Rabu, 5 Disember 2012
My first Scratch Built Building
This project and post is finally finished! I started it in early December, ran out of material before Christmas. I waited until January to place an order so as not to have problems with delivery during the holidays.
I purchased some basswood construction material from Caboose Hobbies in late November to have in stock for future projects, this is one of the projects.
I bought several sheets of HO scale Clapboard, Board & Batten, Flooring and ?" Corner Post.
I wanted to build a few houses for my layout from scratch. I've been buying Craftsman Kits for years and now that I'm retired I have the time to dive into a few time consuming projects.
I started by cruising the Internet for ideas and found a great site with older homes. It has many old Sears Catalog Homes with pictures and floor plans. The site is About.com Architecture.
I decided to start with a simple design for my first project. I chose the 1909 #64 Sears Catalog Home for my first shot at making a Craftsman Kit type house.
This is copy and paste of the Home I chose to build.
How about that price for a 6 room home!
I started by enlarging the floor plan.
My wife noticed very quickly that there is no bathroom on the floor plan.
Next I made a CAD drawing of the floor plan and added a bathroom between the bedrooms on the second floor replacing the hall closet. That required slightly reducing the size of both bedrooms.
This is a wall section reduced to HO scale, when the output from the CAD to the printer is set 1:1 it prints the sections in accurate HO scale. I stacked the walls together then printed out the drawing below on a 11" x 17" sheet of paper in actual HO scale.
Read More..
I purchased some basswood construction material from Caboose Hobbies in late November to have in stock for future projects, this is one of the projects.
I bought several sheets of HO scale Clapboard, Board & Batten, Flooring and ?" Corner Post.
I wanted to build a few houses for my layout from scratch. I've been buying Craftsman Kits for years and now that I'm retired I have the time to dive into a few time consuming projects.
I started by cruising the Internet for ideas and found a great site with older homes. It has many old Sears Catalog Homes with pictures and floor plans. The site is About.com Architecture.
I decided to start with a simple design for my first project. I chose the 1909 #64 Sears Catalog Home for my first shot at making a Craftsman Kit type house.
This is copy and paste of the Home I chose to build.
How about that price for a 6 room home!
I started by enlarging the floor plan.
My wife noticed very quickly that there is no bathroom on the floor plan.
Next I made a CAD drawing of the floor plan and added a bathroom between the bedrooms on the second floor replacing the hall closet. That required slightly reducing the size of both bedrooms.
I used the dimensions from the site blueprint to get the floor plan close then trimmed it so that everything fit. For some reason the dimensions on the site didn't fit. I used the staircase as my reference. The next step was to convert the full size dimensions to HO scale then start on the outside walls. I determined the roof peak by measuring the prospective distances and let the CAD program do it's thing.
This is a wall section reduced to HO scale, when the output from the CAD to the printer is set 1:1 it prints the sections in accurate HO scale. I stacked the walls together then printed out the drawing below on a 11" x 17" sheet of paper in actual HO scale.
The drawing below is both roof sections drawn to HO scale, the CAD dimensions came out exact and the two sections mate perfectly.
The next four pictures below are of the house made from the paper printout. I cut out my drawing and bent the paper then used a combination of tape and glue to assemble it to check my drawing for accuracy.
Everything fit very good the first time. My 25 years experience with my CAD program really paid off on this project.
In the picture above the CAD drawing was correct the gap in the roof is my poor paper doll construction. Building structures with thin paper isn't my thing.
Since the paper model was correct I went for it, I cut up a partial sheet of Clapboard and did it to it.
In the picture above I glued the floor plan drawing to a piece of 3/32" basswood and used it as a starting point for construction, I cut away the paper where the walls attach to the floor so that the glue would hold good wood to wood.
Everything fit perfect. I used the Northeastern Scale Lumber #18 Corner Posts in all of the outside corners.
I didn't cut out the openings for the windows and doors because the only details I have in stock are too large for this house.
I ordered Grandt #5117 windows and #5058 doors for it and I'll cut the holes for them after they get here. I will need to remove the transom window from the doors. I didn't want to take a chance on making the holes the wrong size.
