Carolina Craftsman kit Rural Post Office.

[ACL1504]

Here are a few photos of the finished model.

[ACL1504]

I said the model was 99.9% finished. As you can see I need to make a set of stairs for the rear door of the store.





More in a few.

[ACL1504]

Here is a good look at the roof, the chimneys and the two vent stacks.




Here is a better look at the box frame I made for the front deck. You can see the original 5 ft. deck and the extra 3 ft. addition.

[ACL1504]

I was on the phone a few weeks ago with Groovy Jeff. He mentioned that he had a new kit of a country post office and thought it would be a building I'd be interested in. He sent me the picture, the one at the front of this thread.

I called him, or maybe I emailed him and said I love it. Gotta have one. He said he would send one and I said I'd do a thread on the build. He graciously sent one at no charge - Yes, I did offer to pay. He also said I didn't have to do a thread, I said yea, I do.

What appealed to me about the kit was the fact it was an old country store/post office and had many many possibilities. I love putting my own spin on the kits I build.

The Babe is calling. My braun is needed and not my brain thank God.


Back in a few.

[Dave K.]

First rate job! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[ACL1504]

Okay, back.

The kit is very simple and straight forward as to the build. The instructions are clear and unambiguous. The walls were all cut squarely and the doors and windows fit without me having to make any corrections.

Of course you saw where I removed the battens over/under/around the windows and doors. However, this isn't required.

Jeff did include a small Coke machine and a box for coal. I used the Coke machine but not the coal bin.

In Jeff's version of the kit, four pieces of white material was included as a foundation. Or, maybe this was included so the modeler could glue the vertical exterior boards to it.



If you refer to the original photo below, you can see the vertical boards probably go all the way around the structure.



I opted for the brick piers as this gave me a better look as a southern style building.



More in a few.

[GPdemayo]

Another excellent build Tom.....well done. 

[ACL1504]

If you choose to follow the original instructions, you will end up with a great looking country store/post office.

The kit has so many possibilities and I tried to include them all in my build.

I spent a great amount of time studying the picture and made as many changes to the kit to resemble the original structure.

I added the horizontal bead board on the front of the store wall, the ban boards on the bottom of each of the four walls. I also added the full exterior rafters next to the peaked front and rear walls, full exterior rafters to the edge of the roof and 38 rafter tails.

The chimneys were modified to represent the original chimneys by drilling a 9/64 hole in the brick columns and then shaped and sanded at the top. I added two roof vent stacks and a repair patch on the roof.

The front doors were modified and recessed into the front wall to accommodate the screen doors. The screen doors were framed with scale 2x2's and fit over the recessed doors.

Jeff will send the screen doors if the modeler wants to go that route. Actually the store and post office need the screen doors to look like the picture.

All the other stuff I mentioned is fluff I added to my model but makes all the difference. All the changes I made can be accomplished a little added expense. The screen material is cheap and the goose neck light is an extra. BTW, I didn't get the goose neck from Slim, I used his parts to make mine.

Anyway, this is a kit you can't loose on. It is simple yet elegant. Character just doesn't describe the look when finished.

This kit is a must if you like a well designed little country post office. Jeff hit this one out of the park.

I certainly appreciate Jeff letting me build this one for the forum.

Now call Jeff and get yours.

Tom

[PRR Modeler]

Beautiful modeling Tom. Another top notch building for the A&S.

[ACL1504]

First rate job! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Dave,

Thank you for the very nice compliment on the build. Honestly, I just trying to keep up with your excellent modeling.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Another excellent build Tom.....well done. 

Greg,

Thank you Butty, much appreciated. It was sure a fun build.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Beautiful modeling Tom. Another top notch building for the A&S.

Curt,

Thank you my friend. I'm happy you like it and I'm glad you got a chance to see it in person this past Saturday.

Tom

[ACL1504]

This is the real estate site where the structure will be placed. Looks like I'll need to rework the dirt road.

[Janbouli]

Thanks again Tom , what a wonderful little structure and you make it look so simple. I absolutely love the screen doors.

[ACL1504]

Thanks again Tom , what a wonderful little structure and you make it look so simple. I absolutely love the screen doors.

Jan,

Thank you for following along. Mostly it is simple but very time consuming for extra details. The screens are a nice touch Jeff added.

Tom