Griswold County Court House

Clerk

Active Member
Robin. I feel a little stupid. I hadn't even figured the courthouse needed a dome. Fantastic job.
 

davidbross

New Member
Can't believe what you can do with cardboard - Just getting into this stuff and have tried to copy your CP Statation - tough act to follow for a scratch newbie...as for the six sided base on the dome, how do you make the triangles? In other words what do you use to calculate the angles to draw the triangles? do you use some math formula or did you just use a protractor?
 

Matthyro

Will always be re-membered
Nelson, here is a photo with the courthouse next to a CD case.
Hope this gives you what you want. In actual dimensions, it is 7 1/4 inch wide. 6 1/2 inches high to the top of the dome and 5 1/4 inches deep.
davidbross I used a protractor to give me the 60degree angles
 

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Matthyro

Will always be re-membered
A little closer. Ready to have the lights installed and a few other details like flags and a bit of weathering.
 

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belg

Member
Robin, this is just another example of your great imaginitive solutions to making it seem simple. Do you use anything to seal the joints before painting? I wondering how you will handle what seems like a small curl on the base of the structure as this is something I've had trouble with as well?

Pat
 

Matthyro

Will always be re-membered
Pat I can usually get the curve out when I glue the model in place with a few weights on it. If it doesn't come out I just bring the scenery up to it and the curve disappears.
 

Clerk

Active Member
Beautiful work of art, Robin. It is amazing how you can build your buidings in such short time. Every time I tried, I waste several days just waiting for the glue to cure and paint to dry in all the steps. Besides sitting and holding something while the glue cures.
 

Arlaghan

Member
I knew we were in store for something special! Great job, can't wait to see it in August. :)

Robin, a request, if I may:

Can you post some pictures of the top (angled shot of the roof), sides, and rear of the structure?

What do you base your building on? Do you just "have a general idea" and build it, or do you plan things out beforehand very detailed and then build off your plans? I myself tend to lean towards the latter, and I find that it slows me down quite a bit. Plus, finding research materials for those shots I requested is always difficult.

Thanks!

OH!! An idea that struck me. About 2 years ago, I made a wooden model grandfather clock for my wife (about 3 inches tall) and I thought up a really cool idea that might be neat for this project of yours. I went to K-Mart (or Wal-mart) and bought one of those cheap $4.88 wrist-watches. I took the "clock" part apart, and discarded the rest. I encased it in a removable wooden frame and used it for the face of the clock! It was a genuine working clock! :D I wonder if you might be inclined to try such a trick? If you want more information, let me know and I will post pictures of it. :)
 

Tileguy

Member
Heck Arl, post it anyways,I am interested!!
Great looking model Robin.didnt know wheaties could look so good ;) And fast!! I got tired of my craftsman kit and went to doing some DPM's just to get a lil bit of a break from all them lil itty bitty pieces of individual wood.I'll go back to it after doing some DPM's.
Any suggestions on scratchbuilding a train order board for the station?a working model runs around 30 bucks and i may go that way 1 day,but for now a static model will have to do.The one i am thinking about is a pole model aprox 20' tall. thanks
 

aartwmich

Member
:eek: :eek: WOW :eek: :eek:

NICE DOME Robin!!!!

Yah, laying out 60 degree angles with a protractor is a piece of cake...

I want to know how you layed out the paper pieces for the dome roof!!!

They're BEAUTIFUL!!! :thumb: :thumb:
 

Arlaghan

Member
Originally posted by Tileguy
Heck Arl, post it anyways,I am interested!!

Any suggestions on scratchbuilding a train order board for the station?

Don't really know what a train order board is... got a picture of a real one?

Ok Todd, here's the clock I made. At about 1/2" diameter, it's about as round as a man is tall. (For some reason, old movies where a guy is hanging off the minute hand by his suspenders comes to mind. :D ) The battery has since died, but that is precisely why I built it this way... it's an easy matter to replace it. Sorry for the picture, I tried to smoosh everything into one picture.

P.S. Robin, judging by your size comparison photo, this watch (a lady's watch) might be a bit big for your courthouse, but maybe a little kids watch would do. I would probably have it come out from above... just put part of the angled roof onto the encasement and cut a "slot" for it in the roof.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, looks like I was off by quite a bit... it's funny how the mind exaggerates when going just by memory. The clock isn't 3" high, it's about 4 and 1/2" :eek:ops: It's probably older than 2 years, too. I just make these things, I don't keep track of them. :D My wife would know better than I would.
 

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Tileguy

Member
Way cool ,and way nice. I am thinking about the proverbial clock tower in the city(love the idea of the guy hanging onto the minute hand LOL)
Duluth actually has a clock tower.Its built into the old high school(no,i am not going to scratchbuild it,it would take forever as its all stone with gargoyles and the whole enchilada) I am thinking something just a bit tamer.Old central is 2 city blocks long and 1 city block deep.the tower is about 80 feet high.It would take up most of my city area LOL
Thanks for the pics Arl :)
 

davidstrains

Active Member
Robin,

Another great piece of work. I really like the window treatment, recessed and framed. That is a nice touch. I, too, am interested in how you did the paper covering for the dome.

:) :) :) :thumb:
 

Tileguy

Member
Thr Train order board was designed to let a train know wether it had orders.Its position denoted wether a train should stop and pick up orders, pick up orders on the fly or proceed through station.In the case of this particular station it has a double train order board as it had seperate tracks for east and west and 1 arm of the board for each.its the silver pole about 20' n height.in front of the telephone pole.
 

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Matthyro

Will always be re-membered
To respond to your requests here is how I did the dome.
To make the paper covering of the dome, I cut 6 oblongs of paper and glued them to the base. When dry, I curved them up over the frame and marked the outline with a pencil then cut the oblongs to shape and glued them onto the formers. I allowed a slight overlap which glued down nicely. Once dry, I spray painted them giving them two coats and there you have it.
Arl, the only space for a clock is actually 1 centimeter. I don't know if they come that small. Nice if one was available
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
Wow, Robin! Thanks for sharing that one, too! I love seeing these models come together. It's given me the courage to try it...someday! The CD case really brought it into sharp relief how small it is. Was that the Partridge Family? :D
 

ezdays

Out AZ way
The whole structure is a work of art, but I have to agree with the others, that dome is the icing on the cake. Great work Robin.

Don
 
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