It shouldn't be too hard to cut the holes with a new #11 blade and my trusty Dremel.
I will add window covering and lighting before I install it on my layout.
This is the roof made from 1/32" poster board purchased from Michaels. I had to put a number of cuts about halfway through the poster board so that the poster board would bend to fit the curve of the roof line.
The two sections fit together perfect, not even a small gap. I was very impressed with the way the roof turned out, my CAD program is extremely accurate.
Everything fit very good the first time. My 25 years experience with my CAD program really paid off on this project.
In the picture above the CAD drawing was correct the gap in the roof is my poor paper doll construction. Building structures with thin paper isn't my thing.
Since the paper model was correct I went for it, I cut up a partial sheet of Clapboard and did it to it.
In the picture above I glued the floor plan drawing to a piece of 3/32" basswood and used it as a starting point for construction, I cut away the paper where the walls attach to the floor so that the glue would hold good wood to wood.
Everything fit perfect. I used the Northeastern Scale Lumber #18 Corner Posts in all of the outside corners.
I didn't cut out the openings for the windows and doors because the only details I have in stock are too large for this house.
I ordered Grandt #5117 windows and #5058 doors for it and I'll cut the holes for them after they get here. I will need to remove the transom window from the doors. I didn't want to take a chance on making the holes the wrong size.
It shouldn't be too hard to cut the holes with a new #11 blade and my trusty Dremel.
I will add window covering and lighting before I install it on my layout.
This is the roof made from 1/32" poster board purchased from Michaels. I had to put a number of cuts about halfway through the poster board so that the poster board would bend to fit the curve of the roof line.
The two sections fit together perfect, not even a small gap. I was very impressed with the way the roof turned out, my CAD program is extremely accurate.
With the roof ready to be glued in place I'll glue the lights to the roof and wire them up.
As you can see my project is coming along very good. At this point I would say that it has gone together better than even a laser kit.
My Grandt windows & doors are one stop from Bakersfield so they should be here early next week.
As you can see my project is coming along very good. At this point I would say that it has gone together better than even a laser kit.
My Grandt windows & doors are one stop from Bakersfield so they should be here early next week.
Here the roof is finished, the shingles are Campbell #800. My wife likes the gable so it will be left on the roof. The Grandt details and some paint will finish the house.
My model railroad friend Dan suggested that I make the house look like it needed painting, I liked his suggestion so I give it a shot.
The first thing I did was to give the house a good coat of my home brew weathering juice, Apple Cider Vinegar & Steel Wool. That gave the basswood an old wood effect then I applied several coats of FolkArt Acrylic Dove Gray thinned with water about 10:1.
After it had thoroughly dried I touched up the areas that would have been shaded from the sun with a normal coat of Dove Gray leaving the rest looking like the paint was washed out from years of neglect.
My model railroad friend Dan suggested that I make the house look like it needed painting, I liked his suggestion so I give it a shot.
The first thing I did was to give the house a good coat of my home brew weathering juice, Apple Cider Vinegar & Steel Wool. That gave the basswood an old wood effect then I applied several coats of FolkArt Acrylic Dove Gray thinned with water about 10:1.
After it had thoroughly dried I touched up the areas that would have been shaded from the sun with a normal coat of Dove Gray leaving the rest looking like the paint was washed out from years of neglect.
Next I'm going to try the do the same to the Grandt details with a slightly darker gray trim. I printed out the window curtains on my Alps printer and they're ready to be glued to the inside of the window frames. I installed porch lights and made room light dividers to have two rooms lit up. I'm ready to install the second floor bedroom and first floor dining room interiors, when the lights are on the interiors are easily seen through the windows.
Here I have the roof sitting in place after I darkened the shingles with a second coat of weathering. I painted the railings and support posts with FolkArt Acrylic Buttercup as a base coat then applied FolkArt Oak Stain.
Both porch railings came out good. You can see the corner of the dining room table through the window.
