I am not stranger to scratchbuilding or kitbashing. The dark grey loading dock with the pallet is the first I did. some 30 years ago. Most buildings on the layout are alterested in some way. or dpm, scratchbuilt. I have never scratchbuilt in wood though. The newest two buildings (these for the 2 foot guage layout) are wood. So before I start building , what are some good wood scratch building articles and tips and such for figuring out how to create it?
Shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
I haven't done wood models in a while, but I assembled some insanely detailed wood HO scale kits back in the 90's with some very specialized cyanoacrylate glue that my dad had used for making pens. It allowed me (even as a kid) to carefulky create things like railings and b&b siding textures without much fuss.
Fast forward to the mid 2000's in college architecture school and I used the same stuff for laser cut or basswood models. I'm thinking of mixing some wood scratchbuilt parts with my 3d prints because the wood texture just looks better. Just requires a little more patience.
Used to use a special CA, then did regular gel CA, Now I just use white glue which ends up being almost as strong and I like the fact that you can stain the project after it is built as long as you wipe down your over glueing with watered rag or q-tip (pointed type). Have built many FSM, Campbell and other manufacturers as well as scratch buil.
Back in the late '50s and early '60s, I did scratchbuilding using wood, but in the late '60s, I discovered styrene materials similar to those in wood. There was strip and sheet material, along with shapes and sheet material that had board or brick detail added, and when I learned to use it, never wanted to go back to wood.
My last big scratchbuild, using both wood and styrene, was a model of a blast furnace, working from blueprints offered by my employer, which was a steel plant.
I have only a handful of photos, as I was running out of room in our one bedroom apartment. I offered the unfinished model to my employer, along with a request to fund me for the required materials to finish it, but they wanted me to bring it for inspection. Since it would not fit into my vehicle, I was unable to comply. The partially built model followed along with us as we moved from place to place, until we were finally able to purchase a house of our own. By that time, I had started a train layout, and eventually dismantled what had been done on the blast furnace.A few photos...
The cast house....
...with corrugated basswood siding, basswood H-columns, and built-up basswood roof trusses along with a double track skip bridge that was over 3' long (lying atop the structure and also made using basswood shapes and steel rails. The "concrete" wall was done using dental plaster, and served as the outlet for the furnace's slag runners. The basic shell of the furnace was done with sheet styrene, and was almost 3' tall without any of the associated pipes and platforms, nor the downcomer added, which would have put the model around 4' high.At that time, the real one was, as far as I know, the largest blast furnace in Canada, and very likely, also the largest in North America. I thought that was great, until I realised how great the cost would be to finish it - not just the furnace and the building, but also all of the stoves, bag houses, gas scrubbers, etc., etc.
Over time, I eventually dismantled it, the only things left were the roof trusses. I do wish that I had kept the 40-or-so sheets of blueprints, though.
Here's part of the real one...
...and the only other photos left of the model...
The real cast house, which, if viewed from above, was similar to a shallow "V"-shape, and in each side there was an overhead crane. I had started to build one, but put it aside when I dismantled the structure.
Later, I decided to finish the crane, but based it on a composite of some of the real ones which I had operated.
When I built my current layout, I decided to use it as an outdoor crane behind my "sorta-locomotive-shop". It actually serves no real purpose, other than supposedly lifting rail cars off their trucks or moving around heavy items.In the photo below, the clapboard lean-to against the brick building (formerly a Vollmer 3 stall roundhouse) is basswood, with a styrene roof, and the corrugated stairwell tower to the crane, also left-over basswood from the blast furnace project....
...while the small structure in the foreground is scratchbuilt in styrene...as is the crane's runway and main collector rails.
The crane, scratchbuilt, is mostly styrene but I used basswood angle iron for the handrails, collector rails for the trolley, and for the reinforcements on the crane's bridge and trolley...at that time I was unaware of such shapes in styrene.
I have since replaced some of the crane's handrails using styrene shapes, now readily available and much easier to put together without need of waiting for glue to dry.
I no longer use wood for modelling, other than to build the layout structure, of course.
Some mostly scratchbuilt plastic structures...
This one is part scratchbuilt (the last of my real wood) and part kitbash (some hacked-up Atlas girder bridges)...
...and these two...
This water tower was built by my father, in the mid-'50s...
...it was originally a composite of basswood scribed siding (with paper banding) and balsawood legs and supports. The spout and delivery pipe are brass, as are the channel-guides for the chains and the counterweights. A couple of years ago, I re-did the support structure using strip styrene, along with phosphor-bronze tension rods and styrene nbw details, along with the styrene footings.
I have worked extensively with wood - I used a lot of it to build the house in which I live, and also for a few projects for a couple of daughters and a few grandkids, but no more wood for modelling.
Wayne
NVSRR I have never scratchbuilt in wood though.
Hi Shane,
I love scratchbuilding in wood despite the fact that styrene might be quicker, easier and cheaper. None of those things concern me. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from building with wood.
