I am not stranger to scratchbuilding or kitbashing. The dark grey loading dock with the pallet is the first I did. some 30 years ago. Most buildings on the layout are alterested in some way. or dpm, scratchbuilt. I have never scratchbuilt in wood though. The newest two buildings (these for the 2 foot guage layout) are wood. So before I start building , what are some good wood scratch building articles and tips and such for figuring out how to create it?
Shane
I haven’t done wood models in a while, but I assembled some insanely detailed wood HO scale kits back in the 90’s with some very specialized cyanoacrylate glue that my dad had used for making pens. It allowed me (even as a kid) to carefulky create things like railings and b&b siding textures without much fuss.
Fast forward to the mid 2000’s in college architecture school and I used the same stuff for laser cut or basswood models. I’m thinking of mixing some wood scratchbuilt parts with my 3d prints because the wood texture just looks better. Just requires a little more patience.
Used to use a special CA, then did regular gel CA, Now I just use white glue which ends up being almost as strong and I like the fact that you can stain the project after it is built as long as you wipe down your over glueing with watered rag or q-tip (pointed type). Have built many FSM, Campbell and other manufacturers as well as scratch buil.
Back in the late '50s and early '60s, I did scratchbuilding using wood, but in the late '60s, I discovered styrene materials similar to those in wood. There was strip and sheet material, along with shapes and sheet material that had board or brick detail added, and when I learned to use it, never wanted to go back to wood.
My last big scratchbuild, using both wood and styrene, was a model of a blast furnace, working from blueprints offered by my employer, which was a steel plant.
I have only a handful of photos, as I was running out of room in our one bedroom apartment. I offered the unfinished model to my employer, along with a request to fund me for the required materials to finish it, but they wanted me to bring it for inspection. Since it would not fit into my vehicle, I was unable to comply. The partially built model followed along with us as we moved from place to place, until we were finally able to purchase a house of our own.
By that time, I had started a train layout, and eventually dismantled what had been done on the blast furnace.
A few photos…
The cast house…
…with corrugated basswood siding, basswood H-columns, and built-up basswood roof trusses along with a double track skip bridge that was over 3’ long (lying atop the structure and also made using basswood shapes and steel rails.
The “concrete” wall was done using dental plaster, and served as the outlet for the furnace’s slag runners. The basic shell of the furnace was done with sheet styrene, and was almost 3’ tall without any of the associated pipes and platforms, nor the downcomer added, which would have put the model around 4’ high.
At that time, the real one was, as far as I know, the largest blast furnace in Canada, and very likely, also the largest
Hi Shane,
I love scratchbuilding in wood despite the fact that styrene might be quicker, easier and cheaper. None of those things concern me. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from building with wood.
One place you might want to start would be with Bar Mills videos, Their videos are designed for working with wood kits, but a lot of the information is applicable to scratchbuilding as well:
I have a few suggestions that may help:
Prime the wood thoroughly before painting. Wood can warp quite badly if it is not sealed. Any cheap automotive spray primer will work. Use gray for lighter finished colours and red oxide for darker finished colours.
Paint all the parts that will be different colours before assembly. That will give you much crisper separation between the colours.
Use structural reinforcing inside the buildings to prevent warping over time. Basswood is available in smaller precut sizes i.e. 1/4" x 1/4" and does the job perfectly for most HO scale buildings. For larger structures, use larger reinforcing.
Don’t be afraid to use styrene detail parts like doors and windows. That’s what the wood kit makers do.
I look forward to seeing your work!
Cheers!!
Dave
All the times I looked on bar mills I missed the vids. Saw Fosscale though.
since the 2 foot gauge is close to the 30’s ish. Using wood for buildings is almost needed since almost everything was wood.
It will be an interesting change of pace. I do know to use wax paper as the gluing surface so I don’t glue anything to the work bench.
shane
Many modelers have followed Wayne’s path – used to build in wood but now do so with styrene. That process started around 1960 when a great modeler named Al Armitage published articles which boosted styrene and Armitage would show photos of things he built in styrene that other modelers would use wood or even metal for, Those were controversial articles at the time by the way - a lot of modelers found their belief systems being challenged!
As a result there are not too many recently published articles on scratchbuilding with wood (versus articles on assembling wood and laser cut wood kits, whih you do see now from time to time).
If you have older issues of MR or access to the Archives, go back to the 1950s and 1960s – the Dollar Model series of articles almost always used wood then. Some of them were gathered into a Kalmbach book Easy to Build Model Railroad Structures. Be aware that some things people labored over back then such as building your own windows and doors, are now so much easier thanks to Tichy, Grandt Line, etc.
And look for structure articles by authors such as Joe Kunzelmann, Jock Oliphant, Jack Work, E.L. Moore (still writing his articles into the 1970s in MR and RMC), H.O. Williams, and Eric Stevens.
