story using front and back panels with angled side panels. Overhang the roof 1/8 to 1/4 inch more than the overhang of the first floor.
Add stanchions. The top floor stanchions should be a continuation of the first floor. This leaves a 1/8 inch overhang. This method provides a walkway on the second tier. A simple guardrail can be made by using thick thread tied tightly between stanchions and then painted. You can also use plastic scrap or the MPC brand black iron fencing, trimmed to waist height.
Make a stairway at the end of the upper walkway. You can also make the L shape, but you may have to add a piece if there s a gap between upper walkways. This kind of two-story motel was common in Asbury Park and surrounding towns as far south as Belmar.
Lean-tos: cut as shown. Fold the outermost panel inward on both sides. Fold the central upside down panel down. Now fold the outside panels normally. This gives you a stand with an interior. One interior has t-shirts and other seaside gifts; the other has a cooler with soda bottles. As most workers in these places are marginally uniformed, they might wear a shirt and cap of the same colors.
Ice Cream Stall: on the front, cut the three sides with the solid line. Pull out, folding sharply on the dotted line. This makes a handy counter top. Inside, have a figure in white attire placed as close to the open window as possible.
Counter: the counters can be folded as shown and placed just inside the opening of the lean-tos.
Tables: fold the legs once, and then pry out the front sections along dotted line. This makes a simple tripod. Glue or tape tabletop. For added effect, stick small dowel, thick wire or toothpick through center of the tabletop. Place an umbrella head on top. These snack tables go well around the snack bar and ice cream parlor. They also go well around the pool and at the motel.
* If you use miniature street items, don t forget to put a trashcan beside the snack bar and ice cream parlor. And have a mailbox near the gift shop.
Boardwalk: Tape each wood panel section to the next. Fold legs and place underneath. Use the end panel at the end of the boardwalk.
* For a better effect, use dark stained wood dowels in place of paper legs on boardwalk and piers.
Marina: Use boardwalk panels for the main pier. From it, have at least one side pier on right and left. Use the thinner panels. The smaller sub-piers are floating panels; the main pier is usually supported by legs. Use dowels under the main pier.
* Shops that cater to model boat builders sell the various items to which a boat will tie up. These can add a touch of realism to your pier.
Fishing scene: Use boardwalk panels for pier. When you use dowels, have the two on the far end of the boardwalk protrude through it about 1/4 inch. These protruding ends should be weathered. Prior to staining the wood, file the ends so that they are rounded and smooth. Add a few notches, etc. Next to this pier, have a floating pier piece running parallel. A small piece of ladder should be fastened to the main pier alongside the floater. Some piers have floaters on one or both sides, running the length of the pier. A life preserver can be tied to the side of the main pier or two one of the protruding posts.
* Have a bundle of netting at the fishing shack. You can make fishing floats by using small green or blue glass beads. Fishing floats in real life range from the size of a softball to that of a basketball. Most are covered with thin netting. Other tools include boat-hooks, nets on poles, various hooks and gaffs, rope and a few chains. There are always two or three rowboats. For added effect, have a rotting, falling-apart rowboat among the items. If you re doing New England, make a couple of lobster traps to leave alongside the shacks.
Lighthouses: have these on shoreside or on a shoal. You can cover the window part with colored cellophane to get a window effect. A bungalow alongside the lighthouse can be the lightkeeper s house. Have a freshly- painted rowboat alongside, too!
Lifeguard s chair: make legs of dowels or thin plastic. The lifeguard chair ought to be twice the height of a figure.
Protected swimming: use small beads, and paint them red on one half and white on the other. String them an inch or so apart on tan thread. There is usually a pile of this by the lifeguard s chair or shack. Likewise, these are floating in the ocean to demark a protected swimming area. They are tied to stakes on top of the beach. The demarked area is always rectangular.
* Sharks! Have a fin protruding above the water. The lifeguard will be standing on his chair, in an action pose, and people will be running away from the water. Have a couple of figures picking up children as they run. Mothers and fathers instinctively grab the kids when fleeing danger. Others will stand well away from water, staring at the shark. (I ve seen this actually happen a few times!)
