Scratchbashin' DPM's "Freight House

[Casey Feedwater]

Back in early June, I began a "scratchbash" project using DPM's ubiquitous HO scale Freight House kit. The object of the project was to see if I could take an ordinary kit, one which isn't normally considered to be "finescale," and turn it into something that approached "finescale" when finished.

Since this was a "weekends-only" project, it took me a little over 5 months to complete it. And along the way, I changed my mind several times about certain aspects of the whole thing. So what I wound up with was a kitbashed version of DPM's kit, a scratchbuilt structure to go with it, and a diorama that will go on my layout when I get the benchwork and track finished for a certain area.

This is what I began with. As can be seen in the third photo, my first step was to replace the foundation.

In quick summary, I replaced the foundation with a scratchbuilt, hand carved stone foundation, bricked over the office door and window on the back wall with brick wall "plugs," boarded over a side window, added the attached shed, installed rafters, purlins, and tarpaper for the roof, added door pulls to the freight doors, and scratchbuilt the freight dock.

The second structure was completely scratchbuilt from stripwood. The only commercial components are the two small door castings, the two large windows (Grandt Line engine house windows) and the two small office windows (courtesy Brett Gallant at Sierra West.)

I decided to wait until the diorama is installed on my layout to finish the scenery and detailing. That's why there's just a dab of ground foam and a few unpainted castings in place.

And that's that.

Here are some links for anyone who would like to see additional photos.
http://homepage.mac.com/michael21/Photos/FHfinished16w.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/michael21/Photos/FHfinished17w.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/michael21/Photos/FHfinished20w.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/michael21/Photos/FHfinished23w.jpg

 

[Tyson Rayles]

Many, many, many thumbs up Mike! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Ralph]

Mission accomplished Casey! The origins of this structure wouldn't be immediately obvious at all. You've given it fine scale quality and individual character. Adding the strip wood structure really enhances the scene! Beautiful work!
Ralph

 

[Arlaghan]

Very fine looking modeling indeed! :thumb:

 

[Lighthorseman]

Wow!

Simply outSTANDing!

 

[Gary Pfeil]

Man thats nice! The scene looks great.

 

[Blake]

I can't say that I am surprised as you always produce fantastic work. You are not a modeler Casey, you are an artist!!

 

[Tad]

Very nice, nice photography, too.

 

[Fred_M]

Fantastic work. Is the wood structure wood, and if it is how did you get that color in the wood? DASH

 

[Casey Feedwater]

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone.

Originally posted by dash10
Fantastic work. Is the wood structure wood, and if it is how did you get that color in the wood? DASH

Dash, yes, that is real wood. The entire structure is built from scale stripwood. I started with 4x4 framing over a simple template that I drew. As for the color of the wood, it's a multi-step process. In a nutshell, however, I prestain the wood in a water-based acrylic stain that I make with inexpensive craft paints. After the wood has dried for a couple of days, I scribe it for grain. Finally, in this particular case, I semi-dry brushed it with Apple Barrel's "Country Gray" and followed that with a wash of black alcohol. I followed a similar process for the window frames and the horizontal bracing on the loading dock.

If you want to read the specific details of how these structures were built and painted, here is a link to an on-going discussion about it (and several other projects by other folks.) I'm sure you will recognize some prominent Gauger's names in the thread and see some fantastic work done by them also. :thumb:

http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4293

 

[George D]

Nice work. I like the way you added the second structure and the connecting passageway - it adds a lot of character to it.

George

 

[Casey Feedwater]

Thanks, George.

 

[interurban]

FAB

A wonderful job Casy!!

 

[Matthyro]

Excellent as always Casey. Beautiful workmanship.

 

[Casey Feedwater]

Thanks, guys. It was fun trying to do something different with a kit that has been well established for several years in the HO market.

 

[shamus]

Terrific scratchbuilt model Mike, you do produce some excellent masterpieces.
Shamus

 

[Casey Feedwater]

Many thanks, Paul. Your compliment is truly appreciated.