Tall Drink O' Water

First post here in a very long time, but I've actually done some modeling in the past couple of months! Every railroad needs a water tank, and in a place like Northern Minnesota, where water tends to freeze for a good part of the year, that tank needs to be enclosed.

I've started construction of just such a water tank, building from scratch of course.

If all goes well, the finished product will look something like this:

The walls are my standard matte board with board-by-board plank siding.

The base of the tank is hexagonal, six walls attached to a matte board floor and ceiling:

The door and windows? Yep, built from scratch. I sort of have the window thing down to a science.

And, last but not least, there's the tank itself. I needed something round and sturdy (and cheap).

Round? Yes. Sturdy? Yes. Prototypical? Not quite. At least, not until I stripped off the labels and planked the exterior. Board by board, of course.

It's starting to look like a water tank! Needs a roof...

Up next - some shingles, a water spout, the other assorted details typically found on a water tank. Oh, and lots and lots of weathering. Stay tuned!

Break's Over

Two years. That's how long it's been since I updated this blog. I never intended to go idle for that long, but there's only so much time in a day, and too many other demands and distractions. After all that time, I have nothing new to report on the layout itself, but I have been doing some modeling. I just finished a small diorama using Monster Modelworks' Brick Freight House Flat kit. Proved to be a fun little kit to build, and just the thing I needed to get the modeling juices flowing again.

I won't be using this on the current layout (doesn't belong in 1920), but maybe on a future one. Meanwhile it will be a nice display piece.

Four Walls Does Not An Inn Make

I had hoped to be far past this point by now, but no. I finally managed to finish cutting out all of the door and window openings in the exterior walls of the Lakeside Inn. It was the perfect exercise to test out my new Olfa knife and cutting mat.

I've been claiming thus far that there would be 55 windows in this structure.  I have no idea where I came up with that number, because there are only 30. I double-checked my original plans and the prototype photos - only 30. The original number of 55 sounds so much more impressive, maybe that's why it was stuck in my head. Regardless, here are the four walls with all of the openings cut out.

Here's a rough look at the final shape and size of the inn.

A Better Knife? Exactamundo!

Like most folks in this hobby, I've "grown up" using the classic hobby knife affectionately known as the Xacto knife.  Many of us incorrectly use the term to refer to a specific type of knife, but as we all know, it's actually a brand name.  There are several manufacturers of these types of knives, but the original and best-known is X-Acto.  Buying my first real X-Acto knife was a big deal - I felt like a real modeler.

Before long, I was buying replacement blades in bulk, because that's what real modelers do.  That, and because I kept breaking off the tip of the blade.  A knife blade with a broken tip becomes useless pretty quickly, requiring a replacement.  Those broken blades aren't completely ineffective - they'll still penetrate a shoe when the knife rolls off the table, as X-Acto knives are prone to do.

About a month ago I came across a discussion on an Internet forum talking about hobby knives made by Olfa, a Japanese company.  Some of the discussion participants were making claims that the Olfa blades were sharper and more durable than the X-Acto blades, and that the knives were in general better products. I decided to try one myself.

My first impressions upon taking the knife out of the packaging was that yes, this is a better knife.  It's heavier than an X-Acto, biased towards the cutting end of the knife.  A padded rubber grip makes the knife comfortable to use and easier to hold on to than the smooth metal body of the X-Acto.  Olfa has even taken steps to prevent impaled-shoe-Syndrome - the knife handle includes a small plastic nub to stop the knife from rolling off of your work surface.  I can put away the steel-toed boots!

So far, I've cut 50 window openings into pieces of black matte board with a single blade.  The tip hasn't broken off, and the blade still seems to be plenty sharp.  It's too early to call me a convert, but it's looking good at this point.  I haven't found a source for bulk blades yet, but if the blades really are this durable, maybe the little 5-pack that I bought will last a long time.

