Abandoned shack - completed

The abandoned shack is now complete - I think.

It has been shingled and weathered.  I added a window frame with broken glass on this side.  The frame is partly out of the window opening.  I also added a porch with one broken board and a door hanging by one hinge.

The front view

This side will be towards the inside of the layout while the other side will face the aisle about 3 inches from the edge of the layout.  That way visitors can peer down into the shack and see the interior details.   I got tired a long time ago creating invisible details.   

The next step is to install it on the layout and add lots of litter and weeds around it.  I may even build a junker automobile to put outside the shack.

Abandoned shack with siding and interior details

This project is moving slowly due to the holidays.

The siding is now installed and the undamaged side of the roof is installed.  The is a window on each side, the near one is broken out (I will probably add a damaged window frame) and the other window has "glass" with a crack in it.

This view from above shows the interior details I have added.  The cast iron stove was scratch built using part of the end of an old mechanical pencil, paper and wood scraps.  The stack is a plastic tube.  I also added a scratch built chair, a barrel and an open card board box made from paper.  The are also some wood and paper scraps laying around.  When I install this side of the roof - mostly on the left side - you will still be able to see the interior by looking down into it.  I plan to locate the shack near the edge of my layout so it can be seen.  More work to do.

GLUE

One of the Christmas gifts I got from my wife was a set of 3 types of Aleene's tacky glue - the original, a fast grab version and a quick dry version. I have used the original Aleene's tacky white glue for years but never saw the other versions.  The pack is still sealed so I have not had a chance to try them but I always like tying new modeling tools and materials.  

Abandoned shack - the framing

I like doing shacks, especially deteriorated shacks.  This shack has been abandoned and the roof is falling in. There is a hole in the floor boards and one wall is falling away. The only inhabitants are critters and an occasional squatter.  I started with a rough sketch, some basic dimensions and a few statements of what I planned to include.  Some of that has already changed.  The shack footprint is 12 foot by 20 foot. I am building this board by board to achieve the look I want.  I drew a framing template on the paper I always have taped to my workbench and built the side and end framing with scale 2x4s with 4x4 posts at the corners.  Here is an early progress photo.

As you can see I have the framing done for two walls.  There is a serious hole in the floor boards.  The boards have been stained with my trusty alcohol and india ink solution - no paint here.

This photo is from earlier this evening.  I have installed framing for all walls with part of the wall on the left breaking away from the structure.  I have also installed the roof frames at the back.  The roof frames on this end will be partially collapsing causing the roof to begin to fall in.  The door frame can be seen at this end.  I am making this up as I go so I am not totally sure how he collapsing part will be done.  There will be a simple porch and steps in front of the doorway.  I intend to have the door hanging by one hinge ready to fall off.

Since this photo I have begun installing the vertical siding boards.  There will be a lot of missing siding boards toward this end to ensure that the interior is visible.

More to come though the holidays will slow this down.

Merry Christmas!

Revamping a city building

One of my quick and dirty city buildings was a very pain structure that had been on my father's layout.  As with many of my city buildings I was in a hurry to get the city in place and installed it with no changes.  I did a refurb that included a bunch of signs and an awning over the lower front.

Here is a frontal view.  I added shades in each window and some details on the sidewalk.

This structure will be located at the back of the city next to the burlesque house.

Burlesque house for my city

This structure took extra long because I did a lot of research - on the Internet.  This burlesque house will replace the structure I showed earlier.  It was an interesting build.

The front is mostly styrene with the upper part having a brick overlay.  The marquee over the front doors was made from clear acrylic with white paper having the signs pasted on the acrylic.  I made holes in the back underside of the Marquee for inserting small lights which will hopefully illuminate the marquee (I have not tried it yet).

As you can see, the structure is a short depth building front that fits against the wall.  The lower interior has no interior details but the upper windows have curtains and awnings.  Inside the right window you can see one of the girls changing clothes.  I doubt this will be visible when installed on the layout as the building is about 3 feet from the edge of the layout.

You can "barely" see her removing her dress over her head (she does however have her bra and panties on) - this is a family friendly layout.  That is if you do not consider the bordello with full interior detailing in the small town of Elder near the entrance to my layout.  The roof is removable on that but most people need to stand on a short step stool to see inside.