Dave Nelson
I have full intention to use stuff like pre doors, windows, shingles and other such. 3D print is also an option.
shane
Wayne, as usual, your stunning photos cast me into a confusing admixture of despair and inspiration. The possibilities seem endless, but the road to that level of craftsmanship seem like it will be long. In any case, I have two questions.
That green trackside tower that looks like a treehouse… what is it used for? Is it housing a crossing-guard who will alert motorists and pedestrians that a train is coming? Or is someone operating the turnout from up there, or flagging the train?
Can I have it? (Kidding, but not.)
-Matt
Matt,
Your question is the answer. It is for the crossing guard. not all of these guard huts were elevated like that. In some situations there might. be signal and turnout leavers.
Taking your time, carefull planning, right tools, is most of the work right there. the rest is just practice.
Shane
Well, that’s now two consecutive fairly-lengthy and illustrated threads deleted on posting.
Sorry, but I’m not currently in the mood for making a third attempt.
Wayne
Wayne
are you also finding that it stops recieveing text at random because the ads are to busy jamming everything? Mine does that. Having to wait for an ad to stop doing something or finish loading before it lets me continue writing
shane
It doesn’t seem to be related to that, but I think that it may be the fact that I’m taking too long to compose my reply. Usually, that doesn’t involve the text (other than me checking for spelling errors or deciding to change a word for a more appropriate one.
The other delay is for finding the proper photos to illustrate the text portion.
In the past, photobucket was a well-organised operation, with page-by-page “albums”, but when google acquired it, they changed the albums to one page per topic title.
Formerly, I had a pretty good idea of the album page where the photo I wanted could be found. On the new version, I may be scrolling on a single page which includes four or five hundred pictures, no longer in date-of-input order.
What compounds the problem, is that once I select that photo and add it to my reply, then wish to also add the photo which was right beside the one I had selected, I’m required to scroll down again in order to find it.
There have been a few complaints about me posting too many pictures, but I consider most of the photos essential to illustrate what my written words are trying to explain. If I were the complainee, I’d likely simply skip the pictures or skip the entire post, once I saw the contributor’s name.
Wayne
Before I started scratchbuilding in wood, I built a few smaller wooden craftsmen kits. That secured the skill-set, then I just needed to learn how to design.
Nearly all the buildings on my first two N scale layouts were wooden and either scratchbuilt or craftsmen kits.
Once I switched to HO, most of my buildings became plastic.
-Kevin
I model HO scale and have replaced almost all of my plastics/Styrene/kit structures with scratch built wooden structures.
I model the rural area so no down town structures. I still have kit built yard structures but almost every thing else is scratch built.
I built a home for each of our offspring and a retirement home for mom and dad. We brought up seven children and several have grown children with great grandchildren so lots of scratch built homes on my layout.
Here are a couple of Bolg links to some of my scratch builds:
https://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2017/09/september-1-2017-hickory-house-scratch.html
https://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2013/04/april-13-2013-my-1912-swiss-chalet.html
All are on Arduino Random Lighting Controllers, each house has 20 bulbs.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
Turned 84 in July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
Mel, everytime I see your photos I am amazed at your ability. You’re an inspiration for me to keep working to get better at the hobby.
Yeah, it does…I wish that I could have had one like that when I was a kid…or maybe even now.
It is meant to be for a crossing, and at one time, may have required the occupant to go down to street-level to flag motorists and pedestrians. The locale is in an industrial area, with lots of switching going on (usually only one loco), although there are some through trains, too. The elevated structure allows the operator to see what’s coming, so the engineer isn’t usually required to violate the noise laws with a whistle serenade.
The crossing has been fitted with wig-wag signals, and I’m guessing that maybe they’re not yet automaticly controlled by the approaching train, but rather are activated by the towerman.
I do plan to add crossing gates, and they’ll (supposedly) be operated by an underground cable system, activated by the guy in the tower.
That’s my story, anyway, and I’m stickin’ to it.
Most of the other less-busy crossings have ground level shanties for the crossing guards, most built to the same plan and in the same colour scheme…
(the photos will enlarge if clicked upon)
I do have some rural crossings which are protected only by crossbucks, and one, shown below, was the scene of an accident (the vehicle shown was not involved). (Aerial photo courtesy of Secord Air Services)…
A Forum Member, Dan Merkel, sent me his copy of Mainline Modeler January 1982 to build the 3301 7th St house. Which after doing a Google Search the house is still standing and looks very nice.
I used the blueprints from the magazine and scaled it on my CAD.
This is my post on the 3301 7th house build.
https://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2013/04/april-20-2013-3301-7th-house.html
The scratch built 3301 house is our oldest daughters home on my layout.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
Turned 84 in July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
I personally find your posts very informative and helpful. Also, inspiring.
Your kind words are much appreciated, Bill.
Wayne