Charlie Foxtrot Big(ger) Buildings

This past Victoria Day long weekend had pretty crappy weather. As such we stuck indoors for larger portions of the time. So what better time to smash some building together.




I started with the "Brasserie". Comes in simple packaging with one page of instructions. The instruction sheet is pretty basic and only high-lights some of the more intricate pieces.







Here's all the pieces. There was no waste/excess material which helps keep the weight down. Although it is a little daunting being different from the usual MDF kits.








Basic building is complete. Bandage on my finger is not related to this project :)








I left the Brasserie façade off as I'm going to texture the exterior.








Here I taped off all the openings so I wouldn't get textured spray inside the building or on the roof.
I'm planning to shingle over the roof so that's not a big deal if paint got on but I want the shingles to adhere properly.








Up next is the Boulangerie. Same packaging with most pieces punched out.









It had interior walls on the main floor which was nice.








Here's a quick pic of the pain components to be sprayed. Again I left off the façade for ease of texturing. I also had to tape off the Juliet balcony above the doors.








The Café De Normandy was the tallest build (3 floors) and had a "L" shape on the ground floor. I would call this building the fiddliest, but it wasn't that bad.








All the bits. This kit had the most pieces by far.








The dormer window isn't glued on. I have the dormer's peak resting on the roof peak while the glue sets up to keep the correct alignment of the pieces.








What I liked:
No excess material meant less time spent cutting things out.
Kits were fairly intuitive. However, some are available on line.
They look great as is, and I haven't textured them yet or added details like doors windows or shutters.


What I didn't like:
A few of the corners on tabs and other small bits where damaged. This happens as there is no packaged/excess material to keep them from hitting each other. But it was all negligible.
Instructions - I'd have preferred a step-by-step guide.


All in all, I was very happy with these kits. Getting the skeletons together, texturing the corners and taping off areas I didn't want spray paint took maybe 25-30 minutes each with most of the time spent filling the corners and taping.


In my next post I'll show why I textured the corners.


I'm going to spend the next little bit tarting them up as I plan on shingling the roof.