1/32 scale Hardware store for Thomasville

[GTMust]

When you lose inspiration on a build because you can't come up with a solution to a minor problem...... there's only one thing to do. Start something else or you won't have any hair left!

Such is the case with my "Modern Street Scene". I just can't think of two stores that would span the time periods from the 1930's to the 1970's without being affected by trends and styles. I'm sure one day a solution will appear... maybe just set the time period in the 1930's to suit my classic car models....... but in the meantime.......

Here's the start of another building for my Thomasville dio. It's intended as a hardware/lumber store and may be extended later to include a sawmill at the rear. The other buildings for the town have been built to fit the existing street base... but this one will be a "stand alone" structure as a display by itself... or can be connected to the end of the Thomasville street. The base area will be about 12" x 12".

Generally the era being portrayed is the turn of the century, around 1900 to 1910. I'm basing it on a picture I found on the web. It's not a quick simple build so I expect to take some time with it. Plus, now the weather is improving, I must get back to painting some of my half finished car projects.

Here's the start... basic walls are Elmer's 3/16" foamcore board. I've cut 1/4" strips of 1/32" Birch plywood which are spaced 3/16" apart to give a 1/16" overlap to the siding. Birch ply has killed six of my blades so for the remaing walls I'm resorting to 1/32" balsa (I can't find any 1/32" basswood at my local stores!). The plastic windows are from Grandt Line 1/48 scale model railway suppliers. The doors will be built from styrene and/or basswood. The sidewalk is 1/16" basswood scribed to resemble individual boards. There will be a sidewalk canopy 4 courses below the second floor window.

As this is intended to represent a building that was built in the mid 1800's, and is now over 50 years old, I will be trying some heavy weathering techniques on the exterior... mostly experimenting with ideas I've found in books like Ken's and on the internet, etc. Hopefully I won't get carried away....!

[Mercman]

Tony that looks great. Nice job. I'll be watching to see how it progresses.

[KHamilton]

You're off to a good start, Tony. Don't worry - you'll stop when it looks just-right..!

[GTMust]

Thanks Junior and Ken.

(I hope you're right about knowing when to stop, Ken..... haha!)

Tony

Edited March 18, 2012 by GTMust

[Eshaver]

Tony, that building style around here at least was somewhat popular . Brick was the way to go as both in Washington D C and here , there were some gigantic brick kilns . One in D C is still visible from the street on North Capital vane going into Downtown . Weathering Yellow pine ship lap is not rocket science as ken knows . Just do it in an uneven way . Now go build , onward and upward ! Ed Shaver

[GTMust]

Another day... some more progress....

Added the side walls and the floors and started to build the exterior stairs to the second floor. Now I see the grain on the balsa siding, I wish i'd used it instead of the birch ply on the front wall! Oh well!

(I found a tip that might help others using Foamcore board. When I glued the siding to the foamcore board, it warped badly after it dried. By brushing water over the inside face of the wall and letting it dry out, the wall returned to it's original shape. When I glued the walls together at the corners, I wetted the inside faces again and they are now completly straight. The camera angle makes it look like there's a "bow" in the front wall, but there isn't.)

[GTMust]

I got the sidewalk and work area in place then tried a "staining" experiment on the work area..... a very watery acrylic black wash brushed liberally over the basswood.... WRONG!

I should have known it would warp! Even though I had reinforced it underneath with basswood framing, it twisted up like a pretzel. I managed to get it straightened back out by applying another wash, both on top and underneath, and placing some large cans filled with gravel on it while it dried. It's now straight but has lifted at the outer edge so I'll just do some graded landscaping to hide that! We live and learn......!

[Mercman]

Tony here is a link to weathering wood. Hope it helps out.

http://homepage.mac.com/michael21/CMShome/tutorialsandhow-.html

The store is really taking nice shape. I have had the same problem you encountered. I found that doing the weathering first than gluing does a better job.

[GTMust]

Thanks for the link Junior......... Once I get the wood stained, I'm going to try to add peeling paint to the walls. I think I can achieve that with a rubber cement technique I remember seeing somewhere? Or maybe just scrape some paint off to expose the weathered wood underneath? I'd better experiment first, though!!!

