# new and small Post Office building.



## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi All,

I have been making a new false front building and it has gone quite well, I am now up to adding the shingles onto the roof.

The design was taken from the Assay Office in the Wild West Models range, but modified slightly 'en route'

All in PVC foam plastic and styrene where required here are some photos of it.
 








 





The main parts laid out, as usual the windows are scratch built.
 











a fiddled about with color photo, changed to a pencil sketch in the free program 'paint,net' which is a good windows program that also needs to run the .net framework from Microsoft, and has lots of add-ons available.

The brackets up the top are also scratch built, from 3mm thick foam board
 










a view of the foundation slab for the building; the white plastic rightangle section is what holds the building to this slab; and makes it easy to remove if required, but still stable.
 












a view of the front whilst being built, from a low level; you can see the reinforcement in the corners; in addition I cut a 2.5mm strip out of the sides of the ends The material is 5mm thick) to let the sides into it, to add some more strength. 
 











a view of the interior showing the cross brace and the roof panels going on. The building is 8.5" wide x 14" deep and to the roof top 9" high. 

My copy of the very useful book 'Structures of the Early West has also been a great help in working out the dimensions, which have been compromised a bit especially in depth (front to rear) always alas they have to be reduced as the space is not available!.


Why a Post Office - well I have to have somewhere for my RFD van, and the other Post vehicle that I intend to also build! It could also be something else or the next one could be that - I 'lost' one of the large front windows - couldn't find it anywhere (Hollow laugh from my wife - you should clean up the room(workshop) - not surprised!!). So I made a new one - it didn't take long, (that right; its missing from the first photo) and later true to form it turned up - so another close to it design building is also on the list to do now - after all I have one (of the 5) windows done and it is one of the larger ones as well.
 
Peter Bunce


Yours, Peter Bunce


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

*RE: new building, possibly a Post Office!*

Hi All, 

I took the precaution of copying my latest post and have been reducing that learning curve a fraction in putting it back! 


 


As part of getting that learning curve down I am trying adding a photo direct to see if it works - it appears that there is a size limit of 60k for files from your own hard drive - it wiull give you a reply in red!


 


/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif


 


Hey it works!  This a a newly compressed verison of my standard photo to get irt below the 60k limit - before it was 96k.


 


Not only that having added a smiley, and if it is in the wrong place you can grab hold of it and move it to ints new location!


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## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: new building, possibly a Post Office!*

Hi Peter,


   It is good indeed to see a Post Office opening and not closing.   /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif


  ( For American Forum members it is a UK  thing..............post offices are closing all the while here causing some hardship for some citizens)


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

*RE: new building, possibly a Post Office!*

Looking Good Peter thanks for updating this so I didn't have to go digging around in the archives for it


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## kevrut (Jan 3, 2008)

*RE: new building, possibly a Post Office!*

Yeah,...looks good. 
The windows and siding look realistic. 
Kevin.


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

*RE: new building, possibly a Post Office!*

Hi All,

I have virtually finished my Post Office, with the exception of the sign for it - the one shown is thre Mark 1 paper version!

Here are a couple of photos of it.




















The main color is Masonry paint with the trim being enamel, all is then varnished with Johnson's Future acrylic varnish.

To get the fancy(ish) panels on the front door and below the top edges having a clean edge they are pre-painted and applied near to the end of the painting phase; door handles are glass headed pins, with a tiny piece of tubing at the back, glued into a pre-drilled hole. All windows and door are scratch built, and the stovepipe at the rear is a large diametr (of the 2 in this country) bendy straw; stiffen the inside of it with the discarded bit, and don;'t forget to paint it to stop it being degraded to being very brittle by UV (sunshine) light.


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## jaycosnett (Jan 4, 2008)

*RE: new building, possibly a Post Office!*

Great stuff! 

What are those strips you are gluing on for the shingles. Looks very nice, and also much easier than gluing on real shakes one at a time! 

Cheers, 

Jay


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2008)

*RE: new building, possibly a Post Office!*

I like it!

... from all sides.


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

*RE: new building, possibly a Post Office!*

Hi Jay,

Thank you for the kind comment; there willbe another done soon: one window is most of the way there already!

We call it roofing felt - the stuff that goes onto shed roofs to waterproof them; it gets stuck on with liquid bitumen, if you are doiung the job properly and using a blowlamp to liquidise the bitume immedatly before laying the felt..

