Starting on the Cafe

Life has been busy, but I had a chance this week to start on one of the structures that will occupy the small business district on the layout.

This little cafe has existed so far only as a mockup on the layout.

I'm using a Trackside Scenery kit as inspiration for my scratchbuilt cafe.

Originally, my intention was to use styrene construction, just like I did for the depot. However, when I saw the price of a single sheet of clapboard siding ($13!), I took a left turn to the section of the hobby shop that had basswood sheet and strip stock.

I've scratchbuilt with wood before, and have always enjoyed it; not to mention that the raw materials are much more affordable than styrene. For that same $13, I got a pile of stripwood and siding, enough to complete the whole structure.

For me, wood is easier to cut, dress and file than styrene. After some careful measurements, I had the four basic walls cut out:

My structure is a bit wider and shallower than the picture I am working off of. I am using Grandt Line windows and doors, so I dry-fit them to find the best arrangement on the front wall. This arrangement looked a little to "wide spaced" for me:

I moved the windows in about 2 scale feet, and liked that much better. Note the baseline for the window height.

Cutting window and door openings has always been the activity I hate the most about scratchbuilding; mostly because I am a stickler for accuracy. To make sure everything is where it's supposed to be, I carefully drew out guidelines on the back face of the wall, measured with the scale ruler.

Since wood is easier to cut through, I find I can control my blade a bit better and get cleaner door and window openings. I cut them a bit undersize, then file them to fit the part; there's no going back if you cut the opening too large!

Success!

With all the window and door openings cut, I started adding interior bracing, keeping in mind the general concept I have for how the building will assemble. These little mini clamps, found at the 99 cent store, are perfect for clamping small glue joints like this.

That's it so far! I still have more bracing to add; I'd like to err on the side of over-bracing the walls to avoid warping. Stay tuned for the next segment on constructing this little cafe.