I have also added the basement, it is basswood strips covered with JTT Scenery brick sheeting. I cut the holes for the Grandt Details #5035 windows then painted the bricks with Floquil Ohio Caboose red with a touch of black. I veneered some basswood strip with the JTT brick sheeting to make the 12' chimney finishing it to match the basement bricks.
This is a closeup shot through the dining room window of the interior.
I received the material I ordered and I have now finished my Catalog House.
I printed out the curtains on transparency film using my Alps printer. After cutting the curtains to fit the inside of the Grandt window and doors then glued them in place.
The railing posts are tapered tooth picks, the porch railing has a coat of FolkArt Buttercup #905 Acrylic primer with a good heavy coat of FolkArt #2802 Oak.
The porch siding is 1/16" basswood board & batten siding, the stairs and flooring are made from 1/32" Basswood flooring and both are stained with my home brew weathering fluid.
Here I have the roof sitting in place after I darkened the shingles with a second coat of weathering. I painted the railings and support posts with FolkArt Acrylic Buttercup as a base coat then applied FolkArt Oak Stain.
Both porch railings came out good. You can see the corner of the dining room table through the window.
I have also added the basement, it is basswood strips covered with JTT Scenery brick sheeting. I cut the holes for the Grandt Details #5035 windows then painted the bricks with Floquil Ohio Caboose red with a touch of black. I veneered some basswood strip with the JTT brick sheeting to make the 12' chimney finishing it to match the basement bricks.
This is a closeup shot through the dining room window of the interior.
I received the material I ordered and I have now finished my Catalog House.
I printed out the curtains on transparency film using my Alps printer. After cutting the curtains to fit the inside of the Grandt window and doors then glued them in place.
The railing posts are tapered tooth picks, the porch railing has a coat of FolkArt Buttercup #905 Acrylic primer with a good heavy coat of FolkArt #2802 Oak.
The porch siding is 1/16" basswood board & batten siding, the stairs and flooring are made from 1/32" Basswood flooring and both are stained with my home brew weathering fluid.
The lighting is finished also with two porch lights, a second floor bedroom and the dining room on the first floor.
The ladies were unpainted Preiser figures that I painted. The little people add a bit of realism to the house. I like having people on my layout, I have approximately 400 figures.
The ladies were unpainted Preiser figures that I painted. The little people add a bit of realism to the house. I like having people on my layout, I have approximately 400 figures.
This has been a very self gratifying project, I would never though that I could turn out such a high quality building. It looks as good if not better than most craftsman kits. I also have my second house finished and a third very close to being done, I ran out of clapboard siding. The siding is on order and the third house should only take two days to complete it.
Sabtu, 17 November 2012
November 17, 2012 Red Mountain Road & Creek
This is my first attempt at making a creek with running water. I'm giving it the name of Red Mountain Creek.
As shown in the drawing above the creek enters on the far left side of my layout and quickly goes under a gravel road and turns to the right. It goes under the gravel road a second time just past where the road turns to the left then down the mountain. It will spill over the rocks as a water fall 35' to a small pond. The creek will go from the pond down a fairly steep incline to the layouts lower level and join up with a slightly larger creek.
Read More..
As shown in the drawing above the creek enters on the far left side of my layout and quickly goes under a gravel road and turns to the right. It goes under the gravel road a second time just past where the road turns to the left then down the mountain. It will spill over the rocks as a water fall 35' to a small pond. The creek will go from the pond down a fairly steep incline to the layouts lower level and join up with a slightly larger creek. 
I'm using Woodland Scenics Products to make the water. In the picture above the Realistic Water hasn't fully cured and has a cloudy look.
The Realistic Water is very runny and extremely difficult to use on a inclined surface. Several places on my creek has declines of 10� to 15� so haven't used the runny Realistic Water there. I bought a bottle of Water Effects because it is in a thick format and made to be brushed on to the surface. The Woodland Scenics specifications say it will dry clear in 24 hours. I applied some to my creek and after 7 days it still looked like milk so I removed it. I'm going to try to let a small portion of Real Water sit in a paper cup until it thickens to the point that it doesn't run and apply that to my creek.
