I have begun work on my long planned branchline and have accumulated a number of wood craftsman structure kits over the years for the town at the end of my branchline. It's been a while since I worked with such kits so I could use a little refresher course. I assembled the first one and like most of the kits in the collection, the walls were slightly warped. Since I am a little rusty I chose this particular kit because it is going to be a background structure so the imperfections won't be so noticeable. It turned out OK for a background kit but I found that keeping things plumb, level, and square when the the walls are warped is quite difficult. I made sure things fit properly on the front of the structure but if the back walls were exposed to view, it would be noticeable.
Before I attempt to assemble the foreground structures I'd like to get some advice from more experienced modelers on the best way to deal with these walls. I put a big heavy reference book on some them and it flattened them some but still left a slight warp.
The more recent laser kits are much better, but many of the old wood craftsman kits could use additional bracing. Get some wood stock (1/8" is what I often use, sometimes larger) and add it to the back of larger walls as you build.
Also, how did you finish the walls? Water-based paints can be a real problem, so that's another consideration.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
This can be a challenge. My best "success" (please note the quotation marks - they are meant to convey irony) was by cutting vertically into the warped wood wall (scribed so there was a natural place for a vertical cut) and thus relieving some of the tension of a very serious warp. And for an inner horizontal support brace meant to stiffen and flatten the side, instead of more wood I found some small "L" shaped aluminum lengths. I do not recall where I found them or what they were meant for but they worked. I used Walthers Goo and I used it the way the directions call for: applied to both surfaces, then let it sit for a while, then pressed the aluminum into place.
Because I know it is there I can see where that vertical cut is, but I pretty much eliminated the warp. Pretty much.
Dave Nelson
mlehman The more recent laser kits are much better, but many of the old wood craftsman kits could use additional bracing. Get some wood stock (1/8" is what I often use, sometimes larger) and add it to the back of larger walls as you build. Also, how did you finish the walls? Water-based paints can be a real problem, so that's another consideration.
Yes, I did prime both the inside and outside of the walls with an oil based paint but of course that will only help prevent future warping. For this particular kit I was able to use an oil based spray for all the painting but some of the kits I am going to be painting with water based colors but only after priming with oil based paint.
Most of my kits are Laser Art. I do have one 30+ year old FSM kit that I bought on ebay. I found the wood in that one seems to be very dry and brittle so that presents some additional challenges as well. It is the engine house based on John Allen's original two stall engine house. I'm going to do that one last because it is going to be the show piece of this particular location and I want to do that one as well as possible.
Sounds like you're doing OK. You might try a sealer over the primer if you are painting with water-based paint on the finish coat. Primer will still allow quite a bit of absorption, I fear.
After building a few wooden structures, both kits and scratchbuilt and using water-based paints, I have found this method to work the best. Get one side of the wall wet or slightly damp on the convex, or the opposite side of the warp, put it under a flat weight (I use a heavy piece of plate glass). Wait until it dries. that should straighten out the walls, if not, wet the other side and repeat the process.
jecorbett mlehman The more recent laser kits are much better, but many of the old wood craftsman kits could use additional bracing. Get some wood stock (1/8" is what I often use, sometimes larger) and add it to the back of larger walls as you build. Also, how did you finish the walls? Water-based paints can be a real problem, so that's another consideration. Yes, I did prime both the inside and outside of the walls with an oil based paint but of course that will only help prevent future warping. For this particular kit I was able to use an oil based spray for all the painting but some of the kits I am going to be painting with water based colors but only after priming with oil based paint. Most of my kits are Laser Art. I do have one 30+ year old FSM kit that I bought on ebay. I found the wood in that one seems to be very dry and brittle so that presents some additional challenges as well. It is the engine house based on John Allen's original two stall engine house. I'm going to do that one last because it is going to be the show piece of this particular location and I want to do that one as well as possible.
Ahh! The FSM 2-stall engine house.
I have built it, and if you have the first version, know that Rusty Stumps has laser cut windows for it.
Here is how my version looks, the walls straightened out just fine under pressure.
I mortared the foundation, looks better I think,..
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I believe in interior bracing. This adds strength to the walls and forces them to stay flat. If the interior is visible, it can even add to the model. I added a lot of wood strips to the interior of Branchline's "Weimer's Mill" building.
