Model Power's Star Journal Building origin year?

Source: Model Railroader, Apr. '77

I was reading through a random stack of old Model Railroader magazines and stumbled across that announcement in the Off the train wire column in the April 1977 issue.

That N-scale Ramsey Journal Building is the so-called Star Journal Building that was the basis of my Ramsey's Garage conversion. Given the lags in publication, I speculate the kit hit the hobby shops sometime between late 1976 and early 1977.

As you can see the fire station* is simply the Ramsey Journal Building's shell with different add-ons. In fact, it would have made a better starting point for Ramsey's Garage given those big doors on the front.

Although we seem to have narrowed down when Model Power released the kit, I still wonder if all they did was repackage and market a kit created by some other company, which was a common practice then. Time will tell.

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*Speaking of fire stations, April 1977 is the MR issue with E. L. Moore's infamous Cannonball and Safety Powder Works project. Why infamous? At the end of the project he blew up the model with some gun powder and photographed the conflagration.

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Afternoon update:

Source: Railroad Model Craftsman, May '77

I did a little searching through Railroad Model Craftsman magazines from 1977 to see what I could find. The May '77 issue has a report on new products on display at the 40th annual Hobby Industry of America trade show held earlier in the year. There on page 63 is a photo of Model Power's three new N-scale structures. In the accompanying text RMC had this to say: Model Power now offers N scale versions of several popular HO plastic kits including a 1:160 version of RMC's former office building down by the railroad tracks in Ramsey, N.J.. So, based on this I'd further narrow down the release date to early 1977.

Ramsey's Garage alias the Star Journal Building

Here at 30Squares Labs we continue to experiment with the compound N₂HO^c. For the laymen out there, N₂HO^c refers to structures resulting from converting N scale kits to casualized HO scale models. You may remember the previous project that successfully synthesized the 30Squares HQ (aka the Eldon Building) from Walthers' N scale Backshop kit.

Ok, ok, enough with the nonsense.

Back in March I bought this kit at a local swap meet. Since then its been sitting on the floor near my drafting table. While I was cleaning up after finishing Cal's Lumberyard I opened the box and wandered through the parts.

After a few minutes of handling I had a sense this little building would make an interesting HO scale garage. Well, it would be a casualized HO scale garage since, strictly speaking, this kit had nothing to do with HO scale.

The kit is an N scale version of the HO scale Ramsey Journal Building kit, which is based on E. L. Moore's project of the same name that appeared in the December 1967 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. The HO scale plastic kit of his project was first released by AHM (kit #5819) in the late 1960s. Over the years it was repackaged and re-released by a number of companies. I don't know when the N scale version was released, or if Model Power was the first to release it - I suspect not, but there's some research to be done on the history of this little model.

The kit was likely first released in the mid 70s or early 80s by the look of the parts. Even though the box wasn't sealed it appeared that all the parts were present. 

To build a credible version of the Ramsey Journal Building - or the 'Star Journal Building' as this thing is called, likely to avoid a copyright infringement legal entanglement - you'd have to apply generous amounts of TLC during construction.

The parts are rather crude by today's standards, not to mention their garish colours.

To make matters a bit worse, the walls have serious sink holes near the chimneys that need to be filled and re-scribed. For my garage I cut off the chimneys as they'd be out of scale, but I still had to fill those dimples.

The walls' inside surfaces are clean, but because I was going to open up the building I had to grind off all the mold release pins and assembly numbers.

I'm not going to walk you through a step-by-step build of this project. It's dead simple to make, and no doubt you'll know how to do it by simply studying the photos.

What I am going to do is focus on its design so if you're interested in doing your own N to HO conversions, you'll get a sense of the trade-offs required, and the properties of kits that might be suitable for such modifications.

First off, I should note I have my biases when tackling these sort of projects. I like a building that lets in lots of light, and that affords unobstructed views into and through it. Those were the primary drivers on the modified Cal's Lumberyard project, Cal's Cabbage Co., the McGregor Park Library, the Insectary, and what attracted me to Walthers Backshop kit. I applied that bias to this project. The kit has lots of windows that can let in a lot of light, a façade that can accommodate a big open door, and a flat roof for a big skylight, so it seemed to have the right characteristics for the kind of building I like.

One question that is often raised is, doesn't the size of the bricks give away the game? N scale bricks are far too small on an HO scale model. Yes, that's true, but there appears to be variation in brick sizes across kits, especially old ones.

