Hi all, final post before i start an actual build thread, i want to scratch build a french farmhouse from around 1940, not a brand new build bur something that would be still standing in 1940. I have a couple of decent pics of small farm houses with shuttered windows etc look really nice. Problem is i have no idea how to scale these down and i have idea on real life sizes either. Surely you guys must know some method for getting a rough size that looks right? Any help appreciated.
it will be 1/72 but i dont have a full size french farmhouse to pace round with a tape measure

Gavin

This is pretty simple.
Take your entry door, it is always a bit higher then a person (in a normal case at least).

From there on every thing else is in proportion to the door!
You really don't need more.

Sketch (scribble) it on a piece of paper with the door as a start. After the scribbling do a proper draw with the ruler.

Don't take it to strict, it should please the eye!


Hope it helps

Claude

Thanks claude i will try this out, and naybe mock it up on thin card

or, if the photo has anything else that you can use to reference size such as a trough, bench, bucket, etc. a door would be easiest to base a scale size off of, but there are other things that a photo may have to judge dimensions

This is what I've done for buildings in 1/48: http://miniart-models.com/index.htm?/36024.htm You could even scale the images and print them out to make templates. Miniart has quite a range of useful structures with parts pics such as these. (click on the pics for larger images).

Ok working from pictures, doors assumed at 2 metres and room height 2.5 metres here is a paper mock up missing the back but it was just to check size . Also the lat pic shows my idea for a dio. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT we have a wooded area with british troops advancing a tank going over the field the path to the house the the farmhouse. The lef will be in derelict barn or stable hidden behind broken stone walls with a cargo truck nearby to hand out ammo, i was thinking of having the farcorner of the farm house destroyed so you can see inside germans using left over furniture, a machine gun nest downstairs maybe a sniper upstairs. All sound very intresting BUT it will be heavily focused on the house afraid it will all be spoilt by too much open space, any help or ideas? How would you re-arrange it? want it no bigger thn A3?

I do not like to much giving advices about diorama layout's as I personnaly think taht it is an essential part of diorama making and a pleasure to find out on your own.

Just two things from me. Is that your first scratched house? If yes, concentrate on that one, do your germans and the truck and basta! You will have enough on your plate to do that correctly.

Due to the scale it is nearly impossible to show both sides of an attack. Here, the Brtis are advancing and the germans waitng on them? I think they are to near without being shot at already. Crouching Brits perhaps and without the tank.
Then you can cut the whole thing in two.

Play around some more with it, you will find yourself a layout you are convinced of, that is important for motivation

Claude

I may well do that claude, i cant seem to find a good balance between the detsil on the house and the overall picture lol. it is my first scrstchbuild and only about my 5th model overall lol. Looking forward to your input when i start the build log

> doors assumed at 2 metres and room height 2.5 metres

2 meters (80") is a contemporary standard door height in the U.S. Average height has increased dramatically due to the food we've been eating in the west since the ~1950's. Without meaning to upset anyone, I think it's fair to say that the French were generally shorter then Americans and the British at the time of the war.

Also, my limited experience is that country / farm houses generally have lower ceilings than urban dwellings, perhaps not much higher than the door, although timber frames may have projected lower than the actual ceiling. The two story structure would seem to indicate a quite successful farmer. Also, I believe it is rare for a farmhouse to be totally disconnected from all the other farm structures, although this may be partly determined by regional traditions.

No doubt Claude and others have more regional - historical expertise on these matters.

No one will be upset, i asked for opinions and input, and you gave yours. You may be correct about the door and room height but as its my first scratchbuild i am going to stick with the heights ive got to try and
make it a bit easier on myself lol.
Should have the first post on the build log tonight

Gavin:

2 meters (6'-6") is too short for a door. 2.3M minimum, 2.7 is better for an entry door. For a single door, 1M width is good for an entry. These are actual sizes and will need to be scaled appropriately, (i.e. divide by 72) Also, I recommend aligning the top of the door and the top of the windows on the first floor, or make the door notably taller and more decorative with a surround or something. My 2 cents.

Happy Modeling, -zon

With all respect Zon, no way!

2.3 and more perhaps if you have some glass part on top of it.



This is the biggest house in Clervaux (still today) and by far no farm house.
As far as I remember i made them about 2.5, but the actual door does still have only a bit over 2m., the rest is deco if you will.

The measures and opinions Charles gave are absolutely correct.

I did not go into such details myself because i suspected that it is Gavin's first scratch build. So i kept it simple and i said also don't he to strict. Learn by doing!

By the way, every good sized basketball player needs to bend down a bit around here if he wants to enter a room, so 2m is about that size

Starting with a 2 m door for calculation is good as it leaves room for all directions in case you need some millimeters here or there. Same for the wide, 90cm to start with.

I just scratched a door yesterday to go in an old tower part of my newest built (the old villa) and i made it at persons height, 1m75 only.

You are right regarding the alignement of the door and window.

By the way, i have absolutely no historical expertise. There are so many old structures around here, i just need to look around to see all the possibilities.
The advantage of living in Old Europe

Greets

Claude

One thing for sure,you are getting advice from some of the best dio people around!!
I agree about the method of using the door to scale out your building and a quick way I used was just standing a 1/35 fig against the cardboard and figuring out the door from him!
I also agree with Claude about you trying to put too much story in this size dio. Also you are giving yourself a huge plate to finish with all of the components that you want to use. I also ask,if there is a truck standing by the 105mm why is the gun still there when the Brit tank has advanced so far? Arty would have been pulled out long ago as it is not a front line weapon.
It's cool that you decided to challenge yourself with the farm building. Get er done!
J

Claude: I bow to your local knowledge and stand humbly corrected. I allowed some recent experience on some projects in China cloud my response to Gavin. At 2M, I might duck. Not that I would hit my head, but I would feel compressed going through the door way. Interesting how these things change over time and by location. Cheers.

Happy Modeling, -zon

hi gavin,
interesting project... ay least because I'm doing something pretty similar!!

I agree about concentrating just on the building and the closest area, otherwise you'll need much more than an A4 sheet..

about the size of the door and consequently of the other fittings, I just returned from a tour in normandy (well, it was disguised as a romantic week, but actually I moved in the little towns with a camera and a measuring tape...) and, well.
it's true that the average french and european people is (was) shorter in the recent past, and that a door 200 x 90 is the actual standard, but you must consider few things: an entrance door, especially of a resident house, will be always bigger, for reasons of image and practical use: that was the door to introduce in your guests, and... your long tail piano!

so it's no infrequent to observe an house with a big main door and a little one in the back. same for the windows: the first floor big, the ones in the roof littlest.

finally, it's up to you to choose which type of building build, and which side of it show up... I prefer to start with an idea, and from that one let the walls grow around.

here some pics from my mark IV. I want a shed with reasonable low ceiling, a stair, and an upper floor with high ceiling and big windows... all in a little space. so first of all I started with some drawings withe the idea, as the your, then I cut in a cardboard the shed's door and go on with a human figure as comparison..











obviously changing step by step. at now I don't have yet the definitive size, but I'm closing on them...

go on and show us your progress!!

Your card model looks exellent, and ilove the romantic weekend idea hahaha.
I havnt got any progress yet i made one end wall from clay and left it to cure before i research how to do the stones abit more, and i glued a couple of sheets of balsa wood together and rhey seemed to take forever to set, hopefully tommorrow night i will get something done that is worth taking a picture of lol.