2020 Build Challenge - House On The Hill

[NEMMRRC]

Greetings and welcome to the new roaring 20's. Let's get it started with a new build challenge. I will be building the Polar Lights House on The Hill.





This is an HO plastic kit made by Polar Lights. It is loosely based on the Pyscho mansion from the famous motion picture. I will not be building the Psycho mansion. However, I will be building the house in a state of disrepair. I will be using Jason Jensen's famous YouTube tutorials as guidance.


The price on the box says $23.99. I paid $23. You can get them for less on eBay.





Note the skill level on the box, 2. Must be 10 years of age to build this. Otherwise, pestilence and havoc will rain down on your workbench.





The kit comes in four or so sprues inside a plastic bag.





The kit literature says the kit comes molded in 4 different colors. That is technically true. However, two of the colors are a close shade of grey/brown.





The instructions are simple and rely on exploded diagrams to guide the modeler on how to assemble the kit.











One is to follow along with the numbered steps on the exploded diagrams as the kit is glued together.


The cast parts are fairly crisp and have nice detail definition for the price.








It should be noted the windows and doors are already cast on the walls. This speeds up construction but makes it challenging to paint them a separate color than the building.


This is going to be a fun build and hopefully a quick one. I imagine a dedicated modeler could knock out this build in a weekend. I am not that dedicated so it'll take me a month of Sundays 


More as it develops.


Jaime

[Opa George]

Jaime,
I'll be following this build.  Nice Victorian Second Empire style house--always fun to add some detailed architectural style to the layout, and the price is right. Darryl just finished up a good short tutorial on making plastic kits look as good as wood kits.  Eager to see what you do with it.
--Opa George

[rpdylan]

hey Jaime, nice choice! I built this a few years ago- used a scratch tool on the siding surfaces really enhanced the clapboard.

[NEMMRRC]

hey Jaime, nice choice! I built this a few years ago- used a scratch tool on the siding surfaces really enhanced the clapboard.

I am trying that scratching technique. Thanks for the tip.


Jaime

[NEMMRRC]

Jaime,
I'll be following this build.  Nice Victorian Second Empire style house--always fun to add some detailed architectural style to the layout, and the price is right. Darryl just finished up a good short tutorial on making plastic kits look as good as wood kits.  Eager to see what you do with it.
--Opa George

That is a nice tutorial from Darryl. Darryl has some cool videos as well on YouTube.


Jaime

[JimF]

Cool choice, Jamie. I'm watching, as well.

My gas station is planned to be on the corner of a more residential neighborhood, was thinking 3 or 4 Victorian townhouses, but this house may replace 1 or 2 of them.

Jim

[Oldguy]

This will be a fascinating build.

[deemery]

This will be fun, I'm a big fan of styrene kits done well.  I've been tempted by those kits several times. 


dave

[GPdemayo]

I'll be looking in Jamie.....

[bandman]

Looking forward to your build, Jaime.  A friend in the modular group I'm in built this as in the Psycho movie.  I look forward to your rendition. 

[ACL1504]

Jaime,

I'll be following along as well.

Tom

[Mark Dalrymple]

I'll be following along, Jaime.

I'll have a look for that tutorial from Darryl, too.

Cheers, Mark.

[Raymo]

A nice addition to the challenge, old school plastic kit. Can't wait to see it done.

[ReadingBob]

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one.  It should be a lot of fun!   

[PRR Modeler]

I'll be following.