The photo on the left compares the bricks on our garage to those on the Walthers Backshop kit. Both are allegedly N scale. Given that in HO a standard brick measures about 0.7mm high by 2.3mm long, the Model Power ones on the right of the photo are quite close to true HO, and the Walthers bricks in the centre of the photo are close to true N scale. Those bricks to the far left in the picture are sheet styrene panels I added to close up some openings in the Backshop. To confuse matters, the sticker on the sheet said they were "1:100 scale, HO scale". Well, they are close to 1:87.1, true HO scale. 

Since the bricks on the Backshop are too small for HO I chose not to detail them with mortar and weathering. To me the important feature of the building is its huge windows, and not its brickwork, so I chose not to call out the bricks and spoil the illusion. However, on the garage, given the bricks were about normal size for HO, and the exterior of the building was quite plain without either the clock tower or stock façade, I detailed the brickwork to provide more visual interest. It's all a choice about what you want the model to say.

Here's another comparison: Ramsey's Garage on the right and the Park Square building on the left. Park Square was built using the HO scale Ramsey Journal Building as its shell.

The Park Square's bricks are huge and seem more like blocks than bricks. In other words, the bricks on the HO scale Ramsey Journal Building kit are very oversize for HO scale.

One last comparison: our garage on the right and Moore's Balsa Products on the left, which is just my renamed build of the E. L. Moore designed HO scale AHM Machine Shop kit.

The bricks on the machine shop are much more HO-like than those on the Ramsey Journal Building. 

The message here is, don't be too swayed by the claims to HO or N scale as far as brickwork is concerned. Size it up for yourself.

And then there're windows.

Each window is a bit small for HO, but they're passable. Which is a good thing, because there were two other problems that had to be dealt with.

The first issue was each window had to be cut from the strips they were molded into so I could create individual frames. This isn't a problem for a box stock build because no one can see inside. Once de-stripped, I cut each window down from 8 panes to 4 by removing mullions with an X-acto knife. Ok, well, actually I removed the mullions first, and then removed the frames from the strips. The extra mullions had to go because in the 8 pane window, each pane seemed too small. With just 4 each, the windows seemed more in line with HO scale.

The second problem was the tops of the ground floor windows weren't high enough above grade. This is very apparent when they're compared to the back door I added - the door's a Tichy Train Group item.

What I should have done was add a styrene foundation wall about 18" to 24" tall to boost the structure. Galen recommended that for the Park Square building and it proved to be a significant improvement in the overall design.

Speaking of windows, the largest are part of the skylight.

The kit comes with a rather small skylight, and simply opening up the roof so it would let light inside wasn't going to produce the effect I wanted. I scratchbuilt a larger one from 0.020" thick sheet styrene and some styrene strips. It's that white, triangular structure shown in the photo on the left. Below it is the kit's stock skylight.

Skylights are pretty common on the E. L. Moore plastic kits. On the left is the Park Square build and that's its skylight. It's an HO scale item, but if I was opening up that model for more natural light I'd say it's too small to do much good.

The machine shop - Moore's Balsa Products in this picture - is better skylight-wise. Although If I were to do another I'd replace the kit's roof with a flat one and add some slightly bigger skylights.

The garage's new skylight uses considerably more rooftop real estate, but it still only just peeks above the walls, and it's not too noticeable from the street.

The only other new cosmetic detail was the addition of a pair of trifold doors out front made from slices of 0.020" styrene sheet. They didn't quite turn out as I'd hoped, so let's move on.

On the structural side, I had to add three internal joists made from styrene strips. The walls bowed inward, and since I had discarded the kit's base, I added the joists to get rid of the bow. They did the trick, and although they're merely sketches of actual joists, they make all the right suggestions when viewed from the outside.

Did any of these modifications for light and views work? Well, here's the view inside:

I can see the sign on the back wall of the post office through the garage's backdoor window, and there are some interesting shadows on the garage floor, so I'm happy with these effects, modest as they are.

Since I've been thinking recently about my father's old '49 Mercury I pulled my HO version from storage and used it in the glamour shots. It's an Oxford item.

Hey, if your friends don't hurry up they'll have to walk to school.

A new stake car for the Lands & Forests RR

Left: Unconverted | Right: Converted

I took the stake wagon that had a pair of broken stakes on one end and 'converted' it to a freelanced car for the Loonar Module. I say 'converted' because all I did was add some sign boards, paint the body yellow, the wooden floor a dirty brown, and the chassis a grimy black, and then add some decals - not much of a conversion.

