Replacement for Ertl plastic powerhouse.

A client sent me an HO scale Ertl kit, the Easton Mill. It consists of two plastic buildings, but the sculpt, fit and factory paint-and-weathering on them... let's see, how to say this nicely... it's not up to my standards.

I talked my client into allowing me to build the power house as a cardstock model. I pulled all the dimensions from the Ertl kit and then made it in The Gimp.

Here it is.

Stereoscopic View

 

The main part of the building is inkjet-printed cardstock laminated onto museum board. I used Clever Models textures, as usual. I laminate with the cheapest spray adhesive I can find, which happens to be Aleen's Tacky Spray. (I'll have to do a proper how-to post on this technique when I find the time.)

The most painstaking part of this build: I cut out the doors and windows, then painted the thick edges of the holes with neutral grey acrylic, then I used brown, yellow and grey gouache paints to touch up the edges to match the stones.

I tried a new technique for the steps; I made the bottom tread part of the base of the building. That way, there's no chance of the steps falling off if the structure is handled roughly. Once I had the steps assembled, I treated the edges with cyanoacrylate glue and sanded the edges. 

The original model included a boiler out front, and I replicated it with two caps from Trader Joe's disposable pour-over coffee brewers, along with some brass tubing scraps and bits of museum board.

All in all, a quick and fun project.

Spot the differences Between the HO and N Scale Gorre Water Towers

A quick stereoscopic comparison of the HO and N scale Gorre water towers from Clever Models. You can see there are a few details on the HO model that I left out on the smaller version.

Penny shown for scale.

More Stereo Views of My Models

 I went on a bit of a stereoscopic binge over the last few days. It occurred to me that I might document my builds in 3D both to have a record of things I've made, and it's much more portable than carrying delicate models when I meet clients.

I took these by setting the camera on the table, taking one shot, then sliding the camera about 3/4" and taking the second shot.

I printed these on 4x6 photo paper, then trimmed them to fit in a viewer I got from a book.

These are all for free-viewing. 

These two are from Discworld. First the Library:

And the High Energy Magic Building:

This is the Gorre Water Tower by Clever Models:

 

This is a scratch-built wooden depot, based on a Clever Models template: