Page 20 - NMRA Roundhouse November-December 2019
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Photo 2
the interior. Several parts of their kit were missing, such as the power supply and water and coal supply for it. So, I decided to draw my own plans of all the walls for construction using theirs as ref- erence. Realizing how large this struc- ture would be and its weight with all the machinery that were metal castings, the model would need a strong base. This would allow for removal in the future. I cut a base out of 1⁄2” MDF with a second level of MDF for the upper structures and glued them together. Photo 1.
All my other buildings sit on 1/8” Masonite so that they can be easily removed in the future. Almost no one makes a kit with a foundation wall, so I build my own out of 1⁄4” stripwood or plaster.
Before cutting the base, to get a sense of the scale and proportions, I cut the sides and roof out of foam core based upon my drawings to assess the appear- ance and how it would work, then make adjustments as necessary. Photo 2.
Since this model would be made up of strip wood, an ample supply of lumber would be needed so I purchased all the scale lumber in sugar pine or basswood. All this lumber was distressed first using a file card and X-Acto blade. Then be- fore the wood was cut to length it was placed into a tray of pickling solution (steel wool and vinegar) to weather it lightly. This gave it a slightly weathered appearance of fairly new wood. Some of the exterior board faces had a light wipe of stain from black/brown shoe dye and alcohol. The exterior would have to ap- pear more weathered than the interior, but I didn’t want the structure to look old and weathered as it would have been constructed quite recently.
I printed each wall elevation showing the 20 ROUNDHOUSE - December 2019
Photo 3 Frame Layouts
interior framing. I placed a small piece Scotch tape over all the connection points. This would prevent the glued structure components from sticking to the drawing. The scrap blocks of wood were glued to the drawing on either side of the structural timbers. This would keep everything from moving as the walls were built. This typically allows the drawings to be re-used but this is a one- time build. Photo 3
Each piece of timber was then cut to length and placed on the drawing, gluing the connecting pieces together with carpenter’s glue. Once dry, the assembly was lifted out and set aside. Photo 4
Photo 4 Frame Assembly
Once all the wall frames were com- pleted, they were put in place on the base and clipped together to ensure everything would fit correctly... they did! I had a plaster casting for a bricked- in boiler that I thought would be inter- esting. This was painted and detailed. I had already built up a stationary twin steam engine from CHB. These were temporarily put in place to establish
final locations and how they all would be connected. Photo 5
The stamps would be on the upper level and with all the stamping vibrations, a timber retaining wall would not work or survive. I made a mold using strip wood,
Photo 5 Test Fit Framing