On the Hudson Life Building I needed a few store fronts on the main floor, one of them is a bookstore, and I will show you how it was done.

Design

To begin with I did plenty of research until I found a design I liked and felt comfortable with what I wanted.  The design I decided upon isn’t based on a specific prototype, but on a few that had elements that I liked.  The basic design I took from one, the color from another and the signs and book shelves from even more.  This approach works well if you have a certain space or are super detailing a kit.  Not one prototype is going to work perfectly for you, so make it work for you.

Construction

Materials and methods for the bookstore fall within the same ways I have built projects on the site before, the structure and details are pretty much styrene and paper.

Framing

I like to start with the door and work out from it, I find that this helps me to keep everything in scale and order.  Most doors are a standard 7 feet tall and by using this size, it helps to have me relate to the sizes of everything else and not go to big or to small.  Doors do vary wildly in size, there are some in the downtown area of the city I live in that are an easy 12 feet tall.  Because of space constraints and not wanting my store front to be just a door, I stuck with the 3 x 7′ door.  I gave the door a coat of Polly Scale ATSF Red (414149) because I felt the building needed a little color.  After the paint dried I glued in a little piece of acetate to the back.

Next I built two simple cornices for the tops of the two openings that the book store would reside in.  I simply laminated two pieces of strip styrene together, some .010x .060″ and .015x .040″.  I then glued this assembly to a strip of .040″ square that was cut to the widths of the opening.  I then built six posts that were cut from some more .040″ square strip and little pieces of .015x .060″ that were added to the bottom of each post.  I then painted the cornice and posts with Polly Scale Dirt (414308), to make them look like a dark stained wood.

Next I glued the cornice pieces into position on both openings and began to frame in the entrance.  I first had to cut a strip of .040x .156″ strip for the step up to the door.  I then built sides walls and added  a small piece to go above the door.  I then glued this assembly to the right side of the left opening and glued in a post on the opposite side of the opening and then added a lintel to span across the three posts.  On the opposite opening I added post to the two sides and added the lintel across the top.  I then added two little posts to each side of the upper areas to finish framing them in.  Lastly I added some .020x .188″ strip with some .020x .040″ added as a cap to the top to fill in the remaining areas and to add in the last post.  I then painted the unfinished areas with the same color as the before.

To finish off the framing I added some .020″ square strip to the windows for a little added detail.  I painted them with some PS Pullman Green (414284).  I then glued the door into the frame and decided to have it in the open position.  I will add a person here at a later date.

Signs

I made up a few signs that are modeled after a few that I found while doing research on the store.  I added the Koreander Bookstore signs to some .020″ styrene and glued them into place from the back.  The sale signs were glued to the back of the acetate with Elmers Stix All.  I then did a quick wash of alcohol/india ink over the large signs to age them a tad.

Book Shelves

In the majority of bookstores of the era that I am modeling, they had shelves or tables out front with cheap books to hook pedestrians.   I decided that this would be a fun challenge, so I decided to go with the shelves.

The shelf design is a very simple design, four posts with a panel between each, then I made two shelves by gluing two pieces of strip to form an L.  I then glued the shelves to the sides, and then painted them with PS DRGW Bldg. Brown (414256).  To make the painting easier , I added a little masking tape to some tweezers, the back didn’t need to be painted.

To make the books, I devised a simple method, paint the the two faces and one edge of various sizes of strip styrene.  This works because when you cut them to length, you have the covers and spine painted, then the white of the other three sides looks like the pages.  This worked very well.

I then cut the strips to the lengths I wanted, I varied them a little to give more character.  I then started to glue in the books into the shelves.  I tried to make it look like a picked over mess, by stacking books, some leaning, with the spines sticking up and some properly book-ended.  This was actually very fun and went surprisingly fast, I may do some more for the interior.  I gave a quick wash of alcohol/india ink to add shadow and weather them slightly.

The last detail was to add little signs giving the prices of each section, this was made from a paper and some .010x.020″ styrene.

Awnings

For everything that I have added awnings to so far, they have been down.  This store front I decided to have them rolled up, again to add life and character.

First I added a drip shield that covers the mechanical parts of the awnings from the elements.  I made this from .010x.080″ strip that I painted PS UP Harbor Mist Grey (414176).  I glued this piece in at a slight angle.  Next I added the awning that was one that I made up and printed on a good glossy presentation paper.  After the awning was attached, I added some.025″ rod underneath the awning for where it rolls up into.  Lastly I added the folded up supports on either side of the awnings from some brass wire.