KC's Workshop Steelton Feed and Seed

[nycjeff]

For my next build I am trying my first KC's Workshop kit. I wanted to try a larger kit this time and after looking at this kit I decided to add on to it to make it even bigger. So, we'll see what happens. This kit is a reissue of an older KC's workshop kit called K&W Butter Co. and there is a build thread on that kit by Dave K. back in 2016. Dave did a wonderful job and I used his thread for valuable information on my build. Dave, if you want to post some pics of your build that is fine with me.



First the picture of the box. It says this kit is a 4 exacto knife difficulty level- we'll see.



The contents- laser cut wood walls, different roof materials, stripwood trim, windows, signs and castings. Also some nice foundation pieces. This will be my first kit with a standing metal roof and I'm looking forward to trying something new in roofing styles. The kit also came with a stairway jig that looks like it will be very helpful. I've had problems with building stairs on past kits and it looks like the jig will help me make better looking stairs.



I laid out the wood walls and found that one was slightly damaged.



This is the damaged wall piece. I don't think it will be to hard to repair.



I started out by sanding the edges of the wood walls to make sure they are square. As has been explained many times in multiple threads, the edges are uneven as a result of the laser cutting process- I think it's been called a kerf. I first use a piece of sand paper and then use my sanding stick for harder to reach areas. It's worth the effort. We don't want problems when assembling the walls.



I braced the walls with the provided stripwood and also added extra bracing at the gable ends for a better glueing surface for the roof cards. I learned a lesson about larger kit walls after using my AI solution. I'll explain more about that later. That's it for now, more later

[ReadingBob]

That is a fairly large structure Jeff.  Should be fun.  I've got a front row seat for this one.   

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looks like an interesting kit, Jeff.

I'm looking forward to watching your version, with added extras, coming together.

Cheers, Mark.

[PRR Modeler]

I'll be following.

[ACL1504]

Jeff,

I'll be following along also. I almost order this one but It would probably never get built if I did.

Tom

[postalkarl]

Hey Jeff:

Looks like a great kit and I shall be following your build with interest. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

Karl

[nycjeff]

Thank you Bob, Mark and Karl for looking in. I'm looking forward to this build, it's the largest wood kit I've attempted so far. Tom- thanks for the advice on the weathered copper technique. This kit has a metal roof and I thought I might try the aged patina look that you did so well on your church build.

[WigWag Workshop]

Hey Der Jeff,


I will be following along, I have a couple of KC's kits on my want to build list. Appreciate you sharing.


-Steven

[nycjeff]

Hello Curt and Steven, thanks for looking in. As I mentioned before this is my first KC's Workshop kit and also the largest wood kit I have attempted to this point. The instructions assume some experience building craftsman kits, so I wouldn't suggest it for someone new to this type of kit. I did have some problems as I will explain. Continuing on...



I used my AI solution on the wood walls and despite the amount of bracing I used, the two large walls warped. My first reaction was to use the AI solution on the rear side of the walls to counteract the fronts warping. So I did that and weighted the walls down to see what would happen. They were still warped !



I then added more bracing and weighted the walls while the glue was drying. I didn't use any more AI solution than I normally have in the past, so I am at a loss for the warping reason. Is it because the wood bracing was not big enough ? I followed the bracing instructions and used the stripwood provided in the kit, so where did I go wrong ? I can work my way through this problem, but I am definitely open to any suggestions as to why the walls warped the way they did.



One of the end walls also warped a little, so here the added bracing is being weighted down while the glue is drying



One of the nice items included in the kit is an enclosed stairway. Here I have braced the pieces for that. This was not talked about in the instructions and this is one way that some experience with wood kits is necessary for building this kit. The pictures of the kit in the instructions show this stairway located on the rear wall, but I am thinking of a different location.



The large rear wall and the right side wall both have large open spaces. As mentioned before, the kit suggests locating the enclosed stairway on the rear wall, but I thought that I could build a rear addition with a shed roof and add to the building footprint. I also thought that another addition on the right wall open space would look nice. I drew scale drawings for both front walls for the additions and placed a door and some windows from my parts stash where I thought they might look good. The side walls for both additions would slant up and a shed roof would be added to each.