A few days after finishing I was reading through Brick Price's narrow gauge modelling book again, and stumbled across a very similar 'conversion' on page 95. Concerning the gondola in figure 8-24 at the top of the page, Mr. Price had this to say:

It is made in England and is considered N scale, but the body size is perfect and the trucks are even credible for arch bars. It took fifteen minutes to convert the coupler, weather it, and remove the buffers on the end.

Everything old is new again I guess.

Throw a couple of stakes on the layout

Three more from the bag of N-scale rolling stock. The flat cars are Roco #2308 German stake wagons, and on the end is a British brake van from Peco (I don't know its product number, but it appears to be a common item from Peco).

These stake wagons are the longest freight cars I've attempted to run on the layout. Their axle to axle measurement is about 52 mm, which is around 28' in N-scale, and 14-3/4' in HO. Previously, I thought the box car, with its overall length of 15' in HO, was about the limit for this track, but I had to give these stake wagons a spin to see what might happen.

There's a little hesitation as the 0-4-0 pulls through the switch, but after chipping out some ballast that was glued against the inside rail, the bump through the switch is gone. However, if the speed is too low when pulling these wagons and the van, the loco will stall in the switch when it rolls over the switch's plastic parts.

No such problems when pulling the stakers with the HO-9 Gmeinder diesel. These wagons don't look too out-of-place scale-wise as HO-9 items - as long as the viewer doesn't know better. One of the wagons has a broken stake that's been lost to time, and I'm thinking of giving it a proper yellow Lands & Forests paint job to see who I can fool :-)

Testing ol' 99 on the test layout

When Donna dropped by yesterday she generously gave me a bag of N-scale rolling stock courtesy of her equally generous brother-in-law. I'm starting to work my way through the bag to see what's what and what works.

One of the more intriguing locomotives, especially for the Loonar Module, was this classic 0-4-0 dockside switcher. It was in a clear plastic box marked as Fleishmann product number 8053. I'm not sure if it's actually a Fleishmann product. It might simply be in the wrong box. I wonder if it's a Bachmann item? I'll need to investigate a little more.

Regardless, it ran quite well straight out of the box, so I hooked it up to two Roco #2309 open goods wagons which were also in the bag. Here's a clip of the train running over the worst section of track:

There's a little bounce, but it's ok as there's no derailment, even after many loops. It turns out there's a bit of ballast that needs chipping out to improve the ride. The 0-4-0 has deep flanges, so they found the sloppy ballasting problem.

The 0-4-0 is a nice size in comparison to the Minitrains HO-9 Gmeinder diesel.

Well, that wraps up the first test session on the test layout. Stay tuned.

Dig that funky trackwork

Soon after motorizing the Hong Kong tram I started to wonder about the feasibility a small HO-9 streetcar layout built with Kato's Unitram track. I could have got out the pencils and rulers and measured things to do my wondering, but instead I got out the track and buildings and tram and ran a test. I videoed it and posted some stills back in December. The video seemed a little sterile, but I've recently learned how to add a music track with some of Youtube's fee free audio. So, here's the test, jazzed up with a funky soundtrack :-)

Oh, the test results? Things look good, but the tram is a bit too wide, and two can't pass each other without colliding. Still though, I kind of like the idea. Or, maybe it's just the music :-)

Crossing Rockface bridge

I like the idea that this little layout could be used to test N scale, HO-9, and O-9 equipment on its loop. Continuing on with test photos, I tried this one of the EVRR N scale loco crossing the trestle. I can see a number of places where the trees and waterside vegetation need improvement, but the colour and shading are looking ok.

I've been cagey and have tried to leave out views of the water from the photos as I haven't poured it yet. There's still some work to do on the shoreline, so no pouring until that's done.

A loop around the Unitram block

The week between Christmas and New Years is always an odd one, and this one is no different. I've had the urge to wrap up loose ideas I've put off looking at throughout the year. This is one. 

While working on motoring the Atlas Hong Kong tram, and again while drawing up the new layout, I wondered how the HO tram on an N-gauge power unit would run on the Kato Unitram track in an HO scale urban setting. It turns out it runs quite well, but I don't think trams could pass each other going in opposite directions without colliding on the centre line. These trams are just a little bit too wide for the track.

