Grimes Stores
by Gisby

Another kit from Products For Wargamers. It's a mid-size mercantile building with a peaked roof and front awning, made from 2mm MDF. As is common, it has separate frames for the windows and decorative front. The fit overall is good, and there is plenty of detail. The roof comes with shingle detail, and the hoarding has a very nice cornice. There are doors, but I removed them. I made a floor from craft sticks, with walkway and rear stoop attached. I prefer a deeper walkway than the one supplied, so I replaced it with one made from craft sticks. Before assembly I primed the outer walls grey, and spray painted the inner walls and building front white. I assembled the four walls and glued them to the floor. I also made a new awning to match the depth of the new walkway. I used the awning supports from the kit. The sign is one of the signs that was supplied with the kit. The brown of the MDF bled through the white paint, so I eventually gave up and painted it light tan. I should have primed it first.

I have to admit, using the supplied sign was easier than trying to come up with a dubiously clever sign, and a LOT easier than making a sign. And it looks good. Front trim was painted before assembly. I added framing to the corners of the building to hide the joins, and to give a more finished look. The roof is shingled with individual shingles. I glued stacks of 10 coffee stirrers together at one end, then used a razor saw and mitre box to cut them into shingles. Each shingle was then sanded with an emery board. I originally glued the shingles to narrow strips of paper, and glued those strips along guide lines penciled onto the roof. While doing this roof I gave up on that, and just glued them, row by row, using the existing shingle detail as guides. It was faster and works just as well. Use as little glue as you can, to prevent the roof warping. I did a bit at a time so that the whole roof wouldn't be damp all at once. PFW roofs come with a good set of internal bracing, and I'm sure that helped, too. It's a nice kit.