Completed the elevator and utilities block

After setting aside the Jimmy project I felt the urge to go back to the 30 Squares HQ conversion. The job I had been putting off was finishing the elevator and utilities block. I was getting all wrapped around the axle about dimensions and fit and was avoiding this step over fears of screwing it all up. This was a clear violation of principles 1 and 3 :-)

The first thing was to build the wall that separates the first floor lobby from the truck unloading area in the back.

The two wall pieces are built up from 3 pieces of 0.020" sheet styrene. The middle layer is the door layer, and each door has a window opening so one can see if you're going to crash into someone when you open the door. 

I must admit this is a dumb way to build this wall. I should have cut the entire upside-down-T shape of the separating wall from a single piece of styrene. And if you're considering this project, it's something to keep in mind. I did what I did because I couldn't decide how many tenants the building should service, or what the ground floor plan should logically be. I just made up the design as I went along as my thoughts on the design changed. I will say this though, using styrene is forgiving if this is one's design approach.

Once the layers were dry, the two walls were glued to each side of the elevator column. I know I should use one of those weight and jig sets for setting this up, but I find some improvisation works just fine.

Although, you'll see some nasty gaps between the wall edges and the elevator because my laminates weren't that square. I later filled those with putty. The important thing at this stage is to make sure the bottom of the walls rest completely on the ground surface.

On the flip side I've added rooms to either end of the elevator block. Let's say they're for washrooms and HVAC equipment. Prototype-wise, they are much smaller than the real things would be, so consider them simply as expressions of things that need to be there.

The room walls are cut from single pieces of 0.040" styrene, and the trim is 0.020" x 0.040" strip stock. When I built up the rooms and glued them to the elevator block, I reinforced the inside corners with strips of 0.060" x 0.060" styrene.

Once all the parts were built up I did a significant amount of test fitting inside the building.

I had to do a few adjustments to make sure everything fit properly and the second floor remained level. I don't have photos of all that fiddly work - although you can see some gaps where the elevator block meets the second floor that had to be trimmed out. I'll just note that if I had designed this properly from the get-go I likely wouldn't have needed to spend so much time on this step.

Once all the adjustments were made it was on to painting and final detailing.

The doorknobs and elevator controls are just painted on.

The clock on the lobby-facing side is an item from Heljan's kit #B120, the same kit that donated the crown decorations for the Art Metropole.

The windows in the lobby doors are smears of Weld Bond glue. It dries clear. 

Well, that's that for now. 

The next step is to install this thing, along with the lighting, second floor, railings, and wall details.

And no, there won't be any motivational posters on the walls :-)