Some of my builds

[elliott]

What VK said....

[wideride]

Thanks VK and Elliott. Like I said... having fun. Roofers got done yesterday, now I'm waiting on carpenters and brick masons to show up. - George

[wideride]

Ever sooo slowly. Carpenters showed up! Cornice pieces cut, laminated together and built up.



Hard to see in the photos, but the cornice is on, trim pieces are up...



Now we turn to the brick work; Chimneys (2) and getting the second course on the upper front up. My wife decided 'we' were taking some vacation time this week, so working around the house is going to take precedence over work on the grocery building. Hopefully we'll be able to get this store finished in my spare time.


Every one have a good weekend and happy modeling! - George

[wideride]

I was able to find some time to 'finish' the grocery this morning (you know they're never really finished; you always add more to them later)!



I glued up the chimneys that were printed out a few days ago. When I put down the texture for them, I went a tad darker with the color to give the appearance of use. This building only has two chimneys and one sanitary vent, so not a lot of work. I took tissue paper (a single layer) and 'soaked' it black with my trusty Sharpie. This is in turn covered in glue and, using a toothpick, 'stuffed' around the base of the chimney and the vent pipe. This is a fairly decent representation of how they did it at the turn of the 19th century. They would stuff the seam all around with tar soaked burlap then nail tin flashing on top. After the roofing was down, they would come back and tar over the flashing. Forgot to mention before; they didn't go to the hardware store and buy the neat buckets of roof tar like we do today. Roofers had a 'tar pot' that they put the chunks of cold tar into and heated up. The tar had to get pretty hot to smooth out, so the coal, kerosene or wood, whatever they used to fuel the fire, was fairly good sized. Picture that on a 90 degree day!



Here are the 'beauty shots' of Sieveking Grocery Store circa 1900. As I always do, if the building has other structures attached to it, I do what I call a 'stand alone' version of the main building first, then design and build the other pieces later (I'm working on this one and the other Zimmerman building now). Now I promised a little history of this building, so here we go............


A gentleman by the name of Jacob Heyd built this structure in 1875. He had owned a grocery building and a home next door to it (that he had erected) since 1856. In 1877, he replaced the small home next door with a larger one that is attached to the west (left) side of the grocery. In 1895, Mr. Louis Sieveking bought the business and home, starting a long family run enterprise that lasted until 1947. He added a ice house and loading dock to the rear of the building in 1910. This was to accommodate the addition of a butcher's shop to the venture (back then, they were usually separate businesses).

Now I had stated earlier that this building was special to me..........

Fast forward to 1980. I met a man, Bobby Allis, who had the same interests in selling antiques as I did. We rented this building from 1980 to 1987 selling antique furniture to other dealers and auctioneers. One of the reasons I know a little more about this building than the others I have modeled. When first looking at the model, you might think that I got the proportions wrong on the façade. The doors are 14 feet tall and slightly over 3 feet wide each. The downstairs ceiling height is 16 feet. All five of the double doors were able to be opened in good weather. Bobby, (who was in his late 50's) developed diabetes, and did not take care of himself. He died in 1987.


The Building is known as the Heyd/Sieveking building by the historical society and still stand proudly on Market Street here in New Albany. Today, it is home to a upscale Mexican restaurant. This picture was taken right before they moved there in 2015.





Everyone Have a Great Day! -George

[Don Boose]

You have certainly captured the store! I appreciate the detailed information on your techniques, like the way to replicate the gar-soaked burlap around the base of the smokestack and vent.

Don

[wideride]

Thanks Don.

The reason I know how they did that is this; my dad 'farmed' me out to his cousin, a roofer, the summer of my 16th year. I had to tear the old roofing off some of these old buildings. I was a history buff even then (although I'd much rather been getting into trouble with my friends) and Sig had been roofing since the late 30's; taught by his father, so they're were stories and examples of how and why things were done they were. Thought it was a horrible injustice (my working ALL summer) at the time, but I've come to appreciate what I learned. I wish now that I listened more often and asked more questions! And, if Sig is watching from beyond; if I'm going to model that time frame, I better make it look right! Have a Great Day! - George

[elliott]

Another great story George. I look forward to your posts on a daily basis and miss them on the days you can't post.