* Beached goods. Anything from a weird boat to a torpedo to a whale. People stand around in a small crowd gaping at whatever cute thing washed up. Usually, there are some kind of experts actually working on the thing. If it s a whale, the Federal parks people are usually involved. For a torpedo, it s cops and the bomb squad. For a boat, it s the coast guard or the cops. Note that folks will be kept well away from a torpedo or mine, and police will erect some kind of barricade.
* Naughty! Fishermen are likely to be found under bridges, but what s under the boardwalk? Of course, there are the hoboes and beach bums who pursue their libations and make their homes there. Then there are the amorous couples under the boardwalk. Those with a risque sense of humor might consider the options.
* Dive! When divers operate, they use a float that displays the diving flag. This little item is always present with divers.
* Jetty. A jetty can be made of gravel. The top is normally flat, and is the abode of surf-casting fishermen.
* What about fishermen? Fishing is more than a rod and a reel. You need a tackle box, a bucket for the catch and a cooler for beer or soda. Fishermen usually come in teams: husband and wife team, family team, guys from the lodge, etc. While two or three are fishing, one is sitting it out and another is poking into a cooler or tackle box.
* Miniature golf. The most popular golf at the shore. Most players are families and couples. Easy to make: just place out fairway cutouts on green paper and enclosed the area with plastic fence. There will be an admission booth with golf clubs. Miniature golf targets can be made from miniatures and toys. There s always a small windmill. Use your imagination here. Lights are strung over the course because folks play well into the night.
* Lounge chairs. Make a frame of thick wire in a rectangular shape. Bend to be a chair or chaise lounge. Glue a strip of paper for the actual seat. Make legs of wire or scrap plastic. These are popular at poolside, at the motel and high up on the beach. There are always a few people on chaise lounges working on getting a tan. Have a cooler or kit bag alongside.
* Barbecue: have lounge chairs and umbrella tables around. Cut a drinking straw into a 1/2" length. Now split it lengthwise. A crescent- shaped piece of paper on each end makes a half-drum. Paint it black. Mount on legs. For coals, use fine gravel painted red. The grill can be made from scrap plastic. Cut out burgers from light brown paper, hot dogs and steaks from red paper. One fellow invariably tends the barbecue. Have one table nearby with stacks of plates, burger buns, etc.
* Paper plates: the disks created by a simple hole-puncher for looseleaf paper will make great paper plates! They can also be painted to use as hubcaps, trash can lids, hat brims, etc.
* Yes, hat brims for beach hats. Just poke a hole in the center and put on a figurine s head. Paint it straw color, and voila! Instant sun hat!
* People are more prone to use bicycles and skateboards at the shore. Have a bike rack near the boardwalk. Make it from scrap plastic.
* Color me seaside. At the shore, people wear brighter colors than at home. There will be fewer dull colors - a direct contrast to everyday life in town or city.
* Mini-Community. Most layouts and dioramas have space limitations. To catch the flavor of the seaside accurately under these conditions, try our 3-block plan. At the edge is the beach, complete with boardwalk. A two-lane street runs parallel to the boardwalk. Across that street are the motels and bungalows and seaside-type shops. That s the first block. The second parallel street has the regular main street shops, like our Town & City collection. It also has the homes of permanent residents. The next block is the train station, and around it will be roadside shops and a parking lot. By combining Seaside with Town & City, you can make a good representation of a shore town. Across the track would be a couple of light industrial buildings, such as a loading dock or two and maybe a small warehouse. Keep in mind that although shops are town, folks are still at the shore and will dress accordingly. No dull clothes here! Everything serves the shore.
* Most seaside businesses do all their sales between May and mid- October. They rely on the seasonal guests. When the season ends, most close for the remainder of the year. The concession stands and sea-sport shops would close in Autumn, as would one of the motels and perhaps half the bungalows. That means windows are boarded up with sheets of white plywood, and notices such as Will reopen May 1st or Closed for the Winter. From Autumn to Spring, local dress in dull everyday work clothes colors. Bright clothes are only for summer.
