Dot's Diner, Part 2 of 2

With its big windows and strong character, this is the kind of structure that just screams for lots of interior details, and the interior detailing kit provided most of the basics. However, I could also have easily gone overboard with loads of additional items—after all, what self-respecting diner doesn't have a coffee maker (or two), a soda fountain, an ice cream dispenser, and dessert case? Not to mention a jukebox?

Unless the roof was removed for closer inspection, most items would go unnoticed through the windows, and thus constitute wasted effort—I would like to see the diner finished in my lifetime! I provide just enough familiar details to give an observer the flavor of a classic diner; the rest is automatically filled in by their imagination.

One of the things that held the project up for quite some time was trying to figure out how to finish the floor. I wanted a classic black and white checkerboard pattern, as I'd made for my N scale version; however, that floor was done by printing a checkerboard on thin white sheet plastic using a industrial laser printer.

Lacking the laser printer as well as the special plastic stock, I could not do this today; plus, I needed to use a process that didn't permanently cover the holes and slots in the kit floor, where tables and chairs were mounted. The solution—which was awfully long in coming, despite sounding so simple—was to print a black checkerboard pattern on white decal material using an inkjet printer (followed by several coats of clear fixative). I also used this technique to make the small sign over the door, the menu on the back wall, and other details. I generated multiple copes of several variations of the artwork so that I could pick and choose the best-looking versions, plus have backups in case I messed up a decal.

As it happened, the white decal material was quite robust, so the floor went down in one shot. From there it was a matter of painting and finishing the kit parts and then adding a few more details. The seats were all spray-painted red, the stools topped with blobs of red paint, and most everything else was left stainless. The two interior doors were replaced with more interesting-looking ones left over from the Pink Elephant Car Wash kit.

Artwork for the floor, menus and signs is printed on white decal sheet.

The checkerboard decals are applied to the floor parts.

Seats and stools are painted red and installed on the floor.

The ingredients for a fluorescent lighting fixture effect are assembled.

Peering through the window of the diner at night produces an interesting view!

The tables and countertop begged for better detailing—the dinnerware in the kit was a nice touch, but it was all just etched into the surface. So, I covered them with thin sheet styrene, and added new dinnerware and other items made from scraps of styrene and bits of wire. With all of the "props" in place, I then populated the establishment with staff and patrons. Also, the entrance got a potted plant and an "OPEN" sign.

The N scale version of my diner had some unique interior lighting effects: I'd made cheesy-looking chandeliers that hung over the tables from clear faceted beads with micro-bulbs inserted inside. I debated whether or not to do the same or something similar. Part of what dictated my choices was what might be visible through the windows, so I placed the half-fished kit on the layout to see, and discovered that quite a bit of the interior—far more than for the N scale version—was open for inspection.

Since chandeliers could not be installed without visible supports and wiring, I elected to stick with just the stock lighting. However, the part supplied with the kit could not be made to fit and still properly illuminate most of the ceiling, so I made a new ceiling light panel from Miller Engineering's electroluminescent "experimenter's kit," which has connectors flush with the long edge (fortunately I'd gotten the kit to illuminate the Woolworth building).

For an improved effect, I finished off the ceiling with a sandwich of a piece of Gold Medal Models N scale ladder safety cage, a sheet of frosted acetate, and the EL-panel to simulate fluorescent fixtures in a suspended ceiling. It all sounds like a lot of work, but it was actually much easier to make than describe, and the finished effect is sure cool, not to mention rarely if ever seen, at least in Z scale. And yes, it's visible; with the diner so close the the edge of the layout, it's possible to peer up through the window at the ceiling. The lighting "fixtures" are not to scale by any means, but with an effect such as this—visible only at a glance on a very long angle—it's nearly impossible to tell.

There were a couple of odd challenges I faced with the interior. One had to do with the lighted sign: the bracket and pins run right behind the interior entrance doors, and would ordinarily be visible from the outside, so I applied frosted acetate to the door windows to help obscure it. Inside, I just hoped that the clutter of tables and other details were enough of a distraction to make it less noticeable.

The other interior design problem was the gap at each end of the diner, between the end of the floor and the outer wall next to the rounded windows. I understood why these areas could not be filled by the kit parts as designed, and there was no way I was going to extend the floor and move tables around. So, I filled in the spaces with large planters. To simulate plastic plants, I used N scale etched brass foliage from Scale Link painted with dark green semi-gloss paint.

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