Home Depot - a Lockdown Cakebox

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 33 (part 3) - And finally for now: touching base

Before I pack everything away (I don’t have a dedicated hobby space), I thought it’d be nice to see how it might all come together.  The walls are just held in place on the base with some Blutack for these photos.  The loading platform (not shown) will be to the right:

 

1.  Sam inspects the track (the gauge is correct but the sleepers are too far apart for American HO and should be spiked):

 

2.  The train arrives.  The 40’ stock car is one I’ve been given - the livery is freelance.  It’s interesting to see how big the freight car is next to the Depot - it does rather dominate though, so I don’t expect I’ll leave it there in the finished model (there isn’t a train showing in my original design):

 

 

I’m going to lay it all flat and weigh down the sides while the glue holding the outer walls to the thicker inner walls sets.  Some of the pieces are showing signs of warping, so better to address this now before gluing them together in a future work session.  

 

If I have any more hobby time this weekend I’m needing to replan my layout projects again: we’ve reviewed how we use the rooms around the house and are making some changes - I think I’ll still have room for a cakebox model.  Keith.

Edited November 7, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
Reinstating pictures

[MAP66]

6 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Day 33 (part 3) - And finally for now: touching base

Before I pack everything away (I don’t have a dedicated hobby space), I thought it’d be nice to see how it might all come together.  The walls are just held in place on the base with some Blutack for these photos.  The loading platform (not shown) will be to the right:

 

1.  Sam inspects the track (the gauge is correct but the sleepers are too far apart for American HO and should be spiked):

2.  The train arrives.  The 40’ stock car is one I’ve been given - the livery is freelance.  It’s interesting to see how big the freight car is next to the Depot - it does rather dominate though, so I don’t expect I’ll leave it there in the finished model (there isn’t a train showing in my original design):

 

 

I’m going to lay it all flat and weigh down the sides while the glue holding the outer walls to the thicker inner walls sets.  Some of the pieces are showing signs of warping, so better to address this now before gluing them together in a future work session.  
 

If I have any more hobby time this weekend I’m needing to replan my layout projects again: we’ve reviewed how we use the rooms around the house and are making some changes - I think I’ll still have room for a cakebox model .  Keith.

Nice work Keith, its coming along very nicely indeed. We had a bit of a change round with rooms recently, I hope you end up with somewhere to continue creating your layout projects (I was allowed a corner of a room) which was an upgrade from the dining table. Still getting used to my new domain though. 

[Marly51]

Card does become challenging when it comes to some of the finer details, Keith, but the model looks great and it is all coming together! 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 40 - there’s good news, and there’s bad news (then there’s some progress).

 

The good news first: I needed to replan my main portable layout projects as we’re shuffling things around between rooms at home, but it looks like a new space has been identified I can use, and a plan that could incorporate this Depot looks feasible (my first few dozen tries frustratingly needed a mirror-image model of the depot, but persistence looks to be paying off).

 

Now the bad news.  I was feeling quite relieved that I didn’t seem to have made as many mistakes as I’d expected...

 

...Then I tried assembling the whole building this morning, at which point I discovered that I’d made my very complicated bay window too tall.  I’d built it with the diagonal sides lining up against the full height of the front wall, when I should have lined them up with the (lower) edge of the roof overhang.

 

Working in card, I could cut a bit out, but the layers and diagonals meant it got a bit untidy, but I’ll live with it rather than start again:

 

 

 

The loading bay is supported by used matches, as planned:

 

 

And the roof is held in place with the help of extra card pieces glued inside that look a bit like sticking plasters (which is what they do!):

 

Overall it fits the board, so is within the 8” limit:

 

 

The roof will have an outer layer in softer card, which will be painted and scribed with the shingle pattern I need.  That’s the next job.  Roofs are key to model buildings (my layout ideas are not for eye level viewing) but I’ve never had much joy with tiling.  The other US buildings I’ve tried all had flat roofs, which don’t need textured tiling in the same way.  I decided to fasten this first layer of roof before making the second layer, so I can make it to fit.  The plan (and photo) of the prototype doesn’t need UK style guttering and drainpipe details, which will save me one job.  That’s all for now.  Stay safe, Keith.

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
Reinstating pictures

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 42 - I had no idea how to do this next bit...!
(...might as we’ll be honest).  
 

As we’ve reached half-term, I have a few days leave.  The main task this week is to rearrange rooms in the house, which will involve disassembling and assembling some wardrobes and other furniture, but space for a portable layout is part of the plan, so no complaints on my part.  Back to the cakebox, I’ve had some spare time tonight to try and work out the gable roof for the bay window.  This is where steps 7 (bay window), 8 (roof) and 9 (assembly) meet, but I’d got no real idea how to do this, so opted for trial and error.  No doubt there are ways to correctly calculate the angles and lengths I need* but as I have plenty of card to play with, this is what I came up with (it was the fourth attempt):

 

1.  Using a ruler, measure the dimensions for a thin card inner.

 

2.  Stick this on first (in a reverse of the usual way I’ve done it).

 

3.  Then, using the hole in the thin card I cut the inner from as a rough template, mark out and cut a thick card overlay.  Try it, then decide an extra 1mm all round is needed, so use that one as a template for a bigger one.

 

4.  Glue the second piece of thick card onto the thin card already in place.

 

5.  Pretend that was the plan all along.

____________________

 

*I actually realised / remembered how to do it after I’d finished: for future reference this is how to calculate the sloping diagonal:

 

 

Lesson learned!  Keith.

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
Reinstating pictures

[Marly51]

Thanks for sharing this part of your build, Keith! It reminded me how making models, as a teenager, improved my understanding of geometry! 

[Huw Griffiths]

Very interesting.

 

This reminds me of one "siding" I ended up going down with my build. I'm looking to build a tram themed diorama - but didn't want to tie an (expensive and hard to find) On30 Spectrum tram into the project.

 

If I build my own bodyshell design, to a very similar design, it might need arc topped windows - but how to work out the radio of the window tops? That's right - a bit of geometry and algebra, plus a chance to "meet" our old friend Pythagoras. (Radius lines always cut the outside of a circle / arc at a right angle - plus loads of other related stuff.)

 

In fact, I ended up changing my plans several times further - first to a different "homebrew" bodyshell design - then to looking again at placing the Spectrum tram in the scene "for the duration" - then to a different scale, because things were starting to look crowded - then working my way through a succession of HO trams.

 

I'm still not completely happy with what I'm doing - but I'm still minded to have a go. I guess that time will tell.

 

Anyway, your build is looking good - and I'm glad there's likely to be a competition, whether or not I manage to settle on a design and find the motivation to build it. Yes - I know I've got reasons for struggling to find motivation (reasons unconnected to this site) - but I still don't like failing to complete something I set out to do. Whether this fact drives me to complete my build remains to be seen.

 

Anyway, I'd better let you get back to your build.

 

 

Huw.

 

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

29 minutes ago, Huw Griffiths said:

Very interesting.

 

This reminds me of one "siding" I ended up going down with my build. I'm looking to build a tram themed diorama - but didn't want to tie an (expensive and hard to find) On30 Spectrum tram into the project.

 

If I build my own bodyshell design, to a very similar design, it might need arc topped windows - but how to work out the radio of the window tops? That's right - a bit of geometry and algebra, plus a chance to "meet" our old friend Pythagoras. (Radius lines always cut the outside of a circle / arc at a right angle - plus loads of other related stuff.)

 

In fact, I ended up changing my plans several times further - first to a different "homebrew" bodyshell design - then to looking again at placing the Spectrum tram in the scene "for the duration" - then to a different scale, because things were starting to look crowded - then working my way through a succession of HO trams.

 

I'm still not completely happy with what I'm doing - but I'm still minded to have a go. I guess that time will tell.

 

Anyway, your build is looking good - and I'm glad there's likely to be a competition, whether or not I manage to settle on a design and find the motivation to build it. Yes - I know I've got reasons for struggling to find motivation (reasons unconnected to this site) - but I still don't like failing to complete something I set out to do. Whether this fact drives me to complete my build remains to be seen.

 

Anyway, I'd better let you get back to your build.

 

 

Huw.

 

 

Hi Huw, thanks for your post - a tram-themed cakebox would be great (of the top of my head I can’t remember seeing one previously, though I stand to be corrected and apologise to anyone who’s done one).

 

Part of my motivation is that I’m in the fortunate position of having a portable layout idea where I can re-use the Depot when it comes out the cakebox.  When I first did a cakebox (Round 1: 2019) the added incentive then was it was my first attempt at a scenic model, so on both occasions I’ve been lucky to have a personal goal too, which I’ve found helpful.  All the best, Keith.

 

[Marly51]

1 hour ago, Huw Griffiths said:

Very interesting.

 

This reminds me of one "siding" I ended up going down with my build. I'm looking to build a tram themed diorama - but didn't want to tie an (expensive and hard to find) On30 Spectrum tram into the project.

