Model Railroader – October 2019

24 http://www.ModelRailroader.com

Step by Step

Design Preservation Models (DPM, part of Woodland

Scenics) structures have been a part of model railroading for

decades. In the August 2019 issue, I wrote about how to add

and illuminate an interior for the company’s HO scale

Robert’s Dry Goods kit (no. 10200).

This month, we’ll take a look at how

to assemble, paint, and weather

the building.

Now you might be thinking,

“Really! This is a plastic kit. How

tough can it be?” Well, to an

extent you’re right. But with

DPM kits, it’s the little steps you

take, especially on the front end

of the build, that make the fin-

ished structure look great.

Cleaning sprue attachment

points, removing flash, and

squaring the edges to get tight

corner joints are just a few things

you can do.

But a well-built model is only

part of the process. A prototypi-

cal paint job, some signs, and

realistic weathering will make an

ordinary building a standout.

So if you’re working on a

DPM kit, give these techniques

a try. You can also watch me build

and detail this structure from start

to finish on “Cody’s Workshop.”

The series is available exclusively

on Model Railroader Video Plus

(www.MRVideoPlus.com).

Build, paint, and weather a structure kit

STEP 1 PREPPING THE PARTS

The wall panels were attached to a

sprue, which was removed at the fac-

tory. However, there were still ragged

chunks of plastic at the sprue attach-

ment points along the edges of the

wall. I removed them with a pair of

sprue cutters.

Other parts had flash, excess

plastic that oozed out of the mold.

I removed the flash with a variety of

tools, including jeweler’s files, a no. 11

blade in a hobby knife, and, as dem-

onstrated in the middle image, a

sanding stick.

The wall edges are slightly beveled

from the manufacturing process. To

get the edges square, I held each

panel against a wood squaring block

and slid it back and forth on a piece

of 320-grit sandpaper attached to a

piece of tempered glass.

Sprue attachment point

Sprue cutters

Remove flash with sanding stick

Tempered glass

Wall panel

Sandpaper

Wood squaring block