“Of course. The very place for a
very special occasion.”
My intentions when making the W&A
RR's Marceline yard a modular style layout were to allow sections of
the layout to reach levels of completion incrementally. As well as,
of course, making the layout very portable as a Free-mo style module.
As bench-work and track work moves on at a 'steady' pace on the
Roundhouse and servicing facility, design attention drew towards the
next set of modules. Which included the yard throat, depot, caboose
track, and the very beginnings of the town of Marceline itself.
It is on this part of the layout that I
hope to include a model of one of the more iconic structures in the
Lady and the Tramp franchise. The very place where
Lady and Tramp, and also Scamp and Angel, fell deeply in love.
When I started working on the layout
concept, modeling Tony's Restaurant wasn't something I had intended.
Ironic, considering the goals intended when it became clear this was
going to be a 19th century “Lady and the Tramp” model
railroad. However, while eating at a Speedway Cafe with a fellow
model rail, he brought up the idea of actually modeling the famous
Spaghetti for Two scene. At first, I was actually a little reluctant
to put the two star dogs in model form on the layout. However, the
more I thought about it, the more it seemed like it could be done in
a subtle yet present manner.
 |
| First Attempt |
Like all models based off a prototype,
the first thing that would have to be done is collecting source
material. Tony's Restaurant appears to be a casual
restaurant, with a relaxed
atmosphere, casual dress, full table service, and shareable platters.
Tony's appears in all three L&TT films. Both in the original
animated franchise, and the 2019 film. So, there was plenty to work
with. I focused more on the first film, although the second has some
very nice color samples. The 2019 film shows the whole of the
building face. However, it's set is so dramatically different from
the original film that, like most of the 2019 film, I'm ignoring it.
 |
| Second Try |
Brick architecture in the 19th
century tended to be characterized by thick walls, arched and
decorative openings, cornices, corbels, and friezes, all of which are
features derived from the rational application of load-bearing
masonry construction. The
building kits made by Design Preservation Models fit the bill
wonderfully, and I happened to have a large number of these kits
ready for use as parts and building fronts for the projects. It
wouldn't take much to cut parts from a few of these kits and make the
structure. I started by cutting the facade apart and moving the
doorway and windows to create the single multipane glass window and
recessed doorway as seen in the film. My first attempt came out
alright. However, I felt the window was a bit too small, and the
building seemed a bit too narrow. Take two got me closer to the
desired look. Even though I did like the rounded windows on the first
building, as they reminded me of the 2019 film's facade. So, the
first building will find a use elsewhere.
Two golden amber LEDS were placed
inside the building in order to give off a soft glow. One is in the
main dining room, while the other is positioned in such a way as to
shine a shaft of light out the kitchen door. As the building has such
a large window, and is illuminated on the ground floor, I put
together a shadowbox interior. The Dining room walls were made from
card-stock, painted and scribed. In
the film, the front window has a small shelf across it, and a red
privacy curtain. The shelf was made from bass wood, stained, and the
curtain made but cutting to size a piece of a Taco Bell take out bag,
which was painted and glued to a brass rod. To give the curtain
folds, the piece of brown constriction paper was crumpled and folded
several times.
The building was
assembled with a combination of matte mod-podge glue, CA, and
hotglue. The hotglue was used to make quick tabs joining wall to
wall, as well as seal the foam in place. CA being run up each joint
to make a solid joint. Matte Mod Podge was used on all the clear
window acrylics, as well as anywhere the joint will be visible. As it
dried completely clear and with it's matte finish, vanishes
completely.
 |
| A cross section of the structure, showing the shadowboxes. |
DPM kits come with
styrene panels to create the roof, as well as channels for the roof
to slid onto. I prefer to save these for other projects, and instead
use thinner construction board for the roof. The board is cut to
size, and tar paper rolls are made from masking tape. Two support
beams were made using thin stirring sticks I nicked from a
Chick-fil-a.
 |
| Lights are on. |
The canopy awnings were originally made
in GIMP, printed out on card paper, and folded. The main triangular
awning is foldable, and can be seen both folded out, and folded in,
in the 1955 film. However, after looking at the paper awnings for a
while, I didn't like how they appeared. Especially with the compound
curves of the awning over the main doorway. So, I did a second
attempt in which I carved the awnings from foam. Painted them, and
hand painted the red stripes. These came out far better then then
paper awnings.