The interior bracing adds both stiffness and detail. I had a lot of fun freelancing the interior of this old abandoned mill and made the model more solid at the same time.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Graffen jecorbett Most of my kits are Laser Art. I do have one 30+ year old FSM kit that I bought on ebay. I found the wood in that one seems to be very dry and brittle so that presents some additional challenges as well. It is the engine house based on John Allen's original two stall engine house. I'm going to do that one last because it is going to be the show piece of this particular location and I want to do that one as well as possible. Ahh! The FSM 2-stall engine house. I have built it, and if you have the first version, know that Rusty Stumps has laser cut windows for it. Here is how my version looks, the walls straightened out just fine under pressure. I mortared the foundation, looks better I think,..
jecorbett Most of my kits are Laser Art. I do have one 30+ year old FSM kit that I bought on ebay. I found the wood in that one seems to be very dry and brittle so that presents some additional challenges as well. It is the engine house based on John Allen's original two stall engine house. I'm going to do that one last because it is going to be the show piece of this particular location and I want to do that one as well as possible.
Excellent work. I'll use this for future reference. It's always nice to be able to see what the finished product is supposed to look like. I was unaware that there were two versions. I remember when it was first offered back in the 1980s and I wanted one but the budget was tight back them. I was still relatively new to the hobby and was unaware that FSM did limited runs of their kits so I thought I would be able to get one later. It was disappointing when I learned this truth. Fast forward to 2013 and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this and other FSM kits were available on ebay. Can a 30 years old kit still be considered New in the Box? Anyway the challenge with this kit is that the wood seems to be so dry that warping is not the problem but the basswood has become very brittle and must be handled with care. A couple of the wall sections broke around the doors without much pressure at all being put on it. It looks like an easy fix but I don't want to have to do too much of that.
I intend to build it as close as possible to John Allen's original including the paint scheme. I have Linn Westcott's book on the G&D which contains several colored photos of the engine house. I'm even considering putting in round arched engine doorways like the original but that will depend on how confident I am when it gets time to building it. Hope to get to it this winter.
I am just in the way to build a big laser wood kit (see this week WPF and before weeks) in Nscale.
I have build numerous wood kit the last years from small to big one.
When the box is open generaly there is one or two "sprue of parts" which are warped; with wood kit you must live with this problems.
I have had extremly good results by prepare the parts before to build the model.
First all the parts are spray painted with a primer, mine is a cheap automotive can spray paint gray primer; I lightly spray one face and let them dry on a flat surface, when dry I paint the same way the second face; I also use sometimes a full black can spray paint for the inside face of the parts as a mask for future light.
The wall are all braced using piece of wood, but no square wood, rectangular one, I glue the small side of the rectangular wood brace on the panel wall using gel CA this fasten the progress; the rectangular piece of wood when glued on the small side are extremly rigid and straight.
If the wall is already warped before bracing, I use wheights to maintain it flat and glue the bracing; with part which are like rolled on themselve, I spray before paint some hot water on the piece and carefuly open it and let dry it on a straight surface whith weights to maintain it flat, I do that before the primer process and bracing.
I paint all my kit whith acrilycs water based colors especialy Golden artist colors, nothing warp when the bracing is in place.
All the parts are glued whith CA gel using numerous machinist square of all size and when they are finished all my models are glued on a gator form base or a wood base.
Some models where build before 1990 with this method and show no move or warping even I live in Belgium and the humidity is always on a high level.
Good luck.
First off all kits need bracing or you risk long term problems. Use lots of braces, even in plastic kits. The painting of both sides in a wood kit dose little if anything to keep a properly braced wall from warping (a badly braced wall is another matter). All solutions added will raise the grain some, things that are water based, more so.
Wood will warp, whether it's 1/160, 1/87, 1/48, or 1/1. Bracing in areas that will not be seen is imperative. Another hobby of mine is woodworking, and I always have to plan to prevent or minimize warpage. I'm building a desk right now. If I do not put crosspieces under the 28" wide top, there will be some warping. The same goes for the models I make . . . I use 1/8" square strips glued across the grain . . . a lot of them. Never had problems.