But, I think there's a layout idea in there somewhere. Maybe something with a pair of switches to create a second loop so the layout is divided into two parts. I have wanted to do something with a city part and a part similar to Ottawa's Central Experimental Farm. But, not right now. It's just an idea to play with this odd week.

Workbench Scenes: N gauge test track

Kato powered chassis zooming around test loop.

I was rooting around in the crawl space and came across my old lumpy loop N gauge test track I used to test the EVRR loco and cars. The loop was in a bit of a sorry state, so I decided to clean it, fix it, and give it a try with my N scale fleet to see how they were running - and for a bit of simple fun :-) Fleet is a grand word for a Bachmann 0-6-0 loco, a TTC PCC streetcar, and a Kato 11-104 powered chassis. Luckily the 'fleet' still worked, so I polished all the members up a bit with a dusting off and lubrications all round. It's nice to see these running.

TD Bank Tower Mockup in N scale

No, I didn't build a second TD Bank Tower mockup in N-scale, just re-photographed it with a Bachmann N-scale PCC nearby (a reader mentioned that this PCC is closer to 1/150 than 1/160, so calibrate your eyes accordingly). 

A non-selectively compressed tower in N would stand about 4-1/2' tall, which is a bit more than twice the height of this 2' tall mockup. Also, the mockup's ground floor lobby is probably a bit too tall in N (26.5'), and a bit too short in HO (14.5'). 

I haven't tried mockups before, but playing with them is rather fun, and it's good to see the possibilities without having to commit to a complete model.

Time trials at the Lumpy Potato Proving Grounds

I cobbled together a lumpy loop from two pieces of Atlas flex track, wired it up, and let'er rip. Ok, well, not let'er rip exactly, but carefully placed the loco on the track and carefully ran it with different speed settings. It runs quite well, but I need to get some rolling stock. I'm thinking a combine if I can find one of a suitable vintage.

And you're right, that is a giant screw head in that dome. I need to hide that.

Acquisition #1 for EVRR 2

The Bachmann USRA 0-6-0 loco arrived and Gord from accounting came down to check it out as soon as it was taken out of the box. Looks good. The next job is to build a little test track to give it a spin, then it's off to the paint shop.

Well, wikipedia tells me the USRA 0-6-0s were built in 1918 and 1919, a few years out from E. L. Moore's favourite era, 1890 to 1910 or thereabouts. I'll need to put my thinking cap on to see if there are any things I can do to visually back date it a bit.

The engineering department is still on the lookout for a small English or Welsh loco to appease the Rowland Emett faction at EVRR2.

Lord Baltimore Hotel in N scale with a side of toast

This fascinating video on how to construct an N-scale model of Baltimore, Maryland's Lord Baltimore Hotel was kindly brought to my attention by Galen Gallimore. When you're watching it, stay on the look out for all the other buildings in his model of the city of Baltimore. And when it's over, take a look at this video - one of my all-time favourites - celebrating the missing ingredient to Solihull-style Beans-on-Toast.

Mt Lowe observatory telescope dome

Once the wings were done I moved on to finishing the dome that forms the roof of the telescope room. Prototype pictures appear to indicate that at various times the dome had different types of doors: at one time there were external sliding doors, and later there was one that slid up and down over the opening. I chose to incorporate the latter because that's the open I figured I could make into a working model without too much trouble.

This isn't an exact model of the dome door, just an approximation that I could make work and didn't look too bad. The first job was to install an internal track. I took a length of U-section styrene and cut off one arm to convert it to an L-section. I then cut a thin piece of card to the width I wanted the two tracks to be separated and taped the L-section rails to the card. This assembly was gently pushed into place and liquid plastic glue was used to bond the rails to the inside of the dome. This was a rather tricky bit of installation and I had to think it through and practice holding the various pieces through several mock installations before I actually worked up the nerve to finally glue it in place.

I let this set for a few hours then peeled back the tape and carefully slid out the card spacer. The rails held in place and looked good. All that was needed was to trim the ends.

The door is a strip of 0.010 in. styrene cut to the track width and a little longer than the opening. Friction holds it in whatever position you want.

Here it is slid into the fully closed position....

... and likewise here it is fully open. It slides back and forth quite easily in the track.

The next job was to make a base ring for the dome. This is built up from 4 layers of 0.020 in styrene. The top ring matches the diameter of the dome bottom, the two middle rings match the outside diameter of the telescope room, and the bottom layer matches the inside diameter of the telescope room. 

