1:48 "Little House on the Prairie"

[finescalerr]

Kim's two latest houses inspired me finally to build a 1:48 scale typical late 19th century American ranch or farm house. It is still under construction and needs a front porch and awning, some rafters, and a step or two for the back door. It represents a deteriorating but still serviceable old structure badly in need of more whitewash and probably new roofing.

At this point the entire model is inkjet printed cardstock except for the interior stripwood bracing. I drew the plans in my new 2-D CAD program, Q-CAD. It replaces 2004 AutoCAD Lt, now too ancient to operate on my computer, cost U.S. $39, and works as well or better than AutoCAD. Better yet, I own it; there's no annual extortion fee.

I designed the doors and windows in Q-CAD as laser cut "kits" and experimented with peel-and-stick construction using 3-M 467 double sided tape. I found 12" square sheets on eBay. It's a little less trouble to work with than glue but otherwise not much different.

If you click on the photos they'll open up in a much larger size.

I'll post progress shots as construction blazes toward a thrilling conclusion.

Russ

[finescalerr]

And the back ....

[1-32]

Hi Russ.
Great result and such an interesting technique but the windows great job on such a challenging item. Yes, the finish the bleached wood, and the contours of the siding totally believable.
cheers

[SandiaPaul]

I think this is an outstanding result, colors are spot on.

[Bernd]

Nice job on the building. The colors look fantastic.

I tried the 3-M 467 double sided tape. I bought a roll from Amazon. Here are a few pictures. I laminated board-n-batten siding to a chipboard backing. Works great and it sticks too. No warping from using glue for the two surfaces.















Bernd

[TRAINS1941]

Great job Unc!  Glad to see you have other interests besides playing the clarinet!!  You do still play right??

Jerry

[Chuck Doan]

Wow! Looks great! Really glad to see you modelling again.

[Hydrostat]

Russ,

I really do appreciate your photoshop capabilities, but you don't fool me.

Volker

[Hydrostat]

In other words: it looks great!

[Craig]

Who needs a 3D printer when an Inkjet can still do so much!?

Extremely impressive.

[Bill Gill]

Russ, You've got the inkjet technique in hand! Good to see you modeling!
Will Laura Ingalls Wilder and her cousin, Gene, being taking up residence when finished?

[WP Rayner]

Satisfactory...   If you don't already know of it, check out https://quixel.com/megascans/home/ and search under surfaces. Lots of excellent 4K textures available. Here are a couple of examples:

[Barney]

Welcome to the most inspiring modelling forum going - keep the good work up and keep it coming - a satisfactory start
Barney

[finescalerr]

Bernd, I learned about 3-M 467 tape from my friend, Tom Fitzgerald, who used to own Crystal River Products and produced superb structure kits. The tape is as strong as any glue and lasts a lifetime.

I got the idea of laser cutting doors and windows from Strathmore cardstock when everyone else was using wood (with grain running the wrong way). You can paint or stain them with outstanding results. Tom cut my first batch and then added them to his product line. They look better than any molded plastic or laser cut wood parts but most hobbyists never seemed to care. Tom engineered the windows, sills, and glazing so everything almost self-aligns. I copied his method.

I stole the idea of inkjet printed cardstock from George Taylor, former Disney artist and owner of the now defunct but once very successful Paper Creek Models. While you guys were learning advanced weathering techniques with paint, I was shooting photos for my publications and got pretty good with Photoshop. It took years to figure out what kind of photo to start with but, once I figured it out, the results were better than anything I can do with paints or stains. The choice of paper also is important. The model's siding represents mostly bare, weathered lumber and the paper with the best texture for that is Lanaquarelle Cold Press.

My friend, and Terrapin NG Society member, Ted Edgell has a terrific corrugating tool for 1:48 scale modeling. He ran a bunch of printed paper through it for me a few years ago. Yet another thing I didn't think of myself.

Moral of the story: Steal ideas from the best people!

Volker, go stand in the corner.

Russ

[1-32]

Yes, paper.
Huge fan Paul those sample textures are great.
Russ, you were mentioning sourcing corrugated paper I also use it for my sidings and roofs but I source it from art supply shops A 3 size , heavy enough to take paint and the price is really really good.
cheers