Woodcutter's Shack - HO - My First SW kit

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Great job Phil. Hard to believe this is your first diorama. Everything is beautifully blended into a scene. The roof came out wonderful. Well done!

Karl.A

Really nice looking diorama Phil. A great result on your first kit.
Looking at your pics makes me want to go back to mine
and finish it off.
Applying everything you learned on this one will keep you
moving forward on the next one.

Looking forward to seeing what you build next.

Karl.A

KCSTrains

Thanks Brett and Karl. Your comments mean a lot and I could not have done it without your generous attention and instruction. As I told Brett on Thursday, what sets apart Sierra West kits from others, other than the quality of the kit, is the support that is provided. Just think how many kits are sold and end up sitting on a shelf, never to be built. That's just not right. However, the only way anyone can tackle a kit is to receive the kind of support I received in building the Woodcutter's Shack. Hopefully I can return the favor. Phil

Bill

You've done a great job on this kit, Phil and you should be very proud of it.
Your wood shows exposure to the elements and looks rustic and "backwoods"; the corners on all the structures are nice and square; your castings are subtly colored with none SCREAMING for attention; scenery is well done and all the elements arranged in a believable manner. I think I mentioned earlier the size of the gaps in between the boards. (It's gonna get real drafty in there for your workers!) About the thickness of a business card in HO looks like a good sized gap usually.
Well done!

Now, don't change a thing. Hold on to it "as is" and use this one as a measure of where you started in the hobby.

If I could offer a suggestion (and I hope you're not offended) it would be with the roof.
Kudos for hand laying cedar shakes! That's a time consuming process and one that most people wouldn't try on their first model.
Two things to look at...
Even with a run down shake roof, there will be evidence that at one time the shingles all ran parallel. Take a look at this barn. It's clearly falling apart and nearing the end of its useful life, but you can still make out the rows:



When I draw the same lines on the roof of the Shack, it looks like this:


See how the rows kinda go in and out or parallel?
The problem with hand laying cedar shingles is that it's a 100% "free hand" process and it's easy to lose your line. The guide lines that are drawn on the subroof don't help much because each individual shingle can vary greatly in length. It's also tricky to keep the amount of "reveal" consistent. They're usually, I guess, 8" to a foot...maybe more. I think you can see some of yours are spot on while some have a reveal of a few scale inches at best.
The solution is to use a straight edge across the bottom of each row and basically ignore the lines that are usually drawn on the subroof. I constantly check the run with a metal straight edge. Sometimes I lay a strip of blue painter's tape and the line where I want the next row to begin and build up from the edge of the tape. I don't have a picture so I hope that makes sense.

The second thing is the top of the roof. There needs to be one more row of shingles, but they need to be about half the size of the shingles used for the rest of the roof. So, there should be one more row that would come down to the red line:



I did the same thing on the first roof I tried:



Here's what the "half shingle" row looks like and the final result:






Again, you've a great looking model and pulled off some pretty advanced techniques. I hope you're okay with me sharing this with you.
I'm looking forward to your next build (after you get unpacked).

Bill

KCSTrains

Bill, thanks for spending the time looking at my build. Your comments are greatly appreciated. I definitely made a "rookie" mistake and didn't think about lining up the bottoms of the shingles. It make sense. Also, I had previously noticed that I needed to add a "half" row at the top with some sort of cap. I will carry that with me in my next build because I love these cedar shake roofs. I can't wait to get back to crafting and will take on Main Street when I get unpacked. Thanks again. Did I tell you that I love this stuff!!! Phil

KCSTrains

Engine909, I don't know about that, but I really appreciate the compliment. Phil