I have built a model of a 'Miners cabin' this one is called the &--8216;Columbia cabin&--8217;, and is in a California museum, and is as a result quite well known. There is a drawing for this cabin in the Sept/Oct 2001 issue of the &--8216;Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette&--8217; magazine, and that is what I worked from.

The two parts are made from different materials: the planked part is &--8216;Korroflute&--8217;, and the &--8217;Board & batten&--8217; section are from 1.5mm PVC sheet, (all the battens are applied &--8216;one by one&--8217;, if you score a groove before adding the batten you can leave part of the batten off to vary the side view), the &--8216;under roof&--8217; is also PVC.

The canopy framing for the (to be fitted) corrugated iron awnings turned out to be rather weak, so I added the three triangulating braces at the end, and a couple on the side which cured that weakness.

The doors and windows are scratch built (using my usual methods) as well, and the edges of the flutes on the outside of the &--8216;Korroflute&--8217; have been enhanced with a couple of light passes with an &--8216;Olfa&--8217; cutter, do not use too much pressure as you will cut through the plastic which is not the idea at all!. Paint the inside of the windows; this stops visible condensation, and you can have two colours (for instance when the building has blinds on the inside of the windows) by using two colours on the interior. I started with clear windows, but now always paint the inside of the windows, lightly sand the interior before painting and finish off with a varnish coat as the
exterior.

Here are a couple of photos of the &--8216;work in progress&--8217; on it.



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There is still a lot to do but the basics have been completed. The size is quite large: in 1/20th scale it is
410mm long and 240mm wide. Whilst I am still working on it is I kept it in two pieces, and then joined them together, both are finished as &--8216;stand alone&--8217; units. Do not forget that the door on the inner cross wall needs to be complete, before joining the two units together with plenty of glue. Then the &--8216;under roof&--8217; is added (I use 3mm thick PVC foam sheet here), and then the shingles on the roof.


The planked section has had its first coat of paint, this is an undercoat, and was done to check that the
enhanced plank lines were OK. The corners of the building are all capped with plastic &--8216;right angle section
moulding; this can be either the Plastruct product, which needs the inner side &--8216;truing up&--8217; with a rotary sanding drum before use, it is nothing like a right angle and it has plenty of &--8216;draft&--8217; this needs removing. A cheaper alternative is available from DIY shops where it is intended to be used with bathroom tiles I believe. This is both thicker in section, and available in much longer lengths, it is also as a result is stronger. All the corners are fitted with it, you can vary the width as well, to show different building periods . If you are using the DIY shop product, when bought it will be too wide on each side of the right angle, cut it down (I used my small circular saw), trim up the edges before fitting it. Ensure that plenty of glue is used to stop and chance of water getting into the flutes of the &--8216;Korroflute&--8217;. Do not forget the joins between the two portions need a strip added as well, the one under the (long) awning is right angled, and the other is flat sheet. The edges of the window cut out sections, and the edges of the doors are also finished off with this (plastruct here), the joins will need some
careful cutting of the angles to get them fitting nicely.

Here are three photos of the finished cabin -









When laying the shingle roof, (these are made by my usual method - cheapest roofing felt available, and are glued onto using the brown &--8216;window frame sealant&--8217;), finish each row all round the building before starting another one (they are a 10mm overlap per row), this is to ensure that all are even and so the two &--8216;valleys can be sorted out as you progress upwards, they are a bit difficult to keep straight and even. The ridge is from
1.5mm plastic strip.

I have fitted three stovepipes, it gets cold in the winter! All are from either &--8216;bendy&--8217; drinking straws, or bits of plastic tube from my &--8216;scrap box&--8217; when fitting them do not forget the metal plates close to the wall or roof, these can be either pieces from aluminum drink cans or pieces of plasticard. The tops are all different, one is a pointed cone (from a child&--8217;s drinks bottle I think), the larger one is a piece of a drinks can, and the other is a half section of plastic tube.

The corrugated iron is from the aluminum drink cans; I use &--8216;Fosters&--8217; cans as I find them best for my purpose; very lightly anneal the opened out sheet from the can (with care the separated bottom can be a very useful palette for mixing paint); you cut the can open using a small circular saw in a rotary tool, do not forget to use some (plastic) protective spectacles when doing it this. It should just begin to change colour, if the ends curl you have left it in the flame a &--8216;touch too long&--8217;; cut the sheet to give you the size of corrugated sheet required, then this sheet can be easily run through a &--8216;paper crimper&--8217; to give you an inexhaustible supply of corrugated iron. You can either buy the beverage (in the can), or use the cans that are discarded (litter!) by your local kids. Give the can a good wash out either way; before cutting them up! Occasionally I find that I have a steel can (it sparks when cutting is started &--8211; stop at once and discard it).


On two sides I fitted a walkway, made from the same 1.5mm PVC sheet (scored for the plank lines), as the
sides of the board and batten portion, to keep these in position I have fitted some wire supports underneath and by the side of the joists (square PVC pieces) that keep the boardwalks level with the edges of the two doors.


