Scale Model Scenery Kit Builds Guides – AX147-OO Lifebuoys & Cabinets – OO/4mm/1:76

The kit comes supplied in our standard bio-degradable cellophane packets (ideal for use as clear glazing for model windows). The kit contents include the instruction sheet, a sheet of laser-cut parts & 3D printed Life Buoy Belts. The Life Buoy Belts are in orange colour but can be painted with acrylic paints.

Let’s get started…

We’ll start with the wall-mounted cabinet. Cut & remove the parts from the parts sheet as highlighted in the photo opposite right. Use a craft knife with a new sharp blade to cut through the pips that hold the parts on to the parts sheet. Any pips on the sides of the parts, use a sanding stick or file, to sand or file flush any pips on the sides of the parts.

With the parts removed, lay them out on your cutting mat/workbench. You’ll notice that one of the frames has some laser engraved text on the front of it (highlighted in the orange loop), this frame with the laser engraved text will go to the front/top of the frame assembly.

The cabinet is assembled as directed by the arrows in the photo opposite right.

I keep & use an old cutting mat for doing the gluing of parts. Here we’re applying a bead of Roket card glue around the frame (the frame without the laser engraved lettering) of the laser cut cabinet frame as shown in the photo opposite right.  

Use a pair of tweezers to place the non glued frame onto the glued frame. Make sure that you align all sides & edges & make sure that they are all square true & flush. Allow time for the glue to grab & set.

On the stack of two glued frames, on the rear side of the frames (without the laser engraved lettering) apply a bead of glue along the rear side of the frame. Then place the glued frame stack, & stick it into place onto the rear backboard. As shown in the photo opposite right. Make sure that all edges are true flush & square.

Next, take one of the small rectangle parts & glue & stick it into place on one of the top slop sections of the cabinet. As shown in the photo opposite right. Make sure that on the apex of the top of the cabinet, that the small rectangle sits flush with the apex point.

Now, repeat the process with the gluing of the other small rectangle part section onto the other side of the apex. As shown in the photo opposite right. Make sure that this second small rectangle part section, is butted up to the other small rectangle part section.

This completes the assembly of the wall-mounted cabinet.

The post mounted cabinet

Cut & remove the highlighted parts from the parts sheet for the assembly of the post-mounted cabinet, from the laser cut parts sheet.

The post-mounted cabinet is assembled as highlighted in the photos opposite right. Again we’ll be using Deluxe Materials Rocket card glue for the assembly.

Start by applying glue to one side of the post without the backboard section. Then stick into place onto the post with the backboard section as shown in the photo opposite right. Make sure that the edges on both parts are true flush & square with each other.

Next, apply a bead of glue to one side of the front frame section. Then carefully stick the front frame section onto the rear frame section as shown in the photo opposit right. Again make sure that all parts are true flush & square with each other.

Now move on to the two roof sections. As before with the wall-mounted cabinet, glue & stick into place one of the small rectangle roof sections on the top of the cabinet. As shown in the photo opposite right.

Next, as before with the wall-mounted cabinet, glue & stick into place the second of the small rectangle roof sections on the top of the cabinet. As shown in the photo opposite right.

This completes the assembly of the post-mounted cabinet.

The post with hanging bracket

This one is self-explanatory, but we’ll also cover this here in this guide. Cut & remove two of the posts with the small L-shaped arm from the parts sheet. We’ve highlighted the parts in the photo opposite right.

Glue & stick together the two posts into a stack of two. Make sure that all edges are true flush & square with each other.

This concludes the assembly of the cabinets & posts.

Painting

Paint the posts using acrylic paints in a suitable colour of your choice. Any acrylic brush-on paint, acrylic spray paint will be fine. Here we’ve painted them in brown colour. Allow time for the paint to dry. The posts can be weathered using weathering powders or suitable weathering paints of your choice.

The Life Belt/Life Buoy

The 3D printed lifebelt/life buoy’s can be left unpainted as they are or painted in suitable colours such as red & white, or just with the silver reflective stripes. It’s best to paint the lifebelt/life buoy’s whilst still on the 3D print raft base. To remove the lifebelt/life buoy’s, slide a flat thin blade such as a flat-bladed screwdriver between the raft base & lifebelt/lifebuoys. Carefully prise the lifebelt/life buoy’s free from the raft base. Discard the raft base into the recycling bin.

Painting

We’re painting the reflective stripes on the lifebelt/lifebuoys.  Here we’ve masked off a suitable sized gap for the painting of the reflective stripes. Once the reflective strips have been painted, remove the masking tape. The at 90 degrees to the painted reflective stripes, using masking tape, mask off the second set of reflective stripes for painting.

The paint we’ve used is PlastiKote Metallic aerosol can spray paint in Silver. This can be found in the likes of the following storesRange, Boyes, model shops, online, Hobby Craft etc.

Once painted, remove the masking tape as shown in the photo opposite right. Then carefully remove life belt/life buoy’s from the 3D print raft.

Fit the lifebelts/lifebuoy’s

To fit the lifebelts/lifebuoy’s in place, use the likes of a super phatic glue. Apply a small amount of glue to the rear of the lifebelt/lifebuoy & stick/fix it into place onto the cabinets as shown in the photos opposite right.

Install on your layout

To install the cabinets & posts, glue the wall-mounted cabinets into place on a suitable wall location using glue, like super phatic or similar. For the posts, drill a suitable size hole big enough to take the posts, insert some glue, like PVA glue for example, into the hole & then insert the post(s) into the hole(s). 

That completes the install of the cabinets & posts on your layout waterside scenes.

A final tip before we sign off with today’s builds guide article, is another use for the lifebelts/lifebuoys. If you have a boat like in our case a canal boat, glue & mount the lifebelts/lifebuoys onto the boat. The photo right, shows we’ve mounted the life belt on the roof of the canal boat, as observed at a nearby canal to me.

This now completes this builds guide article.

Happy modelling.