1:48 "Little House on the Prairie"

[Ray Dunakin]

Nice to see you modeling again, Russ. That house looks great!

[Lawton Maner]

     I ordered some of Railscale Models' shake shingles in a custom wood which is a tropical veneer which closely matches western cedar.  I have used 3M-467 to cover some of the scraps and plan on making shiplap siding to match so that when I weather it chemically the wood pieces will match.  Since I am incarcerated in a rehab facility for another month or so the experiment will have to wait.  If I can figure out how to size and post I'll send a couple of photos to the group.
     I've used 3M-467 for a number of years and have had good results laminating styrene sheets to themselves and other materials.

[finescalerr]

The house is complete and, when I find somebody with a tablesaw who can cut a 2 foot square piece of MDF into four 12" squares, I'll attach the house and add scenery.

If anybody wants a basic set of instructions for how I build models with inkjet printed paper, just ask. Those of us with limited dexterity may find computers and printers our modeling salvation.

Russ

[finescalerr]

If you click on the images they'll magically become giant size.

[finescalerr]

Suggestion: Don't try building windows from tiny scraps of card or wood or you may lose your mind. The laser cutter is your friend.

[finescalerr]

And now my wife wants me to build a model of the house we live in but it will look a lot like this model. How humiliating! -- Russ

[WP Rayner]

And now my wife wants me to build a model of the house we live in but it will look a lot like this model. How humiliating! -- Russ

Hah!  As I recall you do have indoor plumbing and electricity!  Nicely done...

[Ray Dunakin]

Awesome!  Is there glass/plastic in the windows?

[finescalerr]

Paul, you were here decades ago. The house has deteriorated a little ....

Ray, yes, the windows have glazing. Not sure what kind of plastic it is or where I bought it. It's a pain in the neck to hand cut and install the glazing in the window sash.

Russ

[WP Rayner]

Paul, you were here decades ago. The house has deteriorated a little ....

It has been a long time... by deteriorated you mean the process of natural weathering... happens to us all!

[Lawton Maner]

If I weren't locked up in rehab for a broken hip, I'd cut and mail a piece for you on the condition that one corner had the witch's feet sticking out from under it.

[Bernhard]

Really nice building, Russ. Hard to believe that it is built from printed cardboard. All child I have also built models from cut-out sheets. But this is much better and absolutely more professional.

Bernhard

[TRAINS1941]

Well that is a really great looking model!

Jerry

[finescalerr]

Bernhard, it's not the kind of printed cardboard we remember from those old kits we built when we were kids.

I specifically choose certain art papers because of their texture, reflective qualities, and ability to produce a good photo. For example, the walls on this model represent almost unpainted wood so they must have no gloss at all and should have a texture much like that of wood (0.012-inch Lanaquarelle Cold Press). If the house were painted, the paper would be smooth with a slight sheen (0.01-inch Wausau ExactIndex).

Also, in 1:48 scale, the fine grain of even basswood often is too coarse so, to my eye, a photo of real wood with scale knots and grain on paper of the proper texture, looks more convincing and can depict a specific kind of wood, such as oak or cedar. I also build with individual boards and/or scribe every board joint so the model is truly three dimensional. I am very careful about trim, door, and window thickness; paper allows me to achieve that more accurately than I can with wood. I laser cut the doors and windows in this model from 0.016-inch thick Strathmore Bristol on 0.002-inch thick 3-M 467 double sided tape. The assembled doors and windows are very accurate in all three dimensions and have no unrealistic grain. Unlike laser board, plastic, or other materials, Strathmore also is an ideal material to paint or stain.

So instead of thinking of this technique as "building with cardboard", a more accurate description might be "applying wallpaper" to whatever sub-structure you prefer. I don't understand why more modelers haven't tried it.

Russ

[Bernhard]

Russ, I have seen laser-cut cardboard kits, which are available from various manufacturers. But they all seemed too two-dimensional to me. But you have brought this design to perfection. Very inspiring!

Bernhard