Shanty Construction

Michael's, the hobby shop, has a lot of things that you can use for your large scale layout.  Most recently, there were small, unfinished amoire in the dollhouse section.  These can be purchased for about $1.00 each.  If you buy two, you have the beginnings of a small railroad shanty...

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Here are the unmodified dollhouse amoires.  You can glue them back to back and seal up the one end [doors on that end] and you are virtually done.  There are shelves in these small clothes cabinets - these can easily be cut out.

I decided to use some of the Piko left over materials I had from kits.  I took a large window and cut it down.  I used coffee stir sticks as "siding".  Here you see the beginnings of the shanty.

I use outdoor marine goop to put my wooden buildings together.  I have added a liberal amount to the rear of the shanty.  You can merely lay the coffee stir stick over the doors of the second armoire. Note that the shanty will not be "hollow" due to the fact that these are two seperate pieces with backs on them.  Paint the interior black if you are going to add a window.

I used the paper crimper to make some "tin" doors.  I cut them to size and glued them over the wooden door.  The paint I used was AT$SF caboose red.  I used a very thin wash.  This should also be sealed with Water seal or some type of spray fixative. Note that since interior is painted black - you cannot see the back end of the rear armoire.

The coffee stir sticks are very thin and generally, they aren't very straight which adds to the warped and aged look of the wooden siding.  The roof are unused portions of the Piko 2 bay engine shed. You could finish the roof with additional wooden sticks, paper crimper tin method or other creative methods. The roof was spray painted with a metallic colored spray paint and red primer.  The "streaks" were created by using a plastic template.  Merely cut several long gashes in a piece of plastic, hold the template over the section that you want rust streaks on and spray. It would be best to "seal" the wood with water seal or some kind of spray.  The wood is raw and the weathe will take a toll on an unprotected building.

Adding the coffee stir sticks in a rather haphazard manner plus their naturel warp, makes the shanty look very aged.  A thin coat of paint adds to the weathered look. Giant grasshopper is not to scale....

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What you need: Coffee stir sticks Glue of choice - "Goop" is preferred but any outdoor glue. "Tin Roof" material - Click here for cheap roof method. Paint Paint Brush Wood sealer. Extra Piko/Pola parts help - Generally there are parts left over from construction of these kits. Cutting blade or snips.

This page was last updated on: March 3, 2003