Folks:
I haven't been posting a whole lot lately, and this is one big reason:
It's mostly built from an old Eugene Le Doux article from MODEL TRAINS, a million years ago, collected in EASY TO BUILD MODEL RAILROAD STRUCTURES...which is where I found it.
It's a weird design, claimed to be prototype-based, and it probably is, because nobody could invent something that bizarre. It looks like somebody had a very small and old coal bin, then added an overflow bin...it seems like it will hold about 55 tons in all. Bizarre, but not unappealing. I made some additions and changes to improve the detail.
Cost, two dollars, with minimal scrapbox cheating:
1/4 stick of 3/32 x 3 balsa - about .50
1 stick ea. 3/32 sq, 1/8 sq basswood, .20 each
1 small piece 1/16sq bass, a plugged nickel
1/6 piece .015 music wire, perhaps .05
Some bits of cardboard, glue, and Apple Barrel paint to round it out.
Time, the loose bits of about five evenings. Honestly, it went about as quickly as the Lifelike general store you can barely see in the photo!
Siding is scribed with a sharp, hard pencil. I almost ruined it with the paint. Not everything is as I hoped, but it was a blast...it's been a long time since I scratched with wood. A great deal of the motivation was to get back what I've forgotten...and of course to get a building for two dollars.
Thats a nice looking item. Im not a big scratch building person, do a little bit of kit bashing. But it looks great!
Great project!!
Now you got me thinkin' about all those dang toothpicks I've got lyin' around. Maybe I'll build me a footbridge over Ol' Thompson River-----
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
IC:
Well, it is what it is. Honestly, it was easier than some inexpensive plastic kit structures I've assembled. When you're scratchbuilding, you're calling the shots, and don't have to follow somebody else's bogus engineering (only one's own... ) I like having a nice big gluing surface, for instance, so I used 3/16 sq balsa inside the horizontal corner joints, with the 1/8 sq legs in the vertical corners, filling the outside corners with 3/32 square strips.
bc - I actually did work in a few toothpicks. I whittled them into the gate-operating levers and links. They're nice and strong. Great idea on the footbridge. Go for it. Building stuff is so fun. That's one thing Eugene Le Doux was great at conveying, even if his models were a little clunky compared with a lot of his contemporaries.
Stuff I'm not totally happy with - the round bin's staves and especially hoops should be finer. The ladder stair is a bit narrow, and its stringers are 12" deep, which is a bit much. I was worried about strength, with the stair very much in harm's way until I get this thing permanently set. The handrail is about 5" square, where a smaller "pipe" or a 2x6 would have been better, but I used what I had in stock.
I still need to weather it, add signage ("Ledoux Coal", I think), and add electrical service, once I figure out where the pole is going to be. There's going to be an icehouse needing power, I think.
SO much fun, and it's easy, too!
What is the loco in the 2nd photo? It looks interesting.
- Harry
HH:
It's just an old Mantua Booster that really could stand some dusting.
I finished the yard office!
Actually, it's a "car department stores, office, and lunchroom". I don't have a car shop, but I did need a yard office, and storage and lunch areas are always good. It's prototypical, according to the MR writeup, but no prototype photo was included.
I added three smokejacks (coal stoves) and removed ventilator cupolas over the storerooms. I suspect this structure was intended to hold paint, among other things, hence the ventilation.
I think this greenish gray / dark greenish gray is going to be my company colors. I may lighten the wall color a little. Not sure how 1930s-accurate the brown roll roofing is; I wanted to try it, and see how it looked.
Price - under two dollars.
1/3 stick of 3/32 x 3 balsa for walls...~70 cents
1 stick 3/32 x 3/32 basswood for corners - 20 cents
1/2 stick 1/4 x 1/4 balsa for bracing - about 20 cents, I think.
8 cut-down Scale Scenes windows, laser-printed from their file at Office Max - miniscule cost; the sheets have LOTS...let's say five cents
A bit of Apple Barrel white, black, yellow, and red oxide paint.
Miscellany - the roof is legal pad cardboard, covered with construction paper strips. Windows are trimmed with strips of manila folder, cut with the grain. Smokejacks are finishing nails, with tops turned conical using a hand drill and file, Mel Thornburgh style.
I had great luck with Apple Barrel this time...I thinned it with plain water, but was careful not to thin too much or froth it into bubbles. It worked really well!
This went quickly - perhaps four evenings in scattered bits, after the kids were in bed. Painting took longest. It was a lot of fun! I think I'll do a section shed next.
AP, you are a dangerous man spreading a dangerous message. Didn't you get the memo that says this is an expensive hobby, and that you're supposed to shell out big bucks for pre-built building kits nowadays? Being able to build buildings for pennys? Well that's just crazy talk!
