Well I finally built my first wooden craftsmen kit. I chose the JL Innovative Brookside Ice House. It was definitely more challanging than a styrene kit. Mostly because you have to plan your work more carefully due to the longer set-up time of the wood glue. I'm really glad that I tried one of these and will definitely build another one of these kits in the near future.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/139459788@N08/shares/R426S7
Modeling the B&M Railroad during the transition era in Lowell, MA
That's nice. I was looking at the Kana Models ice house for something different, but I have too many irons in the fire right now.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
years ago when i used wood, i found that tight bond wood glue seems to set a bit faster.
I built the Walthers one. Your pictures make me wish I gone with a craftsman kit instead.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasley I built the Walthers one. Your pictures make me wish I gone with a craftsman kit instead.
I was waffling between those two models myself. I actually thought that the Walters ice house was going to be too large for my layout. I must admit that I like the look of a real wood structure on the layout. That's why I'd like to build a few more of these. I may try a Bars Mill model next.
I went with the Walthers one, too, and am glad I did....
I used to scratchbuild in wood, but I much prefer working with styrene. I built several icehouses using Evergreen sheet and strip material, like this one...
...and four of these, for local coal and ice dealers...
...along with the coal bins, as shown above.All of the stockpens on the layout were built from strip styrene, too...
The scratchbuilt station is styrene, too, with left-over windows from some Walthers kits...
This lumber yard is a combination of kits and scratchbuilt, but even the lumber piles were made from Evergreen strip styrene material....
I used up the last of my scale stripwood making flatcar decks...
...and lumber loads...
...with the little left-over bits going as dunnage remnants in gondolas...
I did build my house using wood, but don't care to ever use it again for structures or rolling stock on my layout.
Wayne
Great looking ice house, the selection was a bit of a challange for a first wood kit.
WilmJuncIt was definitely more challanging than a styrene kit.
If you want a real challange, try a Campbell kit. They are generally described as a box of strip wood and a set of instructions. No laser pre-cutting there.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
WilmJunc:
Nice first time job on the ice house kit! I know you will enjoy building more craftsman kits. The results are so rewarding.
If you will allow me, I would like to make a suggestion after looking at your photographs. You have used Midwest cork for your roadbed which is great. However, when it comes time to ballast the track you may have a bit of difficulty getting the profile of the ballast right. That is because the cork needs to have the jagged edge sanded off first. When you separate the two halves of the cork roadbed there is a rough edge left where the cork strips were joined together. That edge will interfere with getting the ballast to slope smoothly from the ties to the ditch.
Coarse sandpaper works well. Some people prefer a Surform Shaper tool like this:
https://www.stanleytools.com/en-us/products/hand-tools/woodworking-tools/files-surform/714-in-surform-shaver/21-115
Just a suggestion.
Cheers!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Nice work, Steve!
That's a nice size for a icehouse.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
JL Innovative has a number of very interesting structures, details, and trackside things in their catalog (online) - worth checking now and then because few hobby shops could possibly carry the whole JLI line, and not everything is pictured in the Walthers catalog or their online version either.
Note when navigating their site that they tend to segregate the lines they have acquired such as Durango Press.
Dave Nelson