BEST R.J. Elwell General Store & Freight House

[madharry]

I have not seen this built before on the forum so I thought I would post a build. Here in the UK we are hoping the Covid restrictions will be eased on 19 July, with 80% of the population fully vaccinated, it is about time!

This kit was the special at the Fine Scale Expo in 2013 and it has been lying about ever since waiting to be built. Here is the pictures of the box and various parts. It is loosely based on a post office in East Tilton, New Hampshire.

Mike

[ACL1504]

Mike,

I'll be following along on this one.

Tom 

[Raymo]

I have this kit somewhere, it doesn't seem that long ago when I bought it.

[madharry]

Thanks Tom and Raymo.
Here are the kit parts for the post office. The walls are doubled up so there no need for bracing. However I have noticed the back wall  has been cut upside down. As it the back wall I think I can live with it.

[GPdemayo]

Neat looking structure Mike.....I'll be looking in. 

[madharry]

However there is a problem with the metal roofing material supplied with the kit. Two pieces of HO Stand Seam Mtl RF/SD were supplied with my kit. The roof is to be covered by four pieces and it is 31 scale feet in width, so you need 4 times that 124 scale feet. Unfortunately the material supplied is 58 ft wide so the kit has 116 scale feet of material for the roof. The front porch is also to be covered with this material and is 42 scale feet wide. With luck I have a packet of Northeastern in stock and I calculate I will need to use three more pieces to make up the difference. Raymo if you have the kit I suggest you check before starting it.
Mike

[madharry]

Thanks Greg.
Mike

[Raymo]

However there is a problem with the metal roofing material supplied with the kit. Two pieces of HO Stand Seam Mtl RF/SD were supplied with my kit. The roof is to be covered by four pieces and it is 31 scale feet in width, so you need 4 times that 124 scale feet. Unfortunately the material supplied is 58 ft wide so the kit has 116 scale feet of material for the roof. The front porch is also to be covered with this material and is 42 scale feet wide. With luck I have a packet of Northeastern in stock and I calculate I will need to use three more pieces to make up the difference. Raymo if you have the kit I suggest you check before starting it.
Mike

Thanks for the tip Mike. I know where Brian lives if it comes up short..

[Oldguy]

Oh, good.  I have this waiting in the wings as well.  Will be looking over the shoulder.

[postalkarl]

Hey Mike:

Looking just great so far. I'm following along.

Karl

[madharry]

thanks Bob and Karl for following.
I painted the walls white with a spray can.............

[madharry]

Cont'd I then prepared the windows and doors for painting. I chose a slightly brighter green than suggested for the kit.

[madharry]

You may have noticed that I spray painted four walls in the last picture. These are the freight office walls. They are covered in aged clapboard siding and scribed siding. Despite being packed well the scribed siding had broken. So I pieced this together and glued it to the bottom of the walls before spray painting it. The siding is most vulnerable at it's thinnest just under the doors. I then added the white clapboard siding to the walls.
Mike

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looking good, Mike.

Its a neat looking kit.  Watching with interest.

Cheers, Mark.

[madharry]

Thanks Mark.
Whilst I was saving the siding on the freight house walls, I decided  to check the base the walls fit into. Unfortunately the laser cut slots in the base were not wide enough and I had to use a knife to widen them. Finally the tabs on the walls fit into the slots neatly. No big thing but it might confuse a beginner.
Mike