Scratch Built IRT Kiosk: Part 2

In Part 1 of this article series on scratch building an N scale IRT subway kiosk, I built the kiosk base, main three walls and all of the connecting beams including the pitched roof sections.

Materials Needed (for Part 2)

• .010″ x .020″ strip styrene
• .010″ x .040″ strip styrene
• .020″ rod styrene
• .020 x .020″ strip styrene (small size recommended)
• .015″ sheet styrene
• .040″ sheet styrene
• 1/4″ balsa quarter-round
• Arts and craft jewelry item (see “Finial” below for details)
• Squadron putty
• Xacto miter box and/or Northwest Shortline Chopper

Continued Construction

Roof Base

The version of the IRT kiosk I am building is the entrance version with its domed roof. The next part of the build is to create the main roof portion that the dome will rest on.

For this roof base, I’ve used three square pieces of sheet styrene. The three parts are layered with the middle layer smaller than the other two to make the middle layer appear recessed all the way around.

The top and bottom layers are cut from .015″ styrene, sized matched to the blueprints. These should be slightly wider than the main entrance area of the kiosk that we’ve already built.  The middle layer is created from .040″ styrene and is slightly smaller than the main entrance area.

Once the three parts are glued together (middle layer should be centered between the other two), simply attach it the kiosk itself.

Kiosk roof base over main entrance area

Corbels

Just beneath the roof base, the prototype kiosk has corbels at the corners on the tall vertical posts. There is a corbel on each outer side of the these posts.

Rather than try to build or sculpt a realistic corbel (keep in mind that this kiosk is TINY), I chose to add the basic profile of the corbels so the shapes would stand out from a distance.

To build the corbels, I’ve used two simple pieces of .010″ x .040″ — a square piece layered on top of a rectangular piece.  I matched the length of these pieces to the blueprints.  For the corbels facing the rear of the kiosk, I shortened these rectangles slightly to better fit in the available space. 

Corner corbels added (note: this photo is from a later point in the build but shows the corbels best)

Entrance Overhang Roof

On the prototype, the overhanging entrance roof is made of glass in a cast iron frame. Because the kiosk is so small, I opted to make this small roof out of solid stryene rather than try to recreate the look of individual glass panes.

Following the blueprints, I cut out the flat, basic 6-sided shape of the roof from .015″ sheet styrene.  To this roof shape, I added strips of .020″ x .020″ to the outer, angled edges and to form the ribbing detail.

This .020″ x .020″ styrene is really too thick. In hind sight, a .010″ x .015″ or maybe even .010″ x .010″ would have worked better. Instead of replacing these pieces, I sanded all of the angled edges to clean these up and sanded the faces of the ribs so all of the parts blended together much better.    

Overhang Roof Supports

The prototype kiosk has cast iron supports beneath the overhang roof done in an art deco style. For these, I knew photo etched brass parts would work best but I wasn’t about to put out the cost of making my own custom etched parts for this tiny model.

I decided to use commercial etched scroll work from the Clocks and Weather Vane brass sheet made by Scale Link. This commercial sheet features many different signs, clocks and weather vanes, each with different sizes and shapes perfect for this kind of detail.

Photo etched roof supports

The Scale Link sheet included pieces for a clock support that were very close to what I needed for the supports. I just needed to trim these down slightly. Once you cut these down, you’ll want to file the cuts so the pieces will sit perfectly flush to the kiok walls and roof.  I didn’t file these edges down, which I should have, so there’s a slight gap between the support and the roof. In person, you can’t see those flash, but it’s visible in these photos.  Paint and weathering helped hide these edges.

The supports were attached slightly toward the outside of the vertical posts with CA glue.

Rear Roof Ribs

The pitched roof sections over the middle and rear of the kiosk are made of glass with cast iron ribs on the prototype. This step is extremely simple.

For the ribs, I used .010″ x .020″ strip strene and placed them to line up with side wall’s window mullions.

Ribs added to middle and rear kiosk roof sections

Once in place, I sanded the ribs to a sharper angle at the main ridge.