You're also dangerous because now you've got my juices flowing to go try scratchbuilding something. Haven't done that in probably 15 years. I may not be a very talented builder, but I am cheap.
Jim
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
AP - Nice effort on the two scratch models, particularly that unusual coal facility.
I always consider it a real plus for a modeler to have unique structures on his layout so that it doesn't look populated by just a bunch of the same old plastic kits that one sees on just about everyone else's pike. The often big-time savings over a similar commercial kit is a bonus, too; I've scratchbuilt a number of FSM clones for around 1/10 the going price of the actual kits, while getting great satisfaction and personal pride out of the build itself.
CNJ831
mononguy63 AP, you are a dangerous man spreading a dangerous message. Didn't you get the memo that says this is an expensive hobby, and that you're supposed to shell out big bucks for pre-built building kits nowadays? Being able to build buildings for pennys? Well that's just crazy talk! You're also dangerous because now you've got my juices flowing to go try scratchbuilding something. Haven't done that in probably 15 years. I may not be a very talented builder, but I am cheap. Jim
mg:
I did get the memo. I cut it into strip shingles.
Go for it! This is exactly what I'd hoped for. Building that coal bin really fired my boilers in the oddest way, and now I'm feeling like I could build a town. I think it started when the bin was up on legs. Good thing, too...cash is tight, and I'll be needing some cheap, fun projects. Keeps those men in white away.
CNJ831 AP - Nice effort on the two scratch models, particularly that unusual coal facility. I always consider it a real plus for a modeler to have unique structures on his layout so that it doesn't look populated by just a bunch of the same old plastic kits that one sees on just about everyone else's pike. The often big-time savings over a similar commercial kit is a bonus, too; I've scratchbuilt a number of FSM clones for around 1/10 the going price of the actual kits, while getting great satisfaction and personal pride out of the build itself.
CNJ:
Thanks. My skills are quite mediocre, and I'm too impatient to spend a lot of time on things, but I feel this will improve with practice. The office went better than the coal yard in some ways - I prepainted the shell before adding the windows, for instance, and didn't overthin the paint. I do see a number of things, particularly in the closeups, that need improvement - some marring and misalignment of the windows, some fits that could be better, some slopping of the paint. Perhaps I should prepaint the window trim next time; it would save lots of time. The sills should be thicker card. The next will be better, but they're all fun!
Great job Auto..I remeber the plan book that Kalmbach had out with it ...Is the yard office Illinois Central seems like I remeber plans for something close back in an old NMRA Bulletin...keep up the good work and keep the photos coming!!...Jerry
Autobus PrimeI did get the memo. I cut it into strip shingles.
I am in the presence of the master
Very good work!
Cox 47 Great job Auto..I remeber the plan book that Kalmbach had out with it ...Is the yard office Illinois Central seems like I remeber plans for something close back in an old NMRA Bulletin...keep up the good work and keep the photos coming!!...Jerry
C47:
It might be IC. If you find out, let me know, because there was no info with the article. It was "Railroad Yard Structures", in the Oct '77 MR, reprinted in Trackside Structures (This must have been the plan book you remember; I don't have it, just the magazine.)
Autobus PrimeIC: Well, it is what it is. Honestly, it was easier than some inexpensive plastic kit structures I've assembled. When you're scratchbuilding, you're calling the shots, and don't have to follow somebody else's bogus engineering (only one's own... ) I like having a nice big gluing surface, for instance, so I used 3/16 sq balsa inside the horizontal corner joints, with the 1/8 sq legs in the vertical corners, filling the outside corners with 3/32 square strips. bc - I actually did work in a few toothpicks. I whittled them into the gate-operating levers and links. They're nice and strong. Great idea on the footbridge. Go for it. Building stuff is so fun. That's one thing Eugene Le Doux was great at conveying, even if his models were a little clunky compared with a lot of his contemporaries. Stuff I'm not totally happy with - the round bin's staves and especially hoops should be finer. The ladder stair is a bit narrow, and its stringers are 12" deep, which is a bit much. I was worried about strength, with the stair very much in harm's way until I get this thing permanently set. The handrail is about 5" square, where a smaller "pipe" or a 2x6 would have been better, but I used what I had in stock. I still need to weather it, add signage ("Ledoux Coal", I think), and add electrical service, once I figure out where the pole is going to be. There's going to be an icehouse needing power, I think. SO much fun, and it's easy, too!
Great idea and nice job. I even dug out my copy of "Easy-to-Build MR Structures". Have to try my hand at some of these techiniques.