First posting:
I had some gaps in my layout so I bought several plastic kits direct from Dapol and the total cost incl. delivery was £24.00 which I thought was very good for 2 main buildings, 4 trackside items and 48 people!
C007 - Engine shed £6.19
C008 - Platfom figures £4.99
C011 - Platelayers hut, coal office, water crane, loading guage £4.00
C029 - Village Church £4.99.
The one I am going to do is C011 - Platelayers hut etc.
First off, clean the flash. The kits are made from original Airfix toolings so you do get quite a bit of flash but it's not a problem to get rid of it with a sharp craft knife. But because they were designed by Aifix, the parts do locate together exremely well. The green crocodile is a wooden puzzle I made for my grandson - it'll probably turn up in most pictures!
I then cemented all the main sections together and stood them against existing models to check for scale. They look fine to me!
Once the main sections are cemented together (without doors, windows etc.), the next step is to give them a base coat of paint - this is the sneaky cheap bit. Don't use expensive tinlets, go down to your local Pound shop or Hobbycraft and pick up some children's acrylic paints or cheap painting by numbers sets - I got 9 pots for £2.00 in the one I bought. They are thinner than model paints and don't cover so well but you don't need prestine finishes on trackside stuff! Only if HRH was visiting would there be any new paint. They are also superb for roads, pavements, platforms and getting rid of the white cut marks on Metcalfe card models (take note, Jake!
).
I used Revell Matt 69 for the Coal Office roof as this has a slight green tinge which I think is perfect for an old slate roof but the rest was cheap acrylic. I also decided that the yard superintendent would have got an apprentice to shin up the water crane and paint it the same colour as the engine shed doors.
Total building time to date = 25 mins
Total typing time = 3hr 42 mins 35 sec.
)
That's all for now....
Tom
