Pre-Big One Modelers, Musket & Sabre Club

[dehusman]

Don't tell that to the Romans! Inlaid brick patterns have been around for aeons, as have both straight and arched window openings.

The Romans build very few buildings during the late 1800's and early 1900's in N America. 8-)

If you look at the Smalltown USA buildings they all have a geometric pattern in the brickwork of the facade.  Those are 1920's-1930's designs.

Yes, you can have a flat top to a window in a TOC brick building without a lintel.  But if you look closely the bricks don't go straight across,  there is a "flat arch" of bricks laid on an angle from each side.  If the bricks go straight across that means there is a steel angle or structural shape buried in the wall above the window (a hidden lintel)  That was not a common construction method until WW1 or later.

There are most assuredly exceptions, but 99.99% of the buildings I have seen with brick courses straight across the tops of the windows and doors have been built WW1 or later.  If you find 100 brick buildings with all arches, stone lintels or cast iron channels over the windows and doors and stone window sills with floral motifs of curves in the corbels in the facades, better than 90-95% of them will be TOC buildings.

On a more rational level, look at the surviving buildings at Colonial Williamsburg. The brick buildings have both types of window openings on the same building. Some have lintels, some don't.

<snip>

MY advice to anyone looking for ToC structures would be to sit down in front of the computer and start studying. There are tens of thousands of 1890-1910 era photos online.

 

One of my sub-hobbies is taking pictures of old brick buildings and surviving TOC buildings.  I have several thousand pictures from dozens of locations.  My rules of thumb are based on my observations of those buildings.

I do second the motion of looking on line.  The American Memory collection the Library of Congress HAER-HABS has a lot of pictures of older buildings (in assorted states of repair).

If there is interest in a particular type of building, I can post some of my pictures.

Dave H.

[jguess733]

How would I make the plastic to look like wood? I figure I should use a steel rule and a #11 blade to lightly scribe the sides of the plastic. Any hints on an easier way?