Realistic Weathering by Mother Nature.

kebmo · June 2021

carl sends me jokes almost every day.

admin · June 2021

I spoke with Carl last week. He is doing great.

SonofVietnamSeabee · July 2021

I don't build very much, and I post on here even less. Having two toddlers tends to force certain priorities higher on the list. But we recently did a summer vacation deep in the Rust Belt, and I had the job of driving our 2yo daughter in the car each afternoon to help her nap. So I was able to accomplish my second favorite hobby: taking pictures of old things.

Mind you I never let myself get out of the car since the kiddo was sleeping; these pictures could be better if I walked around each of the properties.

It'll take me a very long time to eventually model any of these, so perhaps these will help someone else get some ideas or even scratchbuild one of these beauties.

Most of these are shot within a one-mile radius in Michigan City, IN.

First up is the coal tipple. It was neat to drive right by one of these. Lots of images on the Internet of it too.
CoalTipple

Almost right next to the tipple behind me shooting it was this cool building. Nothing all that special, and yet they certainly don't build them like this anymore.

Bluebldg01

I like the terra cotta roof and that little circle detail on the front of the building. A bit of light weathering too.

Bluebldg03

SonofVietnamSeabee · July 2021

Almost exactly on the other side of the coal tipple was this awesome gem of a building. I keep thinking that this must be where Hansel and Gretel lived. It currently stands on the property of a lumberyard, but it might also have been part of an oil and gas company right next to it. Seems like it was used as some sort of service office. I couldn't find the history of it, but it's definitely a scratchbuild candidate.
gingerbread01

Look at the pitch of that roof!
gingerbread03

Interesting combination of exterior building materials. I see aluminum siding as well as wood siding. And that front door (and little front window) has a rounded top.

gingerbread04

SonofVietnamSeabee · July 2021

Within a few hundred yards of these buildings is an old factory that's listed for sale. Pretty standard looking old factory, but I was struck by the skylights on the roof. I count at least three different repair jobs and materials on these windows. Notice also the requisite shrubbery that's growing up there.

RoofDetail01

Vietnam Seabee (aka dad) says that those skylights are called a sawtooth roof.

SonofVietnamSeabee · July 2021

The last building in Michigan City from my find was this nondescript brick building that's seen better days. I love the attempted masonry repair.

BrickBldg01jpg

The peeling paint on that garage door is pretty nice.
BrickBldg03jpg

SonofVietnamSeabee · July 2021

White driving out of Indiana and into Michigan (sometimes she needs a long drive to fall asleep) I came across this old Chrysler police car parked on the grass. Why not.
ChryslerPoliceCar

SonofVietnamSeabee · July 2021

This is in Three Oaks, Michigan. Journeyman Distillery has taken over the historic building from 1883, founded by EK Warren to house his featherbone factory. Buggywhips and corsets was their product, and he used the quills from bird feathers as a revolutionary new material since whalebone was in shorter supply due to overfishing.

The irony is EK Warren was a staunch prohibitionist, and his building is now used to make some really tasty spirits.

JourneymanDisterillery01

Directly behind my back while shooting was a neat old factory-looking building with a chimney and rusted roof. This is all part of downtown Three Oaks.

randomFactory

SonofVietnamSeabee · July 2021

Over in New Buffalo is the old roundhouse that used to service the Pere Marquette (and later the Chessie) railroad. From my reading, most lumber used to rebuild Chicago following the 1871 fire passed through this roundhouse.

Sadly there's not too many good pictures to be made from what's left of the property.
NewBuffalo Roundhouse

SonofVietnamSeabee · July 2021

Came across tons of old barns. These are among my favorites.
barn

vietnamseabee · July 2021

The air compressor in the lower left of the last pic is weathered nicely

SonofVietnamSeabee · July 2021

Last one: This one might actually be my favorite. I absolutely love the varying colors of dirty windows on this service station. What a beautiful tic-tac-toe grid of modeling possibility.

I think I need to build this. Might replace that shiny steel covering and make it a functional station from the 1960s.

JerrysService01

JerrysService02

Mountaingoat · July 2021

Love your research. Lots of details and weathering to study. Thanks for posting...Rick

KCSTrains · July 2021

Thanks for the pictures and descriptions. Very useful and nice reference material. Phil

kebmo · July 2021

SonofVietnamSeabee said:
White driving out of Indiana and into Michigan (sometimes she needs a long drive to fall asleep) I came across this old Chrysler police car parked on the grass. Why not.

i expect to see broderick crawford piling out of it with a .38 in his hand.