Nachoman's summer 2010 enginehouse challenge.

[nachoman]

I have been a little slow to get started on actual construction. Job hunting activities, oppressively hot weather, and other priorities have left me exhausted recently. But, yesterday I managed to cut a pile of scale 12x12s from my paint stirring sticks, and assemble the framing to one wall. Hopefully, I can get the other wall framed by the end of the day, and cut the planking that I am going to use as interior "siding".

[Tom]

Great idea on the paint stir sticks, I'd have never thought of that as a source of scale lumber. A suggestion though: Take some of the construction and finished building photos to wherever you got your paint sticks from and show them the unorthodox use of their paint sticks. They'd probably think it was such a cool and unique idea that they may just give you all the paqint stir sticks you could ever use anytime for free, just to see what you'd come up with next.

[Gary S]

Nice start Kevin.

It has been hot over here too. I was sweating like crazy just walking through the Home Depot parking from the building to my truck.

Be careful with the table saw while cutting the boards, and good luck on the job search.

[nachoman]

Well, rather than build the second long wall, I decided to add interior siding to the first wall to see how it would look. The siding is also cut from paint sticks.

[nachoman]

I got all four walls built and stained with diluted india ink. Only the inside is stained, as the outside will have steel siding. So far, the entire structure is built with pant stir sticks and yellow glue. I haven't decided whether to tackle the roof next, or build the walls for the workshop addition. I apologize for the lousy photos. It is a point and shoot camera and takes a little fiddling and trial and error to get decent close up photos - and this morning I didn't have the patience to fiddle with it.

[P5se Camelback]

Kevin ...

I don't know what kind of camera your "point-n-shoot" camera is, but the one I use is one that, having been a 35mm SLR film guy since '71 (when I took my first film class in art school,) works pretty well once you get to know what it does. I had never done anything but "point and shoot" with this Canon Power Shot A410 that my daughter gave me after she got a DSLR (for a photography course in Jr. college) She felt sorry for Dad after his house was burglarized four times and the last time they found the camera bag with all the lenses, his two Pentaxes, the strobe and the Polaroid Land Camera.

But when I started posting photos for "Building a Small Fleet of Very Small Cabooses", I bit the bullet and actually read the little manual that came with the little Canon. It was an eye opener! I will never bad mouth a little "point-n-shoot" digital camera again. And when the current Challenge has run its course, I'll have to return to the "Cute Little Crummies" and finish those little bad boys up!

In the meantime, Kev, try to find the "close-up" setting or the "macro" setting on your "point-n-shoot" and see if either of those will be a help! Of course, you could always read the book. :geek:

EDIT: Yep, once again I found a misspelled word and my OCD wouldn't let me leave it there, annoying me forever!

[nachoman]

I don't know what kind of camera you "point-n-shoot" camera is, but the one I use is one that, having been a 35mm SLR film guy since '71 (when I took my first film class in art school,) works pretty well once you get to know what it does.

Mine does pretty well, too. It's just that in order to do well close up, I have to fool with a few buttons and adjust a few settings, and then a few trial and error photos to make sure everything is set right. I know how to do it - it's just that this morning I was being lazy and didn't feel much like doing a proper job when my only intent was to take a quick photo for this thread

[Gary S]

Glad to see some progress, Kevin. And I agree, the cameras can be a pain sometime. The biggest problem I have with mine is color rendition. At my workbench, there is an overhead florescent and two incandescent spots. Sometimes things come out good, other times, the colors are way off and have to be corrected in my photodraw program.

Looking forward to more of your progress.

[nachoman]

This weekend I cut down some leftover Walthers kit windows and installed them. As you can see, I have also built the walls for the attached workshop area. Tomorrow, I will start "framing" the roof, and search for a suitable material to use for metal siding. At one time, I saw some kind of metallic ribbon/streamer type stuff at a craft store that had corrugations. Perhaps if I could remember what store I saw it in... I've also used the aluminum foil wrapped around a bolt thread idea - looked great but tedious for a large building like this.

[Gary S]

Alright! Now it's taking shape. Looks good with the windows in. And the red writing from the paint stir sticks reaches out and grabs ya and shouts "SCRATCHBUILT!"

[P5se Camelback]

Kevin --

I found, quite by accident, this "Die for making Corrugated metal siding" on EBay from a guy named Tom Fasset in Phoenix, AZ. I know nothing about it ... I just know the tool exists because i've seen it (in pictures) ... it is available in several different sizes and in several different scales. The dies retail for about $5 +/- with shipping.

The instructions on how to use the tool make the process look pretty simple!

Maybe that will help you or someone else ...

[nachoman]

I managed to get some of the roof done. Hopefully I can complete the remainder of the roof tomorrow.

[Drew]

Hey, that's lookin' GREAT Kevin!

[ocalicreek]

Very rustic, Kevin. Nice work!

Galen

[nachoman]

More work on the roof...

   

I'm not sure why I am going through the trouble of actually making a roof structure instead of just using a solid sheet of wood or cardboard. This is a building for my layout, and if I can't see the inside through the windows - perhaps it is just wasted construction time. But, there is a remote chance that one could see some of the roof innards if a camera was placed at track level looking in through one of the doors. It's easier to add it now than to try and add the detail later. Plus, I've already got the stripwood cut. If I was to use some thin plywood, I would have to o out and buy it.