Bar Mills Cundy Village Hotel

[Jim Donovan]

Note: I am adding this note after I completed this kit. If you are thinking of making one of these hotels or are looking for thoughts on the kit I ended the thread with an Observations, thoughts and suggestions post. So go there first to learn what I learned and then enjoy making this great, challenging kit.

I decided to treat myself to build one of the more complicated kits for the Holland Odessa R.R. Every small town in the early 1900's had a hotel, often it was the social center for the community. I saw this kit and knew it would be perfect for the small layout I am creating. To help keep me focused I decided to attempt a thread as I build this extensively laser cut kit.

I have for the last couple of years been building smallish kits, often making significant modifications so they fit the layout better and to help me improve my building skills. With this kit we are going to stick to the directions as much as possible. I want to see how well I can make a 'clean' kit with the finished product as close to what the designer intended.

So Here is the box the kit came in:


The kit comes in several packages for the various sections of the building. There is a lot of laser cut parts, especially detailed windows and railings:


The horses in the picture are for another project, they got in the picture by mistake. The full length fireplaces are resin and look very well detailed. There are no metal castings as far as I can see at this point.

The directions are extensive on how to proceed for each step but offer little in the way of tips and suggestions for various building techniques. They clearly state this in the introduction saying the kit is complicated and you need to know what you are doing as far as technique goes since the directions need to focus on helping you carefully build the structure correctly.

It is a little jarring reading each step. The kit has been out for a few years but the stapled black and white (except for the colored cover page) directions contain quite a few misspellings and incorrect grammar. I would have thought they would have been corrected over time and they certainly are not what I expected of a high end builder like Bar Mills. No matter, it looks like an exciting kit to make. I plan to take the directions apart from the stable and place them in a three ring hard cover binder. Other then being in black and white the two sided printed directions are clear and well organized.

More in a minute.

[Jim Donovan]

The first step is the foundation made of laser cut brick with wide veranda steps that will lead to the hotel entrance. The directions make it clear that while this step is not very hard it must be exactly correct since everything that comes depends on this section being in perfect alignment and flat.

Construction is straight forward with slots and corner bracing supplied for correct alignment and ensure the parts are placed exact. Before gluing the parts together I carefully sanded the lasered edges of the parts to remove the slight angle that occurs when the laser cuts the wood. The missing material from the cut is called Kerf. When a laser cuts wood it loses focus slightly as it cuts deeper creating a very slight angle. Using a 600 grit emery board I trued up the sides and confirmed they were at 90 degrees. In the past two years I think I have tried about every glue out there. It seems everyone has their favorites which often differ. For me I have gone 360 degrees. I started with Elmers White Glue (not the school white but the real Elmers), tried every other PVA glue and ended back with Elmers. I like the consistency and the wiggle time it gives me. I put the glue in a craft thin tip bottle (stainless tip) and apply direct to area I want glued. The small bottle and narrow tip allows you to 'suck' the glue back in if it is coming out too fast. For really tight areas or were I want total control I use a micro Q-Tip (used in cosmetics). I remove the Q-Tip part which leaves a plastic stick that comes to a very fine point. I like it better then using a regular toothpick as the handle is longer and the tip sharper. You can get them cheap on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Shintop-400pcs-Disposable-Applicator-Brushes/dp/B01M7TJPT0/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&hvadid=78065377658779&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=micro+q+tips&qid=1595305043&sr=8-7&tag=mh0b-20

Following directions carefully I put the parts together without gluing. Once I had confirmed the parts were in the correct place I used the Elmers and glued the parts together from the inside (non lasered). A thin bead was enough where the foundation parts locked together. I made sure only a very thin bead was applied and that no glue was on any part of the lasered brick facing. The same was done with the steps. Both finished sub-assemblies had steel blocks placed on them to ensure they remained flat and perpendicular where needed.



When all was glued together it looks like this:



Finally, here is a picture of where the hotel will be located on the layout and gives you an idea of the size it will be.



That's it till next time.

[ReadingBob]

Following along Jim!  That looks like an interesting structure/kit. 

Darn those sneaky horses photo bombing you like that to get their picture taken.   

[WigWag Workshop]

This looks like a challenging kit, looking forward to seeing the progress.  Appreciate you sharing the build.


-Steven

[deemery]

I have that one put away, so I'll be interested to see how this goes!


dave

[PRR Modeler]

I'll be following.  Looks great so far.

[GPdemayo]

I'm in.....have fun with this one Jim. 

[postalkarl]

Hey Jim,:

That's A great kit. I have the whole Cundy Village kit. I built A few of the building on the internet for Arty some years back but not the Hotel. have fun with it.

Karl

[cuse]

That's a beauty of a kit. I was looking for real estate (didn't find any) when it came out.


John

[Jim Donovan]

Thanks Bob glad your on board. I have tried to learn a bunch from your well written build threads. If you see me getting ready to fall off the tracks, and that goes for everyone following along, please let me know.

Jim

PS: had to put the horses out to pasture.

[Jim Donovan]

Welcome aboard Steven;

I joined this group a couple of years ago. This is my go to place for learning, so what you see was learned most likely from somebody here. I have scratch built a couple of things but this is the most intricate kit I have attempted. With most kits I screw around with them, changing them to look like what I want and use as an opportunity to learn new techniques. Not this time. I am going to do what I feel most comfortable with and hope it is enough.

Jim D

[Jim Donovan]

Welcome Dave;

I hope you point out ideas as I move along. You are a wealth of knowledge.

Jim D

[Jim Donovan]

Hi Curt;

Time to find out if I can simply build a kit. This one needs no mods or changes, I have read the directions, such as they are, and it is indeed intricate, more like a 3D Puzzle. The next step after foundation has 100 parts. Clime in if you have an idea, I can use all the help I can get on this one.

Jim D

* Since this original post I have decided that a lot can be added to this kit and I will do so.

[deemery]

I talked to Art Fahey about getting a set of plain wood walls (rather than the siding in the kit), thinking this would look great as a brick structure.  Jim Mooney asked, "But what about that tower and arch?  You wouldn't have all that brick depending on some wood posts to hold it up!"  Jim (as always) made a good point.  If I ever solve that engineering problem (I'm thinking stone archway :-) ), I might go back and ask Art to do the plain sides.  But that's a project for when I get to the city part of my layout.


dave

[Jim Donovan]

Welcome Greg;

I have been watching your new kit, looking great. Let me know if something doesn't look correct for real world or any ideas you
might have.

Thanks

Jim D