First attempt....

[Scratchin_Mike]

I grew up as a kid loving the big train garden my dad would set up at Christmas, but then hated taking it down in January. All the houses were hand made by my Great Grandfather, and the trains were a couple lionels my dad had bought.

I always said if I had the room, I'd build a big train garden that I could work on year round, and I'd make it realistic, not just lay down some parts and be done with it.

I now have a basement to do such in. But I stopped by HobbyTown USA and was pretty shocked at what this hobby can cost. $50 for a plastic house is highway robbery. So I decided if I was going to go forward, I wanted to build 90% of it from scratch.

I've been reading, mostly looking at the pictures, of alot of great stuff on these forums over the past week or so. I'm amazed at what people have been able to do. Over the weekend I started a small building to see if I'm capable of making a quality piece before I even start to plan a layout.

Here's what I've done so far.....I'll be working on the roof some more and painting it tonight.
http://www.the-gauge.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=26121&stc=1&d=1143501005(first two pictures)
This was my inspiration for the model. If/When I decide to do a layout I'm basing it on the Steel Mill and the town the Steel Mill built here in Sparrows Point.
(bottom picture)

 

[santafewillie]

Wow! Nice first attempt.

 

[Scratchin_Mike]

First attempt...

Thanks Willie,

I think I liked it better as a log cabin then as a street car stop.. I tried to stick to the colors in the photograph, which are dark and cruddy. While looking at the model and the picture together, I kinda like it, but when viewing the building alone I'm not as crazy about it.

I tried some "weathering", mixed up some different tones and such with the paint job. tried to avoid anything too uniform. I'd like to do a little more with it. Build a little interior for the people waiting, stick an LED in there for a light, make a sign for it like in the picture, etc.

I'll post my progress, because I like watching other peoples progress.

Any suggestions for improvement, or things I could do differently are very much welcome.

 

[shaygetz]

Welcome to The Gauge, Mike, great first shot:thumb:

What part of Maryland you from? Most of my family lives in Balmer, Catonsville and Westminster.

 

[jim currie]

welcome to the gauge nice rustic look to it .

 

[ezdays]

Welcome to the Gauge. Great first attempt. Looking forward to seeing your progress with this and your other structures. Scratchbuilding is an art and a very satifying one at that.:thumb:

 

[MasonJar]

Mike,

One of the best scratch builders that ever contributed to The Gauge was Robin (member name Matthyro) who built extensively in "cerealboard". He made many, many buildings in Nscale from leftover cardboard from cereal boxes, corregated card, and paper.

Although I am not sure what scale you are in (HO?) I am sure you can find some inspiration in his many "How-To's" -> Click here.

Welcome to The Gauge!

Andrew

 

[Scratchin_Mike]

shaygetz, I think I noticed in one of you posts a mention to a Baltimore politician. I live in Edgemere, which is about as far south in Balmer county as you can go. Its right on the back door step of Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point mill; which provides plently of inspiration for this hobby. Its also very close to Dundalk, which is a fact we try to downplay in Edgemere.


MasonJar, I spent A LOT of time looking at Robin's work. Defiantly the guy I'll try to emulate. Plus I'm cheap, so home made works for my budget.