Banta Silver Bull Saloon. An HO scale build thread.

[WoundedBear]

Popped this one open today. Have I mentioned that I like Banta kits? Even the colors on his box art model grab me.

This one I vowed to myself, that I would document and photograph from start to completion. Follow along if you would like as I build the Silver Bull Saloon.

This is a modest little establishment, that thinks itself far more important to the town's prosperity than it actually is. False fronts rule!!!!

Step one is to get the kit open. Usually with craftsman kits, this is the point where most people chicken out, pack it all back up, and sell it to me at the swap meet for 10 bucks. But I digress. So.......open the box.



Pull everything out, and before you even think of opening those nice baggies........find the instructions and start reading. Done reading? Good. Now read them again. And again.....and again and again.

That's good. Now if you can't read.......box everything up and sell it to me for 10 bucks.. While I'm reading, I am getting a mental image of how this thing goes together. Finally it's time to open them little baggies and start laying parts out.



After identifying all the pieces, it's time to start coloring everything that needs to get color. Only thing to remember here, is to never use water based paints on wood. OK.....almost never. Seriously, if used incorrectly, or excessively, water based paints will warp your wood badly.

The side and rear walls got stained with good old Minwax from your local hardware store.



The front wall panels got sprayed with a lacquer based paint.



The upper wall trim panels got stained using dollar store furniture touch-up markers.



As did the window frames and sill parts.



I used an enamel based stain from Testors for the walkway planking......this is the "black" shade.



And the "natural" shade got used on the other walkway panels. Note how the same stain changes tint from pine to birch plywood.



And that's it for today. I have a hotrod swap meet to attend this Saturday and have to go scope out an old Duster on Sunday. More pics next week once I get back to the bench.

Enjoy!!

Sid

[Ken Huck]

Can't wait to see the finished product.  I've spent a lot of time looking and browsing around over Banta kits but
haven't found the one I could use on my layout.  Gonna do it now.

Ken

[the Bach-man]

Dear Sid,
Banta kits are the Bomb!
I have them on almost every display I've built, and on my LS layout as well.
And Bill is a great person, as well as a great modeler!
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[WoundedBear]

Thanks guys .....pull the trigger on a kit, Ken. You won't be disappointed. They even got the B'man's approval.

Sid

[Warflight]

I'm watching this with baited breath (no.. not breath that smells like bait... okay... maybe a little like bait)

Anyway... I just recently bought my first ever wood laser cut model (and then bought three more) from BTS.... they are car kits, that will be riding behind my Bachmann Spectrum "Richmond" 4-4-0.

(seen here)



The kits I'm planning to build are these:





So watching what you're doing is going to help me out a LOT! I am determined to build these...

I even started on the trucks I plan to use (all metal, for the extra weight)



This is a great thread so far!

Oh, and as far as the importance of the town saloon... I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who once said that it was important for a town to build it's tavern first, bef0ore the church, as there are meetings of a political nature that wouldn't be polite to have in the church, but church services can always be held at the tavern.

[WoundedBear]

Thanks Warflight. Hope you enjoy this build.

Not really sure who Benjamin Franklin is other than he invented the lightning rod I think. And BTW......the term is "bated breath". Nothing to do with fishing 

Anyhow........back to it here.

Stripwood. Lotsa stripwood. All needs to be colored. I grabbed Flo-Quil Stain Marker and went at it. I have 6 or so shades, this was Colonial Maple.



Now that the pesky messy work is out of the way, assembly can begin. Starting with the floor assembly and the left and right front walls, carefully fit and align to the slots and test fit everything before you proceed with the stickem stuff. Once satisfied with the fit, glue up all the tabs and slots sparingly, and assemble. Be sure everything fits flush and is fully seated in position.

Front walls................



And side walls...........note the reversed clothespins as clamps. That was a little tip I got from Bill at Banta Modelworks.



Make your way around to the rear walls, again making sure everything stays snug and secure as the glue sets.





Use clamps where needed to make sure nothing moves and also to ensue a secure bond. Those fancy angle clamps are Right-Clamps available from Micro-Mark. The blue plastic bar clamps are also from Micro-Mark. They are my choice for hobby tools.

[WoundedBear]

Next we start on assembling the front tower. Locate all the pieces and glue together. Weight and clamp until set.





Once dry, insert the bottom of the tower into it's slots and roll the top back and against the main building. Let the glue set.



We now have a completed inner substructure. Banta kits are usually a plywood inner core covered with scribed sheetwood or stripwood. This one is no exception.

Weight down the floor and let everything set up tight overnight.




Rear and Front views.................






Stay tuned for more.......................

Sid

[Ken Huck]

I'm not touching my dial.  Lookin' good so far.  Not overly too complicated either.

Ken

[jonathan]

Sid,

On the edge of my seat!  Thanks for letting us in on this. Cant wait!

Regards,

Jonathan

[Len]

Looking good.

I'll have to try those reversed clothes pin clamps on my next cardstock project.

Len

[Terry Toenges]

While I was in a craft store, I found some some clothes pins that are less than half the size of the regular ones. They come in handy for small jobs. Now, I can reverse them and make them even handier.

[WoundedBear]

This morning I got to spend a good four hours at the bench with tunes and morning refreshments

Today's task was the blue siding and the accompanying trim the goes around the panels. This is tedious, and requires a lot of delicate sanding to ensure everything lines up nicely. Test and check and test and check before gluing anything. I like to mark the backs of the pieces too so I readily know their position and orientation.



Begin with one wall and work from center outwards.



And in a couple hours you have the ground floor all done. Alignment of the panels to the door and window openings is critical at this step. Don't rush it.



Then the porch roof gets built up. It is an inner plywood core with engraved pieces for each side. Fit the core pieces to the main walls carefully. Sand slowly and carefully and check the fit often.

[WoundedBear]

Once you are satisfied with the fit of the substructure, attach it to the main walls. Allow the glue to set. The tools set vertically into the holes are there to help coax a small warp out of the wood while it sets.



Fit the panels that make up the porch roof ceiling.................with these, the critical alignment points are the post holes.



Once that is all glued, clamp it securely and let set. The siding and any sheet material has a bad tendency to warp when using white glues. My choice is the E6000 solvent based glue. Apply with a round toothpick and slap the pieces together. You have a couple of minutes to positon things before it cures. Strip wood gets white glue.



When attaching the siding panels, I mentioned the alignment at the windows is critical. Here I have used a piece of 1/32nd inch plywood spacer to help hold things in position. Even the laser guys have tolerances.



And on the other wall, the siding comes down flush with the porch roof and is aligned with the window openings.



Finally, this is the mornings work. Most of the blue siding panels are installed. I got other stuff to do now lol.

More soon!

Sid

[Terry Toenges]

Wow! What a great  job so far. I doubt that I  could do that good.

[WoundedBear]

Today was a day to double check all the steps I have completed so far, and try and ensure I haven't missed anything.

I chose to deviate from the instructions a bit, and add and access door for the balcony. As designed, the kit would have the good folks crawlin' outta windows to access the balcony. A quick peek through a few boxes turned up a few good candidates. Man I hate choices.



When in doubt, go simple, so I chose the cast white metal plank door. I added some 4 X 4 trim from the kit and a scrap of the blue siding for the panel above. Now comes the time to true up that top edge of the panels. For this I used a single edged razor blade and a file.



I also strayed from the instructions a bit, and started to add the sidewall cladding. It helps to get the corner trim alignment accurate. Also the upper panel trim of the second floor is getting installed.



And that was a morning. Not a lot accomplished visually, but things are adjusted and the next steps should go smoothly.



More to come..............

Sid.