With this article, we’ll complete my version of a newsstand, adding magazines, posters, awning, bench and newspapers. If you haven’t already, be sure to read Scratch Build a Newsstand: Part 1 and Scratch Build a Newsstand: Part 2.

Materials Needed (For Part 3)

• Free, printable items for this article (see next section below)
• Scrap styrene
• .010″ sheet styrene
• Dullcote
• Glue (CA glue used for photo paper printout; white glue for standard printer paper)
• Brown paint (Polyscale Building Brown and Roof Brown used)
• Misc. paint (orange and gray used — any colors will do)
• Woodland Scenics N scale park benches
• Thin wire

Printable Items for This Article

To use the designs below, click on the image to open the full-size viewing window, then save the full-size version.  Typically, to save an image from the Web, right-click your mouse on the full-size image and select “Save As”, “Save Target As” or something similar.  The specific process for saving the image may be slightly different depending on your individual Internet browser and setup.

Magazine Rack

To add magazines to the rack, I created N scale-sized magazines using cover photos from the mid to late 1940s. These were printed on a color photo printer since photo prints tend not to run when sprayed with Dullcote.

After cutting these from the photo paper, I started from the back of the rack, randomly gluing magazines in place with CA glue. It’s important to work from the back to the front so that each row of magazines covers layer on top of the previous row.  This will give them the proper appearance of a shelf.

As I got toward the front, I realized I could stand these small covers slightly on end, creating a much more realistic look of magazines sitting in a rack. To better explain this, each print out is really only glued at the bottom edge and made to stand almost straight up rather than being glued down to match the angle of the shelf piece.  You may want to do this all the way down from back to front as it will likely create a more prototypical look but either method will work. This newsstand is so small, this variation approached super-detailing and isn’t needed.

I also tilted a couple of covers as if someone had picked up a magazine, flipped through it and carelessly put it back on the rack.

Clutter for the Interior

Many details were added to the interior to make it look busy and cluttered. I don’t have photos of every step, but adding interior details is straight forward. Except for three small, painted pieces of styrene, all of the interior detail is simply printed, cut out and applied. There’s nothing really special about this step and you could apply these details any way you see fit.  Again, the newsstand is very small and the awning will cover much of this work anyway.

On the side shelf, I’ve added two magazines at an angle, using the same magazine designs as used on the rack. Over the side shelf is a wall rack of cigarettes and a poster of a magician — in my newsstand, it represents a comic book advertisement.

For the top shelf, I cut 3 small “boxes” from scrap styrene and painted them Building Brown. I used styrene strip of .060″ thickness, but whatever you have on hand should work as long as it’s thicker than the shelf.

I stacked those on the top shelf, then added “labels” on the boxes — two with orange paint and one with gray paint. Make these any color you like since it’s a very fine detail. To the left of the boxes, I added another magazine — this one standing on its edge to look like it’s leaning on something. On the far right side of the top shelf, I added the top portion of the exterior wall poster (that I’ll add below) also standing on its edge. All details were attached with CA glue.

I was not very concerned with the detail on the top shelf or the space below the side shelf. These will be mostly covered by the awning and a bench of newspapers. If you decide to skip the awning or bench, you may want to detail these areas better than I have here.

Exterior Signs

To the outside of the newsstand, I added three signs. On the left side of the stand (looking into it), I added a 1940s Captain Marvel comic book poster featuring the Freedom Train. On the right side, I used a United Cigar sign. For the back side of the stand, I used a larger magician poster like the one I used on the inside of the newsstand — it’s not really noticeable that it’s a repeat.

To cut down on the thickness of the paper, I sanded the backside of the paper (carefully) before gluing these details in place with CA glue.

Hanging Magazines

To complete the interior detail, I added a few magazines hanging down from the top shelf at an angle to appear as though they are attached at their corners.  These are the same printed magazines used on the rack and side shelf.  Attach with CA glue.

Newspaper Bench

At this point, the basic newsstand is completed.  But one main problem — no newspapers.  To add the newspapers to the stand, I decided to add a bench that the stand owner could stack the daily news.

