Hi all, as came up in an earlier thread, many of us have unbuilt kits in store at home. I'm one of them. Apart from that, I have many 50%-70% finished projects... A fairly recent acquisition is the Archistories barn. Last week I finally got around to building it. I forced myself to start AND finish it within one day. I like to share the process and result with you. What's in the *box* sack: Very nicely and securely packed. It comes with extensive instructions, with limited text in both English and German and self explaining pictures: You get two gables, one with the classic mail pouch ad, and one without. The color and texture of the wooden barn walls looks very realistic. However, it still looked a bit too new for my taste. I tried to weather it and erase some of the lettering. In the photo what I used: a nail file, felt tip pens and weathering pencils by AK (I used more colors than the ones shown). I wasn't unsatisfied with the result but decided for the gable without the advertisement anyways. On to building the frame. The fit is just about perfect but I managed to get it wrong two times - hence the slightly damaged wall. Good thing it will get covered with the wooden gable: The only parts that I didn't like very much were the doors. The color just wasn't to my liking, too light, too 'new'. I gave the felt tip pens a try but wasn't convinced. I also figured a large barn like this needed at least one set of large doors, to allow for carts to carry in hay, or whatever... So I chose to cut up parts that were meant for the annex. I wasn't going to use that anyways: I went on with the construction. I used Bindulan glue, a sort of wood glue that is a wee bit thinner than normal glue. It doesn't mix with water, I found. Working with dots of glue seems to work better than spreading the glue. The windows are build up in three layers and this is the trickiest part of the build. I found that - contrary to the instructions - it is advisable to do use a very little bit of glue to fix the transparent sheet and window frame. The roofing is also of great detailing. It is actually covered with a thin layer of what looks like real rust. Again, still a bit too new and clean for me so I used a little bit of powders and dry brushed paint to tone down the color. However, I took it very easy, not wanting to ruin this lovely rusted look. The barn seems small when you build it, however, put a car next to it and you rediscover that it is in fact pretty big. The overhang of the roof seemed a bit too large to me; I have been searching the web for pictures of old barns in the California central valley. So I cut a slice from the roof on both sloping sides of the roof. Additionally, I made cuts in the corrugated roof to make it look like it was built up from sheets. I lifted some edges up to create a bit of an irregular pattern, but maybe that remained a bit too subtle... I made up a little temporary diorama to take some pictures of the final result. Some details are really taking it to the limit: the hinges are separately added, for example. But it is doable. I'm pretty happy with it. Archistories created a nice kit, easy to build (particularly if you do read the instructions well ) and a great addition to a layout. (pictures in next post..)
Matt, EXCELLENT !!!! Nice demonstration of the various techniques you employed, such as fixing the color issues to your liking, and the weathering, etc. Indeed, this kit looks great weathered, although any color it comes in is great. But I am partial to the weathered grey. The white window panes are a nice touch too. Breaks up the overall look and adds a higher degree of realism. And all in one day ---- SHOW OFF..... Final pics are great too. Nice photos. Well done.
Real nice Matt! Certainly is a great kit! I enjoyed your explanation how you built especially the way you dabbed the glue. I used to try and brush but I like that technique
Matt, Thanks for sharing, the play by play, and your modifications and techniques. Nice job modeling! Scott
Very well done! Yes that is real rust on the roof. Every roof in the run is unique and different. I like the modification for the larger door. I may need to revise the doors on a future run.
That's a really nice barn build! I am really impressed with the materials, they look so realistic. I don't know if that is real wood siding, but it looks like it, and i don't know if that is real corrugated metal roofing, but it looks like it!
Robert, both are dense cardboard, the walls somehow I think worked with laser to create to wood impression; the roof is like Robert K noted covered with real, fine rust in a random pattern. Maybe with a suspension of fine particles iron and a acidic solution…? Thanks for the positive reactions, all. Matt
For those who build the option extension on the Salt Box kits, the J2 piece may be missing the cut in slots. If you happen to have this issue, let me know. I have free replacement pieces here. This doesn't affect the Gambrel barns, just the Salt Box kits.
