The Hardware
by Gisby

Another Products for Wargamers kit. This building was a bit of an experiment. It started out as a flat-roofed building, and was fine just as it was. It's a generic small shop, made from 2mm MDF. I built the kit as per instructions, removing the doors and adding a floor made from craft sticks. I simply started at the back, and lay sticks side-by-side until I got to the front. I made and attached a new walkway and rear step. When all was dry, I added framing underneath. I also added framing at the corners to cover the joins, and a frame to the side window. Because my new walkway was deeper than the one supplied, I made a new awning, using the original supports. I finished the roof as a plain board roof, using coffee stirrers.

When finished, it looked fine, but awfully plain. I decided to try to make a peaked roof, just to add a bit of interest to the structure. (They sell a gable-roof kit, which would have been waay easier) The rear gable is made from craft wood and coffee stirrers. It's attached to the roof, so that the building can be used with either roof, as I choose. The roof base and framing is sheet styrene. The shingles are O gauge embossed sheet for model railroads. The lower edge must be trimmed to shape and sanded to profile. It's fairly time-consuming. They might be more convincing if they were painted better. The sign is the laser-cut sign that came with the kit. I seldom use them, but as it turns out, I really like it. It's a well-designed, simple kit that looks the part, and provides a good base for detailing.