Restoration of a very Toasty ODD BALL house.

Post by **Tom Hull** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 5:42 pm

As you can see from the photos this was a VERY toasty old house! As bad of a condition as they come. It was barely hanging together when I got it and pieces were missing. This house and another that I featured some time ago came from the same seller who got them from the estate of a man who used them in his model railroad. I believe these two houses were made by the same maker with some fairly innovative ideas. In this one is the very special drooly semi gloss white gesso finish on the top of the roofs and the entire base. Though it won't show in the photos this was enhanced with a type of German Glass Glitter called Diamond Dust. This was a bit of a technique. What I used to achieve this effect was to mix Mod Podge matte with white paint and it was necessary to give it a couple of coats. I then went over it with the Mod Podge matte material without any paint which gave the slightly semi gloss look of the original finish and after waiting a brief period of time I then sprinkled the Diamond Dust glitter over the painted areas. Though you cannot tell that this building has glitter on it there is quite a bit there. These first photos are the before.

Post by **Tom Hull** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 5:53 pm

And this is the after. The little snowman is one I made and made it like those snowbaby figures with lots of glass glitter overall. I still don't have any idea what was there.
Notice the drooling effect around the base. That is what was originally there it has just been updated is all. I try to change as little of the knowable design ideas as possible. And that includes the original look whether that was intentional or not. In this instance it was the result of the original gesso mix applied too heavily that did it.

Post by **Tom Hull** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 6:10 pm

These first two photos are of the two houses That were once owned by a model railroader and he obiviously used them in it. I believe these are fairly early and are unusual in there use of a semi-gloss gesso for the tops of the houses and in this latest house the entire base as well. I have only seen this sort of treatment on very early houses such as printies with gloss top roofs. As you can see from the bottom the paper that was on these houses is largely gone - likely due to silverfish or some such. It also shows the holes in the bottom the Railroader put in them as was often done.
The last photo is of the house lit up as it should be!

Post by **paulrace** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 8:43 pm

Tom, another great restoration. Better than new, I think. Does the opening over the door allow the "porch" to be lighted as some surmised it would?

Also, love the snowman.

Post by **Laurie** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 4:41 pm

I'm enjoying the restorations, and I wondered why so many of my houses had holes cut in the bottom. Was it for lights from the train board then?

Post by **Tom Hull** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 10:03 pm

I really don't know for SURE perhaps Paul can address your question. But I always thought that was why. The old RR sets had holes drilled all over a sheet of plywood for lighting and I just supposed this is why that some of the house have holes in the bottom.
And to answer Paul's question yes there is a gentle glow over the porch. BUT because of this recessed entryway that projects into the building quite a bit and you really cannot get the bulb in there properly and it is right against the paper door. Not a great situation long term.

Post by **paulrace** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 9:16 am

Old time model RR buffs who didn't want the wires for accessory lighting showing would drill holes in the table and run the wires underneath. In addition, the sockets used for aftermarket lighting were bulky and needed to be screwed to something. So it's not unlikely that he cut a hole that was big enough to accommodate the entire socket.

Interesting note about a classic cone lightbulb not quite fitting in the building with the recessed porch. Thanks for the info, Tom.