Stanchions & Foldovers
The Pier stanchions of Seaside, the Platform pilings of Industrial and the Modular Fort Wall of Wild West have a unique feature to allow a 3D effect. Cut stanchion or wall loose, and fold as shown on the actual printout. Fold so that uncolored sides are abutting and glue securely. This gives you a 3D piece printed on both sides with the additional strength of having a double thickness. For more strength, fold over a piece of thin plastic or cardstock.
Roadside & Seaside Stands
For stalls included in Farm Country and SeaSide sets. Fold the outside pieces (marked with letters on the printouts) over the adjoining section, uncolored sides facing and colored sides visible. Fold the extended panel down over the uncolored side. Glue securely. This leaves a center panel and two side panels. Fold side panels forward, making a squared U . Place a roof on top, and you have a roadside stand with full interior. Fill interior with miniature goods, a counter and a counterman. This same procedure is also used on the fishing shacks in SeaSide
The Industrial set is a miniaturized version of trucking depots, loading docks, old factories and other buildings found around most Northeastern cities. They make great trackside accessories! There are some twists to the Industrial collection which you don't find in the others. Here s the deal:
On girder bridges, fold the steel parts so that colored parts show on both sides. Glue securely, then trim away that white between the girders. This makes a more realistic bridge. Use a sheet of grey or black paper for roadbed; past tabs underneath roadbed. On the bridge with concrete supports: glue supports under roadbed.
Factories have a small porch roof for the extended sides. Overhand one or both to build a lean-to covered area or even a covered loading dock on the side.
The module pier / platforms work just like the boardwalk sections of SeaSide. Use them to build extra platforms.
Wild West Addendum
We based the town on a lot of things. You can enjoy a LOT of variety, and can customize for all sorts of variations on the Western theme. It is possible for a creative person to build entire towns, ranches, cavalry forts, mining camps, etc. Wild West boom Town has a few twists of its own. Among them:
You can cut the Fort s wall panels into inch-wide laths. Use these to make the wooden sidewalks of the town. They can also be used for awnings.
Using techniques described in our basic manual, add awnings and covered walkways. It is usually best to use the method of gluing the awning to the face of the building, just below the signs.
For the Hotel, use plastic picket fence for a railing around the two lower roofs. Have one overhang from the main roof that covers the lower roof; a second overhand starts at the base of the railing and hangs over the front entrance.
To build the fort, fold wall panels over one another, colored side out. Fold the first, securing the tab end. When you make the second panel, fold it over the tab of the first. Continue until a whole wall is done, finishing by inserting the last tab into the first wall segment. You can build the fort as long as you want. If you must trim a wall section, trim from the untabbed end. Use added section as the walkway inside the wall.
The gate section can be trimmed with gates opened or closed.
For Western scenes, use rustic fencing to make corrals, hitching posts, etc. You can make very good street items (watering troughs, etc.) using standard model railroad scenery. Add ladder as you wish.
We are very happy to bring you this information . It is our sincere hope that your trackside scenery and dioramas will have the kind of accuracy you desire. To that end, we continue to develop PC WhistleStop! .
Farm & Country
Pay Phones: many roadside stores and rural depots have a pay phone on the outside wall. They are also popular places for mailboxes. If you make a scene with someone using the pay phone, remeber to have his vehicle parked nearby. In rural areas, pay phones may also be attached to telephone poles.
White Farm: use green roofs for these buildings.
Horse Stable Farm: Use red or brown roofs. Make a corral from fences. When making the Stable Roof, let it overhang 1" to 2". Fold the overhand so that it paralells the ground. On both ends and in the middle, place a stanchion. You can make it from scrap plastic or small dowels.
Bus Depot: a couple of benches alongside the building work well. So does having a soda machine and newspaper vending machine outside. If one side of the building is a waiting area, make an awning.
Sheriff: Rural police departments use sedans and four-wheel-drive vehicles. It might pay to have an ATV parked outside the building. Most county and many rural police wear uniforms in colors other than blue. Try for brown, grey or green uniforms. Rural police favor wide-brimmed hats and baseball type caps.
