More suburbs - Stafford house

The next kit I've built is the Laser Art Structures Stafford House.  I got this off ebay, and like the last one, I think it's been sitting around for quite some time.  I was in the middle of painting a room at my house and instead of buying another can of spray-paint, I figured I'd just use some of the latex paint I had.  The only issue with that was it warped the walls a little.  I was able to set everything correctly with some painter's tape however.  Like the last one of these I built, the tabs fit together well and it was easy to put together...until you got to the detailed stuff at the end.  They're way too optimistic about some of these pieces supporting weight or being able to withstand any sort of push to fit into where they're supposed to go.  So I didn't build the front portico or use of the side porch supports.  Whatever, it looks fine in the end.  I've built five houses for the suburban scene so far and it appears I still need one or two more.  

More suburbs - Sears Catalog house

Ebay allows a modeler in this age to acquire a lot of things that are out of production.  I found this one, a Bachmann "Master Craftsman Series" Sears Catalog house.  Remember how I said the last one, the Laser Art Oxford house, was one of the best kits I've built?  This was probably the worst.  I'm convinced Bachmann called these "Master Craftsman" because that's what you need to be to build this successfully.  I'll even look past the fact that some parts broke because they were brittle, I'll allow that the kit is old and I won't expect them to be perfect after all these years.  But a lot of the parts don't fit; some, especially the roof pieces, require you to hold them together for some time so they'll stay; the instructions told you to cut off some foundation parts that it later showed being in place.  You get to the end, and the steps are difficult to secure to the porches, and both these and the brick supports don't extend all the way to the ground!  The attic windows were tough to fit and stay in place; the porch railings wouldn't stay, I quickly gave up on those.  In the end, it's another house for the neighborhood.  I actually have room for a few more.

More suburbs - Oxford house

 This suburban project is going to go on for quite some time.  This installment: a Laser Art Structures kit, #617 Oxford House.  As far as I can tell, they don't make these anymore, so you have to hunt around a little.  They're laser-cut wood kits.  As you can see, the final product is very nice.  The pieces fit together with tabs, (very precisely - I hope you're paying attention, Walthers) and all you need is some Elmer's white glue to put it together.  Some of the trim parts, as well as the windows, have a sticky backing.  You do have to paint the pieces but I was able to just use spray paint (water based paints may warp the wood).  This was a really nice kit to put together, until you got to some of the smaller details.  That front awning was scary - you have to bend it, but if you bend too far and break it, there's no going back.  The roofs are paper shingles that you cut and glue strip by strip, which is tedious but comes out nice.  The windows have several layers to them, one on top of the next.  All in all, it's probably not a kit for a beginner (though the walls fit together so nicely that it sometimes feels like it).  

One little issue at the end - I trust the people at Laser Art Structures, and I trust the people at Walthers and Atlas.  But when I put this house next to the previous two I've built so far, it looks off.  Like this one is too small, or the other two are too big.  Someone's off with their scaling.  What I may have to do in the end is place the smaller ones in back, to give a sense of distance and perspective.  

I have a couple more houses coming in from ebay, which should be enough.  I have a couple other ideas past that to complete the scene, plus it's going to take a LOT of details - trees, lawns, sidewalks, driveways, fences, streetlights, fire hydrants, etc - to complete this.  As I said in the beginning, it's going to go on for a long time.