A friend has tasked me to scratchbuild three one-storey company houses to be displayed on a new exhibition layout his club is building. He sent me an Alamy photo of what he required. I will not post it here due to copyright laws etc. However here is a floorplan of the houses required.
Mike
I started out by cutting some walls and eaves from Northeastern basswood. The windows in his picture seemed to be similar to the Tichy #8024 6/6 double hung windows. Luckily I had a few in stock. I will not be using them in the rear walls which will not be seen by viewers as the houses will back onto a backscene. The white piece of thick plasticard will be used to cut out the window areas on the walls.
Mike
Company houses are great builds for a steam era railroad.....small footprint and simple design. I'll be looking in Mike. :)
Following along, Mike, like the floor plan.
Nice to see a actual build thread.
Jim
Thanks Greg and Jim, I'm away at the other place for a couple of days so modelling will be on hold. Thanks for following.
Mike
Mike,
I'm following as well. Looks like a fun project.
Tom ;D
Count me in as well! My son gave me a great book on railroad and coal mining for X-Mas. There are some great photo's of company houses and coal patches (small coal mining towns built around the mines).
Thanks for following Tom and Bob. Sounds like a nice present Bob.
Here is my method on cutting out windows. It is pretty basic but.......
I measured the inside frame or rear of the windows and cut a thick piece of plasticard to match. I lost the first piece which disappeared off my modelling table never to be seen again!Using the pictures that I cannot publish as a guide I placed the plastic on the back of the wall. Making sure first it was the right way up. Then I used a pen to draw around the plastic before using a knife to cut the wall. Voila the window fits perfectly. Now I have only got to cut out another eleven.
Mike
hey Harry:
Looks like you are off to a good start. Always love watching your builds.
Karl
Mike, nice idea about cutting out windows.
I think that is the only part of model building that I do not like to do.
Your method may fix that problem for me.
Thanks.
Darryl
Mike,
Nicely done. I've been using that method of cutting our windows for years. It sure helps to have a blank the size of the window.
Tom ;D
Thanks for watching Karl. Darryl I hope it helps. Tom thank you Sir.
Here are the completed walls. As the three houses will be identical I took special care to make all the window cut outs equally spaced.
Mike
Sorry about the delay. Covid lockdown of 250 days and counting had something to do with it........... With a pending house move my friend queried where is scratch built company houses were. I have managed to forage in my "I will have a use for that sometime" bin and this is the current result. Getting there!
Mike
They look great Mike.
hey Mike:
beautiful job on the company houses.
Karl
Thanks Curt and Karl. I should have taken some pictures..........
Mike
Continuing............ getting the porch details right was tricky. I have tidied up the roofs and added some smoke stacks that I found after much delving. I have decided to mount them on a piece of card so I can add some rubbish and other details to the scene.
Mike
Continuing..........I added some chairs and vents to the houses. These were in a freebie packet from FOS...............
Mike
Nice touches.
Very nice Mike! ;)
Nice job Mike.
Jerry
Nice! I have 2 sets of CIty Classics company houses to do for a scene on my RR. I modified one by closing in the porch and turning it into a bar/pub for the workers :-) (That was pretty common from what I remember in company towns.)
dave
Thanks Curt, Bob, Jerry and Dave for your nice cooments. I hope to wrap this little project up over the next few days.
Mike
hey Mike:
Your models look just great as always. Thanks for sharing.
Karl
Good job Mike.....you can't have to many small houses for a steam era railroad. 8)
Very nice. Very nicely done indeed.
Quote from: deemery on November 29, 2020, 10:54:30 AM
Nice! I have 2 sets of CIty Classics company houses to do for a scene on my RR. I modified one by closing in the porch and turning it into a bar/pub for the workers :-) (That was pretty common from what I remember in company towns.)
dave
You remember correctly sir! :) I've grew up around the Anthracite coal region of PA and, on occasion, tipped a beer or two in bars like that. ;D
Bar on the left :-)
dave
Thanks Karl, Greg and Bob.
Continuing.............I will probably not make bar out of one. I am scratchbuilding them for a friend from pictures on the net.
I added rafter rails and little lamps. Plus two of them require a lean-to. I am thoroughly enjoying making this up as I go along..........
Mike
Continuing...............
I fitted rafter rails and some sorry looking metal panels. The folks may have to fix that hole sometime soon!
Mike
And the other roof..............
Mike
Some logs for the log burner?
Mike
Final pictures, then off to deliver the houses to my friend Roger.
Mike
Two thumbs up Mike! :) They look great.
When can I move in Mike , looking great.
Beautiful modeling Mike.
I agree Mike Beautiful Job!!!! Dennis
Nice houses, Mike.
Jeff
Mike,
Roger will be very happy !
Tommy
Thanks very much Bob, Curt, Jeff, Dennis , Jan and Tom. Roger was very pleased to receive his houses. It was great to meet up after 9 months.......................
Mike :) :) :) :)
Hey Mike:
Another beautiful job. Always enjoy your builds.
Karl
Great job Mike!
Jerry
The "challenge" for a set of company houses is to get them to look 'similar but not identical'. You want enough subtle differences so they don't look like clones, both in terms of the construction/weathering, and with small things added by each occupant. Looks to me like you've succeeded!
dave
Thanks very much Karl, Jerry and Dave. I wanted to make them a little different and I think it worked out quite well.
Mike :)
Hey Mike:
You are quite welcome.
Karl