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HOW TO : Build A Downtown Deco Addams Ave. Part 2 Kit                    
   Article By Bryan Catley and his Alligator Lines  Copyright ©                                                                                                          
  Downtown Deco's Addams Ave - Part 2

Addams Ave. Part 2 is a Hydrocal based kit as are all of Downtown Deco's kits.  And it is a very nice kit as well!

Note: Hydrocal is a cast plaster and can display a surprising amount of detail.

As seems to be the case with these kits, while they do have an incredible amount of detail, it is the painting and detailing that makes or breaks them!  The pieces also do not have the accuracy of laser cut kits (for obvious reasons) so be prepared to make adjustments on the fly!

The published footprint for this model is 4 x 2 inches but, it turns out, this is not correct!  The box says 5 x 3 but the actual structure measures 5 1/4 x 2 3/4 inches!  This is quite a big difference and could very easily impact what you are planning, especially if the available space is a little on the tight side!  Remember, this does not include any surrounding areas such as sidewalks, etc.

Here we will just discuss the kit and the actual construction of the kit.  A mix of yellow glue, CA glue and a glue stick were used during construction.

The kit, the container and the contents are remarkably similar to Part 1.  It follows that the basic construction of the kit is also remarkably to Part 1!  As a result, there is no intent to repeat everything that was stated in the Part 1 write up!  If you haven't already, I urge you to read that description before continuing here; you may find it here.

Here is a link to the FifersHobby page for this kit(where I obtained mine) and here is the Downtown Deco page.

As indicated, the basic construction is almost identical to that used for Part 1.  Paint the walls, do the doors and windows, add the signs that are flush with the walls, glue the four walls together and then add the roof and the roofing accessories!  Looking at the accompany images you will see just how similar the process was.

There were, however, a couple of areas where I differed in the approach I took.  First were the flush external signs.  In Part 1 they were all cut from the supplied sheet and glued directly to the walls.  For Part 2 I only did this for the signs on the end wall.  For the signs on the front of the storefronts I mounted them on styrene first and then cut them out and glued them into position!

This approach was prompted by the Bail Bondsman sign which extended above the top of the building!  This sign had to be mounted on something to provide the necessary support!  It was simply decided to use the same approach for all the front signs.  They were glued into position after receiving a coat of brown paint around the edges (using a very thin brush).  It worked very well and is an approach I will use, where practical, in the future.

The second area of difference was in the roofing.  In Part 1 the styrene roofing was a tad too small while in Part 2 it was tad too large and required a little trimming!  Further, the provided black top roofing sheet was also a little too short for the overall roof!

Rather than using strips for the roof covering I glued it into position but left an uncovered strip at one end.  After applying some weathering, the store dividers, the chimneys and some vents I covered the roofs of the two end units with "gravel"!

Fine ballast was used; a plain gray at one end and a blend of black and sand at the other.  My standard technique was used for application.  Some white glue/water mix spread over the area followed by a sprinkling of the ballast!  Once dry any loose stuff was shaken off!

This left a couple of awnings for the main structure, plus a couple of vertical external signs as well.

One of the awnings was applied exactly as previously, the other (for the grocery) was a little different in that it needed a little construction of its own.  As provided it has sides and two flaps that need to be tucked under and glued into position before it is actually mounted.  I did all this with reasonable success but then decided the awning was too large!

By then it was too late since it was already glued into position.  If you build this kit give the size of this awning some thought and if you wish to do so, trimming it would be remarkable easy!  Of course, adding the awnings and where they are placed, or not, is a personal decision!

The four awning supporting rods were then glued into position and painted (again using a very small brush).  Now for the two vertical signs!

There is one for the Coco Club that reads "Coco Club" and a much smaller one for the Massage Parlor that reads "24 Hours" (both vertical, of course).  The instructions do not really mention these signs or the best way to construct them.

After some thought I decided to "build" my own signs!  All four sides were glued onto styrene and cut out when dry.  Taking one side of each sign a small strip of styrene was glued to the front.  Tweezers help with the positioning.  More strips were added to the top and bottom and for the sign supports.  When dry the side and end strips as well as the support strips were trimmed to the correct length.

The visible styrene then received a coat of brown paint (with, once again, a thin brush).  When dry the supports were dipped in some CA glue and positioned on the building.

Notes:

·  I did take some pictures of the vertical sign construction but unfortunately they ended up be too blurred to actually use!

·  I chose to add an awning for the Coco Club without realizing it would impact the positioning of the vertical sign. You may choose to add the awning to the Bail Bondsman or Massage Parlor (or not at all) in order to provide a little more flexibility in placing the Coco Club sign.

The structure was now complete and the results are more than acceptable !!