My next model is an out house maintenance shop. They construct, install, and maintain outhouses. My idea for this came from the fact I have a small collection of out house models, many of which came from my fathers layout. I have several of these installed on my layout.
I have constructed the four walls and chimney. The walls are made using a thin wood base with 2x10 wood strips for siding. The windows and doors are by a variety of manufacturers, The chimney was made from a thick strip of balsa carved to shape with dots of thick glue which were then painted to simulate stones.
The rear door is a cast metal wood type door with lots of details on both sides.
The view above shows the other side of the rear door,
Back in the 1970's when what is now the NMRA magazine was called the NMRA Bulletin there was an ongoing series of articles and photos of what were called "biffys", another name for an out house. There was a group of modelers that made various models of biffys including on a flat car and many other situations. The group was called the "Order of the Biffy". The even had pins like that below.
The pin above is held up on a dark colored metal block - not part of the pin.
Needless to say these articles were controversial.
I will next add the roof and a front roof extension plus a rear roof extension. Under the rear roof extension will be the maintenance area with details.
1 comment:
First off, I'm a regular reader of your blog and much enjoy your building projects!
E. L. Moore was also a builder of HO scale outhouses back in the '60s and '70s. It turns out he published an article about them in the November 1975 issue of the NMRA Bulletin called "A Mighty Relaxin' Job".
Those outhouses of his were often created as gifts for friends. You can see a few of them here: https://30squaresofontario.blogspot.com/2015/11/e-l-moores-outhouses.html He usually put a little sticker on the bottom with some sort of message along with his signature and date of construction.
His inspiration was the fictional character Lem Putt, master outhouse builder, created by vaudevillian Charles 'Chic' Sales. Lem was often referred to as 'The Specialist', and I wrote a little about him here: https://30squaresofontario.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-specialist.html
I don't know if E. L. Moore was also a member of the 'Order of the Biffy', but sounds like something he'd belong to :-) Do you have any photos of your father's HO outhouses you could share?
Outhouses seem to have a long and infamous history in model railroading :-) I'm looking forwarding to see the next instalment of your project!
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