Good Friday everyone. I am about ready to start progress on my scratch-built barn and would like some advice on a couple of matters. I am working in HO scale.
#1 While I am gluing the wall studs and all the frame work together will wax paper keep the glue from sticking the scale 2X6’s to the work serface?
#2 What is the best glue for the project? I am thinking plain 'ol Elmers wood glue. Is there something that would work better?
#3 Can’t I build a jig to get the scale lumber I will be cutting to be the exact same length? I will be cutting several wall studs and cross boards that need to be as close to the same length as possible and would think that if I cut several of them at the same time I would get better results. The same would be true for the 1X12 I am going to be using on the exterior walls.
I am planning on building this as though I was building a 1:1 outside, ie, frame the 4 walls with scale 2X6’s, then attach them to the floor, then install the 1X12’s to the now standing frames, place the ceiling 2X6’s across the walls then go on to the rafters, then the doors/windows etc. Has anyone that has done this have any advice, sence this a totaly new concept for me? I have built several 1:1 buildings and barns and think I can do the same thing but much smaller. Thanks for the help. Mike
I used Titebond glue with some success with small Bar Mills Billboard signs. I used a toothpick to transfer a drop at a time from the main bottle which has a sprout way too big for small model work.
If you built big barns in real life you need to adjust your thinking to model scale. That 12x12 corner post in real life is going to be something like a 1/4 inch or slightly larger wood peice.
I dont know about gluing, but I hold two peices together in a sort of a clamp until it’s tight.
Mike, I started playing with wood trestles a few years ago and discovered several things.
1st, the glue sticks to everything it touches.
2nd, a template is a must to keep the parts consistent.
For cutting the pieces for the trestles, I got a Chopper from NWSL. It’s a must have if you plan on scratch building in wood or styrene. It has stops for consistent lengths and Angles for the roof beams.
For a template, I used .060" styrene sheet with smaller pieces of styrene to locate the wood beams to be glued. Under the glue joint, I drilled a hole to prevent gluing the wood pieces to the template(this was learned the hard way). I layed out the shape of the bent on the styrene sheet then applied the styrene stirps to locate the wood beams. For gluing the wood pieces, I like using a gap filling CA. For the styrene template I used Ambroid Pro Weld.
The side benefit of the assembly template is that you can reproduce the structure in the future.
Below is the finished trestle, it’s in N scale on my neighbor’s layout.
The post and beam structure of a barn isn’t too different in concept for the bents of a trestle.
Thanks for all the replies, I did get started on the little thing yesterday and I still have got a long way to go. When I get a little further along I will try to post some progress pics as I go if you all would be interested in seeing them. Thanks, Mike
