Bar Mills Cooper's Way

[craftsmankits]

This is my take on Bar Mills Coopers Way, their limited-edition 'big' kit for 2024/25.  I don't have any in-process photos, but I do have some tips and ideas on how to proceed with the kit for those of you fortunate enough to have purchased it, and will attempt the build.

The kit includes five buildings, plus a garage.  There are six separate instruction manuals, plus an introduction booklet that provides an overview of the entire scene.  The kit also includes a base along with plenty of bracing and various wood for trim etc.  They intended for the modeler to start with Cooper's hardware, and build in each proceeding structure that abut one another, this encompasses the first four buildings.  I recommend this be followed.

As for Cooper's Hardware, the windows provided are 3D printed, and the backs of those windows included with my kit were rough and uneven.  I recommend sanding or filing them a bit until smooth, but even then, I ended up using Micro Kristal Klear for those windows.  I thought using the supplied acetate window material would be very time consuming to get them flush, and I wanted to finish this build without it taking too much time.  I believe those 3D printed windows will curl over time, as this did happen with some of the windows and the 3D columns.  I weighed down the columns and they are holding in place after a month.

All the parts fit well within all the supplied buildings, but I would caution against building the roof as a separate component to Cooper's Hardware as per the instructions.  The back brick wall is integral to not only supporting the roof, but you will probably want the roof to overhang the edge if building the kit as intended.  The bar, Timothy Tubbs, is intended to fit against Cooper's, so the only overhang required, will come at the ends of each side.  If you intend to build them as separate structures, be aware that there will be a notch in the back brick wall near the top where the roof support plugs into the back wall of Cooper's Hardware.  Obviously, this can be hidden by a sign, there is also a notch along the bottom of the back wall at the bottom, but this can be hidden as well.

I would encourage any of you to reconsider this being a hardware store.  There is no loading dock, and only one way in for supplies, and that's the front door.  I think it might be better if the structure were used to sell women's clothing, as mannequins would probably fit within the large ground floor windows found on either side of the front entrance, or maybe forego the back staircase, and add a loading dock instead.  It could also serve as a hotel, and other purposes.  Overall, it's a really cool building.

I would also caution trying to enhance the holes supplied in the brick staircases by drilling to expand the holes.  I tried this on two or three, and each time the casting broke away.  You're better off leaving them alone and installing the railings over the holes as best as you can.

If I had any reservations about the kit, it's that the sizes of the bricks for the chimneys and staircases are vastly larger than those of the walls.  I would also recommend cutting a full inch off the supplied chimney for Cooper's, as it would stand incredibly tall after being installed.  I ended up using that cutoff portion for the fifth building, since the metal casting for that structure didn't match up well with the other chimneys supplied with the kit.  The chimneys are very well done outside of the metal casting for building five.

Okay, on to structure number two, Timothy Tubbs.  Straight up, it's pretty simple, I added a tile entry at the front, and ended up adding a 'concrete' slab over the rear brick portion atop the loading dock and rear door, but otherwise, it's straight forward, and shouldn't supply any real issues.  The 3D casting over the front door and bay window was broken in my kit, the ends had broken off, and you will need to file the right side when fitting it to Cooper's Hardware.

You will also need to shave or sand the back of the top cornice casting since it is very rough.
I also didn't paint the fire escapes.  I merely added some pan pastels and weathering powders.  Bar Mills also sent out a separate 'care package' that included some signs, a complete set of fire escapes, and a few other parts that they felt they may have left out of the kits.  My kit came with everything minus maybe one missing window.  I did make a mistake and placed the chimney on the wrong side, so ensure you place it on the opposite side so it's not going over a window as in mine.

The Dentist's office.  Another straight up build, but be aware that the rear of the building is reversed from their prototype.  I also substituted the large vent with one half its size.  I couldn't see the reasoning for a dentist's office to have need for such a large vent.  I used cedar shingles for the street side roof, and green tar paper for the rear roof.  I also added some 1x4 strip wood along each side of the entry.  It seemed to be lacking without it.

The supplied trim to go around the 'Dentist' sign was not used, it is rather small and covers portions of the sign, so I trimmed out the edge of the sign using some scrap wood.
The Pharmacy.  Another straight up build, but Bar Mills did place the chimney partially over a window, so you may want to move it to a position away from a window.  They also supplied an arched brick entry to place between the pharmacy and the last building which I did use.  I kept the pharmacy neat and clean, with little weathering.  I doubt customers want to use a 'dirty' pharmacy.

