A follow-along, step-by-step scratch building project
Part Deux.
do the saw trick it again if you wish or use the boards as is. I did it again to a few of
them, there is less "de-fuzzing" to do this time around.
Cut 5 lengths 4 inches or 16
scale feet long. Cut five
lengths shorter by the
thickness of your posts, cut
five more 2 inches long, see
picture 1. >>>>>
Cut six lengths 1 1/2
inches long or six scale
feet. Cut eleven shorter
lengths, mine reach almost
the top of the side walls
which are 5 scale feet high.
are at right angle to each other. We will be threading the .030
brass rod though them. This is where the reamer comes in handy
and to eyeball for squareness (since I don't have a drill press). The
bottom hole should be slightly higher than the short posts are tall
so the brace clears them. No problem if all the holes don't match
exactly, you can see in picture 1 that mine don't.
everything is square. NOTE that the two are
mirror-images and that where one has a short length
the other has a long one. All five boards are staggered
long-short, long-short but are flush at the end where
they meet the house. Glue a long post flush with the
edge, all top holes are perpendicular to the walls and
all lower holes are parallel. Top boards are distressed
right (left for the other wall). This will hold the assembly together while you glue the
other posts on. Next put a scrap piece of 2 x 12 next to the long post as a spacer and
glue a short post to the wall. Glue a long post right in the center of the wall. Is
everything square? Do the lower holes clear the top of the short posts? Continue with
the short wall, note staggering. Pictures 3 and 4.
jigsaw puzzle. The two long lost left over will go in the
corners after assembly. I decided to be a little more
conservative when it came to how dilapidated the structure
was going to be. You will see in pictures 4 and 5 that there
are two broken boards. The bottom corner is rotten because
that is where water accumulates and a top board is broken
due to an accident. That was done using thumb and
forefinger and scale brute strength after assembly.
rod fits through all the holes, that all the
holes face in the correct direction... MINE
DIDN'T, and that it all fits together well
and square. Let's move on.
several layers of foam core. I could have also used balsa
boards or foam insulation, use whatever you like. This adds
strength to the model, saves on sand and gives you an idea of
what it will look like later. You could make yours with more or
less sand, with a more central pile with the center brace half
buried. Go for it, it should look natural though.
shined up the lengths of brass rod, dipped them in
the solution for about fifteen seconds and dried
them. They are now black so that if the rust paint I
apply later on ever rubs off there won't be shiny
metal showing. At this time I also painted the NBWs
rusty, we will need eight. See how the long brace at
the top is bent where the board is broken?
of the end posts for the short rods, this will leave room for the NBWs. The long ones
have no NBW at the house end, NOTE the bent rod should be a little longer and should
be bent after assembly. Thread the long sections through the three tall posts, glue one
NBW at each end then glue the rods in ( I used a small drop of thin ACC applied with a
pin). Do the short ones next in the same way, paint with rust. I hadn't gone that far yet
when I took the picture. I also noticed that some of the bottom boards weren't
distressed or weathered and they show, that will be rectified before we move on.
Next: we start the sand house itself.
