Aladdin General Store in O scale


C

CNR Glen

Member
A friend gave me Ragg's... to Riches: the Aladdin General Store kit in O sacale to build for him. This is my first O scale build and being in HO the size difference takes some getting used to
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This is a straight from the instructions build with minimal weathering. I'm painting the building white with a faded green trim and window frames. The first thing to build is the window frames, adding the crown molding.
Raggs to riches supplies you with a sringe for the glue. i was skeptical about using it at first but the glue appilcation control you have using it is definetly an improvment over my former toothpick method.
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After the glue set I primed and painted the frames
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Nice looking kit, I've never heard of Raggs to Riches, but then like you I deal in HO.

CNR Glen every time I see your name I'm reminded that the yard less than a mile from my house is called by railroad 'Glen Yard' It was Chicago and Alton at one time, then The Gulf Mobile and Ohio, next The Illinois Central, ICG, back to IC and guess what? Now it's CNR Glen! Betcha didn't know there was such a place.
 
Thanks Gary, that's a new one to me.
Raggs to riches also makes this kit in HO and S scales. The finished product in O scale is quite large almost 14X14"
 
The first first number of steps in the instruction deal with building sub-assemblies that should be painted after assembled. I started with the bench and picnic table. Both were easy builds (After building simular structures in HO)
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I used the glue sringe and it worked great, allowing me to get just enough glue on the joints with very minimal squeeze-out. After the glue dried I stained them with Flo-stain Walnut (from my secret stash!)
 
I'm not familiar with the company either. I checked their web site and they have a number of good looking structures. Looks like they have a few of the Aladdin kit still available for HO too. But, at $175 a kit (even with a ton of details), that's an expensive building for a school teacher's budget. Think I'll watch here and see what kind of wrinkles you encounter in your build first.
Keep posting!
 
I built and painted the foundation over the last couple days
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The foundation come in two parts (I guess to fit in the box!)I primered the entire foundation with grey walmart primer and then sprayed Apple barrel Country Grey on the parts that will be visible on the finished model. The floor will be laminated onto this structure.
 
I added more layers to the foundation today.Again it feels like cheating since all the new parts are of the peel and stick kind.
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Then again I doubt you could get such a neat joints if you had to smear glue on the parts and press then together. The instructions warn that the adheisive on the part is industrial and gets stronger the longer you have the parts together, so you had better be sure that you have the parts in the right place before you walk away for the evening! There are more parts to add so these layers don't have to be painted
Next is the floor boards...
 
I stained and added the interior floor to the kit.
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It was stained with floquil's natural pine. Again it has the peel and stick adheisive on it so it was just a matter of lining it up and placing it in the right place.
I'm almost finished painting the white walls. Most of the exterior walls are finished with their paint. There are just a few that need a second coat. I've gone through 3 bottles of testor's model master flat white so far. hopefully one more should do it. This is the front wall, completed

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I'm going to add the doors and windows before the walls go up, since it will probably be easier this way. Once all the painting is done I hope to move a bit faster o the build.
 
I've been working on the windows and doors the last couple days.
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The doors come in 4 parts, the back, front, a very small frame shim and the frame. I painted the back in wedgewood green and the front in white . Again these parts all have the peel and stick on them so assembly was a snap.
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The small shim piece is to set the door a bit back from the frame for a more realistic look. I find that the wood in this kit is fairly 'thirsty' and soaks paint up readily. However that allows the grain to show through the white for some un-intentional weathering

The main front door and window is also made in four parts. I painted a couple parts for effect.
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Then assembled them:
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The glass (glazing) if also lazer cut and fits perfectly in the window openings. Again no glue required.
 
CNR Glen said:
I stained and added the interior floor to the kit.

It was stained with floquil's natural pine. Again it has the peel and stick adheisive on it so it was just a matter of lining it up and placing it in the right place.
I'm almost finished painting the white walls. Most of the exterior walls are finished with their paint. There are just a few that need a second coat. I've gone through 3 bottles of testor's model master flat white so far. hopefully one more should do it. This is the front wall, completed

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I'm going to add the doors and windows before the walls go up, since it will probably be easier this way. Once all the painting is done I hope to move a bit faster o the build.
Click to expand...

