Here is the latest addition to my german village of Krausbach. It was constructed using Coroplast corrugated plastic from some old signs that I got from a realtor. The hardest part was finding a glue that would work on this type of plastic. After trying several types of glues without any success, I ended up using a hot glue gun which worked perfectly. The shutters and door were made with wooden coffee stirrers. The windows were cut from transparencies for overhead projectors. If anyone would like, I can make some drawings with all the dimensions so that anyone who wishes can make them. It only takes a few hours to fully produce the structure as shown.
Looks like a very nice simple house just what you want in the garden.
If I may make an observation or two to give it a nice finished look the holes or grooves in the sheet edge really need to be filled with some sort of filler before painting to give it that properly finished look.
A stove pipe would also help a 4" possibly a 6" bullet head nail should be about the right diameter for that the top of the nail is close enough for a modern stove pipe top.
Just a couple of thoughts for you to consider
Yes please A dimentioned drawing would be nice if you can persuade it to arrive in Aus
I will see what I can do about the end holes and add a proper chimney. The alpine house along with a few more structures that I plan to make are not intended as fine scale models. They are for anyone who wishes to have somewhat realistic buildings that are both inexpensive and weatherproof without being limited to modified birdhouses and birdfeeders. This type of construction also makes repairs very easy… just a hot glue gun, another piece of Coropolast some paint and you’re done ! Plus, you get to re-use the plastic signs that would just end up in a landfill which will no doubt make the Greenies happy. Not everyone can afford or may even want the plastic building kits from the big manufacturers (I wish I could afford all the beautiful kits that the big manufacturers make). I plan on making a few more structures utilizing this method of construction and will post the photos here in the forum. Additionally, I will always make the plans available free of charge for others who may wish to build the structures utilizing any materials that they wish. If anyone wants to modify them, by all means do so, but just make sure that you make the plans freely available for everyone to enjoy as that is my intention behind this in the first place.
The following link I think proves you don’t have to buy a $100 kit to have detailed buildings I hope you will find it of interest as the builder seems to be using the same material you have chosen for the base bulding.
But how much is the right level of detail is a very subjective thing, some like more some like less
I think looking right is more important, your building looks right and I felt had something that I can only call a sense of rightness about it again very subjective.
I have an “N” scale house that is very similar to the one you built hence the comment on the modern stove pipe.
What is interesting about that style of house was the number of possable slight variations on the same base house that are possable.
Nice looking house Dale. Is this house for an indoor layout? If not, I was wondering if you would report back on how well the hot glue holds up outdoors. I have a bunch of Coroplast left over from a greenhouse project and have been thinking about using it for buildings. FYI - Its made of polypropylene which is great stuff because little will interact with it (also used for indoor/outdoor carpeting). Its downside is little will interact with it making it tough to glue as you found out. Yogi Wallace also has a page about working with it - http://users.stratuswave.net/~wd8jik/plastic/plastic.htm
I will be sure to give an update on how well the hot glue holds up outside in the summer. The only thing is that where I am building my layout, it’s on the shady side. I will also sit one out in the sun for a day to see what happens.
I think my next Coroplast building project is going to be a train station. I have been looking at photos of various alpine stations on the internet. As with the house, once I build it, I will make the drawings available free of charge to anyone who may want them.
The glue is holding up just fine. I tested the first house by sitting it out in the front yard in the sun… nothing happened. I think if you use the low temperature glue, it will not hold up to the sun. Since my layout is being built in a shady area, it really isn’t a factor.
John - My apologies, I think I may have inadvertently put in a wrong measurement on the drawing. The front and back of the house are 5 inches high, not 5 1/2. If you had made it 5 1/2 inches, it really should not have changed anything except the angle of the roof. Check your e-mail as I have re-sent the drawing with the correction.
What are you using to cut the Coroplast ?
As for me, I use a paper cutter like the one shown below.
By using the paper cutter, I get nice straight edges, and, the cutter has a ruler at the top edge with a grid pattern etched into the flat platform which really helps with alignment. I also use it to cut wooden coffee stirrers to length quickly.