One place you might want to start would be with Bar Mills videos, Their videos are designed for working with wood kits, but a lot of the information is applicable to scratchbuilding as well:
https://barmillsmodels.com/
I have a few suggestions that may help:
1. Prime the wood thoroughly before painting. Wood can warp quite badly if it is not sealed. Any cheap automotive spray primer will work. Use gray for lighter finished colours and red oxide for darker finished colours.
2. Paint all the parts that will be different colours before assembly. That will give you much crisper separation between the colours.
3. Use structural reinforcing inside the buildings to prevent warping over time. Basswood is available in smaller precut sizes i.e. 1/4" x 1/4" and does the job perfectly for most HO scale buildings. For larger structures, use larger reinforcing.
4. Don't be afraid to use styrene detail parts like doors and windows. That's what the wood kit makers do.
I look forward to seeing your work!
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
All the times I looked on bar mills I missed the vids. Saw Fosscale though.
since the 2 foot gauge is close to the 30's ish. Using wood for buildings is almost needed since almost everything was wood.
It will be an interesting change of pace. I do know to use wax paper as the gluing surface so I don't glue anything to the work bench.
shane
Many modelers have followed Wayne's path -- used to build in wood but now do so with styrene. That process started around 1960 when a great modeler named Al Armitage published articles which boosted styrene and Armitage would show photos of things he built in styrene that other modelers would use wood or even metal for, Those were controversial articles at the time by the way - a lot of modelers found their belief systems being challenged!
As a result there are not too many recently published articles on scratchbuilding with wood (versus articles on assembling wood and laser cut wood kits, whih you do see now from time to time).
If you have older issues of MR or access to the Archives, go back to the 1950s and 1960s -- the Dollar Model series of articles almost always used wood then. Some of them were gathered into a Kalmbach book Easy to Build Model Railroad Structures. Be aware that some things people labored over back then such as building your own windows and doors, are now so much easier thanks to Tichy, Grandt Line, etc.
And look for structure articles by authors such as Joe Kunzelmann, Jock Oliphant, Jack Work, E.L. Moore (still writing his articles into the 1970s in MR and RMC), H.O. Williams, and Eric Stevens.
Dave Nelson
I have full intention to use stuff like pre doors, windows, shingles and other such. 3D print is also an option.
doctorwayne ...and these two... Wayne
1) That green trackside tower that looks like a treehouse... what is it used for? Is it housing a crossing-guard who will alert motorists and pedestrians that a train is coming? Or is someone operating the turnout from up there, or flagging the train?
2) Can I have it? (Kidding, but not.)
-Matt
Returning to model railroading after 40 years and taking unconscionable liberties with the SP&S, Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads in the '40s and '50s.
Matt,
Your question is the answer. It is for the crossing guard. not all of these guard huts were elevated like that. In some situations there might. be signal and turnout leavers.
Taking your time, carefull planning, right tools, is most of the work right there. the rest is just practice.
Well, that's now two consecutive fairly-lengthy and illustrated threads deleted on posting.
Sorry, but I'm not currently in the mood for making a third attempt.
are you also finding that it stops recieveing text at random because the ads are to busy jamming everything? Mine does that. Having to wait for an ad to stop doing something or finish loading before it lets me continue writing
NVSRRare you also finding that it stops recieveing text at random because the ads are to busy jamming everything?
It doesn't seem to be related to that, but I think that it may be the fact that I'm taking too long to compose my reply. Usually, that doesn't involve the text (other than me checking for spelling errors or deciding to change a word for a more appropriate one.The other delay is for finding the proper photos to illustrate the text portion.In the past, photobucket was a well-organised operation, with page-by-page "albums", but when google acquired it, they changed the albums to one page per topic title.Formerly, I had a pretty good idea of the album page where the photo I wanted could be found. On the new version, I may be scrolling on a single page which includes four or five hundred pictures, no longer in date-of-input order.What compounds the problem, is that once I select that photo and add it to my reply, then wish to also add the photo which was right beside the one I had selected, I'm required to scroll down again in order to find it.
There have been a few complaints about me posting too many pictures, but I consider most of the photos essential to illustrate what my written words are trying to explain. If I were the complainee, I'd likely simply skip the pictures or skip the entire post, once I saw the contributor's name.
NVSRR So before I start building , what are some good wood scratch building articles and tips and such for figuring out how to create it?
Before I started scratchbuilding in wood, I built a few smaller wooden craftsmen kits. That secured the skill-set, then I just needed to learn how to design.
Nearly all the buildings on my first two N scale layouts were wooden and either scratchbuilt or craftsmen kits.
Once I switched to HO, most of my buildings became plastic.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I model HO scale and have replaced almost all of my plastics/Styrene/kit structures with scratch built wooden structures.I model the rural area so no down town structures. I still have kit built yard structures but almost every thing else is scratch built.I built a home for each of our offspring and a retirement home for mom and dad. We brought up seven children and several have grown children with great grandchildren so lots of scratch built homes on my layout.
