Making glazing bars
I like to make the buildings for my layout and modules myself. In this way one does not encounter the same 'townshouses' everywhere.
But how do you make the windows like the ones on this photo of a hardware store somewhere in France? With 3D printing you won't succeed. And windows with such fine glazing bars are not available commercially. Still, it is quite easy: with sewing thread in the right thickness.
Window topfloor
I always begin with a printje of the facade and windowsn in the right scale, so 1:87 for me. The thicker parts of the window frames I useally make from cardboard (for the shop window) or I 3D print them (blue window). The shutters are made of thin polystyreen strips, in which I scribe the grooves of the wooden planks with a scharp object, like an etching or sewing needle.
1. Spread a piece of transparant or other thin paper over the window that you want to make, and trace it precisely with a pencil. Make sure the lines of the glazing bars extend quite far over the edge of the window frame (see the green lines in drawing 1 below).
2. Then pick a piece of transparant plastic (e.g. from an overheadsheet or plastic packaging) that is bigger than de window and position it over your drawing. At the edges of the plastic make small cuts on the green lines.
Original holiday photo of a hardware/plumbing store (ferblanterie/plomberie) somewhere in France, probably in Luxeuil les Bains.
3. Then wind sewing thread in the correct colour from cut to cut along the green lines. Make sure that the thread that needs to be visible later always comes on top of the plastic. The connections along the edges, from one cut to the next, should lie at the back. Glue both ends of the thread onto the plastic with a droplet of all purpose glue.
4. Finally add glue all around the back of the window frame* and glue that on top of the plastic. In this way the thread is fixed extra. To better show the effect of the glass bars I stuck a piece of black paper behind the window in drawing 4.
*) It is wise to paint the window frame the right colour before glueing it on. Then you won't get paint on the glass.
Shop window
Just like in the top window, you can make the glazing bars for the shop window in the same way.
For the ironwork of the balcony I scribed the (simplefied) pattern into a small piece of plastic sheet and then filled the grooves with acrylic paint. After drying remove the access paint outside the grooves with a cloth or paper towel.
The same building as above, but then as a model in h0 scale. Find the differences!