Building five is Howard Cheaten's.  I did not care for the name, and changed my building to Blackmore Fine Tailors.  I stenciled the name on the side.  I intend to add some signage in the future, possibly including another business within the structure.  As mentioned before, the tall chimney was taken from Cooper's Hardware and added to the upper roof.  I added a concrete base and brass tubing to finish it off.

The last building is a garage, and was simple to build.  I intend to add some signs to this building, and I will note, that the driveways from the two stalls are flush with the sidewalk.  I filed them down to street level using a nail file.  The base material takes filing very well, and the finished product was very smooth.  I simply covered the areas I didn't want to file with some blue painters' tape, and they came out really nice.
This kit does come with a base, but I didn't use it until the end.  I built each structure in order and added them to each other over a piece of glass to ensure they remained flat and level.  I painted the base and then added structures one through four, added the arched brick piece, then added building five and the garage, followed up by some weathering.  I used various detail parts, some from Bar Mills, Fos Scale Models, Mine Mount Models, Sierra West possibly Fine Scale Miniatures.  They also supplied some pictures for the interiors, but I got the impression that one or more were missing.  I don't remember any of them being useful for a bar.
I hope this helps anyone who has this kit in their collection. 

I worked on it over a period of roughly five weeks.

Mark

[craftsmankits]

Whoops!  I tried to update the pictures and managed to duplicate them all in that first post.  Here are a few more.

[Rick]

Mark, that looks outstanding.
Construction, painting and weathering make the whole scene look realistic.
Great job!

[ACL1504]

Mark,

Well done. I didn't buy the kit as it is just to big and I didn't have the space in the center isle so both sides could be viewed by the visitor. I used FOS Flat Iron District as it fit my location perfectly.

Again, great build and info for those who will build the kit.

Tom

[Jerry]

Great job on that build.  All way around coloring and detailing!

Jerry

[PRR Modeler]

Beautiful job on the scene. I really like the weathering you did.

[friscomike]

Howdy Mark,

Your work on the kits is amazing.  I don't think anyone could make the structures look better than yours.  The craftsmanship, colors, and scene is first class.  Congratulations.

Have fun,
mike

[Zephyrus52246]

Great work on the diorama.  Perfect coloring and weathering.  

Jeff

[Mark Dalrymple]

Beautiful work on this kit, Mark.

The photography is also very well done.  I love the attention to detail on all the flashings.  Very nice to see.  I'm not a fan of pitch used as a flashing, and if done poorly I feel it can ruin a good model.  Were all these flashings supplied as part of the kit? Also some good information for anyone planning on building this kit.  As noted by others, the painting and weathering is all extremely well done, but what really stood out to me was the fit you have achieved and the attention to detail.  Thank you for sharing your work with us.

Cheers, Mark.

[Philip]

Beautifully finished!

[craftsmankits]

Many thanks to Rick, Tom, Jerry, PPR Modeler Curt, FriscoMike, Jeff and Phillip.  I do more lurking than posting lately.  I'm always checking in on Tom's many posts and projects.  I also check in on posts from many of you.  Tom mentioned Fos Scale Model's Flat Iron district, I built a diorama for that as well, though I haven't posted anything regarding the build.  I used cork sheet for the road surface for the first time since it was such a broad expanse.  I'll post some pictures over the weekend if the weather holds.  That project covered the fall of 23 into the spring of 24.  This diorama remains in the bedroom it was built in, and I would like to take pictures of it outside in natural light.  My 'shop' is an upstairs corner bedroom with natural light from the East and South.

[craftsmankits]

Beautiful work on this kit, Mark.

The photography is also very well done.  I love the attention to detail on all the flashings.  Very nice to see.  I'm not a fan of pitch used as a flashing, and if done poorly I feel it can ruin a good model.  Were all these flashings supplied as part of the kit? Also some good information for anyone planning on building this kit.  As noted by others, the painting and weathering is all extremely well done, but what really stood out to me was the fit you have achieved and the attention to detail.  Thank you for sharing your work with us.

Cheers, Mark.

Hi Mark,  In an answer to your question regarding flashing. The flashing was provided for Cooper's Hardware, the rest I made using the excess material supplied by Bar Mills, or from thin black construction paper.  I stippled on some Americana Sea Breeze DA256, allowed it to dry, then added some dark grey weathering powder.  Thanks again for your kind comments.  Mark

[JimMooney]

Very nice, here's the original painting (I think) used as inspiration.

[craftsmankits]

Thanks for providing that picture.  It definitely appears to be exactly what they intended.

[Philip]

A party on that Roof!