Here it is all glued together and ready for attaching to the dome.

Before painting some trim strips of 0.010 in styrene were glued to the dome's bottom edge and around the opening. Some 0.020 in styrene was used as filter sections at the top and bottom of the opening. A piece of decorative trim was glued inside the dome at right angles to the opening. That's it! It's ready for painting.

The dome was first sprayed with Tamiya's white fine surface primer and sanded a little when dry. A coat of Krylon flat white was then sprayed on to make the dome more opaque. Finally, a mist coat of the white primer was applied to finish things off.

That's it for basic construction. I'm moving on to building the roofs for the wings - they'll be removable - detailing the interior, and applying the remaining trim to the exterior. Until then, keeping with my random-walk state-of-mind these days, I leave you with another Lowe that I have absolutely no relation to,

E. L. Moore: The almost household name in N-scale model railroading

Little did I realize when I posted that tongue-in-cheek cover I cooked up for a non-existent ‘70s paperback on N-scale model railroading by E. L. Moore that I wasn’t too far off. It turns out that in September ’68, Mr. David P. Morgan of Kalmbach Publishing wrote to E. L. Moore and asked if he’d consider writing an N scale primer for them. Mr. Moore declined and the rest is non-history. 

September 10, 1968

Mr. E. L. Moore

525 Oakland Ave., Apt. 3

Charlotte, North Carolina

We have a publishing proposal for you, Mr. Moore, and it is this: Are you in a position to author a beginner’s N scale model railroad book for Kalmbach of approximately the same size and format as the enclosed HO RAILROAD THAT GROWS and HO PRIMER, with delivery by May 31, 1969?

In our view, the expanding N scale market will inevitably introduce many newcomers to model railroading; and therefore it recommends itself to a soft-cover book exclusively devoted to the subject. Such a volume would not only introduce the novice to the pecularities [sic] of N scale itself but also the wider world of model railroading, per se -- just as the above-mentioned and enclosed HO books have done. Now, we cannot presently afford staff personnel for such an assignment. In our search for a free-lance author, your name was recommended by Andy Anderson, who purchased a considerable amount of copy from you during his MODEL TRAINS editorship days. Andy believes that your readable, step-by-step style would be what we need to communicate model railroading and N scale to the rank beginner -- not to mention your other qualifications in the field of photography and other illustrations.

If this is a project which would interest you, please write me at your earliest convenience. A self-addressed stamped envelop is enclosed.

Cordially,

signed David P. Morgan

Books Publisher

David P. Morgan/s1

enclosure.

[This book never existed, but I couldn't resist slapping a cover together!]

Sept 13, 1968

Mr. David P. Morgan,

Kalmbach Publishing Company,

1027 N. Seventh Street,

Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Thanks for the opportunity to author a beginner’s N scale railroad book as outlined in your September 10th letter; but after looking over the HO Primer I don’t really feel that I qualify for the task. I have a woeful lack of electrical knowledge, and this as you know comprises a large share of any discussion on trains in general.

My forte is building models and scenery. Andy Anderson apparently forgets that he once asked me to do an article on elementary electricity for beginners, and I had to refuse him on the same grounds. Recently, I completed a small N scale railroad at Carsten’s suggestion and which will presently come out in RMC, but while the wiring on this was elementary, nothing complicated, and much the same as I had done on a previous HO pike, I still had to consult a primer on wiring to refresh what little knowledge I possessed.

Another thing: I like doing just what I feel like doing, and just when I feel like doing it. I abhor assignments, guidelines, schedules and deadlines. So I generally work as I damn well please and on what, within my limitations, I feel I can do well.

So thanks again for the offer, but I suggest you look for a better qualified author . . . and nowhere within the range of my acquaintances can I think of one I could recommend.

Cordially,

signed E L Moore

E. L. Moore

525 Oakland Ave., Apt 3

Charlotte, N. C.

The N scale railroad he’s referring to is his Enskale and Hoentee that appeared as a 3-part construction article in the October, November and December ’68 issues of Railroad Model Craftsman. It was a little, 30” x 30” layout that incorporated N, HOn2 1/2 and TT scales. Also, it was a beginner layout, but an unusual one that had E. L. Moore’s unique style all over it. It was not in the mold of the more generic material found in HO Primer or HO Railroad that Grows. The Enskale and Hoentee had a straightforward, uncomplicated trackplan, but for Mr. Moore, it was a little tricky to wire. So, building a model railroad that simulated typical railroad business, which is a common layout configuration, would be troublesome for him. The Enskale and Hoentee was for meant for simple, pleasant fun.

