Large Scale Central

Worker Shacks for the Durango & Jasper

I was gobsmacked by the cliffhangers created by Dennis Rayon and decided that I needed to build some for my layout. I don’t claim to be anything like as artistic or good at this as Dennis, but maybe I can get a faint echo of his. The plan is to have a cluster of these things arranged on a set of rocks perched above the track, near the stamp mill in Durango. I have the rocks, and had already posted this shot of a foam board mockup of one:

I started building the “real” thing recently. Here’s the deck and first wall or two:

Here’s the building being test fit with an engine running underneath it for scale:

And here’s the walls done, painted, test fitting the windows and door frame.

I need to beat this thing up something fierce. Suggestions?

The plan is to do corrugated metal roofing, some railings, maybe an awning (shingled?), and a chimney. Then lots of details. Maybe some interior details? not sure yet. This will be one of the first things a visitor sees as they walk up the side of the house toward the layout.

I’ve probably made this “shack” too luxurious. Next ones should be smaller and perched more precariously.

Cheers!

Nice.

I built a couple of them years ago. Build them sturdy. The wind kept blowing mine into the canyon and/or nighttime critters would knock them over. So I didn’t get too fancy with them. They were set away from the front of the layout, so the 10’ rule applied. :slight_smile:

I like it but in your video why does your Climax sound like an airplane? Just kidding…

You could beat up your build with some sand paper then use a bit of india ink to seal up and age the exposed wood. The same india ink watered down cold be used on the deck to age that and of course the tin roof needs to be rusty.

Jim, I know my opinion doesn’t mean diddly-squat, but I like the natural weathered rustic look. Apply some kind of protection to the wood and maybe paint the windows and door frames a burnt sienna or some other dark brown (or flat white) and call it a day. The shack looks good with those wood strips and natural grain exposed, and both shingled or a corrugated metal roof would look very realistic!

I felt 3 earthquakes yesterday, so batten down the hatches, matey! Secure those shacks well, 'cause you don’t want them folding up and sliding down those rocks during the next tremor! (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)

Nice addition to the layout Jim.(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Thanks for the ideas and encouragement folks!

Here is a picture of the weathering on the corrugated metal roofing. I’m using a technique described in a topic about a backwoods Porter by Dennis Rayon.

And here’s some progress on the building: shingled awning, railings, and some firewood.

Cheers!

Nice progress Jim!

However if you want to "Beat it up something fierce " like you asked then take the yellow paint off the trim. Take a heat gun and some destructive items to that plastic trim then paint it the same green as the structure or black then mess it up again.

Structure looks like redwood to me so leave the green paint on it, do the roof and let mother nature do the rest.

Think Worker Shack’s not Victorian color schemes.

You did put “Suggestions” ? into your post …that is mine.

Jim

Copying is the best compliment a person can get, I like what you are doing, looking very good.

You can make structures with varying conditions of weathering, if you have a dremel with a router type

bit works good for roughing up paint. Also a wire brush in a dremel works good too.

And nothing wrong with one having a good paint job.

Another interesting thought is to make a couple guys painting it so it looks just like they just

finished painting it. A couple paint cans, a ladder, and just plain folks has a couple great figures

that look like they are painting.

one down and a few more to go.

Keep us posted

Dennis

Thanks Rooster, Dennis. Advice much appreciated.

I was already leaning toward “mother nature” on the untreated wood. Probably ok on the paint too, though at some point I want to try that wire brush method.

I will probably go with the suggestion of a different color scheme. More workman-like and less hoity-toity…

I must be doing something wrong (so what’s new?). I tried the “wire brush with Dremel” technique but it just pretty much removed every bit of paint it touched, as here:

Is there some technique to it that I’m not grokking?

On the other hand, I used a sandpaper stick and it seemed to give me quite a bit of control of where and how much distress to apply. Here’s an example of that technique (just keep making fairly subtle passes with the sandpaper until it looks like you want it to):

The above picture doesn’t quite do the job of getting across how weathered the paint looks IRL.

Any advice? BTW: I used the sand paper to blend in those “wire brush” holes (and it will be facing a rock anyway)…

Cheers!

do it manually!

a powered wirebrush cleans surfaces, but gives no “streaks”. i prefer coarse sanding paper wrapped around a finger. (or toothbrush shaped steel brushes)

For faded and worn paint looks, add layers of thin washes. Build up color a tad at a time. Use a sharp pencil to add knot holes. India ink in rubbing alcohol can reduce warping that ink thinned with water might cause. Pollution and smoke stains. The sharp point of a drawing compass can scribe in cracks and holes.

Does our hero get drunk? He probably leaves habitual wear spots on the steps, handrails and corners. Are his hands greasy?

Are they company shacks or custom builts by scavengers? Company wood is probably B grade whilst the tramps settle for anything(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif). Thus colors may depend on what was ‘recycled’. Hey where’s my fence???(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-yell.gif)

Cracks might be covered with a mismatched color plank.

Company housing might be painted in company colors.

Are we having fun yet?

John

Nice set of suggestions Korm and John. Thanks!

Meanwhile, I just went ahead and did some more stuff because I have a club open house tomorrow and time is ticking.

Here is the deck being placed:

And after adding some braces, here’s the shack in place with door, windows, and roof:

A closer look:

And from further away:

I’m satisfied for now. Lots more details to be added, but this is good enough for tomorrow (I guess it has to be :-)).

Thanks for all the suggestions folks, it helped a lot!

Cheers!

That looks outstanding Jim! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Nice work, Jim. Looking good!

Having just seen it up close and personal at the club open house, I can attest that Jim did a great job! Really looked nice and it will really stand out when the layout around it is finished up.

Thanks for the kind words folks! Much appreciated.

Had a pretty full house today. I didn’t get to take pictures but some others did, I’ll try to post some…

Cheers!

Jim,

Molly, I, and the Grandkids enjoyed visiting your layout yesterday. You’re making good progress. You should get some natural weathering on your buildings this winter.

Thanks Dan, nice to see you all…

Awesome! This really turned out well!