Quilting Pins, Shoe-polish and DPM!

The "County Volunteer Fire Department" building was built using the DPM-HO Scale Modular System. This and other DPM buildings are being assembled for my diorama.

I used eight wall sections* along with one package of Fancy Cornices (30114) to create the L-shaped building. The Overhead Door sections were trimmed just below the lower horizontal row of bricks and above the upper horizontal row before I added the cornices, to bring them in line with my desired height of two inches. The overhead door sections were modified to accommodate the 1-5/8"x 1-3/4" hinged freight doors from Smalltown USA.

The timbers framing each door are made from round toothpicks stained with liquid brown shoe polish and lightly sanded. The "painted" sign was made by printing the name on newsprint, then gently sanding the back of the paper with 220-grit sandpaper until it was nearly transparent. I applied it to the building with diluted Elmer's Glue and applied pressure to force it against the bricks until it dried. Then I weathered it with powder and sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote Spray Lacquer.

The lights above the doors are round-head quilting pins donated by my wife. I ground off half of the round plastic top, bent it to the desired shape and painted the "shade" green.

The "siren" is made from a small wooden dowel painted a mottled rust color and topped with the siren itself; a tiny piece of plastic carved to the desired shape, painted yellow and held in place with a straight- pin.

My electric meter was created from a square of Evergreen 060" styrene. I drilled a shallow 5/64" hole to accept only the head of a small wire brad to simulate the meter's face, attached a length of #500 music wire to make the conduit and glued it in place from the back. I applied 3 drops of super glue to the brad, drying between applications, to simulate the glass cover. When set in place, the top of the conduit will be connected with a length of black thread to a nearby power pole.

The building was finished with a Roof & Trim Kit (#301-90) which is covered in embossed craft paper, painted black and stained to make it look appropriately dirty. Finishing greenery and decorations, including the bench, are from Woodland Scenics.

*Two (30104) Blank Wall, two (30131) Rectangular Entry, two (30134) Rectangular Window and two (30135) Overhead Door.