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Got'cha Covered

AM Extras
The bench was a wonderful urban detail to add. In my research I would see them here and there and the corner area was perfect for this kit. This kit is Custom Dioramics kit and a previous built review can be found here . The kit was easy to build; the only consideration I had to make was physical room in conjunction with the phone booth.
The phone booth is another Custom Dioramics piece. I wanted something in my corner to add visual interest that isn't seen very often. I also wanted something fairly tall so viewer’s eyes do not drop all the way to the base at this corner. To me this helps a viewer flow through the diorama, as a viewer’s eyes move, the eyes are now drawn back to the bench back into the diorama.
This kit was easy to build, four walls, a roof, floor, shelf and a phone. It went together like a charm. I painted it a forest green color of hobby paint. Then I went back with a coat of green oil paints to add depth and richness. Once that was dry I added a brown/black oil filter and then a black pin wash. The roof was painted a nice steel gray color. Inside the phone was painted the typical period color of black. I added a bit of hobby wire for the phone cord. I needed to get the phone service to the booth. To do this I made a small frame detail out of angle styrene. I cut a few pieces and glued it with CA. I painted this with Taimya Gun Metal. The insulator is a jewelry bead I got at a craft store. I threaded this over a metal pin that I cut down to the correct length. The metal pin did not react well with CA so I had to re-glue it with two-part epoxy. On the building side of the phone line I made a small hanger out of bass wood scraps. I stained it with household stain. The insulators are the same bead and pin rig epoxyed on. The wire is thin gauge steel hobby wire. This was a rather large challenge because I wanted a nice even 'flow' for the wire. The flow was very difficult to achieve with a wire medium. I had to repeatedly shape and re-shape the wire. I used the same techniques for the wire that runs down the house. I used a bit of foil to hold the wire to the building and to act as a weather cover for the entry point. I painted all the wire black.
The signs on the lamppost and the delicatessen are both Custom Dioramic products from their French Commercial signs kit. A review can be found here. I personally enjoyed these signs a great deal. There is a huge variety in them. I reviewed the signs and decided on making a couple into street signs and then label the storefront. I wanted a sign to be placed on the building, not hanging off it. This gave me a couple of options and I test fit a couple different signs in the spaces I had on the building. I also had to consider what store would be on a corner and have construction similar to my building. I finally settled on the delicatessen sign.
The street signs were a ‘creative use’ project. I saw that there were two of the same signs and this led me to believe that they could be glued back to back to form a two-sided sign. The signs were cut out glued together and the edges were colored with a matching pastel. If you use these signs you will find that the edges will come out white when you cut them off the card. I wanted the signs to stand out and be noticed, to do this I wanted to hang them on the lamppost. I planned on a small decorative wire frame. I simply used a bit of hobby wire and bent it into shape using a pair of 'round' tipped pliers. The hanging pieces were even smaller pieces bent around the tip of the pliers and inserted between the two sign cards.
The street lamp is the Tamiya standard. I tweaked the light bulb and used a jewelry bead hanging from a wire. I spray painted it with a base coat of flat black and then dry brushed it with aluminum.