# My next project



## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

After stewing on it for a while, I have decided what project I want to do next to break in the new shop.

This is my home church of Spring Hill, The Baptist Church of Christ (which denomination some of you may also know as Separate Baptist).









Let me preface this by saying I’m not trying to start a religious discussion. If you want to talk to me about it, email me, but this is going to be a modeling thread. 

Anyway, this place is special to me - which is why I want to model it. I was saved there on December 11, 2005 and baptized in the creek on New Year's Day. The Lord called me to preach the following August, and I will be ordained here January 1st, 2012. 

They tell me this is our 2nd building. We are currently on our 3rd. The first, I'm told, was a log structure - I am unaware if any photos exist of it or not.


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Looks like an interesting building! Is it the photo or the building on the right hand side of the foundation that shows the foundation settling? A lot of old churches have good character and history! 

Congrats on the upcoming ordination too. 

Craig


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Forgot to mention: I feel fairly certain the siding has a 4" reveal. Assuming that, I calculated 20' 6" for the width of the front of the building and a height (from foundation to peak) of 22' 6". Now if I can just find a side view, I'm in business.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Craig: I would assume the building settled. Every old building with stacked stone piers I've seen in this area has done the same thing.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

The Little Church on the Hill... reminds me of one of my Dad's early churches in the Northwest. 
That's a great size for 'in the garden' railroads and the sag adds character ... I'm thinking a full house every time. 
I look forward to your build. 

Congats on your Spiritual growth. 

Happy Rails 
John


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

4" lap looks right based on the window sash board. 
You would be a really GREAT modeler if you could creat the sage........ 
Colo models was going to come out with sheetsa of 4" lap, but I have not heard from Bruce if he did it yet.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Sage? Are you talking about trees, or is that a typo? If you meant "sag", I don't know why that would be so hard... its always been way harder for me to follow a straight line!


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

are you prepared for the consequences of modeling a former church of your own congregation? 
i would bet on your brethren to try talk you into donating it.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Of course. This project should lend itself well to a flat resin kit.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

It's built on piers and has settled a bit. Would be cool to model that. Lovely character, and story.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

True, most buildings here in in middle TN were (back in the day) built on piers due to no basements, one of the last peir houses on my little pig-path road just got jacked up and a true foundation put under it. But even with true foundations we have some settling (karst), I have jacked my 1970s-built house twice already! 

Looks like you have been busy Burl!


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Found a second photo: 










Now I'm ready to start! 

Anyone have a source for 1/32 corrugated metal roofing?


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Paper crimper with aluminum cans? 

I think PSME might have something close to what you want. I don't have their catalog with me right now other wise I would look it up for you. 
http://www.psmescale.com/ 
Send an email and ask them. Their catalog is worth the $20 it costs (plus they give you a $14 coupon for your next purchase, so it's not too pricey). 

Craig


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## Ron Hill (Sep 25, 2008)

Burl, I know about that special church. I was raised in a country church. Those homecoming days with dinner on the ground were special because it was before air conditioning with open windows and dinner outside. The heat was just something you tolerated. Are you going to glue the siding on piece by piece or use styrene siding? The styrene siding takes less time, but does not look as good. 
Ron


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Ron: I will be experimenting with basswood strips for the siding.


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Burl, 

How do you think basswood will work casting wise? Or have you cast with basswood in the past? I'm just wondering how much of the wood grain will come through the casting? I'm sure you have expectations of that happening? 

Craig


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

In the past, it has worked well. Getting the wood grain in the casting is no problem - you can reproduce fingerprints if you're not careful. Not glazing it over with paint is the trick.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Basswood strips didn't work the way I thought they would. I tried flat 1/32” thick, by 0.1875” wide, but it looked too thick when I put a few together. 


Had to figure out a way to get the profile of beveled siding. Here’s what I came up with the shape them:


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Hello Burl,
I ran into a similar problem with the grain elevator I built (see my posting of August 17 under buildings titled Prairie Grain Elevator) this might be of some help to you. I found that in 1:29 scale the boards look too busy on a model, therefore I increased the width to 0.300" and a thickness, at the bottom of 0.150" Your building has corner posts so the assembly should go quite fast. I invested in a small belt and disc sander which helped expedite the manufacture of the boards. On the elevator I didn't have corner posts so every board end had to be cut to 45 degrees to match the next wall. Very labour intensive.
I'm just getting started on the replication of a local store that looks to be in danger of being eliminated due to "progress" fortunately it has corner posts so things should move along a little faster.
Good luck with your project and post some more photo's as you move along.
Cheers.


