DaveInTheHat
Active Member
I made a corner lot next to the speed shop for the bank. What I have in mind is a building made with large stone blocks and some fancy trim along the roof line. Maybe some sort of columns on the front. I'll see what happens as it comes together.
A highly technical mock up made from paper. I used this to get a visual on the overall size and shape.
I'm using high density polyurethane foam.
I cut a couple of strips the right height. Then cut a rabbet on all the strips so I can drop the roof in. Then I cut all the lengths and mitered the corners.
So, here's the pieces sitting together.
The front door is going to be recessed behind an arch and I'm going to put arched windows on the street sides. The back will have a couple small windows and an entrance from the parking lot.
After I cut the windows and doors out I'm going to try doing some stuff with duct tape and bead blasting. I have no idea if its going to work or not.
I cut some strips for the cornice and whatever ideas I come up with the trim.
Figured out the windows.
I used a 3/4" spade bit to drill out the round window over the entrance. I took my time measuring and getting the windows in the right place.
I got the all the openings cut out. I had a couple of slips with my Dremel tool. I'll have to patch them up with some Spackle. Its starting to look like something now.
I covered all the walls with Duct Tape. I tried cutting some blocks out by measuring them. That didn't work. Too much measuring and stuff. The Duct Tape that I had didn't work ether. The glue would separate from the tape when I cut it. I looked at the roll and noticed that it had a date printed on the inside. 1994. Duh! So, I got a new roll of duct tape and started over again.
This plan worked good. I drew the block pattern out in Adobe Illustrator and printed it out. Then I spray glued the back of the paper and stuck on the Duct Tape.
I cut out the blocks and pulled the Duct Tape off from in between them.
I covered all the edges and the back side with tape. Then bead blasted the face of the walls. I used course glass beads at around 80 psi. When the paper was gone it seemed to be blasted deep enough. I used that as a guide.
Here's a close up of what it looks like. Only a few pieces of tape blew off. I think I can fix any boo-boos with some Spackle.
This is how it looks with the tape removed.
I think it might take a while to pick off off the tape. This foam is about the same density as bass wood, so any kind of tool will leave a mark. Fingernail seems to work ok. Just sort of lift the edge and roll the tape off.
I've haven't done this type of scratch build before, so I'm pretty much guess at how to do it. I think I made extra work for myself by cutting the windows and doors first. Having the empty spaces made cutting the blocks more difficult. Some of the blocks along the edge of the openings were really tiny and didn't have enough adhesive to stay on. Another thing I think I should have mitered the corners after I bead blasted too. Some of the thin edge might have gotten rounded over. I'm not too worried about that. I can ether patch it or cover it with a corner molding.
I put a fresh piece of Duct Tape over the blasted parts and it pulled most of the little squares off. That was easy!
I did a glue test.
None of the liquid glues worked. Epoxy totally failed. That surprised me. Elmers, Testors Tube, Tite Bond all worked pretty good. Aleene's Tacky Glue seems to be the strongest.
Now I'm going to patch a few of the bad spots. Mostly around the windows and along the edges where the walls fit together.
I did most of the patching while the walls were still apart. This pink Spackle is pretty cool. It turns white when it drys.
I set up my "hi-tech" building fixture.
I glued the walls together in sections. Then glued the sections together.
Now that all the walls are together I think it might actually work. Next step is to patch some of the corners.
I got the trim finished and all the mistakes covered up.
Adding sills under the windows.
All the boo-boos and mismatched seams are fixed and now the bank is now in gray primer.
I used a slice of a file folder to figure out the pitch of the roof. I just kept cutting it down until it looked the way I wanted.
I can't remember the names of all the roof parts and different styles of them. (not real sure if I ever knew). I wasn't sure what to do with the ends so I decided to angle them.
File folder stuff again. The area around the tower part took some figuring out to make a pattern. I cut little pieces and taped them together. Seemed to work ok.
This is sorta what it's going to look like.
The roof took a while to fine tune and get it to fit right. I use a file folder to cover all the seams.