But, imagine if E. L. Moore had built on his Enskale and Hoentee experience and had been given free reign by either Kalmbach or Carstens to build a beginner’s N scale layout for book publication. Not something generic, but full of what made E. L. Moore, E. L. Moore. Consider this: Mr. Moore submitted the Enskale and Hoentee manuscript to RMC on 28 April 1968, and then on 23 May 1968, sent this follow-up to Hal Carstens (months before he was sent the offer by Kalmbach),

May 23, 1968

H. H. Carstens, Editor,

Railroad Model Craftsman,

Ramsey, N. J.

A little hind sight tells me I should have broadened the scope of that train article -- I should have challenged readers to build a size with a track plan that suited them, using the techniques and construction methods described.

You could even have Bill Schopp show a few track variations, in say 30” x 40” or maybe 36” x 48” but still retaining some of the scenic features of the pike I built. Holding rigidly to the 30” by 30” size will limit interest.

Enjoying loafing and reading.

signed E L Moore

E. L. Moore

525 Oakland Ave., Apt 3

Charlotte, N. C.

Denis Dunning tells me he saw you gadding about recently.

Possibly some incentive might be offered readers for most interesting N scale track plan (including scenery) within limit of, say 36” x 48”  . . . . . 

An E. L. Moore, Bill Schopp collaboration might have been interesting, and maybe even highly influential. We’ll never know. Mr. Schopp, aka The Layout Doctor, was a master of all things layout oriented, and even planted the seed of the idea with Mr. Moore for the rather off-the-wall projects that eventually became the Molasses Mine and A Garbage Train or...the Mudville Flats Extra, so they were simpatico on some level (more on this in a future post). 

It turned out that the Enskale and Hoentee was quite popular. In a letter E. L. Moore wrote to Hal Carstens on 28 October 1968, he mentions that it was a draw at the North Hills Hobby Shop in Raleigh, North Carolina,

Enskale thing makes a nice showing -- hobby dealer up Raleigh way (Jim Collier) has it on display as I probably told you before. Kinda cashing in on it ....

Later, in another letter to Hal Carstens dated 28 November 1968, Mr. Moore notes,

The little N-scale road is past history now, but I hope it did you some good and stirred a little interest up . . .  it was fun building it but allee samee I’m glad it was small and not a major project. On account of I like more leisure and less work ... 

So, maybe even with a collaborator, the definitive E. L. Moore spin on N-scale model railroading would not have come to pass - well, one that required a lot of work would not have come to pass :-) 

Mt. Lowe observatory gets wings

The next step was to add the left and right wings to the telescope room.

I started with the one on the right. To begin, I used the telescope room as an anchor from which to draw the wing's floor plan in N-scale using dimensions from the drawing. Once the floor plan was finished, I used its dimensions to draw the wing's walls onto a single strip for folding into the final shape.

After the wall strip was cut out, the wall corners were scored and folded into shape. In this picture you can see that I've also cut the floor from a piece of 1/16" balsa and used it for some test fitting before gluing everything together.

A balsa ledge was glued to the bottom perimeter to support the floor and thin paper tabs were glued to the inside of the wall strip to use as a glue strip for holding the wing to the telescope room. Those tabs were trimmed to size before attaching the wing to the room.

It's a little misshapen before the floor is squeezed into place. Keen-eyed viewers will notice that I've glued the wing onto the wrong sections of the telescope room :-( Once I clued in, I carefully sliced it off, cleaned the residue off the telescope room, and then glued it to the correct section. 

The wing shapes up nicely once the floor's in there. White glue holds everything together.

The other wing is assembled the same way. Once the wings were in place, all of the inside walls were panelled with 1/32" balsa. This helps to significantly stiffen the structure and will make for a nice interior since the roofs will be removable. Again, the eagle-eyed will notice that I've cut another door in the telescope room wall that leads into the left-wing - I had mis-located the original connecting door. The left-wing's internal partition is made from a piece of 1/16" balsa.

After the interior work was done, all the windows and doors were framed with strip basswood I had in my scrap box. I used the smallest and thinnest material I had on hand as I didn't want to buy anything, but you'll note that it's a little oversize for N-scale.