Subway escalator and elevator building

Subway escalator and elevator building is going well so far. I went with the pink foam option - it seemed like a good option. I was going to go with styrene, but using the foam as a base was a bit more simple.

The platform was a bit small for both the escalator and elevator, so I had to make a small change. I'm using two platform pieces on one side to make a broader area for both to live in. I plan to fill in the area with a place to eat or a bar. I thought that might be fun. As I said, something with a GIGER BAR feel or some other prototype Japanese Theme Bar underground might be interesting.

I did some styrene carving to get the handrails going for the escalator. At N scale, I gave myself a bit of wiggle room when doing this. People won't be staring at it up close and it's tucked under and back a bit, so close was good enough. :)

The escalator alone took the whole platform, so I doubled the platform up.

I had to get the angle of the escalator right. I didn't want it to be set at a strange angle and also wanted it to hit a certain mark at street level. A little tricky, but it worked out.

The height had to be right as well. Originally, I wanted to mount it to the underside of the deck, but it turned out to be really stable, so I didn't really need to worry about that at the end.

Same went with the foam carving. I have not made a hot foam cutter purchase, so I'm doing the "cut and snap" method for most of this stuff. I actually like some of the texture stuff that's going on with the foam with the cuts. It gives it a stone-like texture.

I liked getting into the carve and making the sizes match. It was a fun process and now I have something that only really exists on my layout.

I went in with styrene and added some addition detail buildups here and there. I learned from my past mistake and stayed away from using my go-to DUCCO cement for this. ((It eats RIGHT through the foam)) Sadly, I had to go with the slower Elmers. A bit of a mess, but I couldn't see buying yet ANOTHER glue for this part of the project! hehehe  I'm a bit glue crazy of late.

Elmers was doing this funny thing as well. I had it standing up and gravity pulled the glue RIGHT DOWN and had it pooling at the base. Another good lesson - go easy on the Elmers. :)  I should have used the brush on and let it dry a bit method that's worked for me in the past. Moving too fast and trying to cram too much into a small amount of time, really.

The handrails worked out. Can't wait to paint them.

Another cool tip about the foam - a toothpick makes a great spray fingerhold when spraypainting. :)

Post praying. Not bad.

A little heavy on the spray above the escalator, but it chilled out after drying.

And, in place it's working well.

So, now I need to go in and paint and detail the structure. I have a folder full of details I plan to print and some fine tuning to the painting with additional painted details will really add to the overall look. I dropped in a back wall and I'm digging it already even though it's just blank foam at the moment.

I think that an underground cafe or bar will be a lot of fun. I'll build it up a bit from the ground level and might even light it so it looks alive and bright. It should add a lot of interest and a little fun into things.



Michael Adams was kind enough to pass over a great, Japanese blog that covered some subway
building. It had some nice details that I'd like to add as well. I'm even going with some lighting in the subway area. Nothing super awesome - just the standard battery powered kit with some fiber lighting highlights.

I'm also looking at a roof that is far lower than the layout deck. Said roof with have additional lighting as well. It'll make the section pop nicely with some cool highlights.

ONWARD!  :)

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