Well I went a different route, I simply did a very small pour of Realistic Water and let set for about two hours. Then I did a second, then a third and a fourth. After about 8 or 9 small pours over two days it looks pretty darn good.
With the creek looking like I want it I built a wooden bridge from Northeastern Scale lumber using 12" x 12" planking.
The road crew is busy working on the gravel road. The trees above are not finished, they are in place to give me ideas on the make up of surrounding scenery. The tree bases will be covered with Paper Mache.
The bridge is also supported with stacked scale 12 x 12s. I wrapped the bridge with Saran Wrap to protect the wood from warping from the moisture from the Paper Mache and the glue from the gravel. After I removed the Saran Wrap it fit perfect and doesn't need to be glued in place. As you can see the water is looking very good, just enough turbulence to add realism.
In the picture below I have finished some of the basic ground cover flocking, I started with Woodland Scenics Fine Turf Green Grass over a coat of Earth Undercoat on top of the Paper Mache.
Next I will add in some light random splotches of Green Blend Grass, Fine Turf Soil, Earth Blend and Fine Turf Earth. It also helps to outline the roads with random bits of mud and dark soil flocking where wheels have either drifted of the gravel or vehicles have pulled over a bit to pass.
I will also need to dirty up and weather the bridge some to make it look like it's had heavy traffic.
I'll add to this post as I get further into the project. I'm keeping at it now that I'm feeling better. I had a pretty bad bout with a prescription drug that I was allergic to.
The Realistic Water is very runny and extremely difficult to use on a inclined surface. Several places on my creek has declines of 10� to 15� so haven't used the runny Realistic Water there. I bought a bottle of Water Effects because it is in a thick format and made to be brushed on to the surface. The Woodland Scenics specifications say it will dry clear in 24 hours. I applied some to my creek and after 7 days it still looked like milk so I removed it. I'm going to try to let a small portion of Real Water sit in a paper cup until it thickens to the point that it doesn't run and apply that to my creek.
Well I went a different route, I simply did a very small pour of Realistic Water and let set for about two hours. Then I did a second, then a third and a fourth. After about 8 or 9 small pours over two days it looks pretty darn good.
With the creek looking like I want it I built a wooden bridge from Northeastern Scale lumber using 12" x 12" planking.
The road crew is busy working on the gravel road. The trees above are not finished, they are in place to give me ideas on the make up of surrounding scenery. The tree bases will be covered with Paper Mache.
The bridge is also supported with stacked scale 12 x 12s. I wrapped the bridge with Saran Wrap to protect the wood from warping from the moisture from the Paper Mache and the glue from the gravel. After I removed the Saran Wrap it fit perfect and doesn't need to be glued in place. As you can see the water is looking very good, just enough turbulence to add realism.
In the picture below I have finished some of the basic ground cover flocking, I started with Woodland Scenics Fine Turf Green Grass over a coat of Earth Undercoat on top of the Paper Mache.
Next I will add in some light random splotches of Green Blend Grass, Fine Turf Soil, Earth Blend and Fine Turf Earth. It also helps to outline the roads with random bits of mud and dark soil flocking where wheels have either drifted of the gravel or vehicles have pulled over a bit to pass.
I will also need to dirty up and weather the bridge some to make it look like it's had heavy traffic.
I'll add to this post as I get further into the project. I'm keeping at it now that I'm feeling better. I had a pretty bad bout with a prescription drug that I was allergic to.
Ahad, 28 Oktober 2012
October 24, 2012 Susie's House
This post is done in memory of our youngest Daughter, she died in a robbery February 8, 1991 two months before her 21st birthday. She always said that she would take care of us, Mom & Dad, in our Golden Years.
I'm dedicating the construction and existence of this little house to her. Her name is Susan Kathleen Perry and this kit will become Susie's House on my HO Model Railroad.
The small mountain town and railroad station are named after her, Susanville. She has a business across the road from the station, Susie's Caf�. Her house will go on the mountain side overlooking town and her Caf�. She wanted to be an Attorney so two rooms on the first floor of her house will also be her Office, Susan K. Perry, Attorney at Law.