Tony

[dragster fever]

nice job i build my structures out of 1/4 inch actually its 3/16 inch luan underlayment 3ply flooring plywood its super strong and a sheet 4foot by 8foot cost around 13$ here in illinois it will make a lot of buidings of course the exterior will have to be sided

[Sixties Sam]

Maynard, I've used that luan plywood for sidewalks and the floor of my garage diorama. It looks like concrete with some fairly thick latex paint (gray or white) on it. I also used it on a wall with brick paper glued on it. Nice stuff, and cheap!

Sam

[dragster fever]

thanks for the tip i never thought to use for that purpose

[GTMust]

Thanks for the tip Maynard.

The Luan plywood sounds like a perfect, non warping idea....... but how do you cut holes in it for windows and doors etc.?

(Unfortunately I don't have a workshop where I can handle and cut a 4' x 8' sheet of ply into smaller sections... like walls and floors.)

How do you do it?

Tony

[GTMust]

I took the plunge and mixed up a watery acrylic gray/brown/black stain, then applied it in varying consistencies on each of the individual siding and trim boards. I experimented by using a hair dryer set at the lowest temperature to speed up the drying as each board was stained..... and nothing warped!

I then applied a similar watery black acrylic wash to the sidewalk using the same technique and everything stayed straight and level. After the black on the sidewalk was completely dry, I sanded it with a coarse grain sand paper in the direction of the grain until it became lighter and more of a gray, bleached color. I still have to apply more weathering and staining to the boarded work area.

The rickety stairs are also finished apart from final staining,

I found a 13" x 12" x 5/8" thick door from an old abandoned entertainment center and that has become my base. After locating the building on it, I've started to apply spackle to the areas that will be the road and the raised side yard. After a couple more coats and some sanding it should be ready for some landscaping materials.

I'm not sure if I should leave the weathered look to the siding or apply a "peeling paint" effect.. What do you think? I must admit I'm a little nervous to try the peeling paint idea in case I screw it up after all the time I've already put into it!

Tony

[Mercman]

Thanks for the tip Maynard.

The Luan plywood sounds like a perfect, non warping idea....... but how do you cut holes in it for windows and doors etc.?

(Unfortunately I don't have a workshop where I can handle and cut a 4' x 8' sheet of ply into smaller sections... like walls and floors.)

How do you do it?

Tony

Tony a lot of the time depending on where you buy the plywood, they can cut it down to size for you. If nothing else invest in a Skil Saw. They run around 35-40.00, also might want to add a jig saw.

IMO I would leave this one as is. Try the peeling paint effect on some other small project first to get the hang of it.

Edited March 29, 2012 by Mercman

[GTMust]

I think I agree with you Junior.... best to leave well alone!

By the way... I have the tools... just nowhere to use them! (Note to self: Have to clean out the garage!) LOL!

Tony

[GTMust]

This is a fun project.....!

Since the last report, I've added a fence, the road surface. the grass parking area beside the work area....... and started on the porch. The interior of the window frames (jamb extensions) have also been installed... but you can't see them! I'm hoping to get some details of a typical 1900's hardware store interior for some interior detailing.

Now I can get an idea of how the hardware store will fit into the street scene..... at either end.

Tony

[Mercman]

Tony this is looking great. It fits right in the street scene.

[GTMust]

A little more.......

[GTMust]

Even though they will never be seen once the roof is on...... I couldn't resist adding the ridge beam and rafters!!!

[Mercman]

Tony this is getting better all of the time. Even though they wont show, the roof trusses are a nice touch. At least the roof wont sag.

[GTMust]

Now that the weather is warming up, I'm going to put this aside for a while and get back to some of my unfinished car models... and some new ones!

I'll get back to the dios in the late fall, when the weather turns cold and I can't spray paint outside anymore.

Tony

[dragster fever]

Thanks for the tip Maynard.

The Luan plywood sounds like a perfect, non warping idea....... but how do you cut holes in it for windows and doors etc.?

(Unfortunately I don't have a workshop where I can handle and cut a 4' x 8' sheet of ply into smaller sections... like walls and floors.)

How do you do it?

Tony

i would first get the plywood mark it precisly all the walls window and door openings either take it outside on saw horses and use a jigsaw to cut it i predrill all corners on the window and door openings on the inside of the openings again use the jigsaw go slow and steady works best i clean the edges up with a sanding block with 100 or 150 grit sandpaper .the lumber store should offer the sevice to at least cut it in half for a small fee then it will be easier to handle if you cant do any of this find a buddy with a garage hope this helps

[Coned Tony]

excellent job

[GTMust]

Thanks Junior and Tony.

And thanks for the advice Maynard.

Tony