When I was growing up, Continental modelling seemed to me to be something best left to the experts, super-skilled modellers and those with extensive experience of rail travel across Europe, or with much bigger budgets than mine. But I've been discovering over the last couple of years that it's far easier to get started than I realised. I've been missing out! So the aim of this blog is simply to share what I'm learning. A lot of it won't be new, but if I can do it, then truly anyone can. I have another blog for my project ideas, layout designs and ambitions, which can be found here. This is for reporting progress on what I'm actually building:
Getting Started: Faller 130594 Old Gate House Restaurant Kit (H0)
My 'modelling year' tends to fall into stages: January to Easter is for inside modelling, the Summer is for Layout Design and Baseboard building, and the Autumn for tidying up the loose ends before I pause again, usually around the end of October. So I thought it would be a good idea to get started this year with a simple kit I had in stock, a Faller Laser Cut H0 model.
The kit is based around the idea of an old gatehouse (or a Crossing Keeper's dwelling) that has been re-purposed as a Restaurant. Only the building is included in the kit, which has 85 parts and comes pre-coloured:
Personally I'm not sure it would actually be suitable as a restaurant - there's no fire escape door from the kitchen, for example, nor the kind of additional external vents that might be expected. But it's a nice general purpose cottage anyway, and the idea of marketing it as a restaurant shows buildings don't have to be used for their original purpose (as in real life).
For adhesive I used some Noch Laser Kit glue I had in stock, with Deluxe Materials Glue 'n' Glaze to fix windows in place. Construction is straightforward, instructions are pictorial, and as with other laser cut kits the shell of the building is built up from multiple layers of thin wood and card:
Parts are finely cut and fit together easily, making for a relaxing modelling session - I wasn't trying to kit bash the model into anything else. By the end of my first modelling session I had a recognisable structure I could leave for the glue to set:
I only have very basic tools, so use whatever is to hand for weights or clamps when needed:
Finer details are on very thin card - more like paper. I found a duplicate copy of this next sheet in my kit: I don't know if that's deliberate (because of the risk of it tearing), or if I was just lucky. I tried to apply glue quickly and sparingly as the pieces will - unsurpirsingly - warp very easily:
Something I've only really come across with Continental kits are these complete folded paper inserts. I've not been very neat when folding and gluing them together in the past, so I was conscious this was an opportunity to try again:
Another area I've often botched when rushing to finish are the additional details. These can actually take up far more time than I usually allow - such as this roof light bay window. It has eight pieces to fit together and will be very visible when done.
And there we have it:
The footprint of the model is the same as that of a small, wayside station I made last year: Schoenberg. It's a mirror image, but most likely explains something I'd been wondering about with that other structure - why it has a chimney stack above a door (there is a space on the roof without tile detail where it has to go). Looks like Faller maybe re-used a standard design?
And that's it. I initially shied away from laser cut kits when I first came across them - as they can be more expensive than the plastic alternatives I thought they'd be more complex, but having made a couple I'm finding the precision with which they can be made makes assembly relaxing and enjoyable. And my modelling year has begun. Thanks for having a look, Keith.
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