Modeling a Neighborhood Barn

From Photographs

Charles G. Keeling

Division 8, Mid-Central Region

My wife and I have lived in this neighborhood since 1960. I have seen this structure quite a few times in this period. I decided to build a model of it.

First I took pictures of the barn from the streets in front of the barn, behind the barn and from the parking lot of the adjacent shopping center.

(Click on each thumbnail below to see a view of each image.)

I used these pictures to measure the relationship between the height, length, and width of the building. Doors come in standard heights. I measured the height of the door in the picture, and then used that to determine the other dimensions of the barn, silo, doors, and windows. The barn was about 32’ tall, 44’ long and 64’ wide including the two small buildings on each side. In HO (1:87) this would be a model about 4” tall, 5 ½” long, and 8” wide.

Next I made a cardboard mockup of the building to get a feel for how it would look. I drew plans to get the location of the windows and doors. I made the building out of Mt. Albert 1/17” Basswood 4” clapboard. I used Evergreen Styrene Metal roofing with 3/16” spacing to simulate the standing seam roofing. The barn has a lean to on the back end with a flat roof HO scale 2 ½” long (about 20 feet).

Using the drawings I made as a guide, I located all the windows and doors. I used Tickey windows; the large doors were Pikestuff. I made the two flat roofs using masking tape to simulate rolled roofing. The silo was made from a length of plastic tubing. I braced the building on the inside with strips of wood.

After the building was put together, I sprayed it with white primer. I sprayed the barn roof with aluminum paint. I brush painted flat black for the gable roofs on the little building on the right side and the flat roof on the lean to on the back of the barn. I glazed all the windows with clear plaster on the inside before I put the roof on. Note: If you are using wood for a building, you should paint the inside to keep it from warping. I drew lines around the silo to simulate the steel bands around it. I glued it to the end of the small building on the right side of the barn. I made a foundation of strips of wood in the shape of the building and painted it a concrete color. Then I glued the barn to it. I used Elmer’s white glue, cyanoacrylic (CA) cement and plastic cement to build this barn.

(Click on each thumbnail below to see a view of each image.)