General store: have a small newspaper vending machine outside the door. Deliveries to rural stores are usually made by large vans rather than full- scale trucks.
Country Church: most country churches have a cemetary in front or adjacent. These are fenced in with wrought-iron fences. Country churches usually have a small meeting hall in a separate building.
Clambakes and festivals: festival gatherings are common in rural areas. There is usually a long canopy tent where food is prepared and served, and numerous picnic or folding tables lined up together. These events are usually packed. Some folks will be seated at tables, others on the chow line, and still others playing games. Include a small band.
Flea markets: outdoor markets and fairs are common. They are well- attended, so have plenty of figures and plenty of cars in the parking lot.
Trailer parks: no paved roads here! Expect dirt or gravel. Long-term trailer dwellers erect porches, overhangs and awnings. The area around their trailer is home, so expect potted plants, maybe a small garden or a sandbox for the kids. In rural areas, it is not uncommon for a solitary trailer to serve as a home on a five-acre spread.
Industrial & Railroad
Slob zones: Industrial areas are hardly paragons of cleanliness. Old debris can be scattered about alongside buildings. A few full trashcans along the wall adds to the effect.
Roach coach: lunch wagons are a staple of factory work. For added realism, have a roach coach outside a factory, and a line of people. Include a few figures walking away from the roach coach, at intervals. They would be carrying bags of food, containers of coffee, etc. No more than two people will be walking away together. Remember, it takes time to serve each customer, which accounts for the intervals.
Ye olde clipboard: on every loading dock and platform, there s the fellow with the clipboard. You can make a clipboard with a sliver of brown paper or plastic. Paste a small piece of white paper on this, and paint on a thin line of silver where the clip would be. The clipboard man adds realism to loading docks and industrial sites.
Skid rows: in older towns and cities, the industrial area is on the outskirts of town. Workers are only there during business hours. The full-time residents are skid-row types found hanging around under trestles and in empty lots. In cold weather, they huddle around a burning trash barrel. These individuals usually have a hangout where they are found in numbers. Note that skid row types aren t tolerated in rail yards. They stay away because they are well aware of the railroad police.
No grass grows: industrial sites are normally covered in raw dirt, asphalt or trash. There may be an occasional weed or brown bush, but nothing green. Grass and trees don t fare well around truck yards, factories and maintenance yards.
Dirt: the color of dirt in an Industrial area varies from gravel grey to dull brown to oily black. You won t find light-tan sand or clean dirt. In truck and maintenance yards, the ground will be oily. In railroad yards, grey gravel will be found around the tracks and outer perimeters. In the busy part of the yard, gravel will be oil-soaked.
Standardization: railroads tend to paint all of their structures in the same scheme, much as the Army used to paint everything Olive Drab. A repetitive paint scheme is realistic for all railroad property, from trucks and cars to buildings and tool boxes. Most large corporations use standardized paint schemes, too.
Shanty office: at construction sites and in many rail yards, an old house trailer serves as the foreman s office. There is a crude wooden porch, and some old junk laying about. Normally, a crude sign reading Office or foreman is tacked to the door. Railyards have been known to recycle old cabooses as offices. The trucks are removed and the caboose is taken off the tracks.
Shoreside
Colors: shoreside buildings are usually painted in white or pastel shades. Pink was a favorite. Bungaloes, Victorian houses and boardwalk concessions are rarely painted in primary or dark colors.
Travel: in Summer, bicycles are more in evidence at the shore than anywhere else. Though many cars are present, it helps to add more cyclists for realism.
Uniforms? Beachgoers invariably wear swimsuits, while fishermen wear street clothes. One rarely sees fishermen in swimsuits. At the shore, each activity has its own unofficial uniform.
Goof: or golf? Miniature golf used to be a big thing down the shore. To make such a course, use your imagination. It will really add flavor to a seaside scene.
T. Sheil / Trollwise
PO Box 080437
Staten Island, NY 10308-0005
Copyright 1996 T. Sheil & A. Sheil All Rights Reserved