Mrs. Treadway’s House is a small residential scene coming to us from Kingmill Enterprises (www.kingmill.com). It was a well-engineered kit that served as a good training ground for this newbie builder, who only has three small builds and two dioramas under his belt. It would be nicely combined with a small business to make a combo business/residence scene, or could be used as a small farmhouse for a rural scene. In fact, it comes with a couple of ancillary structures including an outhouse, doghouse, and chicken coop (of which only the chicken coop was included in my scene). The builder is also provided with material for a scale 6’ fence.

Kingmill’s website reveals a number of interesting kits worth a look, mostly HO but including the Z scale Gold Dollar Saloon, numerous N and HO scale “Radical Flats”, and a host of details including outhouses and fences in N, HO, and O. The website indicates a decrease in kit prices: for example, Mrs. Treadwell’s is originially listed at $69.95 but is currently offered at $50.00.

As a new builder accustomed to craftsman-style kits being packaged in heavy cardboard boxes, I was at first surprised at the blister-packaging in which Treadwell’s arrived and was concerned about the condition of the parts within. Laying-out and examination of the pieces, however, revealed no damaged parts. There were a few discrepancies between the parts list and the pieces included. For example, my kit included two W-6 walls but only 1 R-2 roof piece, and the outhouse roof pieces were absent as well. None of this was of major concern; I’m sure a call to Kingmill’s Chris Jesse would have rectified the matter. I did not plan on using the outhouse anyway (perhaps it’ll come in handy for a future build), and the missing roof piece could easily be fashioned from scrap material, even this rookie builder had on hand.

Pleasantly, extras of some delicate pieces were included in anticipation of these being damaged in the construction process. Specifically, I found extra stair stringers and an extra of the delicate, laser-cut porch swing. More on the porch swing later.

I found the instructions to be well-written and helpful. This is no small matter to someone new to laser-cut, craftsman kits. There’s nothing worse than investing in a kit early in one’s hobby, only to have the instructions either unnecessarily complicate the building process or be so confusing and poorly-written as to steer the newbie away from the hobby altogether. Some companies are well-known in the hobby for going the extra mile in the presentation of their instructions…others not so much. Kudos, especially, for Kingmill’s method of providing the instructions online as well, where the high-resolution photos could be examined in color and with greater scrutiny. This was especially valuable considering that the photos do not reproduce well in the Xeroxed, printed instructions accompanying the kit. I wonder if other manufacturers don’t do this out of fear that scratchbuilders will just scam the online instructions and build their own version of the kits rather than support the hobby by actually purchasing the kit?

Kit prep was fairly straight-forward. The wood walls popped from their sheet without too much cutting needed. The metal and plastic parts were cleaned up and primed with grey Dupli-Color auto body primer. The white metal chimney had a nasty parting line that I didn’t think I could clean up adequately, so I scavenged a chimney from another kit.

The wood walls and corner trim were stained with a light solution of alcohol/India ink. To this I added a drop or so of Polly Scale Undercoat Light Gray. The instructions called for Polly Scale Dirt, but I went with what I had in the paint drawer. Being from the Scotty Mason school of kit prep, I’m familiar with the use of A/I but not the addition of color, so I gave it a try to see what resulted.

The cardstock exterior walls are designed to appear as if the foundation consists of two courses of concrete cinder block. These were painted Polly Scale CP Gray. My only experience with structure kits so far has always meant wood walls, so I was concerned about how the cardstock would take paint. I fully expected some warping or excessive soaking-up of the paint or some other adverse reaction. The paint went on fine, however, and the pieces were set under a warm desk lamp to dry.

The rear addition of the house, the corner trim, the doors, windows and vent pipe were all painted Apple Barrel Wedgewood Green, two coats being needed. Only later in the build did I realize that painting the back addition the same color as the trim was not a good idea, so I went back and applied a final coat of  Apple Barrel Country Tan.

The kit comes with peel-and-stick asbestos shingling for the exterior walls. I’ve never worked with shingles before, my experience being limited to roofing paper (“tarpaper”) and the occasional experiment with corrugated metal roofing. I’ve read on other build threads that working with strips of shingles on large roofs is an exercise in patience, so this first foray into the world of peel-and-stick shingles was met with trepidation. As can be seen in the photos, the cardstock walls are nicely scribed with horizontal lines to assist in the placement of the shingles. The first row was a little scary: the material was thinner than I expected and susceptible to tearing. After the first row or two, however, the stuff proved to be delightful to work with. The process of applying it to all four walls was time-consuming but very doable even for this new builder.

