American Model Builders
N Scale Two Story Farm House

American Model Builders
8229 Brentwood Industrial Drive
St. Louis, MO 63144
www.laserkit.com

N Scale
Item # 640 N Scale Two Story Farm House
MSRP $32.95

Also Available From AMB
Item # 140 HO Scale Two Story Farm House
MSRP $44.95

The white frame farm house has become iconic of the American way of life be it nestled in a grove of trees on open fields or tucked away in an Appalachian hollow. American Model Builders has created a classic model that will find its home in nearly any North American venue.

As offered the farm house is three bays wide and one deep with a kitchen annex added to the rear. This house plan could easily fit into the 1850s until the present period. By moving the chimneys to the gable ends a classic Virginia I house could also be represented.

The N scale farm house easily fits on to a two and one half inch square plat of scenery and stands two and a quarter inches high making it an easy fit on any layout. American Model Builders was an early entrant into the laser cut wood kit field and as a consequence has developed a number of innovative techniques that aid in building an extremely detailed model. The kit is made up of two cast metal chimneys, basswood, micro-ply wood, paper and clear plastic for the window glazing. The use of 'peel and stick' backing on the smaller parts allows the builder to easily assemble these parts with out the usual glue mess. This is best demonstrated by the three part double hung windows and the single tern standing seam roof.

Construction began by pre-sealing all of the wooden pieces with airplane dope and burnishing with 0000 steel wool. This step will minimize any warping as well as giving a good base for finish painting. After sealing and burnishing all of the parts were painted in their appropriate colors.

In building the model there were no issues with the fit of any of the pieces, they literally fell into place. One recommendation that this reviewer would make would be to add internal bracing to the walls to strengthen them. While these are not included in the kit, a quick look in most builders scrap boxes should yield suitable stock.

The well laid out, easy to follow instruction sheet made building the farm house quick and simple. The farm house was built in less than four hours including all of the prep-work and painting. A final brushing of Bragdon and AMI Weathering Chalks completed the model.

The finished model was easily constructed and has a wealth of detail incorporated in its design. The highlight of the model is the front porch that not only includes finely sculpted railings and columns but also superb two part lattice grills inclosing the porch under pinnings.

Reviewed by Chuck Hladik