A Look At – Building The LX015-OO Laser Cut Park Plant Troughs & Planters

Lets get started….

So as is now customary for this series of articles the tools & glue that’ll you’ll need are as seen on the right:

• Cutting mat
• Craft knife with fresh sharp blades
• Roket card glue by Deluxe Materials or similar
• Steel rule or straight edge for cutting against
• Sanding stick
• Old cloth for wiping away excess glue
• Tweezers
• Acrylic paint (colour of your choice)

Familiarize your self with the parts on the kit parts sheet.

We’ll start with one of the large planter troughs. Cut & remove the four parts highlighted in orange on the right. These parts being two long side & two small end pieces.

Lightly sand flush any pips that may be visible after cutting part free from the parts sheet.

Place one of the long side pieces with laser engraved detail facing downwards. Take one of the small end pieces & insert into the slots on one end as shown on the right. The laser engraved detail must face outwards. Make sure the end piece is flush & 90 degree square to the long side piece. Add some Roket Card glue on the inside of the joint as shown on the right. Allow time for glue to set whilst keeping the end piece at right angles.

Repeat with the second side & end piece. Allow time for glue to set.

Next cut & remove the three parts highlighted on the right. These are the planter bottom & top pieces.

Sand flush any pips on the part sides.

Take the two rectangle bottom pieces & glue together to form a stack of two as shown on the right.

Apply a thin bead of glue along  the side of one end & down one side of the rectangle base.

Place the glued piece on to the inside of the trough sides as shown on the right.

Next glue the two remaining sides of the base. Carefully place the other side piece so that all end sections interlock with the slots on the other side / end piece. Make sure all sides are square & flush.

Add a bead of glue up the inside of the two corner sections that you’ve just fitted.

Glue along the top edge as shown & place the top frame on making sure the laser engraved side faces upwards.

Turn the planter over & apply four beads of glue evenly spaced apart. Carefully place a base packer (highlighted in orange) on to each bead of glue.

Now either leave in the natural card unpainted state to represent weathered unpainted wood or paint in a acrylic paint of your choice.

Repeat building the rest of the large planter troughs.

Now it’s time to turn our attention to the smaller planters. Cut & remove the following parts from the kit parts sheet.

Sand flush any remaining pips from the parts side.

So starting with the two base pieces glue these together to make a stack of two.

Take two of the side pieces & slot together so that it forms a 90 degree right angle. Make sure that all sides are flush & sqaure. Glue along the inside of the joint as shown. Repeat with the other two side pieces.

Next glue along two side edges of the square base & place one the right angled side pieces on as shown on the right. Make sure the base is flush with the bottom edge of the side pieces.

Now glue along the remaining two side edges of the square base. Place the other right angled side piece on as shown on the right. Make sure the base is flush with the bottom edge of the side pieces & the side pieces are all flush too.

Run a small bead of Roket Card Glue along the top edge of the planter & place the top rectangle frame on the top edge. Make sure all sides are flush with the top of the side pieces on the inside. The top frame will overlap the outer edge.

Next cut & remove the base packers from the kit parts sheet & glue two as shown on the right to the underside of the planter.

For painting here i’ve used Humbrol aerosol brown spray paint giving two light coats of paint. Once paint has dried place on to your layout & fill with model flowers etc of your choice.