 

If I build my own bodyshell design, to a very similar design, it might need arc topped windows - but how to work out the radio of the window tops? That's right - a bit of geometry and algebra, plus a chance to "meet" our old friend Pythagoras. (Radius lines always cut the outside of a circle / arc at a right angle - plus loads of other related stuff.)

 

In fact, I ended up changing my plans several times further - first to a different "homebrew" bodyshell design - then to looking again at placing the Spectrum tram in the scene "for the duration" - then to a different scale, because things were starting to look crowded - then working my way through a succession of HO trams.

 

I'm still not completely happy with what I'm doing - but I'm still minded to have a go. I guess that time will tell.

 

Anyway, your build is looking good - and I'm glad there's likely to be a competition, whether or not I manage to settle on a design and find the motivation to build it. Yes - I know I've got reasons for struggling to find motivation (reasons unconnected to this site) - but I still don't like failing to complete something I set out to do. Whether this fact drives me to complete my build remains to be seen.

 

Anyway, I'd better let you get back to your build.

 

 

Huw.

 

 

Keep going, Huw! I have found that modelmaking is the one thing I find really relaxing, even if I don’t always manage to finish all of my models. A tram micro or diorama would be great! I grew up with trams and have a static tinplate model, which I may use one day! Who knows!  

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 44 - Seeing red

The correct roof colour for the Santa Fe Depot I’m modelling was described in Model Railroader as: “red.”  Remember, this was Model Railroader in 1979 - the sophistication regarding specific shades we might expect today still lay in the future, as did colour photos throughout magazines!  I can’t find many photos of Depot roofs online either - photographers tended to stand by the Stations to take photos (from ground level) of passing trains, so I’ve based my choice of colour (color) on two things:

1. Photos of American Model Builders’ Santa Fe Depot kits (very nice - but not cheap, and difficult to find over here);
2. The choice of red paint I was able to borrow from my artist daughter, as I don’t have any in my supply anyway.

First step was to mark out and scribe the diamond shingles onto the next piece of card - environmental considerations mean cereal packet card is less bleached than it used to be (this actually helps).  This sheet is from a packet of my all-time favourite cereal, Quaker Oat Crisp:

 

 

I then painted it red, before lightly ‘dusting’ it with a black crayon to dull the brightness and add a hint of weathering:

 

 

I’ve not stuck it down yet: the light isn’t very good at night in my study, so I want to have another look in the morning.  Although it all looks quite bright, it does seem to be quite authentic (from what I can tell).  One thing I like about the Santa Fe is the choice of colours they painted their trains and buildings.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
Reinstating pictures

[Marly51]

I’ve always admired the United States Fos Scale Model kits, Keith, but they are quite expensive. Made the mistake of ordering a small one which cost about £25 and customs duty on it was £30!! However It will still be an attractive addition to an HOe micro layout I have yet to start!

Your roof has worked out really well! Those kind of roof tiles would be difficult to create as a texture, unlike rows of slates?

Edited February 18, 2021 by Marly51

[Keith Addenbrooke]

2 hours ago, Marly51 said:

I’ve always admired the United States Fos Scale Model kits, Keith, but they are quite expensive. Made the mistake of ordering a small one which cost about £25 and customs duty on it was £30!! However It will still be an attractive addition to an HOe micro layout I have yet to start!

Your roof has worked out really well! Those kind of roof tiles would be difficult to create as a texture, unlike rows of slates?

Thanks Marlyn, it could be done with individual tiles, but would need more time (and patience) than I have.  Part of the problem with using my daughter’s artist’s paints (the tubes are visible in the background in the photo) was that kind of acrylic paint seems designed to fill in and cover over any gaps and holes - whereas I needed to highlight my score lines.

 

If I can get the building finished by the end of the month, I should have enough time to do the base / track in March; well, that’s the plan anyway.  Keith.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 52 - back to base

I didn’t get much done on the Cakebox over half-term.  My time was spent on our family project reconfiguring several rooms in the house, so I am quite a bit behind my timetable for completing this by the end of March (I get rather busy in the run up to Easter).
I do however now have space in our attic room where I can set up a compact, portable layout when the room isn’t needed as a bedroom, and I have a plan that will incorporate this Depot, so I want to finish the base without gluing the building down.  To try and avoid the ‘giveaway’ gap between building and ground I’ve used some of the more eco-friendly card now used in cereal packets (that hasn’t been bleached white) to create a false ground level around the building:

 

 

 

There are still some details to add to the roof before the building part of the diorama is complete, but it seems to fit OK.  I don’t need much in the way of ground cover, as the area I’m modelling is basically flat to start with (the American plains).  However, scenic modelling remains a mystery to me, so I want a bit of time to experiment to get the right effect.