I air brushed the roof with Folk Art craft paint. I went for a weird sort of burgundy color. I'll paint the blocks by hand with a brush.
A highly technical mock up made from paper. I used this to get a visual on the overall size and shape.
I'm using high density polyurethane foam.
I cut a couple of strips the right height. Then cut a rabbet on all the strips so I can drop the roof in. Then I cut all the lengths and mitered the corners.
So, here's the pieces sitting together.
The front door is going to be recessed behind an arch and I'm going to put arched windows on the street sides. The back will have a couple small windows and an entrance from the parking lot.
After I cut the windows and doors out I'm going to try doing some stuff with duct tape and bead blasting. I have no idea if its going to work or not.
I cut some strips for the cornice and whatever ideas I come up with the trim.
Figured out the windows.
I used a 3/4" spade bit to drill out the round window over the entrance. I took my time measuring and getting the windows in the right place.
I got the all the openings cut out. I had a couple of slips with my Dremel tool. I'll have to patch them up with some Spackle. Its starting to look like something now.
I covered all the walls with Duct Tape. I tried cutting some blocks out by measuring them. That didn't work. Too much measuring and stuff. The Duct Tape that I had didn't work ether. The glue would separate from the tape when I cut it. I looked at the roll and noticed that it had a date printed on the inside. 1994. Duh! So, I got a new roll of duct tape and started over again.
This plan worked good. I drew the block pattern out in Adobe Illustrator and printed it out. Then I spray glued the back of the paper and stuck on the Duct Tape.
I cut out the blocks and pulled the Duct Tape off from in between them.
I covered all the edges and the back side with tape. Then bead blasted the face of the walls. I used course glass beads at around 80 psi. When the paper was gone it seemed to be blasted deep enough. I used that as a guide.
Here's a close up of what it looks like. Only a few pieces of tape blew off. I think I can fix any boo-boos with some Spackle.
This is how it looks with the tape removed.
I think it might take a while to pick off off the tape. This foam is about the same density as bass wood, so any kind of tool will leave a mark. Fingernail seems to work ok. Just sort of lift the edge and roll the tape off.
I've haven't done this type of scratch build before, so I'm pretty much guess at how to do it. I think I made extra work for myself by cutting the windows and doors first. Having the empty spaces made cutting the blocks more difficult. Some of the blocks along the edge of the openings were really tiny and didn't have enough adhesive to stay on. Another thing I think I should have mitered the corners after I bead blasted too. Some of the thin edge might have gotten rounded over. I'm not too worried about that. I can ether patch it or cover it with a corner molding.
I put a fresh piece of Duct Tape over the blasted parts and it pulled most of the little squares off. That was easy!
I did a glue test.
None of the liquid glues worked. Epoxy totally failed. That surprised me. Elmers, Testors Tube, Tite Bond all worked pretty good. Aleene's Tacky Glue seems to be the strongest.
Now I'm going to patch a few of the bad spots. Mostly around the windows and along the edges where the walls fit together.
I did most of the patching while the walls were still apart. This pink Spackle is pretty cool. It turns white when it drys.
I set up my "hi-tech" building fixture.
I glued the walls together in sections. Then glued the sections together.
Now that all the walls are together I think it might actually work. Next step is to patch some of the corners.
I got the trim finished and all the mistakes covered up.
Adding sills under the windows.
All the boo-boos and mismatched seams are fixed and now the bank is now in gray primer.
I used a slice of a file folder to figure out the pitch of the roof. I just kept cutting it down until it looked the way I wanted.
I can't remember the names of all the roof parts and different styles of them. (not real sure if I ever knew). I wasn't sure what to do with the ends so I decided to angle them.
File folder stuff again. The area around the tower part took some figuring out to make a pattern. I cut little pieces and taped them together. Seemed to work ok.
This is sorta what it's going to look like.
The roof took a while to fine tune and get it to fit right. I use a file folder to cover all the seams.
I air brushed the roof with Folk Art craft paint. I went for a weird sort of burgundy color. I'll paint the blocks by hand with a brush.
