How about another cheap-o project story dealing with forlorn looking things, namely a Plasticville chapel?

I was looking for a building to put on my layout that didn’t look exactly like everyone else’s buildings.  I found a sad looking Plasticville chapel laying on a train meet table that showed obvious signs of age with glue stains around the front windows and some child’s graffiti on one of the roof panels.  Looking at this mess I thought, “Nothing a little stucco paint like that textured spray paint can’t hide.”

A bit of work over about four evenings and an afternoon was needed to get the windows and door loose, clean up the old glue stains, spray everything with a dull lacquer and then repaint it with a textured spray paint.

The final result was a rose quartz stucco look, including the rough finish, on the walls, dark wood-colored door and windows and a grey roof.

Total cost for a unique item?  Seven bucks for the chapel at the train meet and six bucks for the American Accent's rose quartz textured spray paint at Ace Hardware.

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This article, my first published in a hobby magazine, appeared in the June 2011 edition of the Lionel Operating Train Society's publication, The Switcher.  

Please stop by the LOTS web site for more information on this superb toy train organization.