I've been working hard and heavy in the casting room and will have a complete line of rolling stock due out in September. In October I am focused on very detailed cast resin and plaster buildings. This building should be available in October with plans to produce one each month. Most will only be limited runs.

The first in a series called Sack in the Shack is the Assay Office. It is a very small false front building that can fit on any O-scale layout. Everything will be moulded into the walls as you can see, making construction of the model very easy. Even the back of the false front has a seperate casting between the top of the roof to the top of the rear of the false front, so nothing is left blank. At this point I am not to sure how the severe details will effect the molds as there are many under cuts. But I do think it is very castable...if there is such a word. I am also not fixed yet on a price again because of mold cost and life but my target price is around 30.00. I will know more after I calculate costs closely but I did want to give you a glimps of what's in store for the future.













What the kit would look like before it would be assembled




Please feel free to offer comments suggestions ideas or whatever. Nothing is casted at this point and that is when it is easy to change!!!!

Cheers,
Ken

Looks like that will be a sweet little kit!

Very Cool Ken.

Very artsy.

Looks like a Huffman alaska special. My suggestion would be to make the ends of the boards more worn out looking perhaps fraying them a bit with one of them hand saws with the big blade ...what the heck are they called? perhaps going over the face of the boards the same way to really work them in like there 30 years old. But other wise I like the look
Woops then again these are going to be cast and not wood right Well I still like it

loggeron30 wrote:

the severe details will effect the molds as there are many under cuts. But I do think it is very castable...if there is such a word. Please feel free to offer comments suggestions ideas or whatever. Nothing is casted at this point and that is when it is easy to change!!!! Cheers, Ken

OK Ken you asked. This is constructive critisism. I have casted and patterned a lot of simple stuff. This is what I would look at again and reevaluate.

The corrugated roofing is to thick and not weathered.

The front high wall has no corner cap/outside corner bead on ends or flashing where roof and siding meet. It caps the lower wall but the upper wall is exposed.

The front door is the same material as the flooring. Looks not so weathered.

The porch flooring isn't beat up enough. No nail holes, rot, short long boards. I suppose the door would look better beat up. The window frame needs beat-up.

That double pediment at the top is overkill. A flat cap would work fine.

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I love the nail holes, beat up trim, etc. As far as the molding it should work if you use a two piece mold. The window muntins will be a problem. I can't wait to see it in kit form! Your attention to detail is amazing. The mold will pick up the fuzz for the first few pulls. I wouldn't clean the fuzz at all.

Philip

wickman wrote:

Looks like a Huffman alaska special. My suggestion would be to make the ends of the boards more worn out looking perhaps fraying them a bit with one of them hand saws with the big blade ...what the heck are they called? perhaps going over the face of the boards the same way to really work them in like there 30 years old. But other wise I like the look Woops then again these are going to be cast and not wood right Well I still like it

Tom Yorke came to mind also.....

Many thanks guys....to even be considered in the same conversation of Thomas Yorke...well that is an honor. Thanks for the kind and words and very good feed back so far. Dang if I did not catch the roof at all. It is way out of scale and way to new in reference to everything else. Same with the front porch, door and window! Well, that is just why I posted it to get feedback like that! Many thanks!!!! Now, it's back to the drawing board!!!!

philip wrote:

loggeron30 wrote: the severe details will effect the molds as there are many under cuts. But I do think it is very castable...if there is such a word. Please feel free to offer comments suggestions ideas or whatever. Nothing is casted at this point and that is when it is easy to change!!!! Cheers, Ken OK Ken you asked. This is constructive critisism. I have casted and patterned a lot of simple stuff. This is what I would look at again and reevaluate. The corrugated roofing is to thick and not weathered. The front high wall has no corner cap/outside corner bead on ends or flashing where roof and siding meet. It caps the lower wall but the upper wall is exposed. The front door is the same material as the flooring. Looks not so weathered. The porch flooring isn't beat up enough. No nail holes, rot, short long boards. I suppose the door would look better beat up. The window frame needs beat-up. That double pediment at the top is overkill. A flat cap would work fine. I love the nail holes, beat up trim, etc. As far as the molding it should work if you use a two piece mold. The window muntins will be a problem. I can't wait to see it in kit form! Your attention to detail is amazing. The mold will pick up the fuzz for the first few pulls. I wouldn't clean the fuzz at all. Philip

Philip,

I changed the roof material to roll felt roofing I thought it would look better.

I was not to sure what you ment by caping the front wall. Are you talking about were the roof meets with thew back of the front wall? If so, would the roll roofing take care of that?

fixed the door, window frame and pourch flooring and did all you suggested plus, I added a 4X4 beam around the bottom of the whole floor base to give it a better looking foundation.

I liked the funky cap but will add a plain cap to the kit to provide an optional cap.

Any other suggestions or comments???????

Very nice!

Nice one Ken!

So do you make it, then unglue it and mold it in the silicon RTV stuff? Then cast it?

George,
The kit would be casted just as you see eveerything laid out in the last picture. Walls, front, rear, sides, floor, roof, cap, all seperate castings. I used just a drop of CCA on the tip of a toothpick to glue the building together to test fit everything and to take the pictures. Then I seperated the building apart to mold it.
Ken

Thanks Ken

Kinda ratty lookin. I want one.

GearDrivenSteam wrote:

Kinda ratty lookin. I want one.

Careful Rob, you will spend or your money and you won't have anything left over for the sawmill kit I am working on!!!!