Finishing touches

After the brickwork is dry, it's time for some finishing touches for the hut. Windows and doors are painted. Glazing is carried out using Deluxe Materials Glue'n'Glaze. Guttering goes on (and looking at the photo I've just spotted the downpipe needs bending back. No idea how that happened) after painting. 

I've used dull colours - Humbrol 147 pale grey for the white and Revel 8 for the black bits. Neither is a pure colour and looking all the better for it. 

The roof is Humbrol 67 (Tank grey, not 69, yellow, as an earlier version of this post said) dry-brushed while tacky with 66 and then a good dusting of talcum powder. Hardly any work but the effect is very good. I'm not a fan of picking out dozens of slates - you need to seriously blend things afterwards if the colour isn't to look forced. 

Anyway, the hut is (for the moment) done. I hope Pete would approve of it. One day I'll build a layout for it to call home. When I do, there will be weathering and perhaps some interior work but that's for another day. 

Paint or pencil?

Normally I like to colour bricks with pencil crayons, but for this model, I've gone for dry-brushed paint.

I'm not really sure why. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

The work is pretty simple - dry-brush Humbrol 70 everywhere followed by some other random browns that aren't very different shades. Work quickly so the paints blend on the model and hope that not too much finds its way into the mortar lines.

One advantage of paint is it's easier to do the whitemetal chimney pot in a matching colour. I've never had real success with pencils here, but chimneys should be nice and sooty, so no-one ever notices.

Sticking the walls together

A real expert would spend hours carefully honing the chamfers in the corners of this kit. I am not an expert, I just trim them so the outside corner is OK and then glue things together using Pound shop epoxy resin that fills up the gaps. Buying the cheap stuff means you can slosh it on and it's plenty good enough for this job. 

The outside corners aren't perfect of course, but a bit of Deluxe Materials Perfect Plastic Putty soon sorts that out. Once dry, because I want to do this properly as a tribute to Peter, I cut each brick course with a thin saw. Yet again, I'm glad this isn't a warehouse...

The roof is joined with superglue and then braced with more epoxy. I'm keeping it lose as I have an idea that some furniture would be nice inside and since I don't have any suitable kits, or a desire to scratchbuild, I'll fix it on properly later. 

One area to be careful with is fitting the chimney. This needs to be slightly inboard as the roof extends beyond the walls slightly, and the stack should be on top of the bricks, not fresh air.

Pete's hut

My friend, Pete Blakeman, passed away recently. He had been ill for some time and so disposed of his unbuilt kit collection. Mostly 7mm scale, it's not my main interest, but I bought a cheap Skytrex weighbridge hut with an idea it might be fun to build as a future project. At Pete's funeral, I decided the time had come to get on with it. Funerals focus the mind a bit...

Anyway, the kit is mainly cast resin sides with some whitemetal detailing.

A little cleaning up is required. Chamfers on the ends need treating with either coarse file or some abrasive sticks. The windows have their flash removed with a sharp knife. It's a lot cleaner than abrasive which produces dust that I'm told is bad for you. After a couple of windows, it's very quick and easy too. A little carving, a little scrapeing and the job is soon done. Mind you, it's hut not a warehouse!