Painting Merchant's Row I - Model Railroader Magazine

Mine's a different model in the Merchants' Row series, but hopefully these examples will help.  I found this to be a really nice model that's quite an eye-catcher, so I gave it a prominent location, dressed it up with an interior and detailed the street scene as well.

I planned things during construction by adding interior floors and walls of foamboard.  Some of this is overkill, particularly the second floor where the windows are small and it's hard to see anything inside, but it takes almost no extra time to print wood, tile or carpet floors on my computer, cut them to size and glue them to the foamboard inside.  I also installed both interior and exterior lighting at this point.

This is the lower floor, where the windows are larger and it's possible to see the details inside.  Again, there's nothing here but foamboard and stuff printed on the computer.

Although the 4 walls are each one piece of molded plastic, they represent multiple buildings with different facades.  So, I did a lot of masking and used quite a few colors.  I use rattle-can spray paints from the hardware store, mostly.  As I recall, I used thinned acrylic paint for the mortar.

Illumination gives the interiors some life.  They included a lot of signs with this kit, and I used them as suggestions for the bike shop and the Oriental rug place.

Figures and parking meters make the scene "deeper" and more interesting to the viewer.  I should NOT have used that thick plastic for the window glazing on the lower floors.  It obscures the interior, and clear acetate would have been a better choice.

And finally, good night.  I used City Classics window shades and Venetian blinds in the upstairs windows.  Is it my fault that the girl in the turret room didn't close them?