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The Mainline => Kit Building => Topic started by: jbvb on March 03, 2025, 10:41:02 AM

Title: Guard House for the Gear Works (Stewart #117, HO, metal)
Post by: jbvb on March 03, 2025, 10:41:02 AM
Reposting from RR-Line.

31-Oct-2010: During WWII, the US Navy built a marine gear plant to the east of the B&M Eastern Route, opposite the main GE River Works complex in West Lynn. Into the 1960s it had a high chain-link fence with guard towers. I'll get to that eventually, but I noticed a cast metal kit from Stewart that would serve as a guardhouse where the road crossed the B&M from the main plant:

guardhouse0.jpg

It's a pretty simple kit, except that the kit roof wasn't going to fit without a lot of filing, and I didn't like it much anyway.

guardhouse1.jpg

The side walls interlock with the front and back. But the front and back stood a bit proud of the sides, so I had to file the edges down to where the cast-in block joints disappeared. I re-cut them with a razor saw.

The supplied roof (I think) has a large protrusion in the middle which kept it from fitting as either a roof or a floor. Rather than file it off, I decided to build a styrene roof with both pitch and overhang, as appropriate for the New England climate. Details follow.

28-Nov-2010: I made a new shed roof from Evergreen styrene. The pitch is about 1 in 8

guardhouse2.jpg

I used.020 V-Groove for the roof deck and side walls, scale 2x4 for the rafters and blocking at the back and .060 x .188 with the roof's angle filed on the top for the front. I scribed some grooves into the front to simulate individual boards.

Title: Re: Guard House for the Gear Works (Stewart #117, HO, metal)
Post by: Philip on March 07, 2025, 07:00:15 PM
That shack will be a jewel! Nice work adding the pitch.
Title: Re: Guard House for the Gear Works (Stewart #117, HO, metal)
Post by: KentuckySouthern on March 08, 2025, 07:58:40 AM
Nice work on the roof.
Title: Re: Guard House for the Gear Works (Stewart #117, HO, metal)
Post by: friscomike on March 08, 2025, 08:30:18 AM
James, that's a neat little structure.  The new roof was well executed.  Have fun, mike
Title: Re: Guard House for the Gear Works (Stewart #117, HO, metal)
Post by: GeorgeD on March 08, 2025, 09:09:10 AM
That styrene roof looks better than the cast roof which is too thick.

George