Scratch building a depot

[pennytrains]

Drawing up some siding.  Going from left to right, a "board" is a fold under piece to be glued to the back side of the next 1/8" strip.  Therefore the third strip just to the left of the darker (cut) lines is the double thick facing of the board.

 If that makes sense 

[smokey1]

I agree. 

[Flintlock76]

Oh, this is gonna be gooooood...   

[pennytrains]

I decided I would start a thread for the little semi-scale depot I’m building from stuff around the house. It will be based on the Nickel Plate Road and Cincinnati Northern junction depot in Latty Ohio, just a little north and west of Lima and Wapakoneta. Here’s a link to the website with the reference photo I’m using:

https://www.west2k.com/ohpix/latty.jpg

Obviously I’ll be using some artistic license and more than a little selective compression. But my main criteria are as follows:

1. Don’t spend money on the project unless absolutely necessary.

2. Make everything possible from scratch including doors, windows, siding and shingles.

3. Structure needs to occupy the same footprint as a Plasticville Suburban Station.

So, what materials do I have available? 65 pound cardstock, the heavy card backings from watercolor paper pads, craft sticks including tongue depressors, popsicle sticks and coffee stir sticks, a few dowels in various sizes, scraps of clear plastic from packaging and a few fiddly bits.

After drafting the main walls on the heavy card, I cut them out and then cut the window and door openings using a cutting wheel in my Dremel.

 

After taking a break to remove the Christmas tree from my living room, I started experimenting with the one piece of the model I have never done before: creating convincing dimensional siding from strips of cardstock. I went with 2 layers of 65 pound card and the overall effect is pretty good.

 

To do this I first measured 3 segments 1/8 of an inch wide and drew the lines. 1 for scoring, the next for placement of the next slat, and the third line for cutting. This allows an overlap from one slat to the next and will keep the entire section of siding connected.

This building will have 2 other completely different kinds of siding so I’ll keep you updated as I experiment with those. In case you’re wondering, it will most likely have grey walls, white trim and a green roof.