I thought I'd update this thread I posted about 5 months ago...
I purchased, built, and enhanced the Country Church from this company's product line. It was an experiment. I shared it with the Games Dept. staff at our LHS....they having arranged for procurement and stocking of this games-related product line. This is the kit as purchased...
The label indicates its scaled for 28mm gaming....a number which typically reflects the height of game (human) figures from ground to eye level. So, in this case it probably is closer to S scale proportions. But, as I'll show in later photos, an O gauge figure is by no means disproportionate when placed at the doorway.
Here are the 7 panels of laser-cut elements, 6 of 1/8" mdf, one of heavy cardboard...
So, as built with no embellishments it looks as in the kit package photo.....plain mdf-colored. Here's a work-in-progress, not completed, couple of photos...
Actually the above photos do have one alteration. I added some styrene angle stock at the corners of the bell tower to hide this interlocking joints of the tower panels. Also, the apse does not have its cardboard roof in place in the photo. The roof of the main chancel is removable, as is the bell tower roof. The building is constructed on three interlocking mdf floor panels. Six pews are provided. The front door is laser cut, but without hinging provision for operation.
Well, for gamers, this would typically be fine, well, and good as built. Maybe an overall coat of paint to disguise the laser burns would suffice. Printed instructions are not provided in the kit, but a notation on the label takes you to a website having several pictograms of the construction sequence/steps to facilitate logical assembly. There are no other suggestions for further enhancements, though.
So, as I proposed in the earlier comments in this thread, I added a few embellishments, giving the church a stone appearance...
In the first of this last two photos is a figure at the front doorway that measures exactly 6 feet in height in O scale. I don't think the proportions are that bad. What do you think?
Here's what I did to the plain mdf interior...
I added a simple Christmas ornament bell to the tower...
All in all, what I added was:
- Paint/Weathering (Chalks)
- Exterior Stone Overlay (Noch 57740 Quarry Stone Wall)
- Shingles (Laser Art 943 Carriage House Shingles)
- Window ‘Glass’ (Stained Glass Window computer images sized/printed on clear film)
- Floor Overlay (Busch 7414 Rustic Plaza Flagstone)
- Tower Corner Covers (Evergreen 295 9/32" Styrene angle stock)
- Tower Bell (Christmas ornament)
- Tower Window Treatment (Painted Nylon Netting)
- Front Door Hinges (Du-bro 116 Nylon)
- Interior Wall Overlays (Painted Cardstock)
- Altar (Wood/Plastic scraps)
If I decide to add this to my layout....depending on whether the Games Dept. has other, more lucrative ideas...I'll probably do at least two or three more things. First, I think by adding another base, elevating the building by about another 1/2" cut to the exact contours of the building with steps leading up to the front door, and wrapped in a larger stone pattern, the building would look even better in an O scale setting. Maybe.
Secondly, it definitely needs some vine growth on the walls. Not too much, but just enough to 'tie' it to the ground. But this would be after consideration of its finally setting....church yard, small cemetery, old oak trees, etc., etc., etc..
Thirdly, it needs some interior lighting that will benefit the stained glass windows. Maybe an ITT Products church bell sound card. Put some parishioners in the pews....add a speaker to play the singing of hymns. Lots of possibilities.
Anyhow, the whole project was a lot of fun. The basic kit is quite inexpensive as laser-cut products go. And, as I found, a few relatively inexpensive embellishments/changes give the structure a whole new character. Other kits in this company's product line could be similarly treated.
FWIW.....always.
KD
