The Harbor Inn, Buffalo NY

[Dave Buchholz]

Keep in mind it's about 2.5" tall at most.
I was thinking of using a drill press to taper a dowel. Chucks don't always open as wide as the part you want to make and can leave nasty crush marks of the jaws on the part.

So....to start with, I thought of using two different size dowels. In the "big" dowel, drill a pilot hole the size of the small dowel. Glue the small, inch long dowel into the hole.

Now I have a way of chucking the little dowel into the drill press without ruining the actual part, the big dowel will then  be tapered to shape. At least that's the theory.
When done, just cut the small dowel off.

I don't own a lathe, so my drill press will have to suffice......unless any of you want to volunteer to play on your own lathe.

The other possibility was to steal one of my wife's knick knacks with the little lighthouses on them  and pray to God she never realizes that it's gone and has been  repurposed on the North Coast Railroad.

(Obituary to follow.)

Fifth Dave to the right

[jbvb]

Given a metal or wood lathe, or even a largish electric drill held in a vise, easy enough to taper a dowel.  Comparing with the windows, I'd say maybe 4 foot diameter at the base, 3 at the top. If the building is 40 feet tall to the top of the roof overhang, the lighthouse will be maybe 16 feet tall.

[Michael Hohn]

Thank you to all for the comments and encouragement.

Mike, thank you for the link. I need to read it again. I don't understand the point of your comment

"3.The window castings go on the backs of the wall, upside down so that the sashes are correct."

The Grandt Line castings seem to produced that they would fit into the front face of the brick sheet. So I don't understand upside down from the back.

Dave #5

Dave,

I'll try to explain.  Windows in masonry buildings are generally inset; there is no trim on the face of the brick or stone.  By laminating the brick sheet on styrene sheet, you are both strengthening the walls and providing the wall thickness needed for recessed windows.  John Nehrich found that laminating 0.04" styrene sheet to the back of Holgate and Reynolds brick sheet gave about the right thickness.  That brick sheet (no longer made) was not very thick, so you might want to use a thinner styrene sheet, perhaps 0.02"to back up the brick sheet you have. 

When the window and door castings are glued to the back of the walls, the trim serves to hold the windows in place.  The thickness of the laminated wall means that the widow is recessed the right amount.

If you look at a double hung window, you will see that the lower sash is inside the upper sash.  Turning the window castings upside down results in the correct positioning of upper and lower sash when viewed from the outside of the wall.  The inside of the wall looks ridiculous but the viewer won't see that once the building is complete.

I can post photos if that would help.

Mike
   

[Dave Buchholz]

Ive been laid up and slowed down this week with a Swollen leg due to a blood clot. I'm on blood thinners now.

Mike I Understand what you mean now, I never noticed the distinction of wood frame versus brick wall windows before.  I was way off in the type of windows I should use.  Tichy Trains seems to have a good arched masonry window I could use in stead of what I found in my junk boxes

As i gathered more photos of the prototype building, it dawned on me that it went though a few physical structural changes. Two in particular stood out, The number of windows on the side of the building were added to. And the " store front"  seemed to change from Wood to Brick over the years.
Photos below show the distinctions between those mentioned elements