Weekend Photos - May 2023

[healey36]

I've been wanting to build some more cardboard houses for the Christmas display, these in the style of houses around the 'hood. There are a number of examples down the block of what I've heard referred to as a "four-square", a 2-1/2 story house that was a common design of the 1920-1940 era. They are pretty simple, except for the roof, which typically features a hip roof design with a small dormer at the front. I haven't gotten too far:



The top image is that of one of the houses down the street. I've chosen this one as it's a fair representation of the style. There's a small room at the back with a shed roof and a second-floor porch; I'm leaving that off, as I don't think it was original to the house and it mucks up the placement of the hole for the interior light. The middle image is a mock-up I cut and assembled trying to sort out the roof bits. Lots of compound angles here, so quite a bit of fudging required. Eventually I figured it out (what I could remember from high-school geometry was helpful). From the mock-up, I could then cut out the sides and roof bits, along with the openings for windows and doors. I still need to get the front porch sorted and cut out (another flippin' hip roof). Once I figure out how I'm going to attach the roof to the walls, I can start assembly.

[gregj410]

Once I figure out how I'm going to attach the roof to the walls

Maybe a tab of some sort attached to the walls protruding up through slots in the roof and then folded over? That could make a hump in the roof depending on the tab thickness. Or maybe you could pull them straight up and load the slot and tab up with some glue and then trim it flush when it dries?

[healey36]

Great ideas...I wish I’d talked to you before I cut these out. Wouldn’t be too tough to redo them, but maybe I can cement tabs inside what I’ve already cut. A tab through a slot, then trimmed off flush after gluing sounds very good. I was also thinking of cementing a cardstock strip across the top of each side which could be bent to an angle and cemented to the inside of the top. Like the tab idea better, and I could cut the slots before assembly. The problem will be figuring out where to cut the slots. Gotta stew on this, but thanks very much, Greg.

[RBH29]

Healey,
This looks like a really interesting project. I'm curious about the small window on the front of the first floor and the one on the side of the second floor. Do you know their purpose? I see them on some of the houses near me but don't know what they're for. Maybe illumination for stairways or closets? Regarding the attachment of the roof to the walls, would it be handy to have a removable roof to provide access to the interior lighting?

[healey36]

Healey,
This looks like a really interesting project. I'm curious about the small window on the front of the first floor and the one on the side of the second floor. Do you know their purpose? I see them on some of the houses near me but don't know what they're for. Maybe illumination for stairways or closets? Regarding the attachment of the roof to the walls, would it be handy to have a removable roof to provide access to the interior lighting?

Those small windows are typically for light for a staircase that goes up the left side of the house. That's why you usually see windows of weird sizes and positions on the left side (when facing the front of the house). Really nice ones are of stained glass. It's also why the side door is lower in elevation than the front door, as it enters below the staircase. When you walk in the front door, there's a hallway leading straight back, a parlor or small living room on the right, and a staircase ascending on the left. Every one I've been in has that configuration (that's not to say they are all like that; depending on the lot size and the north-south orientation, they may have flipped the layout for optimal effect).

If I build this in the true "putz" style, it'll have a big round opening in the back where a light can be inserted. The ones my grandfather had all had a hole in the back, and he used a string of Christmas lights to illuminate them (positioned in a row). So, there shouldn't be any need to get inside it (unless the window glazing falls out because I used lousy cement ). Speaking of which, I think Loctite stopped making my favorite glue, Loctite GO2. I ordered some off Amazon and the 3rd party vendor sent me Loctite Extreme Glue instead. I guess I'll give it a try rather than send it back. At fourteen bucks per tube, it ain't cheap. Loctite GO2 seemed to have a rather short shelf-life, even when unopened, so it makes sense if they've given up on the formula. For this project, however, I'll likely use some Elmer's white glue. I'm going to print the window glazing on translucent vellum paper, so white glue should work okay.

