Carentan - House on Place de la Republique (WIP)

[dominic]

Here are some step-by-step pics on how I build an ordinary Carentan house.  This is the house on Place de la Republique that I intend to reproduce.  I believe this real house is the inspiration for the house that appears in Band of Brothers 2 houses to the right of Cafe Normandie:



First step is to figure out where all the doors and windows are.  I normally make each floor 5cm high.  The doors are 4cm high and the windows 2.5cm.



Then cut out the front and back walls from the cork.  Don't use cheap box cutters.  I good heavy-duty Stanley knife cuts through the cork really easily!



Next do the side walls and cut them out:



Cutting out the windows is tough, but a little bit of patience and half an hour later:

[The_Wisecrack]

nice ......more  

[dominic]

Went to the hardware store today and found this craft ruler thingy!  I wish I had discovered it earlier!  It makes measuring and drawing lines and angles such a breeze, I'm never using my old school plastic rulers again!

This pic shows the ruler set square thingy resting on a piece of 3mm thick MDF board which I've measured and cut out for the base of this house.



Once the base is ready, just stick all the cork pieces together!  You can use UHU all-purpose glue for a quick bond, and after the UHU has set, reinforce all the inside corners with PVA white glue to ensure a solid bond.  You'll note that I've left a 2cm margin around the edges of the house for the pavement, which I'll score in later.

[Skrapwelder]

Looks good. Any idea as to why the windows on the second story are set off center?

[dominic]

I have no idea.  I've noticed that not all Norman houses are built symmetrically.  Maybe there's a room there that doesn't need a window, or maybe it's a stairwell.

[dominic]

Just found this old postcard on the web showing Carentan's main square with the WW1 memorial.  From the look of the cars it could be either late-30s or just after the war.  You can just make out the house I'm building on the extreme right.

[Poliorketes]

The small car on the right is either a Renault 4CV (my first guess) or a Fiat 600. Both where build after WW2. My dad would know the car from first look and would tell me I'm completely wrong, though.

[dominic]

@Poliorketes - thanks!  That makes the pic about late 1940s early 1950s perhaps?  This pic is definitely pre-war.  Probably 1920s.  The house is partly obscured by the WW1 monument

[dominic]

Back to building.  The next step is to make the cork joints less visible.  In my previous buildings, I used normal plastic modelling putty.  For this model, I'm trying out a wood filler which I bought at the hardware store.  Just squeeze it out of the tube and use a sculpting tool to spread it over the joints, smoothing it out as you go:



The window and door frames are cut out from plastic strips.  The curved part above the front door was cut out from a sheet of plastic card.





Just to add a bit of interest, I decided to build a small outhouse at the back.  I have no idea if the back of the actual house looks like this as I can't find any photos of the backyard!!



The house interiors are all playable, with removable upper floors.  The first step is to glue in cork supports along the inside walls:

[dominic]

Reviewing the photo of the house again, I noticed that I made a mistake on the upper window frames.  So I spent some time to correct it with plastic strips:



The strip right at the top of the house has some decorative protrusions.  These were just wedges of plastic cut out from waste strips:



To do the window shutters, just cut out appropriate sized rectangles from plastic card, and use some strips for the hinges.





Next come the doors.  The rear door was cut from a textured plastic sheet obtained from a model train shop.  The front door is cut from plastic card and decorated with plastic strips.





The chimneys are cut from balsa wood which you can buy in a hobby or DIY store




For the roof, I used textured plastic card from the model train store.  Just measure it and cut it out with a Stanley knife.  Did I say already how much I love my new Stanley knife?  It cuts through plastic, cork and MDF so easily!!  On the other hand, my old and cheap box cutters don't work as well and require a lot more effort to cut.  Don't forget to cut a bit of indentation in the roof to allow for the chimneys!




Now comes the part I hate most - making the 2 dormers on the roof.  It is quite a job cutting out all the small bits of card for each dormer.  As it requires quite a lot of cutting, drilling and filing to get it attached to the roof, make the dormers and fit them on BEFORE gluing the angle of the roof together (I almost forgot!!)

[meadowsboy]

Have been a visitor for a while but decided to register as your project is inspirational and has got me watching Band of Brothers again which is a good thing!
Great work

cheers

[dominic]

Dormers are a bloody hassle, but they have to be done!
Start first with the side walls.  You have to get the angle right, otherwise the dormer won't sit straight!  The little tab at the bottom of the side walls is for supporting the dormer on the roof.  Cut a hole in the roof that will fit the tab.  This will ensure that the dormer doesn't slide off while the glue is drying!  





I got so stressed building the little roof for the dormer, I forgot to take pics.  So here is a pic of the step after the dormer roofs have been built and fitted.  Join the main roof together and add triangular supports to strengthen the joint.



In this pic, you can see what the dormer roof looks like.  The fiddly part is getting all the angles right.  I haven't worked out a good way to do this yet, so it's all trial and error.  After joining all the roof tile pieces together, hide the ugly seams with strips of card from a corn flakes box!



And the finished product:



I haven't fitted the gate and garden walls yet as I'm going to spray the house with a granite-texture spray.  I'll put in the walls and gate after the texture spray has gone on.  So the next step is to mask off all the windows and doors in preparation for spraying.

[dominic]

Here's the house all masked, ready to be sprayed with Dupli-Color Granit Texture spray (Krylon Stone texture spray works just as well)

[Le matou rouge]

What a great pic, with a lot of danger in the air...
Why this house is confined ?
OR
Will the spray work ?

to be continued  :wink:

Meow,
Matt

[dominic]

Thanks for your concern!  The spray worked, and the fence and gate have been attached:



Now I need some help.  What colour should I paint the house?  Should I do the dull grey, or use a more lively colour like ochre or terracotta?