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
Reinstating pictures

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 54 am - Attention to detail

Any collection of post-Christmas card in our house is likely to include the ubiquitous Family Circle biscuit box, and I’m using one to add some roof details to finish the building off, specifically the brackets used to support the roof overhangs, ridge tiles, a bit more trim on the bay window and painted undersides to the roof overhangs.  I’m also making a chimney, from some darker cereal box card.  This morning has been about marking out and painting components before cutting them out - hopefully tomorrow once the paint is dry:

 

 

 

 

I’ve cut out the triangle openings in the brackets now as I found it was easier to make the small openings first when I did the windows.  If I were making a kit, this part (creating components) would be done for me, saving a lot of time, although I did enjoy the biscuits...

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
Reinstating photos

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 54 pm - a sunny day

The window where I left the paint to dry catches the sun, so although the gloss-painted brackets won’t be dry until tomorrow it’s been possible to make up some time after lunch with the other bits:

 

 

The published plan doesn’t show a ‘chimney pot’ so I made one as short as possible using the ‘Metcalfe’ method of tightly rolling some painted paper around a cocktail stick, then cutting off just a short bit to use.  I have seen a photo of a similar Depot with a chimney like this.

 

At normal viewing distance I don’t see the wobbly bits in the window frames - given my lack of experience, and use of rubbish as a material, I’ve still exceeded all my expectations so far.  I’m also grateful for everyone who’s had a read of this build thread - I am very much finding my way at each step.  Once again, thank you.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
Reinstating pictures

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 55 - no longer a biscuit box

I haven’t quite managed to finish the building part of the diorama by the end of February, but I have managed to glue together and fasten the end roof brackets I marked out and painted on a bit of biscuit box yesterday:

 

 

 

 

 

 

That just leaves the side (angled) brackets to cut out, glue together and fasten on, the tips of the card to be painted (and the corner joints of the building) and the chimney to glue down.  I realise I’ve posted more detail than I needed to this weekend, sorry, but if I make another building I’ll be referring back to this thread to remind me of each step I took, so I hope that’s OK.  Take care and stay safe, Keith.

 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
Reinstating pictures

[MAP66]

Its looking really good Keith, you should be really proud of your new found scratch building skills which have been well earned on this project.

Nice work in bagging a layout space in your attic room too, I must remain content with dioramas but I'm running out of shelf space!

Keep on going, you're nearly there 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 62 - are we nearly there yet?
My plan for this weekend had been to work on the Cakebox baseboard.  Looking at photos, the cork I’d originally planned to use as roadbed would have raised the track too high, so instead I’m going to stick some (very) old cork underlay across the whole board, with a cutout for the building.  It’s actually cork pieces stuck to a very sticky base and is double sided (?).  I’ve no idea when it was bought - I was only three on Decimalisation day, but although there is a 50p price label on it there is also a product price of 2/- !  Not sure if it counts as rubbish, but it’s certainly something from the spares box now.

 

What I’d forgotten was it would need time to flatten, and as I write it is still underneath several very large books for my work!

 

So, back to the details.  I wasn’t sure I’d be able to safely make a doorknob pushing pins through several layers of painted card so instead I’ve made vertical door handles from tiny bits cut from a staple and stuck on with solvent free adhesive:

 

 

 

 

I was sent a Santa Fe publication this week which showed additional detailing on bay windows, and chimneys with an extra wide top but without a chimney pot as standard, so there was a bit more card to mark up and paint:

 

 

The next task is a train order board.  I couldn't find a suitable photo of a Santa Fe example, so have based mine on this one: Cumbres Section House / Signal.  Train Order Boards were positioned outside the Station Agent’s Bay windows to tell approaching trains in the pre-radio era if there were any Train Orders to be collected (that had been telegraphed to the Agent).  Most of the photos I can find are silhouetted against the sun, so I’m not sure of the colours.  I’m also a bit red / green colour blind, so spent a while working out which ‘lens’ to paint red, and which one was green.  I added a dab of translucent metallic paint to try and make these look a bit like proper lenses, but I’m not sure it shows.  The mast is a bit of spare spruce from a plastic kit and I sandwiched two pieces of card together first before cutting out the shapes.  The arms look a bit short, but will mainly be viewed side on when I’m finished, so would be more noticeable if they were absent:

 

 

Next up is the track.  I’ve not got much Code 83 with proper spiked ties, so am using a bit of OO gauge Code 100 instead.  One of the jobs I enjoyed least when track laying for my Uphill micro-layout GW BLT last year was widening the sleeper-spacing on Setrack, but for American HO I have the opposite problem: I need the sleepers closer together.  Fortunately I had kept the sleepers I cut out for Uphill, so had some spares ready to stick back on.  You’ll notice the track in the photo is slightly bent - it was originally a curved piece of Setrack I tried straightening out by cutting the webbing along the rails, to overcome the supply shortage in track at the moment!  It didn’t work, but gave me some rubbish track to use here:

 

 

So that’s where I’m up to now.  I may not get any more done next weekend, and I’ve left touching up the corners with paint until everything else is done, as the green and yellow gloss both take ages to dry, and I need to make a Depot sign (the name and a Santa Fe logo).  It is the thing I’m most likely to forget, but it’s nearly there now.

 

Keith.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
Reinstating pictures

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 68 - It’s a sign!
The cork sheet I need for ground cover has spent a week under four heavy books being flattened, and has now been stuck down (and put back under the books to set).  While the glue dries...
 

Station signs were displayed on the end walls of Depots, and featured a Santa Fe logo above individual letters for the Station name.  I scanned a Santa Fe logo from a back-issue magazine of the Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modelling Society in America I was kindly sent a couple of weeks ago, then reduced it to size in PowerPoint, along with letters for a sign.  I made four sets so I’d have a couple of spares and stuck them on a card backing from a cereal packet for rigidity:

 

 

 

 

I decided I wouldn’t be able to cut out the bits ‘within’ each letter.  At this point I am glad I didn’t stick with the original name of the Station : the ten letters of P R O T E C T I O N  (x2) would have been quite a job!
 

In other news, I found a box with a blue interior in the recycling - so I have a simple L-shaped photo backscene if I need it.

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
Reinstating pictures

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 75 - The moment of truth!
Scenery is one area of Railway Modelling I’ve never got to grips with (it’s not the only one).  Some years ago now I was given some tubs of old ‘flock powder’, and while not “rubbish” as such, they were free.  One of the tubs was labelled earth:

 

 

I’d cut a channel in the cork base to lower the track into the ‘ground’ (so I actually have cork roadbed everywhere except under the track now!).  A bit of paint to represent oil stains on the track, and PVA to glue down my earth and it looks like this:

 

 

Comparing it with photos I have, I think this looks OK.  Bit embarrassing really - to discover after 40 years of avoiding scenic modelling that it is well worth trying, even for me, and quite fun (at least at this very basic level, and in an 8” square).

 

So the moment of truth arrives - a first look at the model nearing completion:

 

 

It took several goes to get the Train Order Board to stick to the base - though it helped when I finally realised I needed to use polystyrene cement, not card glue, for this bit.

 

If the glue holds, all that remains to do is to paint over the exposed card on the corners of the Depot - and take some decent photos if I can.  Keith.

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke
Reinstating pictures

[ManofKent]

Looking great Keith

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Day 82 - Finishing Touches

The final job is to paint the exposed card corners.  Just in case I mess it up (spill paint, squash the model, etc...), I’ve taken some publicity shots this morning of the otherwise finished model, including the obligatory proof it does not exceed 8” square.  I’m not sure the blue backscene actually worked (see the shadows) so I dispensed with it.  The two travellers also appeared in my 2019 diorama and are pre-painted HO figures I was given some years ago, bringing the final total cost of the project to zero:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compared to the published plans, I did have to shorten the loading dock to fit, but other than that and the short train order board arms it is a scale model.  So there it is, my first scratchbuild.  Thank you for all the encouragement - I’ve learned a lot. Planning is already underway for my next adventure, but how to finish here?  Well, it is called “HO me Depot”...

 

 

Take care, Keith.

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke

[F-UnitMad]

Just caught up with this from your Santa Fe layout, Keith. Very nice and your perseverance is admirable!! 

I looked on Google maps and there are a few towns actually called 'Home' in the USA.

[southern42]

Nicely done. 

[MAP66]

Well you got there Keith and managed to push your first scratch build over the line. Looks like you enjoyed the process as well, as did I following your endeavours. With your newly acquired skills, I hope you don’t keep us all in suspense for too long, before you reveal your next "adventure".

Wishing you the very best of luck with Home Depot in CBC.