Scale Ponderosa House

LOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJF--0xbjmQ  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?f...f0Yso9Vwh_A&NR=1

And here I was thinking about the restauraunts back in the 1980's!

TheClutchGuy:

     Similarly, I have always been fascinated by the jailhouse in "Rio Bravo" starring John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson. I recently built it from scratch (it's not quite finished yet).

     I studied the jailhouse in the movie and I also went on line looking for "Rio Bravo jail images."  From all that, I drew up plans at 1/48th scale so I could incorporate it into a western town on my O Gauge railroad in the future. I even counted the bricks in photos (8" long) to estimate the length of walls.

     You may want to study the TV Series on DVD or on TV Land. Get still photos of the ranch on line. A photo with one of the actors in it will help. If you figure that one of the Cartrights is approximately six feet tall, that will help you to estimate the height and width of that part of the building where they are standing, etc.

     I put all of my estimations on graph paper and made adjustments where I didn't think something looked right.

     Then, I bought materials and got started. It was my first scratch built item and I thought it came out great. Now I have to think about a saloon, a hotel, a livery stable, etc. etc!!

John Knapp

Erie, not Eerie

You have to read between the lines. I believe he has the dimensions, he's asking what materials to use.

Jim M and his wife Leslie did a exceptional scratch build of their home. Leslie is the primary builder.  A log structure that would be a great start for the Ponderosa spread.  Pictures that Jim posted on the forum.  Click on the underlined phrase to link to Jim M's profile and posts.  Somewhere in the lost archives was a wonderful build thread on this beautiful structure.  Hopefully Jim and Leslie contribute.   I've always enjoyed their post on this forum.      

Wow, that is quite impressive. My modeling skills are nowhere near that level. I can only hope that my Ponderosa remotely resembles the real thing. 

It depends on if you want to do it stick by stick, or build a flat wall and put siding on that.  I think you could start with making a full sized mockup out of artist foamboard or posterboard.  You may want to selectively shorten some dimensions to fit it on your layout.  Go ahead and give it a try, you'll have fun.  I wouldn't worry about trying to duplicate an architectural model like the one pictured above.  This is for your fun and benefit.

John

That is a very beautiful home.

I can only admire because my skills don't fly well.

As a side track, I have managed to resurrect long dead memories of this wonderful Food Joint from the 80's

As one who hauled for Darden, if you want good steak, get the Center Cut.

The idea of using foamboard is a good one John. I think that I will try that first to make sure that I get the right shape and dimensions. My TV is fixed on Encore Westerns. They show the lost episodes of Bonanza which has a different opening theme.