The Classic Miniatures Winters' Mansion Kit will become Susie's Mansion on my layout and because my wife and I have reached our Golden Years (more like Rusting Years) I'm presuming that we are residing with Susie in her house upon the mountain.
The first few pictures are of the Kit as I opened the box and spread out the material.
I spent the first evening cutting out all of the card stock pieces of the kit. The next morning I decided to start with the roof first.
Over the years I have used Aleene's Wood glue for assembling my Craftsman Kits, they have really improved it. Now it is sandable and stainable making it the best ever for model railroad wooden kits.
The text instructions included in this kit are very poor, the drawings are excellent as is all of the material. As you can see the roof went together very well on the second time around. The instructions failed to tell me how to correctly cut the main roof sections. I recouped and was able to get it right anyway with the help of Aleene's glue. The finished roof assembly is very sturdy and it's ready to be shingled later.
Next I assembled the base of the house. The floor is made up of two identical sections glued together.
I added the ?" x ?" strips to the floor so that I wouldn't have to glue the walls to the floor. The floor is elevated �" (scale 5� feet) on basswood strips. I found out later why it sits so high.
I spent a couple of hours with my X-acto knife cutting out the basswood walls using the provided templates. The windows on the second floor are huge.
The next step was to glue the walls together, using Aleene's Wood glue made it a very simple task. The glue sets up very fast and holds exceptionally good in just a few minutes.
Here you see the walls glued together, the stringer around the inside supports the second floor cardstock. The second story floor and the first floor strips were extremely helpful in squaring up the walls during the gluing process.
Next as I'm a lighting freak I needed to add interior room walls to allow individual room lighting.
I decided to make the interior walls from 1/16" basswood, I have several sheets of basswood in stock as well as card stock. I find that basswood is easier to cut and glue than card stock.
I decided on 5 rooms with lights on the first floor, I will control each lamp with a separate switch from my control panel.
The second floor room partitions were easy, I used the wall ends as a template.
The basswood partitions will fit snugly and prevent light leakage between rooms.
The second floor partitions makes 4 rooms.
It's coming along very nicely. Everything fit so
good that at this point I don't think it will require glue to hold it together.
Staining the basswood second floor walls and installing lights is the next step.
The next few pictures show my daughters house stained and lights glued in place.
The basswood accepts the Acrylic Walnut Stain very well. There is a light in every room and they will be controlled from my control panel.
I went to The National Register Site and read the description of the Winter's Ranch Manson, the house is three stories and a total of 18 rooms. This is a link to The National Register Winter's Ranch PDF
I gave up on mortaring the brick foundation. I tried about 5 different ways to color the mortar between the bricks unsuccessfully. I might try to darken the shingles a bit but other than that it's finished.
These are pictures of the real Winter's Mansion located north of Carson City, Nevada as it today.
The Mansion was originally built by Theodore Winters in 1864 and has been on The National Register since July 1974.
After I found out the house had a basement I added windows in the brick walls as in this artist rendering.
I started to move the side walls of the basement in to match the picture above but then it wouldn't fit the site on my layout. I still wonder about several things that don't look right between the various pictures available.
The windows went in easily but I'm out of switch positions on my control panel.
I could add 12 volt lights to the basement easy enough but adding another DIP switch on my control panel won't be easy.
After staining the shingles with my home brew weathering mix I'm going to call it finished again. I have decided to do a modification to my control panel and add a second DIP switch. Everything plugs in so it won't be a problem to add lights later. I partitioned the basement for 6 additional room lights leaving the center open for the flickering fireplace module and wiring connectors. I ended up with three 7 pin miniature connectors for the individual room lights and flickering fireplace.
This is the finished house siting in place on my mountain. The scenery will be a real undertaking.
Read More..
I'm dedicating the construction and existence of this little house to her. Her name is Susan Kathleen Perry and this kit will become Susie's House on my HO Model Railroad.
