I recently completed two small structure builds from KC's Workshop for a new scene on my layout. The idea was to have a group of small businesses along a city block. I needed a third to go between the the other two and this kit from FOS Scale Models has been on my radar for a while.
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Here's a look at the website photo of the kit. It has all of the usual interesting elements of a FOS kit. The exterior staircase, the side bump-out additions and the busy roof area all appealed to me. And it fit right into the space on my city block scene.
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Here's the bag the kit came in.
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A lot of material came out of the bag. Laser cut wood walls, some matboard parts, lots of different kinds of strip wood and a detail bag with some nice castings.
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As per usual with a FOS kit, you get detailed instructions, images for how to do the bracing and the always good FOS signs. They even included an extra sheet of signs- a nice bonus.
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Next time we'll get going on this nice little kit.
I'll be following along, Jeff.
I picked up this kit in Scranton at the modelling expo in 2015. A neat looking kit with all those little 'WOW' features you speak of. I still haven't found a spot for mine on the layout, yet, but there is still plenty of time.
Cheers, Mark.
I'll be following Jeff. Interesting looking kit.
Jeff, that's a good looking kit.
Have fun building it.
Howdy Jeff,
Good luck with the kit. It boasts nice instructions and lots of detail. Your previous builds look terrific. Nice work.
Have fun,
mike
Good en & another home run on deck!
Good choice, Jeff. It's in my stash waiting to be built so you know I'll be following along.
Jeff your two buildings look great.
This will only add to the street.
Jerry
Good looking kit Jeff, I'll be looking in..... :)
Hello Mark, Curt, Rick, Mike, Philip, Bob, Jerry and Greg - thanks to all of you for the nice response to my FOS kit build. I think that this will fit nicely in my street block scene.
Continuing on...
I forgot to include this picture in my obligatory box, or in this case bag, opening pictures. Here are the different wall materials, the bundle of strip wood and the bag of detail goodies. You get a lot of stuff in this little kit.
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I had to start with the fun stuff, so I dove right into the storefront and top cornice for the front wall. Both are layers of matboard, strip wood and in the case of the actual cornice pieces- styrene. It was fun fiddling with the little pieces. Here is a pic of the assembled storefront and top cornice with the center front wood wall piece.
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I painted the sub-assemblies along with the windows and doors with a rattle can Nutmeg color. I then dry brushed them with an off white craft paint.
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I then turned my attention to the exterior staircase walls. You cover the appropriate matboard pieces with 2x10 strip wood. I first stained the wood with my A&I solution and then cut them into scale 6-8-and 10 foot lengths.
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Using full strength wood glue I attached the strip wood to the matboard. I took care to leave a small space between the ends of the boards and the sides of the boards. I haven't done this before and I thought I would try it. It yields an interesting look that I like. After the glue dries I'll cut the pieces to fit the wall shape.
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The roof top access shed is supposed to be covered with the galvanized sheet metal material that comes with the kit, but I liked the board by board look of the exterior staircase so much that I decided to continue the look here.
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Here are the pieces of the staircase and roof-top shed all trimmed out.
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Now it was time to get to the walls of the structure. I started out by deciding to cut the rear wall in half. I had a little extra room in the area behind the structure on my base for the block of businesses, so I figured an addition on the back would fit right in. You can see the pencil line where I decided to cut the wall.
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After cutting the wall, I then cut a piece of 1/16th plywood to the same shape. You can see the cut piece off to the side.
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I then cut a couple of side walls for the addition from some clapboard wall material I had on hand, which matched the pattern of the kit walls exactly.
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I'm having a lot of fun with this kit so far. That's it for now, more later.
Hi Jeff.
None of the photos in this last post are showing up for me.
Cheers, Mark.
Hello Mark, give it a few minutes and then try again. I've seen other comments about this happening. As Rusty explained, it takes a few minutes for the system to upload the pictures from a post. I see that you checked in just two minutes after I posted.
I like the staggered boards Jeff.
Jeff, looks good and keep having fun.
Hello Rick, thanks for looking in and I am having fun
Continuing on...
I've added the bracing to all of the walls
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Then I stained both sides of the walls with my A&I solution. It always looks darker when it has just been applied. The wall section at the upper left corner of the picture did warp a little between the window openings. I hurriedly added a piece of bracing there and weighted the piece down. All was well after a bit.
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I then dry brushed the walls with a Golden Brown craft paint. I applied a couple of signs, most notably the large yellow sign on the right side. It almost covers the whole wall. I first sanded the back side to thin out the paper and then brushed on a wood glue and water mixture. After positioning the sign on the wall, I used my fingernail to press it down into the clapboard pattern. A little later, I dry brushed some of the Golden Brown onto the surface of the sign, being careful not to overdo it.
