Old West Building Tutorial 4: The Back Wall
by Gisby

The Front

The Side Walls

The Floor

The Back Wall

Finishing the Building

Pack's Emporium

I will assume you have read the rest in this series, so I won't repeat myself. There are no new techniques in this section, so you'll have no problems with it if you've come this far.

Please read the instructions through before starting, (duh) both so you can understand what I'm doing, and so that you can see any areas where you can do it better.

At this point, you have three walls and a floor assembled. This drawing represents the rear edge of the walls and floor, (Seen from the back) because that's all we are concerned with. The rear walls slope upward from here, but I have not shown that, or the front of the building.. The walls and floor are also thinner than in this diagram, I just wanted them easier to see.

STEP 1: Brace the top As they dry, the tops of the rear walls have a tendency to warp inwards, narrowing the top of the rear wall. This is normal. So our first step will address this. Measure between the walls at the top, against the front piece. Cut a brace to that length, and glue it to the rear sides at the top, flush with the rear end of the building.
Seen from above, the brace (Dark Green) is flush against the back of the building. The rear planking will be glued against it.

STEP 2: Plank the Face Plank the face of the wall with coffee stirrers, starting at the bottom. Use the straightest pieces you can find, of course. It's OK if they are too long, just let them overhang on the sides. It's easier and neater to trim the boards in place after they have dried..
Seen from above, the planking is glued onto the rear edge of the walls, and onto the upper brace.
You wind up with THIS: A wall of boards, with the ends overhanging the edges. When the boards are dry, trim them flush with the outer edges. If they are a bit rough, lightly sand the edges.

STEP 3: Add the Lower Brace Inside View. In the inside view, the bottom 'board' is actually the floor. Don't be confused. Cut a second brace, the same width as the first, and glue it against the rear wall, flush to the floor.

STEP 4: Add Upright Braces Inside View. Cut and fit two uprights between the braces. Glue them to the braces, side uprights, and rear wall. Because the wall is so short, it doesn't really need a central brace. If you want, the wall is done. You could add a rear door, or a door and a window, etc. as they will make the building more interesting and more useful. I chose to add a window, because I already have a door on a side wall.

STEP 5: Add Window Upright Braces Inside View. I added a pair of window uprights from coffee stirrers. It looks like they are flush with the lower brace, but in reality the floor is thinner, so the third board still pokes up over the brace.

STEP 6: Open the window. Inside View. Using the uprights as guides, cut out the window. Cut through the boards along the side, don't worry about cutting the tops.

This is the outside view. There is plenty of room for both a door and a window. If I was making both, I would used a heavier (popsicle stick) central brace. It probably doesn't need it, but....

STEP 7: Trim the Doors or Windows. The window is trimmed with matchsticks in the same way that those on the side walls were. There is nothing to say that each window cannot be different, as they might have been made at different times, with different materials available..

Old West Building Tutorial 5: Finishing the Building