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N Scale Trains

HOW TO : Build A Northeastern Scale Models Watch Tower          
  Article By Bryan Catley and his Alligator Lines Copyright ©
                                                                                                       
Northeastern Scale Models Watch Tower

The kit comes in one of those rather flat plastic and cardboard packages. A clear bubble on the front so the contents are visible but the bubble must be cut in order to extract the pieces!

This is a small but relatively simple laser cut wood kit. There are 24 pieces plus four acetate windows. Everything is included except the roof covering. You can paint, add some shingles or use some paper strips as tarpaper for the roofing.

There are no peel 'n stick pieces, everything requires gluing into position, but some of the pieces have tabs and slots to assist in construction. The instructions cover three sides of two standard sheets and are light on words but pretty heavy on (drawn) pictures! The same instructions are used for all scales. As is usual they recommend painting before assembly, which really makes the most sense with this kit although the base is an exception!

The detail parts shown in the image are NOT included. This includes some extra roof trim, the shingles, a person climbing the ladder and some stuff at the bottom of the tower.

You can really start on the cabin or the tower base. I chose the cabin and painted the four sides and the four corner posts deep red. The windows and windows frames were painted white. Only at this point were they removed from their container sheets. A sharp modeling knife was used for this task.

Note: When removing these pieces do so from the back! The paint (on the front side) sometimes obscures the outline of the pieces. Also, it is not necessary to cut the entire outline of the piece. Look to see where it is attached, usually in two to four locations, and just cut there!

First task is to complete the windows. Insert the windows from the rear and be sure they are flush with front. Then, one acetate window at a time, and again from the rear, place three very small dabs of glue around the edge (use the tip of a toothpick) and then insert the acetate window.

Note: Needle nosed tweezers are a wonderful help for this task and, of course, the dabs of glue end up holding both the frame and the acetate in place.

Once dry, flip the four sides and glue the four window frames in place on the front sides.

Note: This is trickier than it sounds. There are no guides to use and you end up doing it strictly by eye. Just take your time.

Now glue the four corner posts to the two ends with the roof line. Lay them flat to do this but be careful not to glue the pieces to your work surface! (Just move them around a bit while drying).

I tackled the tower base next. There are two pieces that go together to form the tower base in the form of a cross (or "X"). Remove the two pieces and glue them together; once dry they can be glued into the base. At this point I painted the tower base a dark brown; it needed two coats!

The ladder is all that is left and I had pre-painted it a lighter shade of brown. It was glued into place in a vertical position.

Note: The base and the cabin floor both have slots for the two ends of the ladder. Forget about them! The ladder is too long anyway and needs trimming so I glued it to the tower base and then trimmed it to the correct length. Worked very well!

You may now construct the cabin by gluing the four walls to the floor. I suggest you start by gluing one of the two "square" walls to the floor since these are the exact width of the floor and you can align the edges easily. Once semi-dry (don't wait till it's really dry) glue one of the "roof line" walls (with the corner posts) into position. This allows you to ensure everything is square and vertical! Now add the other two walls. The sequence is not important at this point.

Your cabin is now done except for the roof. As indicated, no roof covering is provided and I had both shingles and some peel 'n stick paper strips left over from other kits. After a little waffling I decided on the paper strips. (I reasoned that, for me, the shingles would look a little posh for this tower).

The strips were cut a little oversize and applied from the base of the roof up. Each new strip was applied so it overlapped the one below by a small amount. Both sides were done up to the top edge.

Note: The two roof pieces have slots that fit on tabs on the cabin walls; and they are positioned so there is definite top and bottom! Make sure you start at the bottom and not the top!

The paper strips were then trimmed to an even length and the two roof pieces were glued to the cabin walls. Touch up paint was then applied to the walls and under the roof edges.

Before the roof could be painted it needed a strip down the center. One more paper strip was cut and scored down the center and then formed into a "V". At this point the backing was removed and the center strip was applied to the roof. It then received a covering of dark gray paint.

The cabin and the tower base were now complete and it necessary to join them together. The tops of the tower base have tabs that fit into slots in the cabin floor to assist in the correct positioning.

Note: I found it easier to get a good fit by lightly shaving the tabs with my hobby knife; just a little bit!

The cabin floor has an opening for the ladder. The kit even has a trap door for this opening. I chose to ignore all this. No one is going to be looking up at this watch tower!

The final step was some weathering. The cabin walls and the tower base received a little black wash and roof received some black, light gray and raw sienna dry brushed on. All done!

For a first time laser kit builder this appears to be a reasonable kit! It is simple and straight forward and, although small, doesn't have a lot of small, hard to handle pieces. Yet at the same time, it does require care, particularly the windows!