HOW TO
BUILD A SMALL FACTORY/ WORKSHOP
Inspired by a few recent Metcalfe Models kits, Grahame Hedges decided to scratchbuild a small industrial structure that could lend itself to all manner of uses.
I quite like the two new card kit buildings that were recently introduced to Metcalfe Models’ ‘N’ gauge range, depicting a ramshackle workshop and a municipal building. Indeed, the ‘OO’ versions of these kits featured in the November 2022 issue of Model Rail.
They both have a distinctly urban, less uniform feel, and are much more useful than other twee, vernacular rural designs. However, they both exude the distinctive drawbacks of many mass-produced card kits, with flat, slightly shiny surfaces, exposed corners and an overall lack of relief.
Although these issues can be dealt with, as explained in articles previously published in Model Rail, I wondered whether it would be possible to knock up a complete and more convincing model based on one of the Metcalfe kits. I decided on the ramshackle workshop and took my cue from that, although I didn’t simply want to create an exact copy.
The overall footprint for my version is larger than the Metcalfe kit and, although the chimney is also taller, the building height to the roof ridge is the same. The overall larger size makes the structure more redolent of a small factory, rather than a workshop.