A follow-along, step-by-step scratch building project.
for close to thirty years and inhaling
a few houses I now use acrylic
paints almost exclusively. There is
more warping, especially if the paint
needs to be thinned but that's
another reason why the house has
been braced on the inside.
down some. Note in picture 2 the brace is flush with the bottom of the opening and is also
painted. There is enough wood grain showing that it would be alright as is for a
well-maintained structure or a freshly painted one. Not what I'm about.
a wash of Pactra's grimy black. A
wash is a VERY dilute solution of
whatever color you use. I brush it
against the grain so it goes in deep,
then use a hair drier to set it and
minimize any warping by drying it
quickly.
Remember though that we are building something that was trackside during the steam era
and that probably didn't get the same level of maintenance as a larger railroad would.
red. The corners are NOE 504 1/8" angle. I painted it,
cut four pieces, one for each corner, glued them on
and then de-fuzzed. It's easier to do after they are
installed **. This resulted in some peeling paint effect.
The Grandt Line windows were also painted and
"glass" added after they had dried. The glass is thin
what a busted window looks like go ahead and break one or come on over and we'll fix one of
mine. Before they were installed onto the windows the acetate was rubbed on the inside with
fine steel wool. This gives the appearance of dirty windows. If you do this make sure it
doesn't look like you rubbed the inside with steel wool though. Does that make sense?
The two roof panels are also painted, off white underneath and grimy black on top. See how
they warped. It doesn't matter in this case but if it did you can minimize the effect by painting
both sides and/or by clamping the piece between two pieces of wood, much like what is
known as a plant press.
that's the reason why I like to use a 90 degree roof.
There are two more, one on each side for support and
strength. The black area is a piece of cardboard, white
on the other side. This prevents light from showing
through the roof and helps the building retain it's shape.
There is another piece glued behind the door to prevent
light from shining through the plastic.
material, ran a light grey marker on all the edges
and glued them to the roof. I always use a lighter
color to tint the edges because paper absorbs paint
or ink and turns darker. See how the weathered part
of the roof shows. The sand bunker is not attached
at this point this is just for show.
roof cut out and replaced upside down (see part 3).
This window also has a broken pane.
Next time we touch up, add details like rafters,
smoke stack and a few more. We'll also start the
sand tower.
ends of the building. See picture
to the right. It is obviously easier
to do so beforehand but as you
can see it can be done
afterwards as long as you use a
new blade and are careful.
