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HOW TO : Build A Bar Mills Swanson’s Lunch Stand Kit           
  Article By Bryan Catley and his Alligator Lines Copyright ©
                                                                                                       
Bar Mills Swanson's Lunch Stand

The kit comes in a plastic jewel box and contains a number of different items: Two sheets of instructions; a "cheat sheet" (for this kit); a "Guide to Better Structure Building" (for any and all structures) pamphlet; seven small sheets of laser cut kit parts; some roof covering; two small sheets of signs; appliances (fridge, etc.); three strips of wood for corner posts and a small bag of white metal detail parts (for the immediate surrounding area). It also includes a small catalog of their products (it seems that only a few are in N Scale) and a piece of sponge rubber to prevent the contents from shaking around too much.

The first instruction sheet has the parts listed (both by name and appearance) and some general instructions on one side. The other side contains pretty detailed instructions (as far as they go) with a couple of diagrams. The second is one sided and includes a photo step by step. This needs to be cross-referenced with the first sheet.

The instructions also state: "This is a craftsman kit and if you are new to the hobby you might want to consider doing more basic projects before approaching a kit of this detail". After spending some time looking this kit over and working with it I have to concur! This is not the kit to get your feet wet with when it comes to laser cut kits! It was the most challenging one I have tackled to date!

As I indicated, the instructions are, for the most part, pretty detailed (if studied) but are missing some information. While detailed (up to starting to put the walls together to form the shell of the structure) they are complete but somewhat hard to understand and require some studying. Very little detailed information from that point on is provided. Corner posts are mentioned with minimal information but the roofing and a side gate are not mentioned at all. This is where previous experience with other laser kits becomes indispensible!

The kit uses "an internal stud system for construction". The four walls (which are very thin} are braced by peel 'n stick frames placed on each side. Needless to say, any painting needs to be done up front and don't forget to prime or seal the main walls. Even so I experienced some warping but letting it dry under a weight (after it was dry to the touch) cured that!

The corner posts do deserve an additional comment. You only need two of the three strips supplied and it is best to pre-paint them on three sides. Cut the strips a little oversize for the side walls and glue them in place as has been done with other kits. Once dry, trim the ends matching the angle of the tops of the walls. The posts for the front wall perform an additional task. They actually separate the top and bottom areas! Lay the top, middle, counter and bottom together on a piece of paper. (The middle piece and counter are acting as spacers and should NOT be glued). Cut the corner post strips a little longer than necessary and apply glue to the top and bottom wall pieces then apply the posts. Shift the wall around a bit to prevent it sticking. When dry enough, remove the middle piece and the counter - the top and bottom of the front wall are now correctly spaced! Trim the posts when all is dry.

Once the four walls are complete they can be glued together to form the shell of the structure. This is the time to start on any interior detailing you plan to do. The kit comes with 'fridge, counter top and cook top and they should be glued into place at this time (after painting). Now affix the shell to the base and insert any figures (not supplied) you may want behind the counter. Once the roof is on this becomes very difficult if not impossible to accomplish.

The roof has five rafters on the inside and they fit into slots on the main roof panel. This is one time I recommend NOT painting first! The fit is very snug and once painted it is difficult to get them to fit correctly! One side of the roof is grooved while the other is flat. The instructions make no mention as to which should be the "outer" roof. I chose the grooved side since I wanted to use the grooves as a guide for attaching the roof panels. Attach the peel 'n stick roofing strips one at a time from the bottom up, overlapping them very slightly. Make them a little longer than necessary and trim the edges once the roof is fully covered using a sharp pair of scissors or a hobby knife.

At this point the structure is pretty much complete except for the open doors, etc. This is where I used CA glue to attach them! It dries so much faster and only requires a minute or two of holding in place!

The kit does come with peel 'n stick planking for the sidewalk around the structure and I started to apply some but rapidly lost patience with the small size of the planks. Since the base was already grooved with planks I decided to leave it as-is and let some weathering take care of it!

The sign was very easy to construct using the peel 'n stick signage (although the rear supports have to be fashioned on your own) while the fence just required removing it from its container sheet.

The roof was painted gray and a black wash was applied all over. I will probably add a little green and brown to the roof before the structure is finally in place. The metal detail parts will be used when the structure is finally placed into position and the surrounding ground cover is completed.

Once completed you will probably have a number of pieces left over. Do not throw them out - keep them in a scrap box (if you don't already have one the box this kit comes in makes a great first one); you will almost certainly find use for them later!