Ma's Place was the 4th E. L. Moore project to be made into a kit by AHM. I had built 2 Ma's Place kits, and a Billy's Auto Body derivative, a long time ago, and was curious to see how the plastic version compared to the original.
Detail-wise, I didn't build mine completely box-stock. I got rid of the base, added wider front steps, changed the signage, put in lots of support blocks, and added a crooked metal chimney. However, I didn't change the basic size and shape of the building. Overall, the kit is pretty close to the original, as it should be. And the original seems to have survived the years pretty well - all that's missing is the backdoor. The model was finished on 1 October 1965, Mr. Moore submitted a manuscript describing its construction to Railroad Model Craftsman on 11 September 1966, and it was published in the January 1967 issue. I must admit the kit's window frame moldings look a little chunky. Even though the original uses the old method of inking on the window mullions, they and the surrounding frames look a bit finer and more to scale.The roof uses the old method of burning in a shingle pattern with a wood-burning tool. Again, the patterning seems a little more refined than the kit's plastic shingle moldings.
ELM's intent was for Ma's to be a backwoods hillbilly shack of a business. I dont' think AHM captured that in their pristine version. And you're right; AHM's windows are definitely clunky with oversized muntins. I liked ELM's black ink windows but found that I could put Floquil into a ruling pen and get different colors. Later, I got equal results from acrylic paint, a fine brush, a tilted straightedge and a steady hand. Actually, the steady hand was required because, being water-based acrylic, mistakes could be washed off immediately, then tried again.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of pristine, his weathering is what I think gives it the more backwoods feeling. My version was to be sort of a modern, low-rent bed-and-breakfast, so I made it deliberately cleaner so as not to scare customers away :-) I think ELM's weathering skills are under appreciated. I need to take some detail photos of just weathered surfaces on his models to show what he did.
DeleteI agree that your version would get more customers but Ma can't afford the paint.
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DeleteI love the instant story-telling on Moore's left-hand front porch, with the bent or broken post holding up the sagging roof smack dab in front of the door where you'd never actually put a post, well, not if you had any style or sense. But if you had to prop it up, that's what you might do in a pinch, and it might get left that way for a long while before a real repair could be done.
ReplyDeleteNice comparison. Oh, and I've found a few swipes of the file on each edge of the stock window frames both trues the sides and creates sharp corners as well as reducing the overall width for a finer scale appearance. Not as much can be done about the mullions but Curren had some ideas for the Star Printers kitbash.
Hmm. Maybe I need to check that post again with a magnifying glass to see if it is as intended, so maybe it's a break I overlooked. Although, I agree in its current state it does enhance the overall vibe of the build.
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