Junction Farm (BESTTrains kits)

[Jerry]

That's a fine looking farm house Dave.

Jerry

[Zephyrus52246]

Great work, Dave.  I especially like the shingles.  

Jeff

[Larry C]

Dave fantastic job on the builds; they will make a nice addition to your layout.

[Yannis]

Amazing work in every step. Thanks for the details on painting the stones!

[VagelK]

Looking really great, Dave. 

[friscomike]

Howdy, Dave, the farm scene looks great.  Both the house and barn look constructed and modeled well.  Good luck with the stairs.  Have fun, mike

[deemery]

Another farm question:  Do the chickens run 'free range', or are they fenced in?  And if they're running loose, do they find their own roosting spots, do they naturally go into the barn, or do they have to be rounded up each night?   (I have near zero experience with a farm, just a week spent on a 'gentleman's farm' when I was in grade school.  Mostly what I remember from that was going fishing in the farm pond.)

Over the last couple of days, I've done plaster where the dirt road will run, and Sculptamold around the roads, both covering plaster wrap.  I'll need to ponder scenery next steps.  I have lots of materials, but not much experience using any of them.  

dave

[Bernd]

Another farm question:  Do the chickens run 'free range', or are they fenced in?  And if they're running loose, do they find their own roosting spots, do they naturally go into the barn, or do they have to be rounded up each night?   (I have near zero experience with a farm, just a week spent on a 'gentleman's farm' when I was in grade school.  Mostly what I remember from that was going fishing in the farm pond.)

Well Dave when I was younger and lived at home I had a chickens in a chicken coup. The chickens had free range of the yard. When it started to get duck they would slowly work their way back to the coup. Their water and feed was kept in the coup so that's where they would go. The hen's would head back to the coup to lay the egg's if a nesting box was provided for them. I did occasionally find eggs in the yard in tall grass. The only reason for a fence would be to keep the chick predators form catching a chicken, like a fox.

Bernd

[deemery]

Bernd, thanks.   That's what I thought, chickens are smart enough to go home to roost at night 

So I'll have to build a chicken coop alongside the barn.  That should be a fun little project, a chance to raid the scraps bin.

dave

[Bernd]

Here's a chicken coup and corn crib to feed the chickens. I got these out of the "Easy-to-Build Model Railroad Structures" by Willard Anderson a Kalmbach Pup. Hope you can use them.








Bernd

[jbvb]

Here's my free-range chicken flock scene:



The chicken coop is a kit my 2nd wife built. Chickens are also commercial. Sorry, I can't recall either manufacturer.

[deemery]

Bernd, thanks for the information/inspiring photos....  This will be a great 2 evening project when I get frustrated with something else...

dave

[Bernd]

Bernd, thanks for the information/inspiring photos....  This will be a great 2 evening project when I get frustrated with something else...

dave

You're welcome.

B

[Deem]

I've found it's a good idea to lock the edges of shingles after they're installed.  For this I'm using Testor's canopy cement, which is thinner than Canopy Glue so it spreads between the shingles and the subroof.  A pointed round toothpick makes a good applicator to get the glue into the crack. 

When the glue is set, I use a -new- X-Acto knife blade to trim the shingles.  To color them, I use a beige color and a bristle fan brush, dry-brushing from the top down.  The idea is to add a bit of lighter tone to the shingles, the bristles produce a bit of extra wood grain.  This is subtle, but it's effective.  Then I go back the other way, using an off-white color, and dry-brushing from the bottom up.  The idea there is to catch the edge of the shingles providing highlights.  I also highlight the edges of the roof on the left and right side, plus the edges of the bottom shingles that overhang the subroof. 


And of course, a test fit to compare the barn and farmhouse shingles.  The roof on the farmhouse is just set into place. 


Also, I constructed the dormer on the farmhouse annex (walls and shingle roofing), and did a bit of touch-up on the chimneys.  Tomorrow I'll glue the roofs into position, and then add eave trim.  That'll finish up the kit, so I'll start on the scenery.

dave

Great project, Dave. Nice work and so look forward to seeing the scenery done.