The small mountain town and railroad station are named after her, Susanville. She has a business across the road from the station, Susie's Caf�. Her house will go on the mountain side overlooking town and her Caf�. She wanted to be an Attorney so two rooms on the first floor of her house will also be her Office, Susan K. Perry, Attorney at Law.
The Classic Miniatures Winters' Mansion Kit will become Susie's Mansion on my layout and because my wife and I have reached our Golden Years (more like Rusting Years) I'm presuming that we are residing with Susie in her house upon the mountain.
The first few pictures are of the Kit as I opened the box and spread out the material.
I spent the first evening cutting out all of the card stock pieces of the kit. The next morning I decided to start with the roof first.
Over the years I have used Aleene's Wood glue for assembling my Craftsman Kits, they have really improved it. Now it is sandable and stainable making it the best ever for model railroad wooden kits.
The text instructions included in this kit are very poor, the drawings are excellent as is all of the material. As you can see the roof went together very well on the second time around. The instructions failed to tell me how to correctly cut the main roof sections. I recouped and was able to get it right anyway with the help of Aleene's glue. The finished roof assembly is very sturdy and it's ready to be shingled later.
Next I assembled the base of the house. The floor is made up of two identical sections glued together. I added the ?" x ?" strips to the floor so that I wouldn't have to glue the walls to the floor. The floor is elevated �" (scale 5� feet) on basswood strips. I found out later why it sits so high.
I spent a couple of hours with my X-acto knife cutting out the basswood walls using the provided templates. The windows on the second floor are huge.
The next step was to glue the walls together, using Aleene's Wood glue made it a very simple task. The glue sets up very fast and holds exceptionally good in just a few minutes.
Here you see the walls glued together, the stringer around the inside supports the second floor cardstock. The second story floor and the first floor strips were extremely helpful in squaring up the walls during the gluing process.
Next as I'm a lighting freak I needed to add interior room walls to allow individual room lighting.
I decided to make the interior walls from 1/16" basswood, I have several sheets of basswood in stock as well as card stock. I find that basswood is easier to cut and glue than card stock.
I decided on 5 rooms with lights on the first floor, I will control each lamp with a separate switch from my control panel. 
The second floor room partitions were easy, I used the wall ends as a template.
The basswood partitions will fit snugly and prevent light leakage between rooms.
The second floor partitions makes 4 rooms.It's coming along very nicely. Everything fit so
good that at this point I don't think it will require glue to hold it together. 
Staining the basswood second floor walls and installing lights is the next step.
The basswood accepts the Acrylic Walnut Stain very well. There is a light in every room and they will be controlled from my control panel.
The lights will be on individual switches so that I can vary the lighting effects.
At this point I need to make some decisions on the wiring and an error that I discovered in the kit. I like to keep everything as close to realism as possible and I have to solve the problem with the chimneys. By design of the kit the chimneys are directly above windows and that's not realistic. I need to either move the chimneys or remake the walls leaving out the center windows. Finding a matching basswood siding for the walls could be tough, the kit is at least 15 years old.
I couldn't match the siding so I modified the chimneys from one on each end of the peak to a single in the center and slightly down from the peak.
In the next few pictures I have added some interior details, Susie loved Unicorns
I decided to add a bathroom with a young lady headed to the shower. I normally don't make open doorways but because of the very large windows and my individual room lighting I went for it this time.
You can tell by the Unicorn this is Susie's bedroom.
This is a rear view of the Mansion.
The Kit didn't have any rear steps, the railing was closed all the way across the back of the house.
I used leftover wood from several other kits to build a matching stair case for the back porch.
To be different I made the stairs drop to the left and I will make the scenery conform to the staircase.
I found the window curtains below and used them in the first floor windows and they are perfect.
I couldn't use the curtains in the second floor windows because they're to small. This being the case I did a high res scan of the curtains and sized one JPG for the large cathedral window and a second JPG for the small cathedral windows. I printed both of the JPGs on transparency film on my Alps printer using +25% contrast and a second pass with the white cartridge and they came out perfect.