[gregj410]

Great ideas...I wish I’d talked to you before I cut these out. Wouldn’t be too tough to redo them, but maybe I can cement tabs inside what I’ve already cut. A tab through a slot, then trimmed off flush after gluing sounds very good. I was also thinking of cementing a cardstock strip across the top of each side which could be bent to an angle and cemented to the inside of the top. Like the tab idea better, and I could cut the slots before assembly. The problem will be figuring out where to cut the slots. Gotta stew on this, but thanks very much, Greg.

Of course, happy to help where I can. I find getting things in place and ‘tacked’ and then coming back with heavier adhesive once things dry really helps tightens things up. Not sure if you can turn the structure upside down once things are tacked in place and then really hit it with adhesive where the walls meet the roof.

I’ve never built in card stock, however I did have a brief stint with foam board years ago in an architecture class. Not sure if foam board ruins the purity of a card stock structure but lining the top and bottom on the inside with a 1”- 1-/2” strip maybe stiffen things up and give you a bit more glue surface between the walls and roof. Neat house to model!

[healey36]

No purity the way I build them, that's for sure. I used foam-core on a few scale structures I built years ago, but unless you bevel/miter the corners, there's always that exposed edge to deal with. Not a problem if you're covering with brick-paper or some sort of siding. Definitely yields a much sturdier building though than cardstock (I use matt board mostly, which is a bit heavier than cardstock).

This thing will go on a matt board base eventually, so that will provide a lot of rigidity. We'll see how it goes.

I ordered a bunch of parts from Train Worx this afternoon. I think I got everything I need to get the 2620 searchlight car back on-line, some bits for the 226E and a postwar GG1, and a set of the sprung contacts for a 752 (I'll need to cut those down a bit to fit them to the Flying Yankee that came to me for safe-keeping a few weeks back). Seems no one makes the 616T-9 contacts for the FY, a set that surely must have been more common than the 752 (M-10000).

Lots of projects.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I've been wanting to build some more cardboard houses for the Christmas display, these in the style of houses around the 'hood. There are a number of examples down the block of what I've heard referred to as a "four-square", a 2-1/2 story house that was a common design of the 1920-1940 era. They are pretty simple, except for the roof, which typically features a hip roof design with a small dormer at the front. I haven't gotten too far:

The top image is that of one of the houses down the street. I've chosen this one as it's a fair representation of the style. There's a small room at the back with a shed roof and a second-floor porch; I'm leaving that off, as I don't think it was original to the house and it mucks up the placement of the hole for the interior light. The middle image is a mock-up I cut and assembled trying to sort out the roof bits. Lots of compound angles here, so quite a bit of fudging required. Eventually I figured it out (what I could remember from high-school geometry was helpful). From the mock-up, I could then cut out the sides and roof bits, along with the openings for windows and doors. I still need to get the front porch sorted and cut out (another flippin' hip roof). Once I figure out how I'm going to attach the roof to the walls, I can start assembly.

Interesting project; might be a good challenge to build up using wood clapboard, Grandt Line or Tichy windows & doors, etc.

[healey36]

I've been wanting to build some more cardboard houses for the Christmas display, these in the style of houses around the 'hood. There are a number of examples down the block of what I've heard referred to as a "four-square", a 2-1/2 story house that was a common design of the 1920-1940 era. They are pretty simple, except for the roof, which typically features a hip roof design with a small dormer at the front. I haven't gotten too far:

The top image is that of one of the houses down the street. I've chosen this one as it's a fair representation of the style. There's a small room at the back with a shed roof and a second-floor porch; I'm leaving that off, as I don't think it was original to the house and it mucks up the placement of the hole for the interior light. The middle image is a mock-up I cut and assembled trying to sort out the roof bits. Lots of compound angles here, so quite a bit of fudging required. Eventually I figured it out (what I could remember from high-school geometry was helpful). From the mock-up, I could then cut out the sides and roof bits, along with the openings for windows and doors. I still need to get the front porch sorted and cut out (another flippin' hip roof). Once I figure out how I'm going to attach the roof to the walls, I can start assembly.

Interesting project; might be a good challenge to build up using wood clapboard, Grandt Line or Tichy windows & doors, etc.

If I had the room on the basement layout (as currently configured), I'd build a number of them. Got to see how this one turns out first.