Having shingled the outside walls, 1/8” bracing was next added to give the walls more structural support and prevent warping. The corner trim was then added.

The doors and windows were given their final application of the Wedgewood Green, and then it was time to add the window glass. The kit comes with plastic sheeting that is meant to be applied to the wall interiors. I opted to stick with the approach I’d used on my first adventures in kit building and use liquid glazing material. I’ve used Canopy Glue in the past but consistently had trouble eliminating bubbles, so this time it was going to be either Micro-Glaze or Gallery Glass. Micro-Glaze won out simply because I’d used it once before. My ham-handed approach meant a little sloppiness at times, and after the fact, I realized I should have done the drybrush highlighting of the windows prior to applying the glazing. Oh well…newbie note for next time.

Each of the end walls includes a diamond-shaped gable vent, so these were painted in the same Wedgewood Green as the corner trim and inserted into position. By now the glazing had dried and it was discovered that reapplication would be needed for some of the panes. Paint was used to replicate window shades. I think I’ll go with paper from now on; you don’t need to rely on the mullions (correct term???) as a guide and you can get variation in how high each shade is drawn from one window to the next. Drybrushing of the windows and doors with Antique White was next. Grrrr…I should’ve done this prior to glazing, as I got some paint on the glass. Another newbie lesson for future reference.

Assembly of the back porch addition was straightforward. The only addition I made was additional corner trim since it looked a little naked without it.

Having been shorted one of the two cardstock sheets used for the roof, I replaced both pieces with some 1/32” basswood sheet I had available. After bracing the roof and gluing it down, I realized I should have first drawn the alignment lines for the roofing material. Yet another lesson. I decided to do the back porch roof in corrugated metal, just for the additional experience of working with a different material and to lend a little variety to the building. The metal was treated using a technique shared by master builder Karl Scholz The metal is first sprayed with Floquil Rail Brown and allowed to dry thoroughly. Then several shades of brown and rust paint are applied while occasionally dipping the brush also into water and weathering powder. I thought the final result was not bad for a first attempt.

The main roof was done using model tarpaper and was applied to the basswood sheet using 3-M transfer tape. The only drawback to this approach is that there ends up being no adhesive on the leading (down-slope) edge of the tarpaper, preventing it from lying flat. Going back later and tipping some glue under these edges leaves glue stains on the roofing paper, but these were concealed using Bragdon’s weathering powders when doing the final weathering. The chimney was painted and weathered and streaks running down the roof from the chimney were applied.

The issue of how best to weather the asbestos shingled walls was settled with the soft-brush application of various shades of Bragdon’s weathering powders. Construction of the chicken coop proceeded every bit as easily as did the main house. I opted to dispense with the outhouse (Mrs. Treadway may be the “crazy cat lady” of her neighborhood, but she has had the benefit of indoor plumbing for nigh-on forty years now). I still went with the rusty old pump for the backyard, however, and supplemented it with a portion of scale steel grate from VectorCut (www.vectorcut.com). Dave at VectorCut also makes really nice manhole covers, so I decided to rust one of those up and include it near the driveway.

Back to the porch swing: this is a really nice little feature, but unfortunately this lasercut paper detail proved too delicate for my clumsy fingers. Several attempts to mount it on the porch (after the porch had been attached…duh!) led me to decide to do without. An etched brass swing would have been much easier to work with, I think, but would of course add to the kit cost. Also, I should have installed the swing prior to attaching the porch roof to the main house.

Scenicking was pretty basic: pink foam board with a skin of Sculptamold. Various Woodland Scenics texture materials were used in addition to “diamond dirt” from the local ballfield (sifted several times prior to a final screening through panty hose) and some good ol’ dirt from the backyard, also sifted several times. Woodland Scenics chickens and figures, a picnic table, and the fencing supplied by the kit round out the scene. A garbage can from the parts bin and buffalo grass tufts from Scenic Express finished things up.

The kit provides a new builder with a good introduction to the world of craftsman kit building, and experienced builders would find this structure to provide a launch pad for all kinds of variations and kit-bashing opportunities. I would not hesitate to build another of Chris Jesse’s products. Do visit www.kingmill.com for a look at their other offerings. I’ve seen a build thread for Kingmill’ Danny’s Barn that was spectacular, and the Nella Country Store (although it looks like the same structure as Mrs. Treadway’s chicken coop but with a different front) would make a great business/residence partnership with the Treadway house. American Wood Co. is also an inviting little structure. Altogether a good little kit with lots of applications for your pike.

Dave Kruiswyk