The following four pictures are the finished Mansion before I discovered the brick foundation is really a basement.
At this point I need to make some decisions on the wiring and an error that I discovered in the kit. I like to keep everything as close to realism as possible and I have to solve the problem with the chimneys. By design of the kit the chimneys are directly above windows and that's not realistic. I need to either move the chimneys or remake the walls leaving out the center windows. Finding a matching basswood siding for the walls could be tough, the kit is at least 15 years old.
I couldn't match the siding so I modified the chimneys from one on each end of the peak to a single in the center and slightly down from the peak.
In the next few pictures I have added some interior details, Susie loved Unicorns
I decided to add a bathroom with a young lady headed to the shower. I normally don't make open doorways but because of the very large windows and my individual room lighting I went for it this time. 
You can tell by the Unicorn this is Susie's bedroom.
This is a rear view of the Mansion.
The Kit didn't have any rear steps, the railing was closed all the way across the back of the house. 
I used leftover wood from several other kits to build a matching stair case for the back porch. To be different I made the stairs drop to the left and I will make the scenery conform to the staircase.
I found the window curtains below and used them in the first floor windows and they are perfect.
I couldn't use the curtains in the second floor windows because they're to small. This being the case I did a high res scan of the curtains and sized one JPG for the large cathedral window and a second JPG for the small cathedral windows. I printed both of the JPGs on transparency film on my Alps printer using +25% contrast and a second pass with the white cartridge and they came out perfect.
The following four pictures are the finished Mansion before I discovered the brick foundation is really a basement.
The window curtains came out very nice thanks to my Alps printer. With the room lights turned on the pictures on the walls can be seen easily through the large windows.
I added three seated and one standing figure in the living room, two in the kitchen and one in the upstairs bathroom getting into the shower. The young guy on the porch is drinking a 7up, the guy on the back porch is about to go down the stairs. There's a fellow leaning back against a porch post smoking a pipe and a young lady waving on the front stairs.
I added three seated and one standing figure in the living room, two in the kitchen and one in the upstairs bathroom getting into the shower. The young guy on the porch is drinking a 7up, the guy on the back porch is about to go down the stairs. There's a fellow leaning back against a porch post smoking a pipe and a young lady waving on the front stairs.
There are 9 room lights, a front porch and a back porch light, all 11 lights are controlled from an individual 12 position DIP switch on my control panel. The 12th position controls the flickering fire in the living room fireplace.
I went to The National Register Site and read the description of the Winter's Ranch Manson, the house is three stories and a total of 18 rooms. This is a link to The National Register Winter's Ranch PDFI gave up on mortaring the brick foundation. I tried about 5 different ways to color the mortar between the bricks unsuccessfully. I might try to darken the shingles a bit but other than that it's finished.
These are pictures of the real Winter's Mansion located north of Carson City, Nevada as it today.
The Mansion was originally built by Theodore Winters in 1864 and has been on The National Register since July 1974.
The two pictures above came from The National Register Site. Looking closely you can see the top of a basement window.
The picture below was taken before the Mansion was restored. The picture came from the Nevada Historical site.
The picture below was taken before the Mansion was restored. The picture came from the Nevada Historical site.
After I found out the house had a basement I added windows in the brick walls as in this artist rendering.
I started to move the side walls of the basement in to match the picture above but then it wouldn't fit the site on my layout. I still wonder about several things that don't look right between the various pictures available.
The windows went in easily but I'm out of switch positions on my control panel.
I could add 12 volt lights to the basement easy enough but adding another DIP switch on my control panel won't be easy.
After staining the shingles with my home brew weathering mix I'm going to call it finished again. I have decided to do a modification to my control panel and add a second DIP switch. Everything plugs in so it won't be a problem to add lights later. I partitioned the basement for 6 additional room lights leaving the center open for the flickering fireplace module and wiring connectors. I ended up with three 7 pin miniature connectors for the individual room lights and flickering fireplace.
This is the finished house siting in place on my mountain. The scenery will be a real undertaking.
Langgan:
Ulasan (Atom)