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## Ron Hill (Sep 25, 2008)

Burl, I use 1/4" cypress for siding. If you cut your stock 1/4" wide (6" siding in 1:24 scale) and tilt your table saw table 7 degrees, it will give you about a 1/16" on the thick side and flush on the opposite side. You will need to rotate or flip the piece each time you cut. I also advise marking off the wall in 1/4" lines to keep the siding straight as it is glued up the wall. 
Ron


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Posted By bnsfconductor on 05 Dec 2011 07:05 PM 

I think PSME might have something close to what you want. I don't have their catalog with me right now other wise I would look it up for you. 
http://www.psmescale.com/ 
Send an email and ask them. Their catalog is worth the $20 it costs (plus they give you a $14 coupon for your next purchase, so it's not too pricey). 

Craig 
Too bad they don't have or sell anything online, it's basically just an ad for their print catalog. Ironically, their website boasts data encryption for security, but what's the point if they don't do any business on their site??


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Ray, 
I don't know why they don't sell anything online either. They might get more business that way, but from when I ordered from them before it sounded like they were a small business. Even so one would think that PSME would attempt have some sort of interactive website. 
I would highly recommend getting their catalog as they have all sorts of neat supplies, and tools.Well worth the $6 you end up spending. Some of their tools are the same as in micro-mark, but they have a lot of different scratch building supplies. Miniature hydraulic supplies is one of the categories that struck me as neat... 

Craig


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

Burl, dont make them - fake them! 

i just underlay one side of the "boards" with cut off pieces of fishingline. 
the thickness of the line gives you the thickness of the "overlap". 

look here:


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Here is how I make clapboard siding. 


I cut out all the walls for my building(s) from good quality exterior plywood which is free of knots. cutting the windows is optional at this point


I set up my table saw with a 1/4"-3/8" wide dado blade (i have a stacked dado blade which uses several saw blades stacked on the saw arbor to cut a wide slot) I tilt the blade 3-5 degreesand run it up into a blank plywood insert...that gives me a small opening for the blade.

Then I set the fence such that i can mill out the first (bottom) clapboard. I run the pieces through the saw. I do all the wall sections. then I index the fence 1/4" so i can cut the next clapboard and run the pieces through the saw...I keep going, indexing by 1/4" each time until i have milled the entirety of all the walls. Warning...use a push stick and keep your fingers away from the blade!!!


It is somewhat tedious but not as bad as gluing individual clapboards. The Plywood manufacturer does a better job of gluing than I can. Plywood is pretty cheap and easily purchased or scrounged. With a coat of paint, it looks perfect to me.























here is the finished product


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Got the sides layed out in plastic:


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

The photo is a little grainy because its from my camera phone.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Here's how I'm keeping the rows of siding even. At the top is my template, which has the same curve as the bottom of the wall. Sorry if it’s a little hard to see. This is how I'm building a slight sag into the long wall. 









Here you can see the line I trace from the template: 









My goal for the windows is to build only one pattern to copy cast from. For this to work, all the window openings have to be the same size. I made this little jig to check by:


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Your not even done with one side yet and it's still got a lot of character! How much off a sag did you build into it? 1/16"? 
Looks like your putting your new workshop to good use too. 

Craig


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

From the photo, it looked like it settled about 4 inches in the middle - so I built a 1/8" bow into it.


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Its so good to have Burl back!!!!!


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

This is the pattern for the back of the building, but I’ll copy cast & make a door & then I’ll have the front pattern too. 

Windows will be cast out of clear resin, 6 at a time. Also got some work done on the stone piers. I made 3, but with some artful placement it should give the illusion of all 15 being different.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm up to my old tricks again, stamping .002" aluminum:


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## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

Burl, 

You really are something else.....those panels look excellent.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Keep on, keepin' on, Burl.. It's lookin' great....


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Burl, 
Any chance you can explain how you built this die? Similar to the other ones, I'm sure. 
I'm assuming these are roof panels? 

Craig


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Craig: I figured the corrugations on a tin roof are between 2.5" and 3" wide. That would work out to around .080" in 1:32. So I glued up some .080" rods, one right next to the other. The top of the die is offset by half a rod. So when you put a piece of aluminum in there & hammer it down, it comes out corrugated. 