The more I looked at these two areas I came up with another couple of ideas. If I added the two additions I would not have space for the enclosed stairway and I wanted to use it in some way. I tried locating it on the right wall and it looks like it will fit there without a problem. I also thought that instead of the rear addition, I could build an outside storage area for the warehouse. Shown are drawings for this area. The one placed against the rear wall is actually a floor plan for the new storage area. It would have two deck areas with a space between them for a truck to load and unload  materials. The other drawing shows the framing for the roof supports. There would be four of these, located on each side of the two loading decks. I'm leaning towards the second of my two options, I think the storage areas would give me a chance to show more details and I would also get to use the enclosed stairway. The first idea of the two additions would just give me more enclosed space that would not be visible. What do you guys think ? That's it for now, more later

[PRR Modeler]

Great progress so far.

[GPdemayo]

Good looking kit Jeff.....can't wait to see what you do with this one. 

[Mark Dalrymple]

Coming on nicely, Jeff.

My advise would be to make a quick mock-up of the structure with the different additions as separate pieces.  In that way you can move them around and make different configurations to see what you like.  Regards the stairwell - it is hellishly steep.  There is a reason for this steepness when attached to the gable end as it takes up the entire width of the wall.  I fear it may look odd attached to a longer wall.  Again - a mock-up will let you see this.  You could always make up a new stairway with a more gentle grade.

Cheers, Mark.

[nycjeff]

Great progress so far.

Thank you Curt, I'm enjoying this build

Good looking kit Jeff.....can't wait to see what you do with this one. 

Hello Greg, I think that I have decided which of my add-ons I will use

Coming on nicely, Jeff.

My advise would be to make a quick mock-up of the structure with the different additions as separate pieces.  In that way you can move them around and make different configurations to see what you like.  Regards the stairwell - it is hellishly steep.  There is a reason for this steepness when attached to the gable end as it takes up the entire width of the wall.  I fear it may look odd attached to a longer wall.  Again - a mock-up will let you see this.  You could always make up a new stairway with a more gentle grade.

Cheers, Mark.

Thanks for the advice Mark, I think that I will put the enclosed stairway on the right wall. I seems to fit, even if it is steep. Continuing on...



This shows the repaired damaged wall. I just used a piece of the wall board and glued it in to take the place of the missing/ damaged piece



I first dry brushed the foundation pieces with a dark grey and then a heritage brick color. After the paint dried I painted some individual bricks with burnt umber and then some black. I will use pastel chalks to tone down the colors  later



These are the colors I will use for the walls and trim. Dark chocolate and khaki



After cleaning minimal flash from the window pieces with a small file and sanding stick, I painted them with full strength dark chocolate and then dry brushed them with the khaki



I painted the first layer of the large doors with the khaki and the second layer with the dark chocolate. Glass and window shades were added to the right side door.



The walls were dry brushed with the khaki color and the bottoms were painted with the chocolate color. I glued in the windows and that's it for now, more later. As you can see at the beginning of this post, I finally figured out the insert quote thing. It only took me until my fourth build thread to do this- learn something new every day.

[PRR Modeler]

Walls look great and nice pick for the coloring.

[nycjeff]

Walls look great and nice pick for the coloring.

Thanks Curt, I try to pick subdued colors that fit into a rural Ohio theme where there are harsh winters. Continuing on...



I have started wall assembly and am making sure that the wall corners are meeting squarely. I still have to deal with some wall warping.



Added another wall, again making sure that the corners are square. You can also see the window glass and shades here. The black marks at the corners of the window glass are magic marker dots that I placed on the acetate to make cutting easier. I used brown construction paper for the window shades. I usually use Aileen's tacky glue for the windows  and shades.



I've added the fourth wall and also some cross braces at the bottom to maintain the correct building width. THis is being done to help correct the wall warping that I experienced.



The interior wall which provides the gable end for the tall portion of the building and also for the lower portion has been added. This wall will help maintain correct building width at the top of the large walls that warped.



Another cross brace has been added at the center of the higher roofed portion of the building. This seemed to correct the last of the wall warping problem. I still don't understand why I had this problem. I braced the walls per the instructions and did not use a huge amount of AI solution. I guess that I will have to be more careful with large sized wood walls in the future.



I traced the lower roof gable end on a piece of paper and then cut it out so I could tape it to the interior wall so that I had some guide lines to glue on wood bracing for the roof card. That's it for now, more later.