The bench is made from a modified commercial bench set from Woodland Scenics.  These are normally sold in the same yellow packages as their figures and the benches are originally green with a back (like a park bench).

I removed the back from the bench with an Xacto knife to form a simpler, flat bench.  It is very difficult to remove back of the Woodland Scenics bench without causing damage to the bench surface and the top winds up uneven.

To correct this, I added a piece of .010″ to the top of the bench.  To do this, I cut the styrene to a size a little larger than the original on all sides.  Before gluing to the top of the Woodland Scenics bench with CA glue, I scribed lines the length of the .010″ styrene to represent wood planks.  I scribed them as evenly spaced as I could and then went back and added a few more “less perfect” lines.  This helped create a more uneven, worn surface to represent a bench that has been left to the elements.

The bench was painted Roof Brown.  Once dry, I placed the bench and the newsstand on a level surface, positioned the bench where I wanted it and then glued the edge of the bench to the stand.

With the bench in place, I sealed the entire stand with a coat of Dullcote.

Newspapers

The idea on how to create the newspapers themselves came from Chris Brimley.  I was going to try something entirely different, but I liked his approach and decided to try it.  I was shocked at how realistic it turned out.

The newspapers are made by printing newspaper designs with a laser print onto standard printer page. The newspapers are included in the printable details that accompany this article. They are designed to be the full newspaper front page. They are then folded to create the appearance of a newspaper.

So, once printed, I cut out many little newspaper designs.  I then carefully placed each printout over the back of an Xacto blade and folded each in half, creating the fold of the newspaper.  Because of the thickness of standard paper and the fact that these will be stacked, there’s no need to try to model any more detail on these.  The simple print and fold technique works really well.

After I had about 30 or so little papers cut out and folded, I glued them in random-height stacks with white glue.  I made sure to place a different front page on the top of each stack to look like different local papers.  Note that you really only need a printed newspaper for the very top.  The rest could simply be plain paper since they’ll never be seen — but I found that cutting from a printout made it easier to get the size correct.

I glued the finished, dried stacks to the bench with CA glue. Once the newsstand is added to my layout, I plan to add a few larger stacks of newspapers on the left exterior side of the newsstand to represent additional papers the vendor had delivered but hasn’t put out yet.

Awning

For the awning, I decided to deviate from the prototype. The prototype awning extends above the pitched roof of the stand and is held in place by support brackets.

I tried doing that with wire to match the “Watchmen” newsstand, but it just didn’t look “right”.  In N scale, the awning seemed to be floating above the stand. So instead, I went with the simpler approach and attached the awning just above the housing for the roll-up door and below the top of the pitched roof.

The awning is just paper printed in color on an ink jet printer.  It was cut to match the width of the stand and I tried several different lengths until it looked right.  Make sure you leave enough extra length to create the portion of the awning that hangs down.  On my stand, the hanging portion of the awning is about 6″ to 1′ in scale. I simply creased the awning print out over a steel ruler.

For larger awnings or when the awning doesn’t have something large to glue to, I usually back the paper with a small piece of sheet brass (cut to match the paper size) to help it hold its shape.  In this case, the paper is surprisingly sturdy at this size so I’ve just used the paper by itself.  I attached the awning by adding a small amount of CA glue to the top of the door housing.

Once that was dried and in place, I added two small wires to each side to represent the poles or brackets that would be holding up the awning. I also used CA glue on the ends of the wires and affixed them from the front of the stand to where the crease in the paper was. For the side where the wire met the stand, I lined it up with the braces on the exterior of the newsstand.  This helps serve as a guide so you can get the angle of the support poles the same. On the left size, I added another small piece of wire that I bent the end of to represent the handle and crank that would be used to retract the awning.

To Be Continued…

This concludes my scratch build for this N scale newsstand.  In Part 4 of this article, Chris Brimley will walk you through his own design, which is quite different than what I have presented. I hope you’ve enjoyed my portion on this project.