Yet another paper kit - Paper Creek O Scale Randsburg Barbershop

[NEMMRRC]

I love to rescue shelf orphans. Whether it be at the hobby shop or at a train show, I love to find old kits no longer made or forgotten and rescue them. Every now and then I actually build them.


Years ago I found an old Paper Creek Model Works O Scale Randsburg Barberhop. I had to have it. I debated whether to build it. Guess what happened?


This is the kit.





I really did pay $10 for it and it is the size of a notebook sheet of paper.


The kit is all paper except for window glazing and one part that is not even visible. I'll wait until the end to reveal what that part is.


Here is everything you get in that kit.





The instructions are thorough. The design is simple. It is not a "shake-the-bag" kit. It is quite involved. The graphics on the kit are flawless.


All you need to build this kit is glue, a sharp hobby knife, lots of sharp blades, tweezers, a metal rule and a Prismacolor marker to hide the white cut edges. The instructions provide a formula for mixing Floquil paints to use to hide the white cut edges. I opted to use the Prismacolor marker.





Even though everything is clearly labeled, I got thrown for a loop with how the instructions reference the building's walls. But I caught on to their naming convention eventually. For example, "T2" refers to a Trim piece, "W1" refers to a Wall piece, "R7" refers to a Roof piece, etc.


The instructions are good for the O Scale (the kit I bought and am building) and the HO Scale version. There is an extra sheet of paper for the O Scale glazing template. The HO Scale glazing template is included in the instructions sheet.


OK. Enough yapping. I decided to scan all the cardstock sheets in the event I screwed something up. After all, it is a paper kit and if I need a spare part all I need to do is print it on cardstock.


More as it develops.


Jaime

[GPdemayo]

Another neat looking structure Jaime.....I'll be looking in. 

[NEMMRRC]

Time to start gluing something together.


The kit provides a full size template for the glazing. That is really nice. You can see it in the photo below. Also, the kit is intended to give the structure relief by layering on components. Even though the kit is printed so all one needs to do is fold the walls and glue them together, that only yields a flat model. Thus, the kit comes with duplicates of much of the architectural features on the structure. So, the modeler is to glue pieces on top of a "double thickness" layer of plain cardstock.


Here is an example of how the model includes relief and definition.










See how that little window opens into the building. Furthermore, the bottom sash on windows that have them, is a separate "double thickness" piece as well.


To hide the white edges of the card where it has been laser cut, I used a Prismacolor grey pen to paint the white edge.





And here is an example of the "double thickness" feature of the kit. One builds the window frames and other components in layers and then glues them on the already printed feature on the walls.











Here is an example of the separate window sashes.










I used a a glue applicator with a micro tip and white glue for this build. Daryl Huffman pointed me to the correct item to purchase. I like it a lot!





The layered effect is carried all throughout the build. Here you can see how the tar paper and battens on one wall of the building are layered on even though they are already printed on the wall and have a convincing relief effect without the extra treatment.








And here are all the walls (flat and unglued to each other) with all the layers glued.





More as it develops.


Jaime

[NEMMRRC]

Gluing the walls is no big deal. You bend the cardstock at the wall corners and glue the provided tabs to the wall interiors.











The kit comes with a few interior bracing pieces. I found those were not enough to give the structure the sturdy support I felt a paper kit ought to have.





The kit does include a printed edge on the roof so one can glue the roofing and leave some of the roof boards exposed.





However, the underside of the roof was not printed.





No biggie. I printed some extra boards and glued them to the underside.





No rafter tails though. But, it would be a breeze to add them. Also, note that I made some gussets to reinforce the structure. I took some extra business cards I had laying about, I laminated them and cut some gussets to fit.


The roofing is glued in layers. There are three layers of corrugated rusty roofing.





There is also a stone foundation included with the kit. I also reinforced it with the laminated business card gussets. It really needed it.





Almost finished.


More as it develops.


Jaime

[PRR Modeler]

I'm always impressed by the quality of paper structures.

[NEMMRRC]

I'm always impressed by the quality of paper structures.

They really are quite detailed. It is a shame Paper Creek is no longer in business. I'm not sure anyone stepped in to fill in the void.


Jaime

[NEMMRRC]

And here is the barbershop all done.




















I don't know what I'll do with this kit. For now it is on a shelf in my closet next to a couple of other dioramas and kits that I have built in theta on the forum.


I really do feel there is a market for these kits and hope someone brings them to life.


Jaime

[PRR Modeler]

Great looking build.

[Janbouli]

That looks amazing , Jaime, would you say it looks better in the photo or in real, I mean does the detailing look realistic in real, or is it very obvious they are photo's glued together?

[Oldguy]

Looks good.  Hard to tell it's just printed.   

[deemery]

Don't forget about Clever Models.  They often have free starter kits on their website you can download.  http://clevermodels.squarespace.com


dave

[Jerry]

Jaime beautiful build.


Jerry

[NEMMRRC]

That looks amazing , Jaime, would you say it looks better in the photo or in real, I mean does the detailing look realistic in real, or is it very obvious they are photo's glued together?

Thank you.


The detailing is worthy of a foreground model in the right context. The layered approach really gives it a lot definition. The artwork on the model is not photorealistic so on close scrutiny a trained eye can tell the difference. For example, the corrugated roofing layers are flat but have enough detail to fool the eye into believing there are corrugations present. No doubt a dedicated modeler would find a way to corrugate the cardstock provided.


Altogether for the $10 I paid and several evenings of modeling effort this was a bargain.


Jaime

[NEMMRRC]

Great looking build.

It was a lot of fun.

Looks good.  Hard to tell it's just printed.

They did a great job the Paper Creek people.

Don't forget about Clever Models.  They often have free starter kits on their website you can download.  http://clevermodels.squarespace.comdave

Clever has a lot of stuff available. I believe they stopped printing kits long time ago and only offer downloads now.

Jaime beautiful build.Jerry

Thanks for following along.

Jaime

[NEMMRRC]

I should add I did not weather the model other than brushing some grey pastel chalk on the glazing.


The only piece of wood on the kit is a length of dowel used to give the smokestack its form. The smokestack is wrapped around the dowel to ensure it keeps a rigid round shape. No doubt a dedicated modeler would have found a way to stiffen the paper smokestack and done away with the dowel.


Jaime