Great Lakes Lighthouse Build

[Mark Dalrymple]

Really enjoying this build, Carl.  Top notch - as always.

I might have to make one of those mini lathes.

Cheers, Mark.

[GPdemayo]

Thank you Curt, Bob, and Greg!

Greg- the light boxes are a great way to avoid any light leakage issues...

I understand about the light leakage problem Carl.....just never thought of your box approach.....impressive. 

[carl b]

Mark- Thank you. The mini-lathe is certainly cheap enough!

Greg- Appreciate your comment. Light boxes are a lot more work- but you get complete control over your lights....

[Jim Donovan]

Hi Carl;

I have been watching and learning a lot from your work, thanks for sharing. Really amazing work and some I can put to use immidiately.

Thanks

Jim D

[carl b]

Thanks very much Jim. Appreciate you following along and glad to be of help.

You have a great name for your project too! 

[carl b]

The roof is thick, I estimated about 12". Due to the roof pitch, it extends far down beneath the dormers. After I cut a master card template to fit, I cut 4 pieces of .022" card, 2 for each side. These will form the carcass of the roof.



I glued 6 x 6 stock to the side of one card, then glued the 2nd card on top of it at an offset to provide the angle at the gable end. This assembly gave me the necessary "bulk".



Two cards glued together and trimmed to the proper angle.



Both roof sides now test fitting. All exposed edges will be covered with 1 x 12 & 1 x 4 trim. I will need 3 tab shingles, and twin chimneys. I went ahead and glued the building to the foundation.



Dormer sub roof cards were cut with a few trial and errors. Six sets and a spare. More 3 tab shingles here too.



The "connector walkway" must be attached now because it has two lights that must be soldered to the resistor bridge inside the house. I also provided a solder point to connect the light tower, which won't be attached until the very end.



The front porch is also attached & soldered now- the LED light wires were passed thru a hole drilled into the front wall. Several touch ups are needed.



All resistors are soldered in place. I used some higher resistance values than in the past to try to dim them some. The roof can now be completed and set down in place when ready.... This area will never be seen, or accessible again.



Till next time...do you have shingles?

[PRR Modeler]

Top notch modeling.

[Oldguy]

That is looking good.  No.  Great.

[Jerry]

As usual your work is top notch!


Jerry

[carl b]

Curt, Bob, and Jerry, thanks very much for the compliments and following along!

[carl b]

Started shingling the two main sub roof cards.... I previously spray painted these shingles black and gray...difficult to see during application...



And the dormer sub roof cards too...



Due to the odd shape of the roof, I am using a prototypical style of framing support here, vertical rafters tied to a wide ridge beam. This will give me extra rigidity during dormer roof construction, prevent any sagging, and the wide beam will provide a solid level base for the two chimneys to come....



In order to get the roof glued down, I had to do.... what I had to do.....a cardboard cradle cut to the same pitch, to hold some weights at all the right spots.



I built up the connector walkway roof supports in the back, and am ready to attach the shingled cards.



I used almost prototypical framing for the dormers roofing....



Then built another "cardboard concoction" to hold the roof cards down while gluing.



Till next time...it's definitely Goth.....

[carl b]

I knew the Victorian Gothic boarding and brackets (also called Apex trim) at the gable ends were going to be difficult. I glued two pieces of square styrene strip at the same gable roof angle (actually about 88 degrees) on a ceramic tile as a jig. Used card first as test pieces to get approximate lengths and angles.



Tried wood to begin with, but the pieces didn't paint up well and were way too rough. At the bottom is one of the finials I made on my Dremel "mini-lathe".



Switched to styrene for everything, and it was "cooperative".. Cut, fit, sand, fit, sand, cut.......



Glued in place, now an exact duplicate must be made for the opposite side......the pointy spires will wait till much later.



The dormer boarding are a smaller & simpler version of the gable ends. Using the same jig to build them, again with styrene, and built 6 smaller versions.



Very frustrating and delicate work, but dormers boarding were finally glued in place...



The main roof has eight large brackets, 4 for each side. These were a real pain and required several tries, but I eventually made some reasonable units. All styrene, except basswood for the curving piece. Ready for putty & paint.



Each dormer has two simpler brackets, for a total of 12. All styrene, ready for putty & paint.
At 1/4" x 5/16", probably some of the smallest I've ever made....



All painted and in place.



Till next time...down to the chimneys....

[postalkarl]

Hey Carl:

All I can say is WOweeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a beautiful job you are doing with this. I just can't wait to see the finished product. And all that wiring ummm ummm ummm.

Karl

[PRR Modeler]

Absolutely beautiful detail work.

[sdrees]

This is a great looking building Carl.  I give it another big WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!