I found later that the long awing needed a corner post to keep it up (it is somewhat fragile, and my
grandchildren were always knocking the extreme corner. Fit a piece of square section to anchor it, both top and bottom, to make a good bottom join I drilled upwards, through the boardwalk and inserted a nail as well.

Painting now; this cabin is intended to be unpainted wood, here in the UK it wouldn&--8217;t last at all! Too much rain by far! Some undercoating has been done already, I use acrylic craft paints, and for aged, unpainted wood generally start with a colour called &--8216;Sandstone&--8217;, or another slightly darker version called &--8216;Cashmere&--8217;. Here I have added to the part painted section a small amount of burnt Sienna which warms it up. Both sections are deliberately a different colour (built at different times?). Let the undercoat dry, and then it is a succession of thin washes that are applied (and left to dry in between each one), till the colour is what you want. Practice on some scrap sheet first, my &--8216;mix&--8217; is about 20% of colour, with the water also having about 10% (by volume) of the cheapest windscreen washer fluid added; this lets the very watery mix flow, as it kills any surface tension.

For colours I use both sienna&--8217;s, (standard & burnt) and a pair of greys and burnt umber. Do not use Black please, it kills everything and much better dark colours can be mixed with the last two colours I have
mentioned. Instead of white, I have a creamy (antique)white or a very light grey &--8211; both look better than the modern very bright whites. Finally to add a &--8216;dusty&--8217; look you can use either a Khaki (which means &--8216;dust&--8217;) or either earth or dark earth colour mixed in or as an additional colour at the end of the session, this has been done on the two boardwalks. Do not try to get the final result in one session, build the colours up slowly, layer by layer, with acrylics they dry fast.

Experiment and see what you get, if necessary a quick wash (of your scrap &--8216;tryout&--8217; sheet) will remove it. Finally, if you want a good very runny dark colour using an enamel (instead of an acrylic)paint, with plenty of thinners can get into corners much better than acrylics at times &--8211; this is from the &--8216;miltary modellers&--8217; methods. The brushes I use are cheap white &--8216;bristle&--8217; ones used carefully (not to much pressure), these allow a lot of the colour mix to be applied quickly.

The building has a foundation raft which is half a 1&--8221; thick paving slab; the building is screwed to a couple of pieces of plastic right angle (from the bottom portion wiring trunking). These are screwed to the slab and the building sits over them (one at each end) with one screw per end. The building is easily removable for winter
removal.


Small Sheds or uses for those small bits of foundation slabs!.

Buildings need plenty of small sheds, in mountain areas and in the early days even more so! Besides they or their foundation slabs can use up some of the smaller pieces left after cutting down the larger slabs for your other buildings.

First there is the privy &--8211; flush toilets were not available in the 1880&--8217;s &--8211; so a selection of small sheds can be made for these. The other is a woodshed and is a big more than twice the size of the privy; don&--8217;t forget that such buildings as depot&--8217;s (stations) or such have double privies.

I use scraps of whatever material I have been using, if &--8216;Korroflute&--8217; rebate the sides into the ends, and cap with a right angle section cover as above. Doors are usually added from the inside and the edges can be covered with plastic right angle section; I generally use the thinner &--8216;Plastruct&--8217; section for these smaller buildings that have a thick walls, and thus need the right angle section at the edges..

Herer are a couple of photo&--8217;s &--8211;







The first is a privy (or toilet) shed, very simple from scribed 1.5mm sheet, with strip trim to the separate door, the roof is also 1.5mm sheet, covered with &--8216;wet or dry&--8217; paper to represent the roof covering. The building fits over an internal pillar &--8211; shown at the side &--8211; made from &--8216;Korroflute&--8217; &--8211; this being screwed down to the small section of paving slab; note the screw hole in the lower fixing triangle, equally the pillar can be made from 5 pieces or so all glued together. This internal fixing is generally made from scrap sheet and the wider &--8216;Korroflute&--8217; is better, than the thinner plasticard. The outer building slides down over it and is quite secure; this method can be used for various small buildings and makes them even easier to remove for winter. Make sure that the internal shape is a tight fit; I suggest that it is built first and then construct the outer portion over it.

The second is a woodshed; this is fixed the same as the building above, and is a &--8216;Board & Batten&--8217; building;
again this is 1.5mm plastic sheet, with a shingle roof. The door is added later and the tipped square above it is just coloured black; there is no need to cut out the hole(s, there is one back and front). The hinges and door latch are small strips of plasticard.

These buildings show a closer look at the plain &--8216;unpainted wood&--8217; finish that I applied to the &--8216;Columbia cabin&--8217;, in addition I added at the bottom some extra painting to indicate some rot starting &--8211; this is from sepia acrylic drawing ink, added last and before the protective coat of varnish.

These small buildings are very easy to make and are a perfect choice to start and practice some weathering on, they also make your village look much busier, and are very useful