IowaFarmBoy
Member
Some time ago, probably at least a couple of years, I won an ebay auction for a Bailey Savings and Loan structure already assembled. It was cheap, very cheap. When it arrived I inspected it and it had serious problems. It had been assembled with tube cement including glazing the windows. 
1 corner joint was completely broken and a 2nd partially broken. Apparently it had been dropped. Hmm. Time to decide what to do.
I decided to disassemble it and clean the joints then reassemble with liquid cement. Well tube cement, if applied well, holds well and the other joints were solid so that would have meant lots of sawing joints apart. Too much work in doing all of that. So i clamped it back together and squared it up. The open joints were closed well enough that liquid cement, my generic MEK from a big box store, glued them back together neatly.
Next I worked on the windows and doors thinking that I could pop them out, remove the glazing, and paint walls, doors, and windows. The tube cement, LOTS of it, had those securely glued in except for the front entrance which did come out. "Aha!" I thought. "Walthers probably has spare parts." A quick phone call dashed that hope. And the window openings were not quite right for Grandt Line or Tichy replacements. I sat the building aside while I pondered what to do.
I needed the bench space for another project and boxed this up and stored it. 2 years passed... Now I am scratchbuilding some structures and assembling kits for other structures and I opened the box where this was stored with some other buildings that need work. I'm retired and not in the greatest physical condition and I have more time than money so saving this seemed cost effective.
Forgetting to re-install the removed door assembly beforehand, I masked the windows and back door then I I sprayed the interior with dark grey Krylon primer to block the windows. That worked fine and the excess tube glue wasn't too noticeable but you can still see blobs of glue if you look closely. Next I primed the exterior with the same primer. A uniform flat wall color improved the looks of that shiny tan plastic. I had a can of Rust-Oleum Multicolor Textured spray paint in Desert Bisque color and used that to paint the exterior. I'm satisfied with the result and will be putting a sign on it to get it ready for the layout once I paint the inside of the front door to match the windows.
I like pictures so here are the "After" photos. I forgot to take any "Before" ones.
1 corner joint was completely broken and a 2nd partially broken. Apparently it had been dropped. Hmm. Time to decide what to do.I decided to disassemble it and clean the joints then reassemble with liquid cement. Well tube cement, if applied well, holds well and the other joints were solid so that would have meant lots of sawing joints apart. Too much work in doing all of that.
So i clamped it back together and squared it up. The open joints were closed well enough that liquid cement, my generic MEK from a big box store, glued them back together neatly.Next I worked on the windows and doors thinking that I could pop them out, remove the glazing, and paint walls, doors, and windows. The tube cement, LOTS of it, had those securely glued in except for the front entrance which did come out. "Aha!" I thought. "Walthers probably has spare parts." A quick phone call dashed that hope. And the window openings were not quite right for Grandt Line or Tichy replacements. I sat the building aside while I pondered what to do.
I needed the bench space for another project and boxed this up and stored it. 2 years passed... Now I am scratchbuilding some structures and assembling kits for other structures and I opened the box where this was stored with some other buildings that need work. I'm retired and not in the greatest physical condition and I have more time than money so saving this seemed cost effective.
Forgetting to re-install the removed door assembly beforehand, I masked the windows and back door then I I sprayed the interior with dark grey Krylon primer to block the windows. That worked fine and the excess tube glue wasn't too noticeable but you can still see blobs of glue if you look closely. Next I primed the exterior with the same primer. A uniform flat wall color improved the looks of that shiny tan plastic. I had a can of Rust-Oleum Multicolor Textured spray paint in Desert Bisque color and used that to paint the exterior. I'm satisfied with the result and will be putting a sign on it to get it ready for the layout once I paint the inside of the front door to match the windows.
I like pictures so here are the "After" photos. I forgot to take any "Before" ones.
