Pair-O-Chutes Build (Part V)

The focus of this update is the small Office Shanty seen in the picture above. It's a rather unremarkable two-story structure that provided an office area for the ride and the park in general. The photo above is in black and white, but the basic colors are the white siding, and all of the trim is in Red on the corners and windows. I was able to find this out from a Documentary of the park where the building was seen only briefly as a parachute was being lifted up. The roof is just a tarred over surface which will be added on later.

You are looking at the South and East sides of the structure. The building is made form .060 sheet stock as seen at the base of the building. I then cut out the window and door holes then added the corner trim to the model on all four sides. Then I used #4101 Clapboard stock for the siding. I cut out exaggerated window holes so I could put the window trim in place. I added the sills after the frames were finished. Then I masked all of the siding with painter's tape to paint the trim.

Since the above B/W picture is the only one I've ever seen of the building I had to guess what was on the West side of the building. In talking with Frank Lurz, I found out that there was no door to enter through the wooden fencing, so I imagined that the entrance would have to be on this side. I built the entryway and a six-panel door. This would be the Employee entrance not only for this building but the circular one on the inside of the tower.

I left this side open because I need to opaque the inside walls to prevent light leaks. I plan to use a photocell switch to activate the interior lighting so that the model could be on a NIGHT-TIME function when the ride would be lit up. I won't be adding any Interior details because I will be putting window shades on the inside to diffuse the lighting. For now, I am planning to use this building as a cover so that I can access the winches for the parachute lifts. The motors are small enough to fit inside this building comfortably. The secondary building will be connected from this point to the inner building. I need to add the north wall along with it's siding as well as some lighting.

As with the panel fence, I masked off everything that I don't want painted Red. Then I just lightly go over the areas that need the Red paint. This took 3 coats.

After the paint is dry, I remove the masks and this is the result. There are some minor touch-ups needed, but over-all it came out pretty nice. Here you can see the siding and the six-panel door. I'll add the pull handle and lock later. I figured at the time this was built they more than likely had a very solid door there. That's why I made the six-panel. It may have had a window on the door but again I've never seen a picture of that side of the building.

I know the color may be a bit loud, but you figure that in a carnival atmosphere this is what would be used. Next, I will add the glass for the windows, the inside shades and the roof. In the next update I will have the secondary building built. That's it for this update.

Mark