Rustic grocery store model

My inspiration for this model was this photo on Shorpy, a site I really like and look at every day

http://www.shorpy.com/node/15529?size=_original#caption

I did not attempt to model the grocery store exactly as the locale and design does not fit my modeled area of western Pennsylvania, so I just went for something similar.

I started with a plain basswood interior shell and applied 1x10 boards.  After doing one side that way I realized I was consuming my supply of 1x10 wood so I switched to 1x10 strips of card stock.  In each case the boards had a gray base and blotchy white finish in an attempt to simulate peeling paint.  By doing individual boards I was able to get some color variation between the boards.  The roofing is painted and distressed paper strips.  There are no windows on the sides as small businesses such as this needed blank wall space for shelves of goods.  I added plaster stones under the structure rather than the wood on the prototype as in my area the wood would be prone to rotting.

The windows and doors are all commercial products from my scrap drawers.  I added a screen door on the front partially open as it appear the prototype has a screen door.  For the screen I used a fine screen produced some time ago by The Building & Structure company.  The frame of the screen door is paper.

I think this turned out well and will be placed at the edge of the layout in the small town of Elder.

I added a lot of signs on the walls similar to what the prototype had.  I am also adding an outhouse behind the store.  This was an enjoyable project.

There is an upcoming NMRA regional convention near me and my layout will be open for this in a month or so and thus I need to concentrate on touching up scenery in preparation.  That will limit my model building time but perhaps I will just add a few layout photos to this blog.