Recreating Rob Mountenay’s Merkiomen Valley Branch – The Speeder Shed

By “recreating”, I really mean it. It’s an interpretation from available pictures of Rob’s work but using my own creativity and as much scratchbuild techniques to make it a truly personal work of art.

Rob's original speeder shed (credit: Rob Mountenay / JOMRD)

The first thing I recreated was the speeder shed located by Moyer depot. Rob used a very typical specific prototype that he probably scratchbuilt or built from a kit. While it would be nice to do so, I happened to have an unassembled Walthers kit on hand. As you know, I’m not a fan of Walthers structures ubiquitousness. They stand out too much for my taste, however, if I had to build a speeder shed, it would hardly be different than a Walthers kit, so I decided to customize it a little bit.

 

Adding texture is easy and highly effective

First, I added a distressed wooden pattern on the plastic using coarse sandpaper and a razor saw blade. I felt it would give a more organic texture to an industrial product. The doors received the same treatment, but I also took care to scribe the lines between each wooden components making the doors. It was to emphasize it’s an assemblage and not a single piece moulding.

 

Adding nails improves the monolithic aspect of plastic parts

Second, the wooden platform also got the same distressing treatment, and nails were also added with the help of a metal point. I also used the razor saw to add deeper lines between the planks on the side. Once again, a neat trick to reduce the look a plastic monolithic part.

Crude original windows replaced with custom ones

 

Texture is added to the new windows

Another thing that bothered me were the windows and trims. They looked both minimalistic and unrealistic, so I decided to replace them with customized Tichy windows. The door also got new trims, and all these plastic components were distressed. I felt this little modification made the entire building look more authentic and gave it personality.

 

The concrete foundation is textured too

Finally, I used a stiff brush and solvent cement to give a more realistic concrete look to the concrete foundation. The trick is to dabble the melted surface with the brush until it creates a bumpy surface. Don’t be afraid of overdoing it because you can always soften the surface later on with more solvent or with a light sanding. This technique works also well for imitating steel surfaces, particularly the heavily rusted ones.

 

Finished model ready for painting

Painting shouldn’t be too complicated, and I may elect, later on, to add paper shingles on the plastic roof if weathering fails to capture a realistic look. All in all, these little modifications took less than an afternoon and add a great impact. It is a great way, while building brand new kits, to give them more depth and realism without embarking on a full kitbashing adventure.