I think that you call the stuff 'construction paper' its about 1/8" thick; get the cheapest there is and it is black in color with a cery small amount of sand on one side to stop it sticking to itself.


I learnt this method from Richard Smith here on MLS and I use it all the time for shingle roofs, He sticks them down with silicone sealant; yours (in the USA) is paintable: ours isn't thus I use the colored window frame sealant, which can be painted.


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## dltrains (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: new building, possibly a Post Office!*

Really nice look forward to seeing more 
Dave


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice!


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## trainbuffjr (Jan 11, 2008)

Awesome job on the post office Peter! keep up the good work.


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## llynrice (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Peter,
Your post office looks great!  It appears from some of the in-process photos that the chimney is made of plastic.  How did you make the mortar lines for the bricks?
Llyn


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By llynrice on 01/11/2008 2:08 PM
Hi Peter,
Your post office looks great!  It appears from some of the in-process photos that the chimney is made of plastic.  How did you make the mortar lines for the bricks?
Llyn


Hi Llyn, Thanks for the kind comment - the mortar lines are the carcass of the chimmney stack, (which is PVC solid foam board) make that wide enough for 2 bricks on one side - the other is then two half bricks each side of a full brick. Then add the bricks one by one; I have some brick color styrene sheet and made them from that and glued them on with my usual epoxy glue (possiblty like your Walthers Goo). Sounds boring but not really as you only have a small area to be a 'brickie' with, they go on fast. Give the (sunk) mortar lines a wash of ochre/grey mix to replicate the mortar color, no need to be careful; make the paint thin the overlapped edges will be cleaned up as below.

Add the inverted v flashing at the bottom then the brick color (undercoat) is brought up 'to spec' with a wash of various colors; if you get too much brick color a very thin 'mortar' wash into the mortar groove will cure that. The top band has a slope (water deflector) made from filler, and then sealed with superglue, and a wash of mortar color, BUT here and the top of the stack has more 'smoke' color added so it is a bit darker than the rest.

When dry and you are satisfied glue the stack onto the roof (space was left for it, and it fitted onto some 2 layers of scrap added to the under roof), and add the side flashing (all is from thick aluminium foil), and don't forget the lead runoff on the roof when weathering/adding some color to the roof. 

Finally give it a coat of Johnsons Future as more protection. The main (shingle )roof gets a coat of Thompsons Water seal for the same reason.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

*Very impressive. Lots of good tips here, too. *


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## BnEgscale (Jan 4, 2008)

Wonderfully done Peter! The naritive on how you did some of the steps is like taking a class. Thanks for sharing your techniques with us. 

Bob


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Peter, great work, usual. I especially like the chimney and am fascinated with your shingles (the roofing kind, not the affliction).


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## dawgnabbit (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice, Peter! And thanks for the detailed "how-to" info. Very useful. 
Dawg


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## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

Truly impressive!! I am at a loss for words. It seems so delicated and well detailed. Will it stay outside?


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi All, 

Thanks to all for the comments 

Richard, Yes the whole thing is designed and made to stay outside with the rest of my buildings (since 2002), there has been no bits falling off, and the paint has stood up to the weather, without needing renewal. The only thing I do it brush off carefully the thrown up muck off the soil, or broken bark, in the 'town'.


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## chuckger (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Peter,

  Congrats on another super model, very nicely done. What's next??/Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/FCKeditor/editor/images/smiley/msn/regular_smile.gif

  chuckger


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Chuckger,


Wow /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/shocked.gif  I need Polaroid sunglasses for the green!

Well there is another of these to build (no not a Post Office but some other use) or a  building in 'frame' is somewhare in the list - first I will finish off some steamer trunks and then prrof the decals for the 2nd porter.


Meanwhile I have just bought a Bachmann (D&RG) 4 4 0, that has a Phoenix sound unit in it - that needs some minor additions (new air tank for a start) that sound is impressive!!


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## FH&PB (Jan 2, 2008)

Lovely little building. The paint scheme is very subtle and convincing, and the details like the flashing on the chimney and the weathering on the corrugated roofing really make it come alive. I'd be pleased to have a building like that on my layout!


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## ohioriverrailway (Jan 2, 2008)

Damn! That's really outstanding work, Peter. Thanks for sharing.


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Rick, 

Thank you for the comment; the decals are being done as the moment by Stan Cedaraleaf, and will be shaded in red. The a board will be built for them and when complete I will add another photo.


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