# Psycho House cira 1900-1910



## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Hi guys! 

I've been building a bunch of model kit houses for my model Rail Road and I remebered that I still had the Polar Lights Psycho House sitting on the shelf, so I thought I'd build it along with these other houses, since I was in the mood. 

I thought I'd take a picture of the Polar Lights Psycho House model kit before I weather it up. You never get to see it in it's original cira 1900-1910 beauty on film.

When I build anything, I usually spray paint the base colour coats on first with Tremclad rust proof paint and then add the detail painting after. I will be weathering the Psycho House as per the box art, but I thought that before I do that, I would take a few pictures of the house with the original paint job, since you never see what the house looks like when it's new on film. 

Enjoy the next 3 pictures as I will begin the weathering process.
























Please excuse the 1976 AMC Gremlin in the background.......

Trevor


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

eep. there's a gremlin in your back yard!

edit. heh: your edit.


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## JasonZ (Jul 17, 2007)

nice model!!!


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## Rebel Rocker (Jan 26, 2000)

Very nice!! Looks great so far. Is this kit actually HO gauge? Just wondering, cause I think it's a great idea to incorporate it into a train layout.

Wayne


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## Roland (Feb 4, 1999)

If your model was a real house, it looks like it would fit in with the real houses in my neighborhood. We live in a historic neighborhood with alot of homes that were built around 1880 to 1910. Our house was built in 1911 and has the same kind of entrance with side windows around the dooor. When I watch Psycho, I think that could be our door. There are some homes built similar in style to the Bates house, but, none of the houses have the same roof as the the Bates house. Below is our house when it was on fire before we bought it. Talk about weathering. No one was injured in this fire and the house since been fixed up like new.


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## ShadOAB (Apr 29, 2007)

Enjoy the next 3 pictures as I will begin the weathering process.


add a chimney while you're at it.


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## Ravenauthor (Jan 24, 2004)

Psycho IV where Norman recalls his childhood shows the house as if it looks new. I believe the house was yellow. I do not know if this was artistic licensing or if Robert Bloch mentioned the original color of the house in the original novel.


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## Roland (Feb 4, 1999)

Madcap Romanian, 

Norman's house was probably taken care of better when his mother was alive. 

Will you place the Bates home into your railroad diorama too? It might look neat to put the Munsters house and the Addam's Family house in there too, while you're at it. Mabey "Dracula's castle" up on a mountain somewhere?

Roland


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Hi guys! ThanX for the comments!

Vollmer has a Vampire's Villa house that smokes. I will get that in the future. I still haven't decided if I should put the house on the Layout or not. The problem is that I would have to build the Bates Motel at the bottom of the hill, and that takes up a lot of room that I'm devoting to other buildings.

I'm also not sure about what season I should put the house in. They primarily show it in a desert setting with lots of sagebrush and a dusty landscape. I wonder how the house would look if it were in a snow scene?

Yesterday my wife and I went to Wal-Mart and found a DVD with Psycho 2,3&4 on it. (They didn't have Psycho #1. I guess it's only avalible on a Hitchcock DVD set.) After viewing these 3 movies, I came to some new conclusions.....

The kit is Ho scale. That's apparent with the size of the windows and doors. The Addams Family house is either 1/72 scale or 1/64. Everything is much to large. I don't have The Munster's house to make any comparisons too. 

Ravenauthor is right, the house was Yellow with white trim. The Yellow is more of a pale yellow, but it is yellow none the less. I'm not sure if I should repaint the house or just "Grey it out" as it were.

I did find some "Missing Detail" on the Polar Lights kit. First off, the stone steps leading up to the house that are on the side of the hill have flowerpots on each of the corners in the movies. The PL steps do not.

ShadOAB is right, there are no chimneys on the kit. I'll have to watch the movies again to find the style and location of them. I might be able to swipe one from a Model Power HO scale house.

Also, the kit has "Mother" sitting in a chair in the "Mother Room", but no room behind her. This could be made simply by building a styrene box and painting it green like the wallpaper. I could also add in some Model Power furniture, although it isn't as fancy as the real room had.

Anyway, I think I'll carry on with the build today!


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## Duck Fink (May 2, 2005)

Nice Madcap! Look forward to seeing the finished product.


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

Here's mine for Model RR use...


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Looks great Y3A. I'll defenatly not stay there....long!


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## ShadOAB (Apr 29, 2007)

I watched the movie the other night....there were no shots that would feature a chiminey. There is a fire place in mother's room featured in Phycho...and a wood cooking stove (seen in Phycho 2). I'm sure there must have been more fire places in the house.

I guess as a "Hollywood" set/house...and knowing the angles are all "up-shots" on the house in the filming....no roof details were needed.


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## the Dabbler (Feb 17, 2005)

MadCap, I built walls around Mother's room with painted wallpaper on it and a small light to Mother's left ( right, looking in) so it looks like she's in semi-sillouette. Also built a scrappy looking "Bates Motel" sign at the bottom of the steps. I put the switch under the movable cellar steps.
I also bought that Volmer's Vampire house from eBait but sent to to my son for his HO layout. NOTE the directions are in German, but the drawings/pictures are fairly easy to follow ( I think, ) my son doesn't grasp German. )


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## irocer (Aug 22, 2000)

Both houses look great! MAdcap you could put the house in any setting and it would work well. Posts a while back had the real house is on the Universal backlot near the cleaned up Munster home. So that would be a accurate setup unless you do want the movie scenery.

Anybody ever been through the Psycho deal at Universal Orlando? They do a behind-the scene shower scene. But the real trick is they have a very large model of the house on their "set''. It 4-5 foot tall.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

No matter where you put the house on the train layout, and no matter how nicely you paint it, everyone will allways recognize it as the Psycho house.


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## the Dabbler (Feb 17, 2005)

That's why my son wanted it on his layout, he has the 1900's Casey Jones engine and old time cars. Psycho and Volmer's Vampire fit right in.


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## Gerry-Lynn (Mar 20, 2002)

Hey mad cap - Looking good! All you need now will be my "Bates Motel" to go with it.

Gerry-Lynn


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## the Dabbler (Feb 17, 2005)

Post a link or a pic or two there G-L !!


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## Gerry-Lynn (Mar 20, 2002)

Dabbler - I will soon. It's almost done to the point of taking it up to Newton, KS the end of Oct. It is in HO scale. I am also building a 1/43rd(decided 1/25th was to big) scale one with Elivra's Monster Bash - Camera crew are Zombies... And all the Monsters are going to be there - Even the "Invisible Man", too. And mother, too. Norman is Elivra's Date. It has been a lot of fun working on it off and on for the last year and a half. I will have it ready for WonderFest - The Wife is still "Pissed" at me for not going the last two times. (Life is tuff!)

Gerry-Lynn


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## the Dabbler (Feb 17, 2005)

WHOA G-L, I GOTTA see that !!! I will bide my time anxiously waiting to see the Invisible Man.


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## Gerry-Lynn (Mar 20, 2002)

Dabbler - You'll know we he is... even though he is "clear". Also - The Adams and the Munsters will be there, too!

Gerry-Lynn


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Where's your pic of the Hotel section?


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