Hello,

I am currently completing my second DPM building and I really like them. Here are some commented pictures :

1) Robert's Dry Goods # 102 :



View of the front façade. Windows are made with Main Stree Graphics Window Kit # 2336. Paints are from Humbrol and Floquil.





Lighting is provided by a transparent yellow 5 mm LED installed in each room of the building. Wiring is made with aviation compliant AWG 22 wires but I would like to change the type of wires for the next building because they are not flexible enough. I think that I will take a black commercial AWG 24 multibraid wire. By the way, this will avoid me to paint the white aviation wires inside the building.


2) B. Moore Catalogue Showroom # 104 :



This is my second DPM building under construction. Windows of the shop are spares left behind of previous Main Street Graphics Window kit.



View of the inside. Note the Evergreen styrene profiles used to reinforce the structure. L shaped profiles are already in place to receive the two floors and roof. Each storey will be then divided in several rooms each of them beeing lighted with a LED. Window blinds were simply painted on transparent sheets.

These kits are very cheap (mostly about US$ 12.00 each) and look very nice when completed. They will find a place on each American layout for sure.

Pierre.

I'll second Pierre's recommendation of DPM kits. They're great, actually to scale, and can easily be adapted for European situations with minimal effort. Most of that work would be in the area of windows and doors which are rather different.

A note of caution though. These kits are not terribly finished or out of the box, semi idiot proof, like FaKiVo. You may have to do quite a bit of work to make sure the edges of the pieces are square and fit well, and in general just to assemble the kits. The kits can really make into anything you want as they are fairly modular. You'll also need to do more painting... They're a great introduction to scratchbuilding.

More info is at <http://www.dpmkits.com/>.

p.

Nice work Pierre! [:p]

Very nice. The bricks are very well painted

Great work!

OH ... they are so nice, Pierre ... wish I had the space ...

Yeah, Ira ... Or we say I got stealth buildings [xx(]. That way I have no work load at all ...

DPM are plastic kits. If you compare them with Faller, Kibri, Vollmer and all other equivalent kits, you will have no other choice than to paint them as they come as four bare plastic façades with a transparent sheet for the windows and a styrene sheet in order to make the roof. You have to add all other details such as roof accessories, lightning, inside by yourself. So, they are really interesting for someone who wants to have a basic quality structure but who also wants to perform some scratchbuilding.

City Classics kits share exactly the same philosophy : http://cityclassics.fwc-host.com/

I also like the DPM modular system, a concept that is now also offered by Walthers. Each time I place an order to my local hobby shop, I include one or two unexpensive DPM modular packs. One day, I will be able then to design and build several buildings of my own. This modular system is very interesting for stores, factories or any other industrial building, for instance.

Pierre.

Very nice pictures.

Thanks Jacques.

Please post pictures of your "Roadkill Cafe" when completed ! [:p]

Trimming of window frames are required even on DPM HO buildings. It would be obviously a more delicate operation on N scale models.

Pierre.

Hans Martin: Can't wait to see another one of your masterpieces [:p]

Finished the assembly of the kit this weekend. Many thanks for your advice, Pierre. Essentially I tried what you have recomended. Only difference is that I mixed the paint from simple water based acrylic wall paints.



Coloring the mortar with a very thin wash of white (or light grey) paint worked very well. Finally, the building got a wash with thin black acrylic paint, so it looks a little aged.
Most work was painting the window frames with dark ocher and brown. This required some extra care, but in total the kit assembly was very easy.
I attached sheets of white japanese paper behind the windows. This is in order to achieve a diffusive light.



Presently I am making some experiments with LEDs. What I am still looking for are big illuminated letters to write "HOTEL" or so on the wall.
Many small details still missing. Eventually Harold Lloyd climbing up the wall .

Hans Martin

Great work, Hans Martin ! [:0]

You will find various kinds of roof advertising billboards in Walthers' catalogue.

From my side, unfortunately I have not progressed in my LED's experiments. I have worked a little on my roundhouse last week, but that is all. [:(]

Pierre.

Excellent signs,thanks for the link.