Domed Roof

One of the most defining elements on the IRT subway kiosks was the roof line – especially since the roof  design indicated whether a kiosk was an entrance of an exit.  The prototype entrance dome is not a simple half sphere.  Instead, it’s more of a rounded square with ridges at the four corners.

Kiosk roof

To create the roof, I used 1/4″ quarter-round balsa wood trim. This was very hard to find and I eventually had to order it on eBay from a seller of doll house details.

The balsa quarter-round was cut into four 1/2″ wedges.  These wedges have a 1/2″ outside edge (front face of the quarter-round) with each side angled (mitered) at 45 degrees to meet in the middle of the inside edge (back face of the quarter round).  This is done identically to what how you would miter the corners of a picture frame.  The only difference is that the mitered angles meet with no material between the angles.

To say that properly cutting the quarter-round to the correct size and shape was difficult would be an extreme understatement. As a matter of fact, I had so much trouble with these domed roof parts at it actually led me to shelf the kiosk for many months.

I tried using a fine tooth hobby saw in an Xacto miter box to cut these parts.  Even though the miter box has a 1/4″ slot perfect for the quarter round to sit in, I really had a hard time getting these cut evenly. I also used a Northwest Shortline Chopper to cut the pieces but the Chopper tended to crush the soft wood so I had cut most of the way through and then finish the cut with a saw or blade.

Finally, I used a combination of these methods — I’m still not really sure which worked better. I just kept cutting pieces (probably dozens) and kept a pile of them. After cutting, I went through the pile and found the 4 pieces that I thought were the most evenly cut.  The final ones I selected were still not perfect, but as close as I could get.

I used CA glue to assemble the four parts together to form the shape of the roof. Once the glue dried, I filled the dents and imperfections on the roof with Squardon white putty.

Let the putty dry completely. After it was dry, I ran the bottom edge of the roof over sandpaper to level it and also lightly sanded the outside edges to smooth everything. I then CA-glued the roof onto the kiosk, centering it on the roof base.

Kiosk roof

The prototype roof is actually shorter in height than the one I’ve modeled. To be true to the prototype, the roof should have been cut down to be about a scale foot shorter. However, since I had so much trouble with this part, I decided to deviate from the plans.

Finial

The finial at the top of the dome is made from a jewelry piece I purchased at a local arts and crafts store.  I’m not sure what this is used for in jewelry, but it’s a small metallic flower-like item on a stem.

Jewelry piece used of kiosk finial

The jewelry item is turned upside down so the stem will become the finial itself. The stem is cut to the proper length for the finial. To add this detail to the roof, I used an Xacto blade to carve a small hole at the peak of the dome. I just placed the blade tip at the peak and turned the blade 360 degrees to form the hole. The half sphere at the center of the jewelry items was CA-glued into this hole.

Again, this detail is of a different design than the prototype, but I’m OK with that because it still provides the visual idea of what it represents.

Dental Molding

Around the roof base — that is the recessed area directly below the dome — the prototype has rosette details on all four sides of the kiosk.  Rather than try to add individual  rosettes, I decided to add a dental molding.  This detail is very tiny but I thought it needed something in that area.

This was created using .020″ rod styrene. These were cut to small, equal lengths and glued in place. Very simple, but adds just enough detail.

To Be Continued

In Part 3 of this article series, we’ll paint the kiosk, weather it and add window glazing, complete with words Entrance and Downtown “painted on the inside of the kiosk window.

• Scratch Built IRT Kiosk: Part 4 (10)
• Scratch Built IRT Kiosk: Part 3 (7)
• Scratch Built IRT Kiosk: Part 1 (13)
• Scratch Building 101: Section House (11)
• Scratch Build a Pushcart Fruit Vendor (8)

About the Author

Frank Giacobbe — Co-founder of N Scale Limited, Frank has been building models since childhood and modeling in N scale since 2oo3. He is the former author of the blog, N Scale Modeling and a member of the Riverside Historic Society in Riverside, NJ. Frank has a passion for big city modeling, the 1940s and the Pennsylvania Railroad.