Interaction Hobbies Christmas tree dealer kit
#1
Taking a break from the Machine shop build to tackle this:
   

A really neat little kit of a Christmas tree dealer. It's available from Interaction Hobbies as a special Christmas give-away if you order 30$ or more. I had my eye on a couple kits from their web site and this caused me to pull the trigger.


   

The kit includes the caboose tree farm shack, three cut-out Christmas trees and signage. I need to get started on it as I promised my wife the finished model by Christmas.
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#2
Dangle a freebie in front of me and I turn to butter.  Just purchased their ice machines, soda machines and telephone booths!  Thanks for letting me know about this company - looks like the beginning of a good thing...
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows
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#3
You're welcome. I've built quite a few of their kits and enjoyed all of the builds.
I made some good progress over the past few days, starting with painting.
   

I painted most of the parts while they are still on their cards. I had a Decoart Christmas red in my collection (how appropriate) and the white was a white spray can primer. 

   

I removed the four main inner and outer walls and laminated them together. The inner walls are a thin resin board. The outers are basswood. The basswood walls are easily broken when cut out of the card (ask me how I know) but easily glued back together.

     

I assembled the windows on the sides, each one has 4 parts including a laser cut piece of clear plastic 'glass'

   

And them the door was assembled and attached.  This is progressing quite quickly. I hope to get it done by the end of the weekend.
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#4
I finished the model last night. 
   

The longest part of the build seemed to be assembling all the windows but they look great when finished. I stained the floor in a natural pine and painted the edges in white.


   

The build up of the walls was pretty straightforward, with the exception of the cupola front and rear wall. Those took a bit of sanding and fitting to make them go where I wanted them to. The three roof pieces are made from resin board and need to be curved before assembly. I used a small pill bottle to work the curve into them.

     

I did have a problem with a gap between the roof and side walls. I think this was my mistake as I didn't sand the tops of the inner and outer walls flush and the inner walls were pushing the roof up.
   
So I used some scale 2X4 as trim to hide the gap.

   

and the finished product. There is a fair amount of detail included like the  roof joists under the eves and two different doors for the side counter (I used the side folding ones.) There were also three laser-cut Christmas trees in the kit. You might notice that I didn't add the sign. That's because This one is going to a friend for his Christmas present. He'll choose what he wants on the sign.
   
With the signage in the kit you can have the shack as either the tree farm or a coffee shop. 

Darryl sent me two kits so this one is going to my friend, the second is going to go to my wife's Christmas display. I learned a few things by building the first one so I can improve the second one.
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#5
" I learned a few things by building the first one so I can improve the second one."

I find that's always the case, and that's one distinct advantage of the paper kits I buy from Clever. You could build one, learn a lot, and then print out another and improve the product.

Nice work though! Holds up to a tight camera lens very well - so it's going to look great on a layout.

Mine (hope to receive this week) is going to be the Coffee shop option I think since I model August/September. However, I may just have it closed for the season. Stuff to ponder.
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows
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#6
Well I finished the second shack
   

A few changes I made from the first. 
- I had brush painted both model's walls but with this one I went back and sanded the walls and then airbrushed Caboose red for a smoother finish.
- I lost the laser-cut windows so I used clear 'gallery-glass' as a replacement.
- I added the corner posts while I was attaching the walls to the floor which gave me a better fit for both the walls and the roof parts.
- I painted the roof in the same gray but dry-brushed white for a 'frosted' look.

   

I made a small diorama base for it. I found a wall hang box at Micheals for 2$, the two frosted trees came from a dollar store and the ground cover is Deco art Snow-Tex. I bought the Woodland Scenics Snowball Fight figure set to finish it off.

   

   
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#7
Looks great!
Tom
Silence is golden but Duct tape is silver
Ridley Keystone & Mountain Railroad
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#8
Cool..... Icon_lol 

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Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#9
Just saw this thread.......

That's a great little scene.  Worship Goldth Goldth
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~~ NARA Member # 75    
~~ Baldwin Eddystone Unofficial Website

~~ I wonder what that would look like in 1:20.3???
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