I initially planned to kitbash this pretty heavily, including adding a loading dock. After looking some more at the way the structure walls and base are put together, I determined a dock would not be easy to accomplish. I realized some minor modifications would produce a more realistic structure, appearing to have been upgraded for a busier and larger/more powerful trucks making delivers/pick-ups.
The first thing I did was trim off the first set of pillars around the CO-OP base. I saved the cut pillars, not really sure why I did it at the time, just thought it would be a good idea. I then used the base height as a cutting guide for the resin timber retaining wall I purchased while in Denver. I cut the retaining wall a bit larger than need if adjustments needed to be made. Yes, I forgot to take pictures of all this.
I then measured and cut the retaining wall to a rough length and glued a short and long side together.
Because the retaining wall isn't 100% straight, I glued the corner of one of the glued lengths to the corner of the base. I then bent the ends towards the corner, straightening out the retaining wall. Timber retaining walls do move over time, so not having an perfect straight wall is okay. Once bent into place, I glued the wall in place.
I then fit and trimmed the other length, gluing it into place to form a complete supporting wall around the edge of the structure base. I used four (4) of the previously cut off posts (thankfully I saved them) to put a post in each of the four corners, hiding the seems and as I imagine in the prototype protecting the corners of the building from vehicle damage.
The base did not sit level and was a bit too tall (on purpose) once the retaining wall was glued into one piece. Using a metal ruler as a guide I determined where the high and low spots were on the wall. The interior posts also gave me the proper height I needed to achieve.
Placing a piece of medium grit sandpaper flat on my work desk, I took the base and sanded it for a few minutes, making sure to hit the high spots. I stopped and checked for height and level every few minutes. With about 10 minutes of sanding and measuring, I was able to have a nice level base at the correct height.
Next steps will include gluing the walls together, painting, putting the roof on and weathering.
