Building the sub-assemblies.

The main house body (center assembly, above):

Consisting of the two sidewalls with the narrow gable ends & the rear wall with slots for the rear "shed" room. The square area in the center of the rear wall may be removed if you wish this room to be open to the rest of the house. If not, just remove the two vertical slots for the shed wall tabs. All the wall ends must be mitered to form a clean corner joint.

There are two matching rectangular roof pieces with slots. These must be mitered along the ridge line to form a clean joint. Use the narrow gables as a guide and again, sand slowly & test fit until parts join cleanly.

Test-fit the mitered walls using a section of the roof as a guide. Join all three walls with wood glue, taking care to insure that the walls meet at 90 degree angles. If the mitered ridge is satisfactory, the two roof panels may be glued in place.

The shed bumpout assembly:

Consists of 2 angled wall panels, a rectangular wall panel and a rectangular roof panel (with no slots.) Miter the ends where the panels join. (Do not miter the ends with the tabs.)

Test-fit by inserting the tabs in the slots in the tall rear wall. If corners fit snugly, then glue the three panels together & glue to main house, inserting tabs into slots (or edge of opening if optional wall panel was removed.)

The rear shed roof panel is sized to also cover the rear porch. Miter one long edge so it forms a flush joint where it meets the upper wall while resting on the angled walls. Glue in place, aligning the left end with the corner of the main house. The right end should overhang the shed room slightly.

Glue the rear porch deck tab into the slot under the door. Locate a small, triangular piece matching the angle of the shed walls. This piece, with horizontal siding lines, will close off the end of the porch roof. Note the 1/16" notch in the corner of the porch deck. There is a 1/16" wide post that fits into this notch and at the very top of it will bear the point of the small triangular piece. Using the notch & post as a guide, glue the triangle to the underside of the roof and to the rear wall. Then glue the post into the notch & to the point of the triangle above.

The Front Assembly (left in photo above):

Consisting of three wall panels & two matching roof panels. Miter wall ends except 2 ends with the tab & slot. These walls can be test-fitted by using the wrap-around porch deck as a guide by inserting the two tabs into slots. If mitered pieces fit cleanly, glue them together & glue deck to walls, making sure all walls are squared up. (The deck should help insure this.) Set aside for glue to dry.

The roof panels are a bit trickier here as two edges of each panel must be mitered. Start by mitering the long edges at the ridge, using the front gable with the tabs as a guide. When the panels meet with a flush joint & rest squarely on the front panel, set them aside. (You will be sanding the angled edge later.)

Glue front assembly to the rest of the house by aligning the mitered wall ends. (Don't forget to test-fit & sand a bit more if necessary.) You will see a tiny angled notch in the upper edge of the side wall at the inside corner. The roof panel already installed on the rear section will fit into this notch.

The two roof panels will now have to be sanded somewhat so they rest cleanly on the intersecting roof. Lay the panels in place, inserting the tabs into the roof slots. This visual test will show where and how much sanding needs to be done. Sand the underside of the angled edge of each panel until they form a smooth transition to the rear roof plane and also allow the ridge to still form a flush joint. (To complicate this just a bit more, the roof panels should also be resting evenly along the sidewalls.) Lightly sand and test-fit a number of times until the parts fit well.

When satisfied with the fit, you may either glue the panels permanently in place now or use the following preferred option if using the peel & stick roofing:

Lay the panels in place with tabs in slots and apply a bead of glue to the ridge edges only. When glue is dry, remove the assembly and apply roofing paper to the top. If you made a template as suggested earlier, cut the roofing slightly larger than the template. Align the top edges of the roofing with the ridge, being careful to make a clean joint. A clean line eliminates the need for a ridge cap. Leave about 1/16" paper roofing beyond the angled edge to blend with the intersecting roof. Trim all other edges cleanly with the wood.

Apply roofing to the roof panels in the rear section, again carefully aligning the top edges at the ridge. Trim the overhanging edges evenly.

Test fit the completed front roof assembly to the front & side walls to check the overhanging paper at the valley. The goal is to leave only enough so there is no visable gap. Trim a bit if necessary, then glue roof assembly in place.

Now's a good time to install the corner trim at all outside corners. Run trim from top of the "concrete block" to the roof, paying attention to the angle of the top cuts. Trim at the rear corner at the porch will have to be notched around the roof panel.

The Porch Roof

Consisting of two trapazoidal roof panels of unequal length. The shorter one is for the front & the longer one is for the side. There are also three wooden posts.

Both panels are each to be be mitered only very slightly, both to join cleanly at the hip and along the walls. Little mitering is required as the goal is a very shallow roof pitch. The roof meets the front wall just under the upper window trim. The side roof wraps around the corner at the same height. The posts, which get glued into the notches in the deck, will determine the height at the lower edge.

Insure the 3 posts are exactly the same length. Glue them in place in the notches, making sure they are vertical. Allow to dry.

A small piece of corner trim will need to be removed for the roof panels to fit flush with the wall. While test fitting the panels, mark the trim with your knife blade at the top of the panel. Trim away about 1/16" below that mark for the roof to pass between.

When porch roof panels have been mitered to fit, glue to walls, to each other at the hip & to the top of posts.

Cut the railing sections to fit between the posts. Glue to the inside of the posts, leaving only a small space between the bottom rail & the porch deck. The thickness of an X-acto blade seems about right.

Apply roofing material to the porch roof, carefully aligning the edges at the hip. Trim all other edges cleanly.

Last but not least...

Back at the rear of the house, the shed roof needs roofing. If you skipped the steps where we installed peel & stick roofing earlier, you will still have to apply all of it. If so, key is aligning the ridges for a clean, crisp joint since we offered no ridge cap with this kit. (Always clunky in N Scale.)

3 sets of stairs each consist of 3 short strips of various depths to form the stairs. Left porch stairs are wider than the other sets. Lightly sand parts as needed for finish. Simply stack and glue the 3 strips beginning with the largest on the bottom and progessively smaller as you go up. Square up the ends and rear to form an even staircase. Sand the ends of the assemblies smooth.

Four wooden handrails pieces are included, one for each front set of stairs and two for the rear. I glued the bottom of the railing post to the bottom tread and the upper end of the handrail to the inside edge of the porch posts (and the corner trim on the right side of the rear porch.)

The chimney casting should be sanded to fit cleanly on the left side roof plane near the intersection of the roofs.