Here are a couple of Bolg links to some of my scratch builds:https://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2017/09/september-1-2017-hickory-house-scratch.htmlhttps://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2013/04/april-13-2013-my-1912-swiss-chalet.html
All are on Arduino Random Lighting Controllers, each house has 20 bulbs. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Turned 84 in July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
Mel, everytime I see your photos I am amazed at your ability. You're an inspiration for me to keep working to get better at the hobby.
York1 John
crossthedogThat green trackside tower that looks like a treehouse...
Yeah, it does....I wish that I could have had one like that when I was a kid...or maybe even now.
It is meant to be for a crossing, and at one time, may have required the occupant to go down to street-level to flag motorists and pedestrians. The locale is in an industrial area, with lots of switching going on (usually only one loco), although there are some through trains, too. The elevated structure allows the operator to see what's coming, so the engineer isn't usually required to violate the noise laws with a whistle serenade.The crossing has been fitted with wig-wag signals, and I'm guessing that maybe they're not yet automaticly controlled by the approaching train, but rather are activated by the towerman.I do plan to add crossing gates, and they'll (supposedly) be operated by an underground cable system, activated by the guy in the tower.That's my story, anyway, and I'm stickin' to it.
Most of the other less-busy crossings have ground level shanties for the crossing guards, most built to the same plan and in the same colour scheme...
(the photos will enlarge if clicked upon)
I do have some rural crossings which are protected only by crossbucks, and one, shown below, was the scene of an accident (the vehicle shown was not involved). (Aerial photo courtesy of Secord Air Services)...
...the road is known as Indian Line, and the train involved was coming from the right. Because of the sweeping curve, the engineer couldn't see the crossing until the loco was almost at it.
However, the fireman could see the crossing, and hollered at the engineer to "get on the whistle", as the vehicle (an older Model T pick-up, loaded with crated chickens) was crossing the tracks, with what seemed to be plenty of time to spare.
Unfortunately, the vehicle stalled on the crossing and both occupants (sons of the farmer who selling the chickens) hopped out and attempted to push the vehicle off the crossing. Unbeknownst to them, the truck's driveshaft had parted from the transmission, and had wedged against the rail, making the vehicle impossible to move. The fireman, back to tending to his duties, wasn't aware that the vehicle was still on the crossing.
With the train almost to the crossing, the two lads stepped back moments before the impact (the train was on a grade, so not moving all that fast).Almost before the train came to a stop, the conductor was out of the caboose and running to the crossing...he had seen what was about to happen, and was determined to get some photos...
...then directed the clean-up operation so that the train could continue.
He returned to the caboose, along with the two boys and several not-too-badly-mangled chickens, with a recipe in mind that would please both the crew and the two passengers.
With the track cleared, the train moved on to its next stop, where the operator there relayed the news of the crash to headquarters, which, in-turn, notified the operator at Lowbanks (from where the train originated), so that he could contact the farmer via telephone.
Here are a couple photos of the vehicle in better condition...
The fireman's original view...
...another vehicle at the crossing, fortunately with no train in sight...
...and one stopped, waiting for the oncoming train to pass...
Before I built that Jordan vehicle, I did have that accident scene in mind, so used the larger parts to create semi-replicas by forming aluminum foil over the most recogniseable pieces. I then airbrushed them with black paint, and arranged them as the mangled vehicle, in order to get some photos.A MoW train reached the scene the next day, to pick up the debris, and one of the shop workers at Lowbanks managed to get this photo of the wreckage, in the gondola under the shop's yard crane...
I hope that there's not too many words here, or too many photos, either.
A Forum Member, Dan Merkel, sent me his copy of Mainline Modeler January 1982 to build the 3301 7th St house. Which after doing a Google Search the house is still standing and looks very nice.I used the blueprints from the magazine and scaled it on my CAD.This is my post on the 3301 7th house build.
https://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2013/04/april-20-2013-3301-7th-house.html
The scratch built 3301 house is our oldest daughters home on my layout.
Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Turned 84 in July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
doctorwayneI hope that there's not too many words here, or too many photos, either. Wayne
I personally find your posts very informative and helpful. Also, inspiring.
Your kind words are much appreciated, Bill.
Many years ago I scratchbuilt this station using wood.
Doors and windows are Grandt Line. Shingles are Campbell.
It's a bit the worse for wear in a few spots. It's moved back and forth across the country several times, between very humid and very dry climates.
Here's it is with the roof removed.
The biggest tip I can give is to brace the walls very solidly against warping! You can see how the walls have warped, especially in the peaks. Painting both the inside and the outside surfaces is supposed to help reduce warping, but as you can see it didn't eliminate it. This thing would probably look like slabs of backon glued together if I hadn't braced it as much as I did.
Still, given the amount of warping and the face that this is the first thing I ever scratchbuilt, it doesn't look all that bad with the roof on.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton