S W E E E E T!
Douse it with lighter fluid, torch it, then put it out after just a bit of charring. Then it can be an abandoned project, and you won’t have to worry about it any more.
Got it done… As far as I could take it. Here is my finished “un-finished” house.
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-127_zpsce93e306.jpg)
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-124_zpsd7f4b94f.jpg)
I set out to do as close to a real build as possible, using framing technics the same as the real thing would have been built like, 2 nails(pins) in each end of the studs, fire blocking, and etc.
I spent a lot of time drawing framing details to get it right. And I think that when you look into the model, you really get the feeling that you are in a real home under construction.
Here are a few interiors, you be the judge.
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/IMG_6984_zpsdcc7ec91.jpg)
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-85_zpse3f45768.jpg)
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-87_zpsef51e78e.jpg)
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-93_zps938b2371.jpg)
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-118_zpscc2c3ff9.jpg)
A couple of exteriors.
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-109_zps3a186573.jpg)
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-88_zps2f326925.jpg)
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-83_zps3ba1c6a4.jpg)
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-92_zps3c650b83.jpg)
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-111_zpse5b75805.jpg)
(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/House%20Building/Build-114_zps1c0a9cde.jpg)
My wife thinks that I’M “Anal Nuts”. There are over 428 studs in the house. 760 pins in the 1st floor decking. 796 pins in the exterior left side walls. 538 pins in the 2nd floor joists.
I’m happy with the end results. I wish that I had more time to better stage the final shots, I really need some “people” to bring it to life.
That really looks awesome!! Dave. Nice work on the details. those pics are really convincing taken from those angles on the inside and out…
Where you put those spacer blocks in between the studs - it’s really clear now that it was the right thing to do! I know it was fussy, but imagins the model without them!
The ladders were the first things I noticed in these last photos.
Very nice, but very wrong, I say!!!
Those ladders that were all over the place when I was a kid were home made by the laborers, made of 2x4s : the rungs were just short 1x4s nailed to the 2" edge of the legs. They were pretty heavy for a kid to move around unless you had a buddy to help you.
The ladders were obvoiusly the most beat-up thing on any site right from the get-go. Clearly, they had been brought over from the previous build.
They spent a lot of time lying in the mud, and usually looked as if they were made of dirty old scraps. The wood was always weathered and old-looking. With wear and tear even a new ladder wouldn’t stay looking new for very long; they got a daily banging about; they were scraped by heavy workboots all day long, they were thrown or dropped, covered with dirt, cement dust, rain, and in places a layer of dried cement was often stuck to them.
Some of them looked as if from their birth they had been built from recycled wood. There was the occasional bent nail sticking out of those nailed rung/leg joints. Other nails might have been added as hooks for ropes or tools. Most ladder joints started out with two nails, but many, many only had one nail per joint. The rungs would split away, many got replaced by 1x4s, 2x4s, or 1x6s. Rungs missing altogether were another part of their charm. Most of the replacement rungs were definitely recycled from whatever was lying around the site, others came from who knows where, you could tell by the old paint often seen on them. It wasn’t unusual for these wider planks to be split, so there may have been 6" in width, enough for three nails on one end, and only 3-4" on the other end, with 2 nails if you were lucky. And there’d be a nail there, probably bent, and still sticking out where wood used to be…
Older ladders would be used, 'though they might be very close to falling apart. I saw, and climbed, many a ladder that had a distinct sidewise tilt. The rungs would be loose and wobbly, and the whole ladder would lean to one side. You could climb such ladders, but the higher you got the more it helped to have something nearby to grab on to. The wood on such ladders was often very dark indeed, and the corners of the wooden pieces would be well-rounded by wear and tear, where occasionally you could actually see new-looking wood beneath the surface patina.
Now, to put all these effects on one ladder would be severe overkill, but a judicious use of them here and there would be most authentic, at least according to my recollections. The first step would be to construct your ladders without fancy joinery, just with nailed butt joints. The second would be to make sure the wood is old and grey, clearly insharp contrast to the new wood the carpenters are building with. Take it away from there!
I don’t think I ever saw any 2x2’s around these sites, by the way. I didn’t even discover that 2x2s were available until many years later…
Hrere and there they had their uses in building model RR benchwork. Ho, ho!
I’ll bet that’s going to find a great place on the layout. That is really nice. What’s the next project?
Absolutely crazy…Love it!
Will you seal it to keep the lily white new lumber look?
Wow Dave that house is Awesome and it does look like a real construction site. I bet your fingers are worn down to nubs, cutting and nailing all that small wood.
That worker seen on the front porch I had to go and check on my Speeder because the same guy is driving it and I thought maybe he took off to go and check out your build. My guy has to be related to yours!
I still think you need to char a portion of the house and that is why the work stopped when the hobos got in there one night and started a fire to stay warm that got out of hand.
Very well done.
Now all the latest pix have downloaded I see you have indeed got some older looking ladders in there. I’m on dialup, very slow with pix, and hadn’t seen all yr pix before. I’m speechless with admiration. The little boy in me has taken over. He wants to get in there fast for a great game of tag!
Wow that came out great, be sure to really soak it in Thomson’s water seal before you leave it outdoors.
Excellent Job Dave, If I didnt know it was a model, the inside shots look just like the real thing.
Amazing!!! The model is so realistic. The pics in the sun look like the real thing. Good job.
Doc Tom