[healey36]

A bit of progress this week:



I'm still fiddling with the dormer; I trimmed it a bit to get the roof to fit better, but I think I'm going to have to trim it a bit more as the roof is sitting just slightly too far forward. I think that's because the dormer walls are slightly too tall and they are shoving the roof forward. Easy enough to trim, just don't want to take too much off.

The roof assembly wasn't the neatest, but it'll work. It's sturdy enough, and the glitter treatment should hide/mask the poor fit on the dormer.

Some interior bracing required to get the thing a bit more square and to take some of the slight bow out of the exterior walls. I'll need to cement in the porch floor, build the roof and attach it, then the three posts. Once that is complete, I'll likely start the base.

Still noodling how to do final assembly. The vellum windows are going to be a trick...maybe.

[gregj410]

Hard to tell, maybe another viewing angle would convince me but I think you’re splitting hairs. Looks pretty good to me, if I had to guess maybe a trim on this section of the dormer roof. That said I’m not sure you don’t open up Pandora’s box by trimming the edges. I’m still building kits, so what do I know about free lancing Nice work from what I can see.


cscslions

[healey36]

Yup, I keep losing sight of what this will be (cardboard glitter-house with scale proportions). I got the dormer worked out last night, so I think we're okay. I trimmed it down one more time ever so slightly, maybe just 1/32 of an inch. Now when you put the roof on, it doesn't pitch forward because of the height of the dormer structure pressing on the underside of its sloped roof. The overhang is definitely exaggerated, but at this point I'm just going to leave it. If I build any more, I'll have this one to point the way on making changes.

Glued up a porch roof yesterday, the compound angles of which were a PITA. Once that's on, I think I'll work on the base. Then it's off to the paint booth for a first coat.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I've been wanting to build some more cardboard houses for the Christmas display, these in the style of houses around the 'hood. There are a number of examples down the block of what I've heard referred to as a "four-square", a 2-1/2 story house that was a common design of the 1920-1940 era. They are pretty simple, except for the roof, which typically features a hip roof design with a small dormer at the front. I haven't gotten too far:

The top image is that of one of the houses down the street. I've chosen this one as it's a fair representation of the style. There's a small room at the back with a shed roof and a second-floor porch; I'm leaving that off, as I don't think it was original to the house and it mucks up the placement of the hole for the interior light. The middle image is a mock-up I cut and assembled trying to sort out the roof bits. Lots of compound angles here, so quite a bit of fudging required. Eventually I figured it out (what I could remember from high-school geometry was helpful). From the mock-up, I could then cut out the sides and roof bits, along with the openings for windows and doors. I still need to get the front porch sorted and cut out (another flippin' hip roof). Once I figure out how I'm going to attach the roof to the walls, I can start assembly.

Interesting project; might be a good challenge to build up using wood clapboard, Grandt Line or Tichy windows & doors, etc.

If I had the room on the basement layout (as currently configured), I'd build a number of them. Got to see how this one turns out first.

Okay, I might have the windows and doors for one in my parts bins.

[healey36]

Decided to leave the roofline alone and move forward. I cemented in the sidewalls of the dormer which made it really tight, good and bad. Then I cobbled together a porch roof purely by trial and error (notice the cracks in the joints from me ham-handedly trying to get the thing into position):



I made some porch columns out of basswood, matt board, and balsa, and got those cemented into position. Most of the ones around here, the base of the columns are concrete block covered with form-stone, a material very popular around Baltimore beginning in the late 1930s. The pitch on the porch roof looks quite steep as compared to the real ones, but it'll work. Gotta get some of the the rest of the interior bracing in, some seams covered, the base made, then I think it's off to the paint shop. The window material goes in last, so I've got to get the chronology lined up.

The wife said, "What, no chimney?"

[HONDO74]

This is going to be finished as a glitter house is that correct ? Right now it kind of reminds me of one of the Lionel prewar mansions if it were done in the same colors as one of them. Will this be going on you big layout or for another Christmas putz like you did for last Christmas. Have you decided.Are you going to revise the tunnel or make a new one.?