As Fred is demonstrating the box it comes in is massive! It's also really heavy, I must admit I was a bit put off when I ordered it that it was excluded from the spend £40 get free shipping offer, but now I can see why.
So I got off to a really good start when I couldn't open the box! For some reason I got it into my head that it was a flip open box. I cut along the sides and the front and then spent a lot longer than I should have trying to flip it open. So after sometime proving people right that I shouldn't be allowed out on my own I cut along the back, and what do you know, it opened!
So what's in the box?
14 pages!!! of coloured A4 instructions, no writing just lots and lots of pictures. It would be helpful here and there to have a bit of written explanation, but if can follow them I'm sure all of you who have no issues with opening boxes will be fine. The pegs and elastics bands are a really nice addition, as we don't have them old style pegs and I can't find the big box of bands we have somewhere...
You also get 2 big bags full of laser cut wood.
So PVA at the ready I opened the 1st bag. It really is a simple case of look at the instructions and pop out the parts, which come out really easily and cleanly, a quick dry fit and start gluing. As I mentioned in my last blog PVA takes a while to dry, which can be a little frustrating but wasn't ready to break out the superglue. This where the bands and pegs come in handy, they do great job of holding it all tight together while you can carry on and do the next bit.
So far so good, I was going to use the Lego you can see in the back ground to hold things straight while the glue dried. As I found out you really don't need to, the building is wonky! so trying to keep it straight really doesn't help! And the bits fit together so well they don't need holding.
You build up the inside and then glue it to base that holds the frame. The trick I have found here is use glue sparingly, I put bit more on the base and spread it out making sure the edges were covered, then I put a little bit on each top part of the frame and on the larger bits in the middle and pushed the inside in. The pegs do their thing and hold it while it dries, again the fit was perfect, just give it time to dry.
The doors open and close, but you have to be really careful taking frame (part DR1) out of the sheet as the top is really thin. The way you put the door in is a bit of a sod, you have to glue the bottom frame down put the door in at an angle, glue the top frame and hold it on top of the door and push it in place. When it works, it works really well, but one of the frames was such a tight fit at the top it snapped as I was pushing it in. The way around this was to glue half the frame in and then put the other half in with the door.
Onward and upwards, the stairs are made out of 11 separate parts that go together really easily and the tightness of the fit holds it together while you put the steps in. Yes they are meant to be wonky.
Being an Inn it has a bar, which is nicely detailed with units and shelves, it even has a shelf under the bar!
I managed to get the double doors to open and close, sorry for the inconsistency with photos as I was using my phone and it could not make up its mind if it wanted flash or not (plus I should really check the photos at the time), but when its done I'll get some proper lights on it and take some good pictures.
Next up is the kitchen complete with fire and oven. Its the basic build the inside, then build the frame and glue them together, use the pegs to hold it and it's all good. Again the perfect fit makes it go together easily. So far this nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be.
The pictures show how you get colour in between the frames, each coloured section is on a thin bit wood that you pop out and glue in place, simple but somewhat time consuming. But you get into a rhythm, push, clean (if needed, which in most cases it was not), glue, insert and repeat.
The lean too supports are 2 halves that need to be glued together and pegged while they dry. The instructions show you to do this first and then glue it to the base and add the roof, this where I got a bit clever. I glued it all in place and then pegged it, I done it this way to ensure the supports were straight and it all fitted. It worked so I'll take that as a win.
So left on the ground floor I have some free standing stairs and a small roof for the kitchen. I would have liked to have finished it (the ground floor, not the whole thing!) but its really not fun anymore, so best leave it for now. But all in all I feel its a great start to what is so far a great kit.
That's it for now, more to follow, I can see it taking 3 or 4 days in all, but we shall see.
Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again soon.
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