toyfarmer Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Having a go at making a Nissan hut using Nickel silver rails taken from some old oo gauge Hornby Railway track. Heres my progress so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyfarmer Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 It measures 270mm wide 300mm long 180mm high. I now have to paint the insides of the frame before i put the rear wall in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyfarmer Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 More updates will follow as work progresses, please tell us what you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philsterrainstudio Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Hi Both born the same month - like the hut - have you based this on photos/ google images or off the top of your head? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leakeyvale Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Hi Both born the same month - like the hut - have you based this on photos/ google images or off the top of your head? More likely from seeing one - believe it or not there are still quite a few about being used for stables, barns or machinery stores and I have even been in one that was residential. Very cosy it was too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractorman810 Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Very nice work , I have two like that on my layout but I just went for a sheet of bent card to get the shape, I fixed the bottoms on a small line of bricks like our real Ones were to keep the shape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 That would also make a great polytunnel frame! Chap I know used one as a potato store as it kept very cool inside. Plenty around Wiltshire as there are lots of retired airfields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leakeyvale Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 That would also make a great polytunnel frame! Chap I know used one as a potato store as it kept very cool inside. Plenty around Wiltshire as there are lots of retired airfields. ...and Hampshire too! I used to ride out Chilbolton way and Nissen huts were the stables Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyfarmer Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 Hi Both born the same month - like the hut - have you based this on photos/ google images or off the top of your head? Hi Both born the same month - like the hut - have you based this on photos/ google images or off the top of your head? Made from memory of one on one of the farms my dad worked on when i was a child. Still plenty in use around here which will be useful when the time comes for painting and weathering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyfarmer Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 Very nice work , I have two like that on my layout but I just went for a sheet of bent card to get the shape, I fixed the bottoms on a small line of bricks like our real Ones were to keep the shape Very nice work , I have two like that on my layout but I just went for a sheet of bent card to get the shape, I fixed the bottoms on a small line of bricks like our real Ones were to keep the shape I considered something similar then found some old railway track while having a tidy out and got to thinking how i could make use of it and this is what i came up with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyfarmer Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 That would also make a great polytunnel frame! Chap I know used one as a potato store as it kept very cool inside. Plenty around Wiltshire as there are lots of retired airfields. That would also make a great polytunnel frame! Chap I know used one as a potato store as it kept very cool inside. Plenty around Wiltshire as there are lots of retired airfields. I think a lot of them around here came off the bases as they shut down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerrabbit Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Nissenhuts began life made for the military and after the 2nd World War were sold off to farmers, landowners and even the building industry. Many were used for domestic accommodation and yes, they were cosy, being very well insulated. We had one here on the farm, it was only one of two buildings we had when my Father bought the farm and was used as a chicken battery house, a grain/feed store and in 1962/3 winter we housed the milking cows in it. It eventually became so rusty that we had a new bigger barn built on the site and the new barn was built over the top of it and the nissenhut was dismantled from within the new barn. When we dismantled it we could then see how it was constructed. The steel 'hoops' were two fairly thin U channels riveted back-to Back and concreted into the ground, the galvanised sheets were nailed on with the nails being hammered between the riveted 'joint' of the hoops. Under the galvanised sheets between the hoops there was insulation that was like rock wool but was I think hemp 'wool' which was sandwiched between sheets of tarred thick crinkly paper stitched right through and this was placed between the ribs and then completeley covered with a lining of hardboard again nailed into the joint of the two haves of the ribs. Ventilation was a series of equall spaced large holes along the length of the top right along the centre line with a cone capping on 3 'legs' over the top of the holes. There were originally windows in the sides but these had been blanked off years before. Problem was the rats getting between the lining and the insulation, dark nights you could hear them shreiking and rattling around. Many a village hall used to be a nissanhut. There are some good pictures of variants and their uses on Google>images. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leakeyvale Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Lovely description, Tim. Considering their construction it is amazing that many have lasted all these years. They were, after all, temporary buildings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerrabbit Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 (edited) It's the way they were constructed Sue and the quality and thickness of the materials. Funny how 'temporary' buildings of that age have become 'permanent' and stood the test of time and over the years have been added to, developed and changed beyond all recognition but in the core and fabric remain the same, just see how many old railway carriages have turned into bungalows and even houses. A village hall near to me is, to look at from the outside a regular building, but once inside, it's a nissanhut. Edited May 13, 2012 by powerrabbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_scrivener Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 (edited) Talking of WW2 & Nissen huts, I have a very unusual, and sort of related, item, a toy Anderson Bomb Shelter! I bought it off eBay, where the seller thought it was a pig sty (came with some lead pigs & the Crescent Land Girl), but the raised base means it is obviously a bomb shelter, as pig stys are not normally half buried! I think it was made by Peacock & Co, who were based in Islington, London, so the owners would certainly have had the Blitz in mind. I doubt many of these were made, as they could only have been made in the first few months of the war. Once the Blitz had started in ernest, and kids and their parents had spent a few terrifying and uncomortable nights in these things, I think the novelty would have worn off, and they wouldn't wanted a toy version any more! Included in the photo are a Crescent army aircraft spotter, a T&B lady from their ARP set, and the Britains 'Village Girl'. Edited May 13, 2012 by david_scrivener Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I even over looked West Wilts Trading Estate here in Westbury, two of the roads of business units is entirely Nissen Huts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractorman810 Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 its harder to get rid of them now a days than keep them tidy and usable, most are asbestos clad,i know our 2 were, and getting rid of that stuffs a nightmare, untouched and maintained it will outlast most stuff, recon thats why so many are still arround Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Like the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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