# Easy small shed or shanty



## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

During a short (and rainy) vacation I builded this little building that can be used as shed or shanty. 



The structure is builded in an easy way that works great for small and not to detailed buildings.
It started as a block of styrofoam that is roughly cut in shape. This will be the support of the complete building. Walls are made out of 2 mm balsa wood with carved in details. I used a wooden toothpick to carve the soft balsa wood. 
By an overall white-glue "paint coat" the building should be weatherproof (following the building techniques of Peter Jones described in his book Practical Garden Railways).
The roof is made out of milkpack card (waterproof but got a white glue jacket to be sure!). 
The smokepipe is a piece of a ballpoint. The window glass is a transparent piece of plastic, painted black on the backside. 
After the white glue protective coat the building was painted and weathered. 

Here some pictures of the build: 






  

  


  


  


  



http://public.fotki.com/SmallGardenRailway/railroad-shanty/
Some more pictures: click here!

Paul


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Forgot to mention this; next time I use a piece of wood instead of a block of styrofoam. This way the building will be heavier, The little building is now to light and can easily be blown away. Have to secure it in the ground some way...


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## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

That's a sharp looking little shed, Paul! One comment, though. White glue is water-soluble, even when it's dry. It will not weatherproof your shed. SOME yellow wood glues (Titebond II here in the US) are waterproof, but not all. The white glue will confer some protection to the building, but I wouldn't want to leave it in a wet area for very long. That balsa and card is likely to start absorbing a lot of water and swelling, cracking, or rotting before long. I'd hate to see that happen to such a nice building.


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## jlcop (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice job, I really like the roof detail. 
John


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Thanks guys! 

Thanks also for the warning Kenneth. I used a glue for outside usage. Actually it's a wood glue. I called it white glue because I thought that was the right name for it in English. On the label it says its waterproof, so I take my changes.... 
In the book I mentioned they go over the wood with a torchlight first. This will "open" the wood more so the glue can get in it. Peter Jones his buildings stood outside all year in the rainy English weather and this method hold. 
I did not go over it with a torch because I guessed the balsa is open enough... 
I guess it sort of an experiment; if it survive the winter it is passed ;-)


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## Andre Anderson (Jan 3, 2008)

Greetings,

A simple fix for the weight problem, carve out some of the foam and glue some old tire balancing weights, bolts or anything that is heavy inside it to give it some heft.

Andre 


PS I also meant to say nice little building that won't break the bank, GOOD JOB.


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## wigginsn (Jan 9, 2008)

Nice job Paulus. 

I'm filing your build threads for future reference : ) 

Cheers 
Neil


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Thanks for the idea of glueing some weight under/in it Andre! I was thinking about glueing a stick in it to hold it in place in the ground but this is much simpler! I think I have a stone that fit's in right and will do the job. 
Neil, thanks! I also save a lot of posts and pictures that gave me ideas for future projects. That's the great thing about MLS; learning things and get inspiration from eachothers work.


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