Inspired by the very interesting build threads that have recentely been posted, I wanted to share my recent (ad)venture... I recently bought a small kit of a typical brick house, offered by Markenburg, a Dutch one man operation (see http://www.markenburg.nl/en/). He offers his kits in N scale and h0, but upon my request did a pilot in Z with a small electricity house. Recently he expanded with a house and a shed roof brick factory. Most of his kits are typical Dutch architecture, but the factory might be interesting for people modelling German, or even US railroad as well (see http://www.markenburg.nl/en/thema-grotestraat/322-fabriek-in-oude-staat.html) The house kit (http://www.markenburg.nl/en/theme-heistraat/146-heistraat-45.html) comes with a seperate barn that I started out with. It is made of high quality cardboard, perfect fits, nice coloring. I tried to do a little bit of weathering without getting the cardboard too wet, using too much paint or white glue for that matter, makes the material soft and loose shape. Here's some pix of the built, hope you like it. The kit comes in a cardboard envelope. All the parts of the house... .. and of the barn. Basic instructions included, in Dutch, English and German. Tools I used. Bindan is pva that is slightly diluted. I cut out the parts for the inner frame. By the way, to the right are two parts of a cut up nailfile. I used it to get rid of the tiny edges at the spot where I cut the parts out of their frame. Barely necessary, really. The part where the door and windows come, is very small. I strengthened the cardboard with a drop of superglue (the gel kind). I did this on baking paper to avoid gluing it to the underground. The "wooden" door has vertical planking in white. I decided to paint it with green/blueish acrylic, but I wanted the door post to remain white, hence the masking tape. Building up the basic frame... Adding the wall, with door, window frames, glacing and window sills (!) already added. I did some weathering to the walls (black coloring pencil, wiped with finger), the side walls that are made out of horizontal woodpanelling (cut it up a bit to suggest warping planks, stained with black and grey acrylics) and the roof (green coloring pencil to suggest moss). Finished. Front... ... and side. The gutter was part of the kit, I added the drainpipe (.33 millimeter brass rod). Now onto the house itself. Will take some time, have another project and some private business to attend to first. But I will keep you guys posted. Disclaimer: I have no ties with this company, just enjoyed the fact that he ventures into Z and I just really like this kind of kits. So far I found they are comparable to Archistories (see http://www.archistories-shop.de/epa...?ObjectPath=/Shops/62672593/Categories/Spur_Z, a bit more vulnerable (you will notice I messed up some of the brick, you have to really handle to brick parts carefully). Archistories has a focus on Z scale and offers a wide range of buildings, of which some of the industrial models might be of interest for US modellers, e.g. the watertower. Cheers, Matt
The roof tiles and brickwork look great. The gutter included is a nice feature (and it sags a bit too, very realistic). The brickwork around the windows and doors adds a nice look too. I'll make sure my friends at the OWL Division see it too, when I meet April 15-16 for Altenbeken I hope Markenburg comes to Altenbeken or at least has someone with table space to promote into the large European Z market. Same with Archistories.
Thanks all. Hi Jeff, I'm pretty sure Archistories will be there, they were two years ago. However, I don't think Mark will be at Altenbeken, but I'll ask him. I hope to meet you there. I could bring one or more Markenburg kits with me if you like. Matt
I have moved on to the house itself. Some pix and comments... This gives a notion of the 1:1 version, you will see many houses like these in Holland: I couldn't find the exact original, but this gives you an impression... Overview of the 'skeleton' parts, partly glued together: Some parts seemed very fragile, so I used superglue once again to reinforce them: Many of these houses would have stain glass windows in the front door and over the main windows. I imitated it here with a print glued behind the window over the front door and the window in the front door. The door itself was colored with a marker to suggest a varnished wooden door: The skeleton completed: Next step: preparing windows. The panes are glued behind the walls. The window sills are inserted from the inside and glued: Sofar for now. I came to the conclusion that the windows give an excellent view into the house. So I need some rough interior. Mmmm.... just glued all the skeleton parts together already... Have to figure out a way to yet include something of an interior, or at least a divider to prevent it being a Dutch "shotgun house" More later, Matt
He was at the Ontraxs exhibition this weekend. Nice to see in 1:160 the same street that I have cycled through for so many years.
Some progress... I put in a paperwall dividing the attic, preventing see through. Dito on the ground floor, these houses often had glass paneled sliding doors dividing the living room in two. I took a picture from internet and printed it to scale on paper that I glued in the house. Same thing with a kitchen front. Not that one sees much of it now ... The brick walls are delicate, when handled the bricks at the edges sometimes rub off. You have to be really careful. It is not easy to make the corners meet without a gap. The thin cardboard gets a bit soft as a result of the thinned white glue, which helps bringing the two parts together. However, to much pressure results in rubbing, results in loss of bricks... :-( However, I do like the result sofar. I put in the windowframes and glass from behind, gave some windows a paper curtain, added some stainglass in the lower floor window of the front gable and then glued the wall onto the house. The backside: From the side, the kitchen is in the extensionbuilding: Next: roofing. More soon (I hope). Matt
This is really a very nice job . Congraytulations ! In case of problems with gaps on edges I can suggest two options: - rain water pipes - some vegetation on the wall You can see some example on my KIBRI house (the one in the middle - second row) and Faller (the one on the left):
Thanks. Yes, I will probably do something like that. Like the late afternoon light and colors on your layout, by the way. cheers, Matt
Update... It's been a long summer Finally got around to finishing this 1930's Dutch house. For a personal touch (and because there was a slight gap between frontwall and roof...) I added the white boarding to the gable, which is actually quite common for these houses. On the left an electricity switch station (separate kit of the same manufacturer), to the right the shed that came with the house. Cheers, Matt
Matt, I have noticed that the small building on the right hand side of the photo originally is a part of the house kit. Is it possible to use it as stand alone building ? In some cases such models do not have one wall which is shared with the bigger building ... Could you provide me the measurements of the model ? I could not find that information on the web page of Dutch producer ...
Dom, merci Pavel, the shed to the right is indeed separate but comes with the kit. The shed is 19mm by 24mm. The house has an annex on the backside. The house itself measures 25mm width by 35mm deep, the annex is 30mm by 16mm. So the total depth of the house cum annex is 65mm. Typically, the annex is where the kitchen and maybe some storageroom is. The annex has no second floor. I will try and post a picture of the back later on. Matt
I want to extend my thanks for introducing me to these Dutch models. I have built two,the House and the factory, and have ordered the other Z models. You inspired me to try these kits after seeing your work here. Count me among your fans. By the way my wife and I lived in Voorschoten SH in 1992 which gave me an appreciation for NL buildings and culture. I also love the Archistories building, just a sucker for paper construction I guess. Yours Paul (zedhed)
Hi Paul, thank you very much. I do love Archistories too. Nice to hear you were in the Netherlands. I work for the city of The Hague ('international city of peace and justice' - end of citymarketing...), Voorschoten as you know is right next door Here's a picture of the finalized house from behind (@Pavel): Hope to see your pictures as well, Paul, especially of the factory. I've got the kit waiting here.. This is my trap: little time + bit of perfectionism = little progress.. :-( Did you know the latest of Markenburg kits came out in Z as well, a "Stoomwasserij" or steamdriven laundry. Matt
