Across from the CNJ Bronx Terminal along Third Avenue Bridge sits a large warehouse that always fascinated me. The eight story high building is a large dominating structure visible from far. Its curtain walls with large windows on all four sides make it a witness of mainstream industrial design of the first half of the 20th century. But I hesitated to include a model of it in my layout as I always felt it would be difficult to do justice to its size and dominance.
Built in 1928 and used by Grand Union Supermarkets for many years, it was connected through a separate freight spur to the CNJ Bronx Terminal. The track branched off from the terminal’s 135th Street extension. It then passed through the Mott Haven Iron Works building (!) to run along the loading docks of the Bruckner Building where it ended at the northwest corner at 134th Street. Archive pictures reveal a busy freight transfer and storage area on the NW-side of the Third Avenue bridge.
Proof of Concept
It was not until I came across the Industrial Wall modules from ITLA Scale Models that I decided to kit-bash or scratch-build my own Bruckner Building. My first plan was to use ITLA’s 4-story modules and extend them to get 6 or more stories. The plan fizzled when I realized that I’d need quite a large number of such modules and that ITLA would not sell windows separately. So I went back to the drawing board and designed the building from scratch. My plan was to also laser cut the components – walls, brick infills, and windows.
To make it compatible with the ITLA modules I already had, I used identical measures and similar materials. I also compressed the building slightly to facilitate integration into my N scale layout. My model would measure 7×3 units in length and depth instead of 11×4 as the prototype. I’d also reduce the number of stories from 8 to 6. With the ITLA kit as a template and a slightly reduced size, my model will be a visual approximation rather than an exact copy.
The laser cutting and scoring of the walls and the brick infills on 1/8″ MDF by a local service turned out well (thanks to Jo-Anne from FABberz in Brooklyn). I’ve never experimented with laser scoring or engraving of brick textures but they worked out well in my first attempt. The choice of MDF for a curtain wall building is a good one. It showed no visible warping when I painted the surface with an air-brush. Also, the mortar lines had the perfect strength and were easy to paint and weather. For the pilasters I used 1/32″ basswood that I sealed with (Tamiya) plastic putty.
For the windows, I considered several options, like birchwood veneer, taskboard and lazerboard. I finally realized that lazerboard is superior to more traditional materials for windows. Trevor Hinze from CapitalCustoms cut them in an amazing quality on his 60W laser. Once I had the laser cut materials, I was able to complete front and a side of the building. These, plus the side I kit-bashed from ITLA kits, provided me with a working proof of concept. I designed the remaining pieces of the structure, including floors and roofs got them cut as well.
Building the Walls
The sequence of steps to get a wall done were:
- Add the pilasters between the windows using 1/32″ basswood strips.
- Spray-paint the front with a gray primer followed by a gray-brown acrylic mix representing aged concrete.
- Glue the painted windows, making them flush with the back of the wall.
- Paint and weather the brick infills: start with a light gray primer to seal the brick and mortar lines. Let it dry overnight, then using a sponge, carefully apply a thin layer of brick paint. When dry, use heavily thinned down white enamel (Testors) paint to emphasize the brick mortar lines. Improve the distinctiveness of bricks and mortar lines by repeating the process of toning the bricks and emphasizing the mortar lines.
- Glue the painted brick infills into the wall using a jig to ensure consistent inset (roughly 1/32″).
- Carefully spray the back of the wall with a layer of clear matte coating (I used Krylon Clear Finish) and when dry, with a layer of black primer followed by a layer of gray primer. The black primer helps sealing the seams between windows and walls to avoid light leakage.
- Add stripes of 1/32″ basswood on the back side between the windows (similar to the pilasters on the front). This will again reduce leakage of light through the small gaps on the sides between bricks and wall.
- Cut windows glazing with the size of the window frames and glue on the (unpainted) back of the windows. I used Plastruct Styrene Clear Sheet 0.010″ for the glazing and Microscale Kristal Klear diluted with water for gluing them to the frame. I used the Kristal Clear also for the glazing in the small windows with 6 and 8 panes. Apply a drop of diluted Kristal Clear with a micro brush between the frame so that it completely covers a single pane. Wait 30 minutes and you have a perfect window with crown glass-like panes.
- With the wall almost complete, it’s time now to apply finishing touches like weathering. Photos of the building in the 1930s showed a large “Grand Union Food Stores” sign on all four sides of the building. I added signs cut from 0.017″ lazerboard and complemented with decals for the smaller letters on all four walls. Additionally, I also constructed the loading dock along the long backside.
Assembly of the Building
Since my Bruckner Building would be a complete structure that can be viewed from all four sides, I had to plan the inside early. I intended to add lights and a minimal detailing inside, plus I wanted to avoid the impression of a completely hollow building. To keep things simple, I designed a core around the elevator lobby and stairwell. Alternating partial floors covering half of the front or back would limit unnatural views across the entire building. The open structure would also make it easier to add internal lighting.
Once I had all four building facades and the core structure completed, I still had to resolve one challenge: how to mount the wall elements and secure them, so the corners would fit without a visible seam. The most obvious solution would be to glue them in place. However, that would prevent me from adding lights now and repair the structure later, so not a good solution! Since the walls all have half-inch long mortise and tenon joints on both sides, they fit snugly but still need pressure to be kept together. Additionally, the back wall stuck with its tenons in mortises precisely cut into the base plate (in the foreground of the photo above). Why not leverage a key feature of laser-cut parts?
I decided to fasten the other three walls with screw hooks in both corners on the ground plate. The hooks would loosely sit in holes and work like a horizontal hinge. On each corner on the roof end I’d add notches. The two adjacent notches from both walls that form a corner then can be fastened with a pin. This design worked out well and the precision of the laser cut material was good enough to provide stability and robustness without using glue. For now there’s still a visible gap between the walls. I might be able to close it with putty when giving the building the finishing touch.
My finished model still lacks some details – roof details and the loading dock on the back side have to wait a bit – but I’m very happy with the result. Even if the input in terms of time and money was significant, it was well worth the effort. Sure, I could save some money if I invested in my own laser cutter. Scoring mortar lines into MDF is a time-consuming process and is expensive with a professional service. Moreover, using the laser cutter once in a while is fun. Look at the fine details (in N scale), like the sashes within the large windows that can be flipped open!
Finally, I’d like to thank Trevor Hinze from CapitalCustoms for his perfect laser-cutting of the most delicate parts of this projects. His assistance with samples, options and advice was key to a prototypical result and a great scratch-building experience.