Post #31

 Sometimes you need a distraction with building the layout. That opportunity came along recently when trolling through one of the Facebook model rail sites I spotted the above kit offered up for sale. The only trouble was that it was offered for sale with a pile of other unwanted items. It had been up for a few days and not sold. So I sent a message to the seller offering to just buy the Bobs Hot Dog Stand. After a while he contacted me and said he was OK to sell it so after payment and a week the items turned up here.

I had plans to place small items like this around the city, its small footprint will make it fit into a lot of places. How US can it be? A hot dog stand. I recently spotted another diner for sale, I think it was either Miss Bettys Diner or Miss Mollies Diner? and was already constructed but it's price of $160 was a definite no. 

The above photo shows the simplicity of the kit. It was made by Pola in West Germany under the Model Power brand. I would say it was an old kit but suits what I want it for. The next job was to remove the items from the sprues and file the joining points smooth.

The four sides were glued to the base and the side building also attached. All the parts were moulded in the one tan colour and no seperate windows were provided. To line up with the red and white colour of the advertising signs on the roof I was going to also paint the trims and window frames in red as well. But I didn't have any red paint, the next choice was to use some Tamiya Flat green. I left the roof off until I had done the painting work.

I had to find my smallest brush to paint the trims. Does shifting from O scale to HO scale make painting twice as hard, everything is smaller. The inevitable whoops happened as I tried to bring the brush down the side of the timber work. It is hard enough to do this in 1: 1 scale never mind the size in HO. No panic ensued, I realised it would be easy enough to scrape away the blemishes with a sharp blade knife. I think this trim painting is required as the kit would look rather bland without it done. Would have looked more striking in red but the green works okay.

The signage for around the top of the building and other advertising were provided on a seperate coloured sheet and had to be trimmed away. The above photo show that I didn't spot the two offcuts of paper sittiing on one of the signs. (It reads 'Ice Cream' in case you can't work it out) Once the sign is glued to the backing there is an overhang of red paper which I reckon most people would trim off but later I realised it should have been left to cover up the end of the other ad board.

The signs were attached to the roof and the exhaust stack also glued on. I guessed the stack would be over the back inside room inside. The roof was also weathered using the universal Tamiya Khaki Drab colour diluted with isopryl alcohol, my standard go to for weathering.

The advertising signs were all cut out and pasted to the building as per suggested on the box. The large 'Coca Cola' sign certainly stands out on the front where an awning is provided over the serving area. Without these advertising signs the building would look rather plain.

The above photos show how the finished stand finished up. Naturally it was weathered with the very diluted Khaki drab and the usual weeds are starting to grow around the edges. There are a few other detailing items to be included in future but that will be when a final location is found.

Another thing I have realised is after the photos taken are viewed on the monitor all the blemishes and hiccups are discovered. Trust me the building looks better from the normal viewing distance. 

How could I have refused to let an appropiately named business go by?