Looks like its coming along nicely, and it sounds like its pretty easy to assemble with all the peel and stick parts. Is the wood flooring already attached in this photo? If thats the front porch area in the foreground, doesn't that need to be concrete color too?
I too am into HO, but have only built three laser kits with peel and stick parts so far. It amazes me how nicely and easilly they go together and how good they look completed. Some of the wood parts can be very fragil with HO as the parts are small and the wood is thin, but I'm guessing with O scale thats not a problem.
This type of construction does make it super easy to do two tone paint on the doors. and trim.
 
The interior floor is attached in the picture. The front porch is wood but it not built up until later in the intructions. The concrete part is the entrance to the bar, which looks to me to be an later addition to the prototype.
You would still be surprised how fragile the O sclae parts are. The window sashes on the front window are probably only 1/32" thick and one was broken in shipping. I repaired it with some brass wire painted white.
 
I moved on to the windows this afternoon. They come in three parts.
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Again it is all peel and stick to assembly is simple.
Attach the two inner sashes together and add the glazing to each part:
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Install the window in the wall openning, it's usually a tight enough fit that it will just stay in by itself:
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Add the frame around it and carefully press the window back into the adhiesive on the frame
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I finished one of the side walls. The upper window is open simply be positioning the lower sash in the open position and trimming the top window glass to size
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CNR Glen said:
The interior floor is attached in the picture. The front porch is wood but it not built up until later in the intructions. The concrete part is the entrance to the bar, which looks to me to be an later addition to the prototype.
You would still be surprised how fragile the O sclae parts are. The window sashes on the front window are probably only 1/32" thick and one was broken in shipping. I repaired it with some brass wire painted white.
Click to expand...
You're right, the window parts do stil look really fragil. You're doing a beatiful job on this build. I'm looking forward to see the completed structure.
I had thought the decking under the front porch roof had looked like it was concrete on the photo of the box you posted. The wood decking will look nice there.
 
I finished the window and door today.
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The front main door/ window assembly was finished and placed in the front wall. I added the lock plates and door knobs to all the doors. The kit also comes with curtains for the upper windows. They're laser-cut as well and fit perfectly.

Next I get to start putting walls up!
 
I got the first walls up today
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The instructions say to put the front, two sides and the second floor support together at the same time. The eileen's tacky glue comes in handy here because it takes a couple minutes to get everything aligned in the slots and tabs before the glue sets up.
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The angled support on the right side is for the bar lean-to that will be added later.
I've also pulled out my airbrush again to paint the rolled roofing/tarpaper that goes on the rear staircase enclosure (at least thats what it looks like to me). The tarpaper is a self adheisive material that comes in a medium grey. I sprayed a splotchy floquil weathered black over it to give it some variety in it's color. Pics to follow
 
I added the walls that will make the post office side of the building. I also added the small storage shed to the back of the wall.
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The next step was to add the rolled roofing (tar paper) to the rear covered staircase. The kit supplies so very good peel and stick paper that is already colored in a weathered tarpaper tint but I lightly sprayed some floquil weathered black over it so give it a more uneven look.
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I unfortunetly missed a wall that needed to be painted white so I have to pull my airbush and white paint out (again!) before I can continue assembly.
 
It's really nice to see how it is coming along. Very nice work.
I'd love to have the space for O scale. So much detail can be made and added.
 
Sorry it's taking so long between updates. Most of my work is done on weekends and last weekend I was at a swap meet for the Sunday I did manage to paint the missing wall and after witing for it to dry this past weekend I continued with the build
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The outer stairway was built up along with the rear addition.
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The board and batten is constructed by the battens applied as one piece over each wall. The corner trim is supplied as basswood trim that was painted and glued to the corners. A few pieces needed to have one side of the angle trimmed to fit.
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The roof for the stairway is sheeted in the tarpaper (rolled roofing) and installed in three parts, then the joints are covered in in additional pieces of tarpaper.
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