DPM, Schult's Garage Build

Design Preservation Models produce molded plastic kits. There is a lot involved in terms of preparation, when building these kits. With a clear plan on colors and layout placement, these kits can fit on any layout - from the average to the craftsman's masterpiece. They have a model to fit any scene and that includes many eras and regions.

I finally got back to this structure last evening. Remember the holes I mentioned that were on the insides of the walls?

You can see the holes on the inside of the upper corner. These will be above the roof level so will need to be filled.

I may add lighting to this building later so I wanted a floor to separate the first level from the second level. DPM kits come with a sheet of styrene roof material that was big enough to use for a floor in this kit. I'm not sure if the sheet would be large enough if the kit was for a larger structure. Photo mat board would work well for this too

DPM kits also come with a piece of 1/8 square styrene to use as a roof support. The idea is to cut the piece into shorter sections and glue them to the inside of the walls at roof level. The roof is then glued to these. The piece they supply is not long enough to provide supports for a divider between the two floors as well so I used some 1/8 inch square wood (about match stick size).

First I measured and marked a line for the floor of the second story. I wanted to secure the floor supports so that I could add the floor from the bottom. This would be so I could remove the floor later to add lights. Because this building has a door inset into the building on a 45 degree angle, the supports had to be high enough for the floor to rest on top of the door. Once I had the line I trimmed and glued my wooden floor supports just above my line using CA.

Then I did the same thing with the roof supports. The only difference was that these had to be under the roof. I marked my line so the roof would be flush with the top of the lowest parts of the walls. I decided I would save the styrene roof support that came with the kit for a future project and used my wood pieces instead. I secured them just under my roof line with CA.

Those two steps would have been a lot easier before all the walls were assembled. I'll try to remember that for the other DPM kit I have waiting to be built. Surprisingly it's called "The Other Corner Cafe".

Next, I measured the width and length of the building and cut the floor and roof sections for the sheet styrene included in the kit. Because I didn't use a square block and clamps my structure is slightly out of square but it shouldn't be too noticeable when the building is finished. But it did require some fussing around to get the floor and roof to fit well. The floor is just tight enough that it doesn't require glue so I can remove it easily later on.

There was enough of the sheet styrene left over that I was able to install some walls upstairs. I like adding interior walls to structures so that when lights are added you can have some rooms lit and not others.

You can see a bit of a gap along the edges of the roof, but they should not be visible on the finished model.

I have not added the clear window material yet. I'll wait to do that after the structure is completely painted. Speaking of painting, that is the next step, but we'll have to wait for another day.

Scott

Quick and Easy N Scale Model Structure

A U.S. Customs office would be just right for a small waterfront N Scale layout I’m planning.

I have constructed several buildings, large and small, from DPM Bulk Packs in the past and I was looking forward to build this type of DPM kit.

I was so anxious to get started on this building I forgot to take pictures of all the pieces. Sorry. The first thing I did was to inspect all the parts and clean up all the leftovers from the molding process. There are large tabs from the molds on the bottom of most of the pieces that need to be trimmed off with a sharp knife and then filed smooth. You should check all window openings and clean up any extra material left over from the mold. A small sharp knife and small file come in handy for this step.

Of all the DPM wall sections I have seen in the bulk packs (4 so far) I have never seen wall sections with deep holes on the insides before. The holes actually had raised edges that must be trimmed flush with the wall in order to get a good joint where perpendicular wall sections join. You should also smooth any that get in the way of floors and walls that you might add later. DPM doesn't mention floors and walls in their directions, but they are items to consider. A few of the holes will be above the roof, so they need to be filled as well. I haven't figured out what to use yet.

Look closely at the edges of the wall sections. Some have molded bricks others are smooth. The smooth edges should be glued against the inside of a wall section leaving the brick edges exposed.

I was running low on CA so I tried some 5 minute epoxy on one of the wall joints. Although it provides a very strong glue joint I wasn't happy with having to hold the walls in alignment for so long waiting for the glue to set enough to let go. Small clamps and a block of wood to maintain a 90 degree corner would have come in handy. I have some 6" QuickGrip clamps but couldn't find them at the time.

Anyway, the rest of the structure went together quite quickly once I switched back to using CA.

I set it aside intending to come back to it the next evening, but it would be a week before I got back at it again.

Scott