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Railways have all sorts of interesting infrastructure, from grandiose buildings & bridges to more humble lineside structures such as platelayer's huts. All make for great subjects to recreate in model form. Many buildings & structures have been produced in either kit form or ready-to-plant models, but what if that certain building you like isn't available? What to do? Two options to try are either scratch building or kit bashing. The idea of scratch-building or kit-bashing can be quite off-putting for those who have never tried it before. Maybe the perceived lack of confidence puts you off from having a go? You delay getting started and end up never trying which is a real shame as scratch-building can be immensely satisfying and as you'll hopefully see in this post, it's actually not that hard!
I like the sound of creating a building or structure. Give me an example I could try?
An easy project to start off with is a small structure such as a OO gauge lineside hut, or platelayer's hut. It's simple enough to build in just a couple of hours and makes an ideal starting point. Many are now disused & have fallen into a derelict condition, either through the ravages of time & mother nature or by vandalism. For this project, we'll create a simple disused derelict lineside hut. That way… if it goes wrong, we can just make it look even more derelict!
Is this a scratch build or kit bashing?
It's a bit of both and we'll be using our LX184-OO Sleeper Barrow Crossing kit to scratch-build a small lineside hut made from recycled railway sleepers. We could start off with plain timber such as plywood or basswood sheet, but to get the recycled sleeper effect we'd have to get pretty technical with tiny drills and sharp scribing tools, which is far too advanced for this project. The Barrow Crossing has lots of engraved detail for the rail chairs & bolt hole positions so it speeds up the process massively.
Okay sounds good. What do I need for this project?
- A cutting mat
- Craft knife
- Deluxe Materials Super Phatic Glue
- Steel Ruler
- SX002 Corner Jig Tool
- Life Color Weathered White Wood Pigment Set
- Small Flat Paint Brushes
- Fine emery paper or alternatively normal copier paper & matt black paint
Let's get started…
One pack of our LX184-OO Barrow Crossing (or if you're modelling in N scale, the LX184-N) will be enough for this project to create the hut.
First, a weather-worn white/grey wood effect is required, for this, I'm using Life Color White Wood. This is an acrylic matt pigment paint weathering set with six colours.
The first coat I've gone for is the Rough Light Brown, this was brushed on & allowed to dry as seen below. The next coat was the Rough Light Grey followed by darker colours apply unevenly to vary the effect of worn-looking white wood. It's worth experimenting on some scrap wood to see which colour combinations work best for the weathering effect you are going for.
Once the weathering paint had dried, the boardwalk sleepers were then measured and marked & cut to size. Five pieces are needed, the roof & the four walls. The measurements I'd taken from a real old abandoned line side hut on a disused railway, & scaled down to 1:76 scale. I've included the dimensions in the image below. The hut I based it on had a sloping roof which I replicated in this scratch build.
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The front wall a doorway opening was also marked & cut out. The wall sections are glued together using Deluxe Materials Super Phatic Glue. The laser engraved detail I've put to the outside for added scenic interest. Part of the front wall to the right of the doorway was cut from the front wall & refitted at an angle to represent its slowly collapsing & to add to the derelict look. as shown in the image below.
The roof section was cut slightly wider & longer to give it an overhanging edge. One sleeper section on the roof was cut & removed. The sleepers on either side are then cut & distressed using a craft knife to create split & broken-away timber. The sleeper that had been removed was cut into two, distressed with the craft knife & one section was refitted to the hut. The roofing felt was created by painting copier paper in black & weathered it with powders. This was then cut into several pieces & glued into place leaving some roof timbers exposed.
The front wall & doorway measurements. Part of the cut-away sleeper from the roof has been glued sticking out at the bottom of the open doorway.
The final touches to the derelict hut include the application of some dark grey weathering powders to the walls & roof. This was then followed by adding some vegetation inside & outside the hut.
All that's left to do is install it on the trackside. Here it's been installed near the tunnel entrance in the railway cutting. A door was also fashioned out of the leftover sleepers & suitably painted & weathered. The door can be seen in the bottom left of the photo below, laying in the bushes & undergrowth as though vandals have ripped off the door & discarded it to the side of the hut.
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To recap…
Scratch-building enables you to create your own bespoke building or model for your layout and a lineside hut makes a fantastic first project. Using something like the sleeper barrow crossing kit as a basis introduces you not only to the world of scratch-building, but also to kit-bashing (repurposing a kit) at the same time. It also introduces you to the interesting world of weathering too with the Lifecolor paint weathering sets.
Have a go & enjoy creating your very first scratch-built project.
Keep on shuntin'