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Here I'm gluing the three sections of the front wall together
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Here's the completed front wall. The interior sign in the large window comes with the kit. I added some roofing paper to the top cornice surface as well as the mid-point location just below the red sign.
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Here's a look at the front wall and the completed roof-top access shed. I'm glad that I used the board by board method here. I think that it looks good.
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The wall assembly process went well. Everything fit just the way it was supposed to. FOS kits are always high quality.
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The main roof has its roofing paper and here I'm weighing down the gluing of the side addition roof.
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The exterior staircase has been glued in place as well as the small roof over the left side rear entry area. You can see from this angle the stirp wood framing I added to the underside of that small roof. It can't really be seen when the model sits flat, but at least I know it's there. Also, rafter tails were added where needed.
I then glued on the matboard base. I painted this with a concrete colored chalk paint. This gives a little sidewalk area in the front and left side and also gives the building the look of a concrete foundation. I never like the look of a wood building just sitting on the ground.
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That's it for now, more later.
Nice work Jeff!
Very well done.
Jerry
Everything looks very good Jeff. This will be a nice addition to your layout.
Jeff, that went together quickly.
That front wall looks very good especially the weathering on the sign.
Howdy Jeff, nice work on the hosiery. Have fun, mike
Hello Philip, Jerry, Curt, Rick and Mike, thanks to all of you for looking in and for the kind words. This FOS kit went together really well and I'm pleased with the kit bashing that I did. It's time for some details and then to work on the base so that I can finally plant my street block of businesses on the layout.
Continuing on...
Here's a look at the finished front wall and the roof-top sign that comes with the kit. The two guys sitting on the bench are waiting for their ladies to finish their shopping. And the upstairs apartment tenant is about to open the door so that he can get home, put his feet up and relax after a long day.
The roof-top sign is a nice touch. It went together easily and I weathered the sign surface with a little bit of pastel chalk.
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Here's a good look at the BIG sign. It's an eye-catcher for sure. You can also see here the side of the new rear addition. As with all FOS kits, the roof is a busy place with lots to look at.
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Here's the rear wall. I used the paper product metal roof material for the new rear addition as well as the left side rear roof. I first painted the paper product with two coats of a silver color craft paint then I dry brushed on some rust colors.
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Here's the left wall with all of its angles, surfaces and different materials. This view on the website is what sold me on the kit in the first place. I think that my kit bash of the new addition on the rear balances out the overall look of the structure. I'm very happy with it.
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Jeff, that looks fantastic.
That huge sign on the side looks great there.
Rusty roof and details are also nicely done.
Howdy Jeff,
The finished hosiery looks fantastic. Excellent job with the details, signs, and colors. Now you need the FOS H.T. Gordon's Brassiere and Corset Co. to complement the fine hosiery model. ;D
Have fun,
mike
Nice work. FOS kits are great. Your addition does balance the structure well.
Jeff
Quote from: Rick on April 12, 2025, 08:25:24 PMJeff, that looks fantastic.
That huge sign on the side looks great there.
Rusty roof and details are also nicely done.
Hello Rick, thanks for taking the time to comment. The big sign comes with the kit. FOS has the best signs. The rusty roof came out pretty well. I think that I finally came up with a method that looks good.
Quote from: friscomike on April 13, 2025, 01:56:57 PMHowdy Jeff,
The finished hosiery looks fantastic. Excellent job with the details, signs, and colors. Now you need the FOS H.T. Gordon's Brassiere and Corset Co. to complement the fine hosiery model. ;D
Have fun,
mike
Hello Mike, thanks for the nice words. I looked up the kit you mentioned- it's huge! I don't think I'd have room for something that big.
Quote from: Zephyrus52246 on April 13, 2025, 05:24:39 PMNice work. FOS kits are great. Your addition does balance the structure well.
Jeff
Hello Jeff, thank you. I'm glad that I had some extra room at the rear of the structure- the addition fits right in. I'm always looking for opportunities to change up the kits that I build to make them unique to my layout.
A few more pictures, before it goes on to the base.
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The base for my street block of small businesses is some thin styrene with the building footprints taped off. The base pretty much fills the site on my layout. This way I can do much of the scenery work on the workbench and then just touch up the scenery around the edges of the base when it goes onto the layout.
