Making a simple Scratchbuilt Structure  -   Paul Templar

As I model the American scene, which is based loosely on high Mountain ranges, I find I have to make most of my structures to suit the layout.

There are of course many plastic kits available on the market that simulate the wood effect, but nothing can replace real wood for a wooden structure. To this end, I use in abundance (STRIP WOOD) this strip wood is 1/8 of an inch wide by 1/64 of an inch thick, and comes in two different colours. One is a dark rich red colour, and the other a light tan colour, I like the light tan colour for its natural look about it.

Okay, lets make a small structure. This drawing is full size for HO....

Please click to expand.

MAKING A START

Once you have cut out the card, and the windows and doorways have been cut out, a start can be made with the strip wood on all four pieces.

All four pieces cut and a start with the strip wood made.

Cut (just a little oversize) some strip wood, spread the EVO glue onto the card and spread it all over, now, one by one, place the strip wood onto the card, side by side and leave a small gap. You may have to apply more glue onto the card as you go along because the card tends to soak up the glue quite quickly, and dries out.

Once you have gotten to the end, put it to one side to dry for an hour at least and do the next piece of card. Carry on until all four sides are finished.

Once they have all dried, lay a ruler across the edges and cut off the access to leave a nice clean edge on all four sides of each piece. This is the time to use the number 2 blades and cut out the strip wood from the windows and doorways. Just roll the blade over the wood, and it will come off clean.

The four pieces complete with strip wood and a start made on framing the windows, note the doorways have already been framed.

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