Once a simple drawing is produced (oppo- site), the board and batten siding (top left) can be cut and then used as a template for the other sides and ends. With some bracing added for stability (top right), the doors and roofing material can be added and then painting of choice to finish (left).
ing with an emery board may be re- quired if you get overly aggressive with the Typhoon. After the model is dis- tressed to your satisfaction, apply some paint. I wanted the paint job to be a bit on the rough side, so I brush painted the model rather than airbrushed it. Since neither the door nor the corner trim (Northeastern angle stock) had yet been applied, it was a simple matter to paint them another color before applying them to the building. This shed sat on rustic 6″×6″ timbers
the inside of the wall(s). Cut these openings carefully, making sure they are sized correctly. If you are using commercial castings, measure them carefully. If you choose to build the door from raw materials, as in the case here, it is usually a good idea to craft it before you go hacking any holes in the walls. I say “usually” because in this case, I used the scrap from the door opening as a template to build the door itself. The door material was S scale 1″×4″ wood from Mt. Albert Scale Lum- ber (P.O. Box 56097, Stoney Creek On- tario, Canada L8E1V0) laid over a scrap of ¹/₃₂″ thick scribed wood. Use your adhesive of choice sparingly here to avoid messy blobs that will interfere with the paint job. For wall braces measure out at least
a 6″×6″ in your scale and then brace every edge on all four walls. I try to brace the side walls flush to the edges, and the sides of the end walls indented by the thickness of the side wall and its brace. This way the roof will lay down nice and flat against the side walls.
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
Brace the roof lines and bottom of the end walls flush. I threw a couple of scraps of bracing stock across the door opening to act as a gluing surface for the door.
When all four walls are cut, holed, and braced, trim off the battens at the ends of each wall. They will interfere with the corner moldings. Ignore this step if you have chosen another mate- rial for the walls. Assemble one side to one end using your square as a guide and being sure it is on a nice flat sur- face. One small piece of debris unno- ticed under a wall will make the build- ing slightly misshapen and not square and true. (I’ve been there.) Now that all four walls are together,
square, and laid down nice and flat, it’s time to give those walls some extra tex- ture (grain). Micro Mark sells a motor tool bit called the Typhoon which I mounted in a file handle (also from Mi- cro-Mark) for use in “graining” wood. Follow up the work with the Typhoon with a few swipes of a small wire brush to clean up the burrs. Further polish-
which I distressed mightily and stained with a mixture of india ink and 91 percent denatured alcohol. Use a lit- tle (like a tablespoon or two) ink to a lot (like a pint or more) of alcohol. You can easily experiment with formulas to get the desired results. I keep several shades at the ready. A little (very light) of that formula will take away any idea of “newness” that the little structure may have had.
The last and most visible step is the
roof. I chose corrugated tin (this time from Alpine Division Scale Models, P.O. Box 6, Artesia CA 90702) which I mounted to some ¹/₃₂″ thick sheetwood. Paint the roof dull medium gray, then dust it with some shades of rusty chalk. The reason this little guy took five hours was the photography and notes for
this column. It can easily be
brought off in less time. A complete be- ginner could do it in a day.
I would like to thank you folks that
have stuck with me for so long. This is the 120th SCRATCHBUILDER’S CORNER. I have always enjoyed writing this col- umn and will continue as long as the kind folks at Carstens Publications will tolerate me.
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