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I first sprayed the base with a rattle can flat grey primer. When dry I removed the tape. I then use some brown craft paint as a base then sprinkle on some sifted dirt from my yard. Next I dribble on some water and matte medium mix to set everything in p[lace. I then come back for the next layer of scenery- different types of ground foam and maybe some detail castings. In this picture I'm ready to place the structures on the base. I do the front scenery after the buildings are in place so that I can blend the scenery in a little better in areas that will face the aisle of my layout.
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That's it for now, more later when I'll have some pictures of everything on the layout.
Jeff,
Great job and fast build. Well done.
Tom
That's one of Doug's better designs, I think. The complex roofline works on this kit, although it does generally look a bit over-compressed. At least there aren't any funky overhanging 2nd story pop-outs. Jeff's construction and finishing is first-rate.
dave
Wonderful job, Jeff! That's a lot of eye candy in a small amount of space. It's going to really pop on the layout. Two thumbs up on the job you did with this one!
Quote from: ACL1504 on April 14, 2025, 10:15:58 AMJeff,
Great job and fast build. Well done.
Tom
Hello Tom, thanks for looking in and for the kind words. Truth be told, it wasn't that fast of a build. I didn't start posting until I was just about finished with the build.
Quote from: deemery on April 14, 2025, 10:22:44 AMThat's one of Doug's better designs, I think. The complex roofline works on this kit, although it does generally look a bit over-compressed. At least there aren't any funky overhanging 2nd story pop-outs. Jeff's construction and finishing is first-rate.
dave
Hello Dave, I agree with you, it is one of Doug's better designs and thank you for the nice comments.
Quote from: ReadingBob on April 14, 2025, 06:19:27 PMWonderful job, Jeff! That's a lot of eye candy in a small amount of space. It's going to really pop on the layout. Two thumbs up on the job you did with this one!
Hello Bob, thank you so much. I had a lot of fun with this build.
Here's a look at the last workbench photo. I finished the scenery in front of the buildings. Working this way, it's much easier to spin the whole scene around to get at all sides.
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On the layout next to Pop's store
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And with the luncheonette on the other side
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And a look at all three together
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A couple of drone shots and we caught the end of a passing freight train on the rear track.
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The shelf here is only 18 inches deep. I like the way that the street block of businesses are in front of the moving trains in the rear. These three craftsman kits took the place of a Merchants Row styrene kit that I built early on in my layout history.
I had a lot of fun with all three of these builds and I am very pleased with how they look on the layout. Thanks again to all who took the time to look in and comment. Next, it's on to a re-build of a corner grain elevator scene. After all, as we all know, a layout is never done.
Beautiful scene! That roofer needs to kick it in high gear! He been working for a month! ;D
Terrific job Jeff.
Jeff,
Nice job on the build, its fits the space like a glove.
Tom
Terrific scene, Jeff.
This build has come up very nicely.
Cheers, Mark.
Great build and terrific scene, well done Jeff..... 8)
Quote from: Philip on April 15, 2025, 10:45:58 AMBeautiful scene! That roofer needs to kick it in high gear! He been working for a month! ;D
Hello Philip, I think that's called job security and he's got more work waiting for him at Pop's store roof.
Quote from: PRR Modeler on April 21, 2025, 01:18:05 PMTerrific job Jeff.
Thank you Curt.
Quote from: ACL1504 on April 21, 2025, 05:40:30 PMJeff,
Nice job on the build, its fits the space like a glove.
Tom
Hello Tom, thanks for looking in. I had fun with this one and it does fit right into that space.
Quote from: Mark Dalrymple on April 21, 2025, 05:53:03 PMTerrific scene, Jeff.
This build has come up very nicely.
Cheers, Mark.
Hello Mark, thank you for the kind words.
Quote from: GPdemayo on April 22, 2025, 03:04:24 PMGreat build and terrific scene, well done Jeff..... 8)
Hello Greg, thank you so much. I'm very pleased with how my little row of businesses turned out. I was next going to re-build a grain elevator scene in a corner of my upper level, but I've had to shift gears since I now, thanks to Jim and Craig, have to make room for a large flour mill scene.
Howdy Jeff, great looking street you are developing, and the structures are fantastic. Really nice work. Have fun, mike
Hello Mike, thanks for looking in and taking the time to comment and I am having fun !
They look terrific.
Nice modeling.
Very nice Jeff. It makes for a really realistic scene.
Jerry
For such a small kit, there are a lot of things going on. Great job Jeff
Hello Rick, Jerry and John, thank you all for taking the time to comment on my build. I appreciate the feedback and the kind words. The smaller craftsman kits always deliver a lot of bang for the buck. They are fun to build and they look great on the layout.
Jeff,
This was a fine build and it looks amazing next to the other two buildings.
Your scenery makes it fit in very well.
Rich