Looks like either a Rest home or a Parlor House. Which is it? 
Hi all, Here is the building site with the hardscape in place. The rusty Model “T” I described in another thread a while back. You can now see how it is going to fit into the overall scene. (hopefully)
An eye level view of the yard with the “T” and the gas pump in place. The pole in back of the gas pump is for the yard light.
A close up view of the yard light and pump. The rusty wash tub at the bottom of the pole hides the electrical plug for the yard light.
Another eye level view just for the heck of it.
I guess there is nothing left to do but start on the building. Stay tuned.
Rick
Very nice Rick. I wish we could have stopped by. We were very close to you over the weekend. Sacramento and then Sonoma helping our son to move. Starts his Masters in CRM at Sonoma in a couple of weeks. We will probably be seeing a lot of him in that area now. Maybe I can FINALLY see your great layout and actually bring a train to run! 
Gary,
Glad to hear you got the boy moved and settled in for his future studies.
Bring the stuff to run and come on any time, better bring a sleeping bag as well,
we are about 6 hours north of Sonoma :)=)
We are planning a night run club event sometime next month, when it cools off some.
Come on up.
Rick
Rick,
Another neat project. Can’t wait to see the finished ‘Camp’.
Back once again, Finally some pictures of the actual buildings that will make up Smith Camp. As I said earlier I decided to use Acrylic as the base for this project as it is very weather stable and easy to work with. One big advantage is that the windows are literally “built in”. The other big advantage for this project is the fact that the Acrylic material was given to me, no cost involved except for the glue. In this first picture you see how I lay the window mullions out on masking tape then cut out the mullion bars and spray paint them directly on the Acrylic. I have done this on a couple of previous buildings that have been out in the elements for several years and the paint holds up very well.
This view shows the side wall of the store with all the outer masking tape removed and the window pane pieces being removed. The tape edges need to be “cut” with an Exacto knife so the paint will seperate cleanly. Since there will be no interior finish on these buildings the back sides of the windows have been “fogged” with flat black spray paint to limit viewing.
Here the 1/8th sq styrene prepainted rod is glued in place for window and door frames, all the cut ends will be touched up later. You can also see some of the blue overspray on the wall from spraying the window mullions.
If I get some more done I will post further pictures.
Thanks for taking a look. Rick
I like that window idea. Have you tried “Frog Tape”. TV Ads claim it does not bleed at all with latex paints. I haven’t tried it yet.
Just realized that since I have access to scrap vinyl and a cutter, I could cut masks from vinyl and avoid the only tedious part of your method.
Jon, Yes it is a slow method but I have found that I don’t have to go back and re-glue window mullions every year :)=). I haven’t had any trouble with bleeding, the knife work is to cut the paint film at the edge of the tape so it leaves a smoth edge when removed.
Well the basic Acrylic boxes are completed, and all the sub-assemblies sitting in place. Things like the dormer roof pieces will not be glued in place until near the end of the project.
The base form for the fireplace is cut to size and fitted in place. It will be screwed to the building from the inside for ease of assembly in the final stages.
It took a little figuring to reduce all the step and porch dimensions to allow for the wood finish pieces that laminate to everything.
Cutting and laminating the wood is the next step, hopefully will be able to get on that soon.
Rick
…:)…
Hope you don’t get lot’s of direct sun?
Looking better and better
David, We get lots of direct sun. I don’t understand your comment?? Got a little more for “show and tell” In these views I have the water table and crawl space boards laminated in place as well as the steps and porch boards.
The two buildings are being built as seperate models but will bolt together at final assembly. They are being constructed so with very little modification they could be used as seperate structures if wanted at some future time.
(
More later. Rick
Rick,
I apologize…I personally have had no success with acrylic in direct sunlight…either way your build looks real good!
David,
No need for an apology. Like I said, I just didn’t understand your comment, I’m kinda slow that way :)=)
I have had a couple of buildings built this way, wood laminated over Acrylic, out in the weather here for 2-3 years and have had no problems with anything but the “plywood” that I used for doors. Ala “Richard Smith” I have used the Acrylic for the roof with nothing but primer and “stone texture” paint as the finish again with no problems.
Maybe I have just been lucky :)=)
What happened with your Acrylic projects???
Later
Rick
Severe warpage
Another update. The doors have been built up from Styrene and sprayed with primer. A little finish paint and some weathering and they will be ready to install.
(
These next two views just show some of the siding that has been laminated in place. It seems like no matter how careful I am when cutting the siding on the table saw I always get a variance in the thickness of the pieces, just have to come up with a better method I guess.
More later, Rick
Marty,
When cutting thin strips, are you using a jig,(with a pusher) between the fence and the right side of the blade but allowing a gap the width of the siding you are trying to cut?
Marty,
Up until a few years ago we had several small sawmills cutting cedar mostly out here. The boards were often not the exact same size and sometimes were not even squared up perfectly. I would assume that in the good old days that sizes varied quite a bit especially in smaller backwater areas.
Also if the boards need to be evened out you can always get the small sander and sand them down after they’re glued to the walls or deck. I rather like the more rustic look except maybe for the more classy structures. Fortunately I have no class at all on the POC. hehe!
BTW I sure like those doors.
Lookin’ good Rick.
Really good looking project, and interesting to see its progress!
I’ve been considering using acrylic for some buildings but I haven’t been able to figure out a way to cut it with the tools I have. It seems impossible to get a clean, straight cut in acrylic with only a saber saw. (Come to think of it, I can’t really get a clean, straight cut in any material with that saw.)