A Bloke Needs a Shed… Pt 3
The Building Shell
Basic construction follows conventional procedures, using a balsa wood box overlaid with the corrugated cladding.
The SAR drawing [Image 19] with the timber platform shows the end and back (road face) wall cladding extending down beyond platform level to the underside of the floor joists, a distance of 1'. This is a damned nuisance as it means there is no common base line for the walls, and the projecting cladding without the underlying balsa structure is liable to suffer damage during construction. It would be reasonable to compromise and finish the cladding at the platform level all-around, and I will describe this option.
Start by laying out the four main walls onto the balsa, using the dimensions shown on the drawings [Drawings 4, 6, 7]. Make sure you have a nice straight edge at the bottom of the balsa sheet to square off, and a new blade in the knife.
You can use the section drawing, not the end view, to get the correct height at the top of the 1.6mm balsa end walls, finishing them at the underside of the 7" x 4" rafters, but to avoid confusion I have included a template for the end walls [Drawing 7]. You will also need to make a decision at this time about the profile over the tracks, using the alternative cut away wall line if you are going to run any big locos or rolling stock through the shed. Don’t laminate the card onto the balsa before making up the structure.
The front and back walls (2.4mm balsa) will fit between the gable end walls, so they are 59'6" long overall. Cut the door openings 9'6" wide x 8'3" high, the width being the prototype distance between the 6" posts which are spaced at 10' centres. While 2.4mm balsa never cuts nicely, you can clean up the ends with an emery board (the finger nail ones).
The assembly process generally requires nothing more sophisticated than common old PVA glue (Selley’s Aquadhere is just the thing), but don’t use it for the cladding. Balsa cement or similar craft glue works and certainly speeds up progress as it dries quickly, but it is quite smelly and,
