Steve is correct. One of the go-to articles is Bruce Chandler’s post at the link shown above. I have it in my “saves” file. Bruce made a wooden jig, which enabled him to position the muntins (those are the little cross pieces) in place and keep 'em aligned. I did no such thing, mostly because I am lazy and always in a hurry to get things done ASAP. Plus these windows are simple and I found that simply keeping the corners square (using a metal square as seen in the photo) worked well. As for postioning the cross piece, because there’s only one per window or sash or whatever ya call it, I just eyeball it and hope it’s in the middle. I tried making a pencil mark at the halfway point, but that’s too much work. I also tried using a piece of glass as a jig, but it’s just a skosh off size. Speaking of jigs, as I recall, Bruce used wood, which is OK if you apply your “cement” neatly. If you don’t, the extra stuff will ooze onto the wood or whatever the jig is made of, and stick the window to the jig or the work surface (ask me how I know this). I’ve built my windows on a piece of glass, because that seems to repel MEK (my cement of choice) and Plastruct’s Plastic Weld, pretty well. I’ve been thinking of a piece of Lexan plastic, to use as a jig and work surface, because most of these solvent “glues” don’t stick to Lexan. Or so I’m told. Clair, I swear by (and sometimes swear at) Evergreen Scale Models styrene strip, which I buy at my local train store (Arnie’s in Orange County, CA). You can get it from Caboose Hobbies and the manufacturer, although the company doesn’t seem all that jazzed dealing with consumers (too much paperwork, I’m guessing). Either way, the price is the same (no bargains out there). You can also buy plastic strip from Plastruct in LA. They have a huge catalog of stuff, available either in paper (for a few bucks) or on their website. It’s fun to browse, because they have so many neat things for model builders. BTW, their strip styrene is good, but it comes in shorter lengths. They do have a lot of angles, trim pieces, and such, if ya wanta get fancy. But to your actual question: for my windows I used .060 x .188 for the outer frames (the ones that sit atop your wall material be it siding, brick, etc). To keep the frames neat and to hold them in place in the window holes you’ve cut in your wall, I made little sub frames that fit under the outer frames, from .040 x .125 strip. Not required, but tidy looking. For the inner windows (the sash, I guess) I used and .080 x .125 (part number 366) and .060 x .080 (part 354), which I turned on its side, for the center divider.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/joerusz915/_forumfiles/Windowframe1.jpg)
This is the inner frame (call it a frame insert), which will anchor the complete frame assembly in the wall hole. Ya don’t need one (I have pasted the frames directly to the wall surface), but if you want your windows to look like the store-bought kind, this is what you need. The material in this case is .040 x .125 styrene strip.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/joerusz915/_forumfiles/Windowframe2.jpg)
The outer frame, shown here, gets “cemented” on top the inner frame and makes everything nice and tidy. BTW, when I say “cemented,” understand that when working with styrene and any solvent like MEK or Plastic Weld, you are not actually gluing things together, but welding them, as these solvents melt the plastic. One more thing related to your question, Clair. The size of material you chose depends on the scale of your work. I chose mine because the strips I used looked right. For instance, if you make the frames out of material that is too wide, they’ll look oversized, relative to the size of the window opening and such. So ya gotta size the whole situation up. I keep a supply of various sizes of styrene strip on hand and just fiddle around until I find one that looks right or fits the dimensions shown in the plans–when I work from plans. Finally (don’t he ever shut up?): I Googled window sash and learned that the inner frame (the window part) is called a sash. Have fun.
