To find prototype pictures I had to look for certain building types (banks in this case) that would have been around no later than 1925. It's a lot harder than it sounds and I'm still looking for good ones for some of the other key locations. Not only is the date an issue but I had to find things that were distinctly New England as this is supposed to be a fairly large city in Massachusetts in 1926. I even looked at all the available model kits and built-ups from various model railroad companies to make sure I was truly going to have to scratch build these. Turns out I do, because although there is a wealth of structure kits out there, only a small percent of them would work in a New England setting. Not only that, but my models had specific requirements, like being accessible containers, and although I suppose some of them could have been kit bashed, this lowered the number of usable structures by quite a bit, leaving only ones that I felt didn't really fit my theme.
Looking at the loan cards that are going to be stored in the bank gave me a fairly solid idea of what the Bank of Arkham should look like. The small picture on those cards depict a mostly white concrete structure with a colonnaded front. I would also like to have a portico of some type over the front entrance. The picture also implied to me (although it isn't actually shown) a fairly flat roof line. This would work well in creating a lid for the structure that could be hinged and have enough room to hide two of the small magnets in, one in the lid and one in the base structure. Depending on the actual build when I get to that part, I may have to up the number of magnets used for a more secure closed position, but I doubt it.
It was fairly hard to find pictures of banks from the 1900's that fit what I thought this place should look like, but in the end I found enough to work from.
This picture is of a bank in New Jersey in 1925 and is called the Broadway Trust Company. White concrete, colonnaded front and sides, flat roof line, very close to what I had envisioned. I did not think it would be too out of place in the town once all the other buildings were placed, and in fact, the white concrete structure would probably be good to break up some of the many brick and mortar buildings.
Here is another one of the same building sometime in the early 1900's. The nice thing here is it showed more than one side, and in better detail.
Another of the same bank at the same angle pretty much, but this one is of the building as it is now. Not much, if anything has changed, but it is in color which would be a huge help come time to paint.
Same bank, again a recent image, and in color, but a very nice front only view that would allow me to get some measurements.
Not wanting to just stick to one real life building, I found this interesting Bank from South Camden, New Jersey in 1927. Similar structure to the Broadway one, but this one provided a variety of details that might prove helpful.
Last one. This is a bank in Camden, New Jersey dated 1925. Not sure why everything that I picked out was from Jersey, but they work for me, so, whatever. I also find it amusing that all three banks have so much in common, are all located within one state, and two of which are almost in the same town! I wonder if they are all are from the same affiliated branch or something?These were not the only images I found. There were more, but once I had gathered a good amount, I started to filter through them, knowing what I wanted. These three places all seemed fairly close in appearance and were similar enough to allow me to start based on one and maybe bring in some elements from another. The rest I trashed so I wouldn't be tempted to switch mid-stream or incorporate a detail that wouldn't fit the style.
Next step, measuring and diagramming. Maybe I'll actually get to start building sometime soon, huh?
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