Scale-Model Barns Don't Miss A Detail

Scale-Model Barns Don't Miss A Detail AG WORLD 34-1-22 The first miniature building Lowell "Skip" Finley built made his sisters cry with tears of joy. It was a 1-in. scale model of the log cabin that Finley and his seven brothers and eight sisters grew up in. He based his design on one 1945 photo and his memory ù including an askew window his mother had installed. After seeing his sisters' sentimental reaction, Finley was inspired to build small-scale barns. "I got the same reaction from others," he says. "So I kept on building and I can't seem to stop." The Mansfield, Ohio, builder knows what he's doing. He's had his own construction business since 1972, often restoring full-size barns. "I'm getting older so working on little barns is nicer than working on big barns," Finley laughs. "But just because they are smaller, doesn't mean they have less quality." Finley has built five barns, a gristmill, a fort blockhouse and a log cabin. One barn is displayed in Lehman's Hardware in Kidron, Ohio, but the rest are stored in Finley's garage. He uses ordinary shop tools ù table saws and mortise and tenon joiners ù to replicate the joints used in the real barns he works on. Instead of nails, Finley carves 1/8-in. square hickory pins to secure the joints. The wood he uses comes from scrap wood from his big barn projects. He cuts it according to scale for the interior beams, making tight mortise and tenon joints. "I'm using original wood that is 150 years old," Finley explains. "I take 12 by 12-in. timbers and rip the outside edge for boards for siding or floors. The siding is 1/8-in. thick, and floors are 3/16-in. thick." When the wood is extremely checked and weathered, he uses glue with the wire nails his brad gun shoots to secure the siding. Everything else is very authentic ù even what can't be seen. Skip spends 300 to 400 hours on each building, accurately replicating details. One replica, for example, is of his neighbor's 1860 barn. It has all the pens and stalls, grain bins and haylofts, sliding doors and ladders that are inside the big barn. The foundation is covered with sandstone, cut from rocks that came from the real barn. Finley's wife, Pat, helps with some of the finishing touches ù making miniature feed sacks and bales, for example. She also paints the exteriors. She painted a Mail Pouch sign on the end of one of Finley's barns. After completely finishing the interior, Finley builds the roof ù sometimes out of metal, sometimes with handmade cedar shake shingles. He doesn't hinge them to open like a dollhouse. He explains that he left one end open on one barn so people could look inside. But they seem less interested in that barn than they are in barns where they have to peer through doors and windows. "I take them to many shows in the summertime," Finley says. "I enjoy talking to people about these old barns. Little kids love them." When he hauled one barn to a show, wind blew off one corner, and he didn't have time to fix it. People at the show liked it because they identified with it and remembered real barns that had similar damage. Finley has ideas for the future, such as a barn with a gambrel roof and maybe a timber frame church. He'd like to do commissioned small-scale barns (when he's not working on real ones), but notes he'd likely make them in 1/2-in. scale to make them affordable and small enough to display. For now, he builds them for his own enjoyment and to think about something else besides the bad economy and other depressing news. He believes his buildings help others get their minds off the world, too, and the response from the public has its own rewards. "One couple talked to me for about three hours," Finley recalls. "And then she said, æI want to give you a hug, so I can say I hugged a famous guy.' " Finley welcomes people who want to see his buildings. Call for an appointment. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lowell B. Finley, 1790 Mansfield Washington Rd., Mansfield, Ohio 44903 (ph 419 522-6572; finleypat@aol.com).

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