Winter Modeling Project of Cameron Street Apartments

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This Winter I took on building the Cameron Street Apartments structure by KC’S Workshop Craftsman Kits. This is an all basswood construction design, with some unpainted resin and cast metal detail parts and a wonderful kit, honestly I have not had this much fun building a structure like this in some time. Of course, as with any build I do, I added my own twists of details to make it uniquely mine.

One of the biggest changes was the rear attached building, which was supposed to just be the back wall of the main structure that had an extra cinder block wall to change out for the first floor of the clapboard wall, but I removed the first floor rear wall and cut it in half to make two short walls. Combined them with the cinder block wall and made an extra attached and extended structure which is now a welding shop. This creates a 360-degree full detailed scene around the entire model that both tells a story and gives incredible depth.

I then set to work on the details. Wall by wall before assembly, I worked Iver every board and made my own wall signs ( the marque signs were part of the kit) to fit our World War II era theme of our layout. This includes a Chesterfield Cigarette sign with baseball great Stan Musial, a brick painted parking arrow and some era related ghost signs (signs painted on walls that fade as other signs are painted over them in time) on the rear clapboard wall. I also added slatted blinds to the windows, and a complex crawl of ivy growing up the side of a wall. But it doesn’t just crawl up one wall, it goes around a corner, down and across the lower roof, and back down to earth over the shorter wall of the welding shop. I also added ductwork to the roof of the shorter building. Those ducts are also made by KC’S and sold separately. I put a walk over stairs over them so that fire escape users can get past them.

The large billboard atop the main structure I entirely built from scratch with stripwood I had lying around and I added my own printed sign of famous actress of the time, Hedy Lamar drinking Schaefer Beer. The large rooftop oil tank I corroded using AK Interactive enamel paints and effects. All the small details like gas tanks, crates and garbage cans, etc. as well as human figures were all hand painted.

The sidewalk on the front if the building came with the kit and I hand painted and chalk weathered details, but for the rear walk I created with matte board extra to fit the additional structure and match the existing structure. I raised the sidewalk in places, busted up a few curbs and even removed a slab and filled it with some broken concrete rubble.

Bottom Line, I just kept adding and adding to this kit! It was so fun and I couldn’t stop myself. I had to finally just say enough. And that is when you know you love what you do.

There are so many details I never even mentioned. Many you have to zoom in on. But for me? I know they are there and it feels complete and satisfying to have added them.



So fun! Now onto the next building!

You can get your hands on this kit here: https://kcworkshop.com/products/cameron-street-apartments-ho-scale-craftsman-kit

Cameron Street Apartments Kit Gallery: