1:160 (N scale) Rhett House Inn

[FRD]

This is my second attempt at a build thread, the third installment of a series of six to be converted from a much smaller scale.

I recently assembled the 1:160 scale conversion of the Rhett House Inn located in Beaufort, South Carolina, it has a storied past as well as a very distinguished guest list.

Built in 1820 by Thomas Smith Rhett, the antebellum, "in town plantation house" was commandeered and served as a recovery hospital for union forces during the American Civil war, it reflects to a degree, Greek revival architecture.

An ajacent, two story cottage housing seven additional rooms was built in 1846 and once served as a store for freed slaves.
The Inn also features an on property guest cottage, the "Newcastle House".

The tag line goes something like this:

An exceptional experience is the antebellum home (ca. 1820) of Thomas Smith Rhett, whose family inspired Rhett Butler in Margaret Mitchell’s Novel, "Gone With The Wind".

It still inspires today, a perfect romantic getaway in the Historic District just steps from waterfront shops and dining.

Please visit the website for more information on the Area and Inn.
The Greek revival Architecture of this Mansion, with it’s double veranda, captures cool breezes through the shade of live oaks with piazza one block from the Beaufort River.

With Gourmet Kitchen and raised Herb Garden, The Premium Newcastle House is unsurpassed In Beaufort, designed with Privacy and Luxury in mind, a short stroll to the Main Rhett House.



The Inn's guest list includes those such as Barbra Streisand, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Ben Affleck, Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon to name a few.

I am far better at drawing these than I am at actually assembling them, having all thumbs, I'm sure many of the members of this forum have expert skills and could do a much better build.

With that being said, let me start this thread by posting the Inn's footprint and some random part samples.

An auto correct application was used for the photographs so parts may appear darker than they really are and having more photographs than I know what to do with, this promises to be a lenghty thread.
Okay, let's get this thing started!

[FRD]

I started by first pre-forming the Inn's two exterior walls, front and back.
Attaching the front to the base first, I secured the field from behind, once set I attached the back to the base and front.

[FRD]

Securing the back corner the the front of the Inn, nailing down the tower base, I preformed the two components that make up the rear entrance, tweezers were a valuable asset in forming the post of the left side, with that done, I formed the part that creates the underside of the entrance's left side.

[FRD]

With the entrance's underside in place I glued the right side, butted against it, I then secured the right side by glueing the corners and post fronts, once the post fronts were dry the sides of the post were folded back 90 degrees and secured.

With the entrance's three roofs inverted, I then folded the eaves 45 degrees inward, locating the smallest roof first, I then attached the two larger ones, care had to be taken to assure that the roof's receiving marks were aligned with the vertical marks on the back of the Inn.

[FRD]

The entrance's main roof was pre-assembled and centered on the two lower roofs, the chimneys,steps and garden wall were then added to complete the rear entrance of the Inn.

[FRD]

Okay, now that the back of the inn is done, I'll now start on the front..

[dto]

Another amazing build thread. Great work, Fred!

David T. Okamura

[FRD]

Thank's David, I'm about half way through the build..

[FRD]

I started the front by locating and securing the two decks at the inner corner then outward to the ends.

With the East end of the piazza in place I removed all of the openings in the piazza proper and when inverted, I glued down the backs of the railings and folded the lower openings to create 90 degree angles.

Many modelers have many methods but I chose to reinforce the backs of the columns with a bead of glue, once dry it was fairly rigid, all that was left to do was put the corner bend in the piazza.

[FRD]

The piazza was attached first where it meets the Inn and secondly to the East end, the decking was allowed to, "float" to account for any expansion or contraction.

With the piazza in place, the main roof panel was inverted and the eaves folded inward 45 degrees, it was centered and secured to the Inn's back gable.

The tower eaves were added and I used my tweezers to apply back pressure to the piazza as it was attached to the front eaves.

However, a more resourceful modeler would have printed an extra deck and used it as a second story, "ceiling" to provide support to the piazza'a upper edge. (or used a lower deck as a pattern)