Double-hung, Double-Paned Windows From Scratch - Part 3

In part 1, we build our window sashes.  In part 2, we put the glass panes in our window sashes.  Hopefully we've ended up with something that looks like this:

Now it's time to build the window frame.  Referring back to the exploded parts diagram, we can see that the frame consists of parts D and E (the quantities are wrong, we only need 2 of each, not 4).  Start by attaching one of the 1"x6" sides (part D) - carefully apply a tiny bit of wood glue to the side of the upper window sash, and lay the sash FACE DOWN on your work surface.  Position the 1"x6" frame side against the sash so that the top of the frame is flush with the top of the sash.

Allow the glue to dry for a few minutes, then repeat the process for the other side of the frame.

After again allowing for some drying time, apply a tiny bit of glue to the top of the window sash and then attach the top of the window frame (part E).

Carefully, after the glue has dried for a few minutes, flip the entire assembly over.  Apply a bit of glue to the sides of the lower window sash, and place it FACE UP on the work surface.  Gently slide the lower sash into the window frame.  The top board of the lower sash should be slightly underneath the bottom board of the upper sash.  If you wish to model an open window, just slide the lower sash farther beneath the upper sash, as I've done here.

Did you notice the crack in the glass in the lower window sash?  That's what happens when you aren't careful - this is real glass after all, and it will break under stress.  Rather than discard this window as a "mistake", I'll use it and claim that I was modeling a cracked window.  Modeler's license at work.

The final step in assembling our window is to install the bottom frame board (part E).

That's it - you've just built, completely from scratch, a framed double-hung window, ready to be installed in a structure.  Is it tedious work?  Yep, you bet.  Is it time-consuming?  Yep, sure is.  Is it worth it?  In my opinion, there's no question.  Not only is the look authentic and impossible to match using pre-built windows, but it also gives me the satisfaction of being able to say "I built the whole thing from scratch!".

Alright, now let's put this window to use.  I already have a structure underway, and I have one of the walls prepped and ready for windows.  I've already measured and cut my window openings, all I need to do is to make some minor adjustments using a file.

You want the windows to fit snug - not so tight that you have to force them into the openings, risking damage, and not so loosely that you have gaps around the frames.  Don't be too aggressive with the file.  Here's my completed wall segment with all five windows installed - the white one is the one that we just built, the others were built beforehand.

That pretty much wraps up the how-to for building windows.  I know this isn't new to some people, but I couldn't find much information on how to build windows from scratch - I had to figure it out on my own.  Hopefully somebody out there will find this helpful in their own modeling efforts.

Double-hung, Double-Paned Windows From Scratch - Part 2

As promised, here is the second part of my step-by-step process for building windows from scratch.

If you followed along with the first part (if you missed it, click here), you should now have a pair of window sashes built, ready to have glass installed.  For my construction, I'm going to use real glass.  You could choose to use a different material, some sort of clear plastic or cellophane film, or possibly something else entirely.

The glass that I'm using comes from Sierra Scale Models - seven bucks for 55 pieces of glass, hardly expensive.  Depending on the scale that you're modeling in, you could also use microscope slide covers - they're also real glass, but twice as thick as the Sierra glass.

Cutting this glass can be a bit tricky, and you will waste a few pieces before you master the technique.  The first, and probably most important tip for cutting glass is to work on a hard, perfectly flat, perfectly smooth surface - I work on a 12-inch square marble tile.  The second tip is to secure the glass in such a way that it won't move during cutting, won't scratch, and can easily be unsecured without damage.  I use blue painter's tape for this - turn one piece upside down (i.e. sticky side up), fastened to the work surface with two more pieces of blue tape.  Place the glass sheet on the exposed sticky side of the first piece of tape - this will hold it in place while you're cutting it.

Using one of your window sashes as a guide, place a straightedge (preferably something metal) across the glass and tape it down.

Using a scribing tool (also available from Sierra), make several light passes along the straightedge to score the glass - seven or eight passes should be enough.

Repeat the process for the other dimension of the window sash (width and height).

Carefully slide a razor blade under the scored section of the glass, and using it as a lever, gently lift the scored glass away from the tape.  As I've expertly demonstrated here, if you're too aggressive with this step, or just aren't paying attention, you can easily break the glass.  Store those broken pieces away somewhere safe, and you can reuse them later as trackside debris or litter.

