Building a small garage - part one

I wanted to build a small outbuilding - I chose to model a garage. I wanted to have a ramshackle look, so I thought of using corrugated metal doors. I know that you can order expensive corrugated metal in Model Railroad scales, but I thought I'd go the more satisfying route of making my own (not to mention cheaper).

So I rolled out some Sculpey (a polymer clay that hardens in an oven at 250 degrees) in a flat disk, and used a butter knife (don't tell my wife) to press parallel lines into the surface. Then I baked it to harden it. I did this at 11pm at night and couldn't tell exactly what I was doing (don't ask me how bad my vision is). When I got it out of the oven in the morning, I was both pleased and disconcerted - pleased because the ridges came out just about right, but a little disconcerted by how badly a couple of spots had bubbled up - I probably got a few bubbles in the polymer clay when I rolled it out.

I got some disposable aluminum cake pans from the grocery, and cut out a few rectangular pieces from the bottom of the pans. I then aligned the sheets on the form I'd made, and embossed the ridges (corrugations) on by running the tip of a ball point pen down the lines (letting the point press down where the depressions were in the form). I was pretty pleased with the results, especially after I painted a few wash coats on them. The scale seems about right too, although I don't have a scale comparison photo to hand. Below is a dim photo of the form and 3 sheets of corrugated metal I made from it. So far, so good.


Now, on to the building itself. It will be a simple low garage, barely wide enough for a couple of smallish vehicles. I made it out of foam-core, simple and straight forward.

I'd like for the doors to open/close, so I will figure out a method of hinging them somehow - two sheets of corrugated metal that swing open from each side, nothing too fancy.