Hi, I have finished (bar decals) a new shop for the hamlet of Sycamore Creek, it is based on an old limited (& now out of production) kit by Stoney Creek designs., but modified from that, and to a larger scale. The windows were made first and then the shell of the building was made from 5mm PVC solid foam, with a 1.5mm styrene card roof with under supports for it and external stiffeners as well. All joins are covered in Aluminum food tray foil strip for waterproofing. I used my normal contact glue of Evo-stick, with plenty of re-inforcement inside the buildings corners, and roof. The corner stripsd are from our local DIY chain, I cut them down slightly to provide a straight edge which allows for easier painting; that is acrylics and masonry paint. The freight doors were let-in to one side, and the semicircular top made from several layers of styrene, the main pieces, as they are easy to bend to a semicircle being 1mm thick. The huge front windows, made from clear styrene, from CD cases, have upper blinds on them, and a rudimentary interior was made and a stove added as well – that’s just a bit of tube with some scrap for the top and bottom – paint the lot matt black. That then needed a stovepipe which is made from nested ‘bendy’ straws, and painted the same (if you can find some black coloured ones that paint needed is reduced. On the cross bay I fitted a large stovepipe, ostensibly for a small forge – for making buckles and such like. The little ornaments are from some 10mm beads and bits of tube and styrene discs glare; the centre of all is kept in order with a small piece of brass rtod (with a slightly ‘blunt’ top. I have had some of these on other buildings and they stand up to the cold weather very well, as long as you leave all the snow alone, till in naturally melts. That’s enough words, now for the rest of the words, in a much more worthwhile format –photos! That is a much better idea, here they are.
the front of the building
the rear showing the two freight doors
The inside with the building turned up on its back; there is a stove on the right hand side, and at the top, are the two display shelves just below the lower edge of the windows; these will fit a ‘Papo’ saddle on them, I will make my own from that for one side and the other will have a collection of boxes displayed - those will be from scraps of the PVC solid foam that the building is made from, and painted to suit so they are waterproof. The saddle(s) will also be plastic. Enjoy!