East Staging: First Structure, a tool shed

In working on the east staging, I decided that I wanted to build a couple of small structures that would be appropriate for a small yard. The first one that I tackled was an ITLA toolshed. This seemed like a good start since I am out of practice with building wood structures, and I want to improve my modeling skills. I have also started some terrain work, but I would like to have the structures on hand to finalize the placement of roads, paths, and simple foundations. As I am hoping to consider composition in creating the scene, having the actual buildings will be helpful. 

After reading the instructions and checking that all the parts were there, I decided on a paint scheme. While depots and public buildings would have been in GN's two-toned grey scheme or the new white and green scheme in the 1950s, buildings such as this tool shed were painted in a "Mineral Red." Early depots had a dark green (almost black) trim with the Mineral Red body color. I have a photo of a shed painted in that scheme that I took in Puyallup, Washington. I made the decision to go with that scheme rather than all Mineral Red. 

I mixed Vallejo Model Color 70.908 Carmine Red with 70.994 Dark Grey for the Mineral Red. I found the mix too light and bright on this first coat, so added more of the Dark Grey on the second coat. For the trim, I mixed Vallejo 70.894 Camouflage Olive Green with the same 70.994 Dark Grey. As seen in the photo, I painted the trim still in the carrier sheet and the walls before assembly.

While for the most part I followed the instructions provided in the kit, I did make a couple of changes. I decided to add bracing to the kit, carefully planning where to add 1/8" square strip wood to further support the tab joints of the kit. I also switched from using a canopy glue to using Titebond 2 yellow wood glue, after seeing how the canopy glue dried glossy and was hard to remove if it oozed out. After the bracing dried I painted the inside of the walls with a light grey craft paint. After that dried I glued the walls together and to the floor, bracing with a pair of small angle squares as seen in the photo. In the last wood structure kit I attempted, several corners were noticeably out of square in close-up photos.  Careful bracing with angle squares or the Micro-Mark magnetic glueing jig (tools that I have on hand) should be mandatory when building future structures. 

After the walls were glued together and dry, it was time to work on the doors, windows, and trim. Another change from the instructions came about as I struggled with the windows. As best as I could tell, the supplied clear plastic was intended to fit into the window openings in the walls. I could fit the window sash in after careful sanding, but the window "glass" did not cooperate. So, I followed the directions for the sash and trim, but chose to cut oversize clear plastic from my plastic sheet collection and glued it inside the wall. As I worked to complete the walls, I touched up the interior and trim pieces with a second coat of paint. 

Walls, windows, and trim complete;
clamp and glue the roof beam.

Spread a thin layer of wood glue on the walls and beam,
position the laser cut shingle panels, and clamp with a rubber band.

Before installing barge boards, weather the shingles 
and along the bottom with "Oiled Earth."

Learning Points:

• Consider both aesthetics and realism for paint schemes; consult resources such as photos and GN "Reference Sheets."

• With wood construction, brace and paint/stain all sides to prevent warping.

• Find a glue from all the appropriate options that you are comfortable with, in my case wood glue.

• Utilyze jigs and clamps to insure secure and correct glued joints.

• The ITLA kit was high quality; I would use their materials again. I really liked their shake roof!