Make sense?


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Yes, I've got it. So your building is in 1/32? Not 1/29? 
I remember your previous postings about using a die too so that's why I was asking. 
As a side note how are your resin frogs holding up? I'm working on building a #9 frog right now, and hope to cast it in the near future, with either resin or the low temp metal that I've seen in Mirco-Mark. Did you make points too? 
Sorry to derail the thread. 

Craig


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

I normally do everything in 1:29, but I chose to do this project in 1:32. I think it will give a little more depth to the scene that way. And the numbers worked out better with what was available in basswood.




The resin frogs are holding up fine. I made the points out of aluminum rail. I don’t think resin would be appropriate in that case.


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Burl, 
Thanks for the info about the frogs. I didn't think that resin would work too well with the points. Hopefully soon I'll start a thread about my build... 

Craig


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)




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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Burl, a great looking structure. Very realistic. The clapboard siding came out perfect and I admire your patience in gluing all those boards in place. Also, thanks for the tip on how to roll your own corrugated roofing. What's next?


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Not sure what will be next. Gotta finish this first. Whatever it is, it will probably have wheels!


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Progress looks great, Burl...


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

It's going slower than I thought it would, but I'm not getting in a hurry either. I think this is the first time I've modeled an all-wood subject. Looking forward to modeling steel again.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

The pattern for the roof:


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Burl,

Great project and effort! 

I asssume your casting the walls with an epoxy or similar resin? How does the finished product hold up outdoors? Or more directly have you had any issues with heat or elevated temperatures causing cast parts to become soft or deform? 

Michael


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Michael: I'm using Alumilite resin, which has the highest heat deflection temperature of anything I could find available to the hobby caster. It holds up fine outdoors, but I have always worked some kind of plastic support into the skeleton of the building as a back up.


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Those molds look too big to fit in your pressure pot? Have you had any problems with the resin making bubbles? 
I always seem to get bubbles when I cast outside the pot. 

Craig


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

The bubbles are manageable if I take my time mixing. I let the sides set for a while before mixing too. That lets most of the bubbles work out on their own.


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Burl on 31 Dec 2011 07:05 PM 
The bubbles are manageable if I take my time mixing. I let the sides set for a while before mixing too. That lets most of the bubbles work out on their own. 
Sounds like an oxymoron "take my time mixing"!  I'll have to remember to let the sides sit for a while before mixing. I just tend to measure, and then pour right away. Sounds like I may be introducing more bubbles that way. 

Craig


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

I mean, don't get in a hurry mixing. You introduce more bubbles if you stir too quickly. 

Also, pour into the mold slowly at first. Let the resin "creep" along the surface at it's own pace. Then you can pour quicker over the spots that are already covered.


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

See this is why your the resin master! All these little tricks and techniques that add up to make a great cast. 
Have you had any luck trying to lengthen the set time of the resin more than 90 sec? I'm always worried that the resin will start to set before I can get it in the pressure pot, so I end up pouring it really fast. Hopefully one day I'll learn how to pour slow. 

Craig


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

I've been told you can chill the resin in the fridge (see Alumilite's website) to get a little more pot life out of it. But I have not tried it myself.


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Burl on 01 Jan 2012 06:14 AM 
I've been told you can chill the resin in the fridge (see Alumilite's website) to get a little more pot life out of it. But I have not tried it myself. 

It works, but not much. Try adding a tiny bit less of the catalyst (not less than 15%) That slows it down some what but you have to be very careful on your measurements and the downside is you are stuck with left over catalyst after you use up all the resin.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)




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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

I am fascinated that you built a wooden form then cast aluminite walls and roof! I had missed that on earlier posts and didn't realize that was your modes-operendae What type of aluminite did you use and what mold material?


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Eric: I generally use Alumilite Regular & MoldMax 30 for everything I do. The only difference here being the windows, which were cast in Alumilite clear.


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## Burl (Jan 2, 2008)

Here it is after some light weathering:


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## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

Bravo! 

Very nice. 

Great job Burl


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Theres two nails missing on the right side.


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Very impressive, Burl... It’s very hard to tell your church is a model. The effort put into the mold to emulate the sinking or sagging floor and wall siding was well with it aesthetically... 

Michael


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