Now it's time to glue the glass onto our window sashes.  It's vital that when you're applying the glue that you don't get sloppy.  Don't use too much glue, don't get glue in the wrong places, don't get glue all over the glass.  Precision is the key.  I've found a glue that works really well for this - a jeweler's glue that I bought from Micro-Mark.  The tube has a syringe-type applicator, allowing for very precise glue placement and flow control.

Place a tiny drop of glue in each corner of the window sash.

Now for the next tricky part - picking up the cut piece of glass, without breaking it, and placing it onto the window sash without smearing the glue.  You can use tweezers for this, but if you do, I recommend wrapping some tape around them to help provide some cushion to protect the glass.  An even better option is to use this nifty suction-cup gizmo.  Micro-Mark sells one, but I found mine on eBay for just a couple of dollars.

Gently place the glass onto the window sash, carefully as to avoid making a mess with the glue.

Repeat for the other window sash, and then take a break.  Let the glue dry for a few hours, preferably overnight.  Tomorrow, in the third and final installment, I'll show you how to put the window sashes into a frame, and ultimately into the wall of your structure.

Double-hung, Double-Paned Windows From Scratch - Part 1

A few people have asked for more details on how I build my windows, so I've written up a step-by-step walkthrough of how I do it.  It seems daunting, but once you've built the first couple and get more comfortable, it really goes pretty smoothly.

First, think about the basic parts that make up a double-hung, double-paned window.  Structurally, it's very simple:

That's it - 14 pieces of wood (13 if you build the lower sash single-paned).  There's not a lot of complexity here.

I know that I'll be building a lot of these windows, so I keep a ready supply of these pieces pre-cut.  I recommend using a tool like The Chopper, it's really the only way to be sure you're cutting your pieces to exactly the same length each time.

I also recommend that you pre-paint your lumber before assembling the windows.  I've done it both ways, painting before assembly and after - it's much easier to paint them before.  The easiest way I've found to paint them is to stick all to the sticky side of a lint-roller sheet.  Paint one side, let it dry, then carefully remove the pieces from the sticky sheet (I use a razor blade to "scrape" them off), flip them over and paint the other side.

The hardest part about this whole process is keeping things square as you assemble the windows.  It could probably be made much simpler by building a jig, but to be honest, I don't know how to build a jig for this, so I've never tried.  I've had good luck with my method, so I've stuck with it.

You'll need a good pair of precision tweezers, a smooth, solid work surface (a glass tile, for example), and good glue.

Again, the hardest part about this is keeping the corners square.  You'll need a solid 90-degree corner for this - I use a couple of "1-2-3" machinist's blocks.  Start with the long side (piece A from the diagram above), place it on-edge against one side of your 90-degree corner.

Place a TINY bit of glue onto the end of a short side (piece B), barely enough to see.  Position the piece firmly against the longer piece, and square it up with the corner of a metal ruler or square.

Let this sit for a few minutes to allow the glue to take hold, then proceed with the other long side (piece A).  Place a tiny drop of glue to the inside piece, near the end, and position it against the end of the short piece that was just added.  Square it up with a ruler or square.  It's OK if the two side pieces angle slightly inward, in fact it can make it easier to put the fourth piece in place.

For the fourth piece, use another "B" piece.  Put a tiny bit of glue on each end and position the piece between the two sides of the sash frame.  Use your ruler or square to make sure it's positioned properly.

If you're building single-paned windows, you're done with this first sash.  If you're building double-paned windows, there's one more piece to install - the short center piece (piece C).  Put a TINY, and I emphasize TINY, bit of glue on each end of the center piece, and drop it into the sash frame, centered along the two short sides.  You could measure and mark the center, but I just eyeball it.

You've finished the first window sash.  For a double-hung window, you need two sashes, so just repeat these steps to build the second one.

In my next post, I'll show you how I add the glass window panes and how I build the frame around the window.  Stay tuned!