[Don Boose]

Yes. As Elliott says, your posts are worth waiting for.

I understand your feelings. I did a lot of interesting things when I was in high school, and learned a lot, but could have learned so much more had I only realized . . .

Incidentally, I was clearly typing faster than I was thinking when I typed "gar-soaked" vice "tar-soaked," although one could also use fish oil based caulking - see Farley Mowat, The Boat Who Wouldn't Float.

Don

[wideride]

Oh what a beautiful morning.... Hey, maybe there's a song in there!

Thanks Don and elliott. I wish I could model and post more, but, the house and the yard have a tendency of hollering for attention. Not to mention the need to interact in a positive manner with loved ones! Hee Hee.... As of today I turn a year older and Don brought up the subject of plank caulking...... Sometime last year, my wife and I were talking about the time we spent down on the river banks when we were kids. Brought back memories for both of us.

As in most communities right on a river, we once had a 'alternative living' group (I think that's what they would be called today) that lived on the river or right on the edge. Many in the 'normal' living environment called them 'river rats'; we called most of them friends since we spent so much time down there in their world and were deemed 'honorary river rats'. I made these models from memory. At one time we had photographs of nearly everyone and everything down there, but lost them (and more) in a house fire in '95......

Mr. and Mrs. Boyer's home.....



They had this 'permanent' home sitting up on a small bluff in Clarksville. He was a part time carpenter, in the winter months, and a part time fisherman in warmer weather. He sold his catch to one of the local fish markets that used also be down in that area. They raised four kids in this four room home, that they built together, after his service in WWII (I attended school with his youngest son). It did have running water to the kitchen, in the form of a pump; and you can see a model of the facilities that were out back! They also had a shed that two times bigger that the house that stored the fishing boat, lumber he needed for carpentry jobs and..... getting to the caulking story..... any useful building materials that happened to float down the river after a high water event!

Some of us were down there one spring day, when we ran across a load of plywood and 2X4's that had washed up on the banks overnight. Mr. Boyer was out on his boat and saw us hauling our finds up to the road. He told us to stick it in his shed until we figured out what we were going to do with such wonderful finds! We were talking tree house, but all our parents nixed that idea.

Next day, Mr. Boyer suggested another project (with parental approval, of course); since we were constantly pestering people to take us out on their boats, why not build one of our very own! He cut the plywood and the 2X4's for us, showed us how to lay out the frame, gave us all hammers and nails, and he and his wife sat on the porch and watched us go at it. By the end of the day (with help from some of our fathers after their work day). we had a 14 foot jon boat with seats, a set of scrounged up oar locks, oars and visions of exploring the whole of the Ohio River Valley from our vessel. Of course, we wanted to immediately launch one of the finest boats to ever touch water, but we were stopped when one detail was pointed out; we needed to water proof it or sink it.
Out came five gallons of dull green, U.S. ARMY surplus oil based paint and a coil of rope. We dipped the rope into the paint and stuffed it into every seam. After that, we painted the boat the same military approved green. It was VERY late by the time this was done and we all headed home with talk of the grand launching that, in our minds, was scheduled for the next day. I wondered why our fathers' and the others gathered (we had drawn a fairly good crowed thru the day) just smiled at each other in that way they had when we were about to learn a lesson we didn't really want.

To make this loooong story a bit shorter, we did get her into the water; a week later when that 2 decades old oil base paint dried enough that you could touch it without sticking to it. But, man what a great summer that was!


Nobody lives down there now. Between the bank washing out in 1975 and the efforts of the county and state, they pushed everyone out. Today, the Falls of the Ohio State Park takes up most of our childhood river spot. Oh well, we still have the memories.

By the way, that old jon boat went thru a lot of us kids as we got older. Many of us used it for years to go fishing, or , as I preferred, just cruise the river every once in a while. In 1989, after several rebuilds and refits, a couple of us had to admit that the old boat was no longer salvageable. So with a few beers and a few tears, we gave her a Viking funeral, not only to honor a boat that served us well for years more than thought possible, but also for those no longer with us!

Sorry for the long post, but I got nostalgic this morning. Everyone.... Have a Great Day and Model On! - George

[elliott]

Great story and another great model. Thoroughly enjoyed both. Thank you.