New 28mm McPherson’s Barn available from Gettysburg crafter

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, resident Karen Rhodes is a crafter and modeler. Recently, she has begun scratch-building custom-made wargaming buildings, including this 28mm wonderful rendition of McPherson’s barn, a prominent landmark on the first day’s battlefield west of town.

She writes, “I started doing buildings around 20 years ago.  Some of  which are on my gallery page of my retail site.  http://www.clayalley.com/gallery.htm

Her sculptures are of the buildings themselves – no landscaping or interiors. She has made structures in 1:144 scale, as well as 15mm, 15mm scale, HO scale, 28mm scale, and just about any other size which has interested her, including Putz houses. Karen does everything by hand — total scratchbuilding.  She uses a variety of materials, foam, balsa, basswood, textured paper, clay,  – just anything actually and in her words, “I do not rush.  A building may take me 4 months or more to do depending on the complexity,  size, etc.  Each of the shingles on the McPherson barn was hand made…. yes, each one I cut and sized on my dining room table – not to mention each was attached individually.  The underside of the overhand of the barn was carved.”

Here are some more of her photos of the 28mm McPherson’s barn.

Karen has supplied some buildings to John Zabawa for resale at his popular Gettysburg Miniature Soldiers retail store on Steinwehr Avenue on the south side of Gettysburg. She is now offering to make buildings for the individual wargamer on a custom basis.

She currently has a website for selling craft supplies. specifically clay, sculpting tools, etc. and will soon be adding photos of some of her wargaming/diorama buildings as well.

These photos show the amount of care and detail that Karen puts into each individual model. Her attention to detail and her painting skills are admirable, and these buildings are sure to be the centerpiece of any Gettysburg diorama or wargaming tabletop battleground.

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge them for better viewing. Karen does superb work.

Her contact information is as follows:

Karen M Rhodes
75 Kinsey Drive
Gettysburg PA 17325
717-334-7473
clayalley@embarqmail.com