The ERTL Machine Shed conversion Part 1

Recently, I posted about the ERTL Farm Country Machine Shed set. (http://confessionsofaminiaturemodeler.blogspot.com/2014/04/ertl-farm-country.html)
I'm really happy with the way it looks with all the 25-28mm/O Scale/1:48th mish mash of stuff I have going on so far. Once I finish I'll take some better pics for scale purposes.
So far, I've glued the roof pieces together and sprayed them with a gun metal-ish silver spray paint.
I had forgotten my camera for this step so there are no step by step shots. (I can't afford to waste any time in the studio by going back home to grab the camera). Here's the roof.
I plan to spray it with a dark(ish) green.

And the inside of the roof.

I scraped off the numbers and mold marks so that the interior would be smooth. Then I cut some strips of plastic and glued them on to give it some character.

Next I cleaned up the wall sections and glued them together.
Inside walls (you can see the circular mold marks)

 Outside walls

Then I took some of these drink stirrers (Not sure where I got these, which is a bummer because I can see lots of uses for them now) and cut them down to make support beams for the walls.

Pic of the stirrer support beams,

Then I used some plastic to cover up the joints.

I'll spray the interior with the gun-metal silver and the outside with white.
Here's a shot of it (mostly) together.

I still have to figure out the outer doors and the large sliding doors but it's coming along nicely so far.

Boats

I found the same Dollar General boats at Toys R Us. 

The Toys R Us price?

$5.99

AND...

It has a slightly better paint job to it and looks a bit nicer to me.
Even though it's pretty much the same boat.

The Coast Guard

My wife and I went to visit my parents for a Baby Shower/Easter family celebration. We had a great time and got some wonderful gifts from my family. We have another shower planned for the Chicago area folks. That'll be fun. Home Run Inn pizza. Yum!

Anyway, on the way home we stopped at a Dollar General and I grabbed this.

I  didn't realize at the time that it was a battery operated boat, even though it says it right on the cover.  You could probably use this thing in water if you wanted to (even though it doesn't say either way anywhere on the package). FYI the battery operated part. It's the motor in the back that spins.

I'm wondering if I can use the battery pack to rig up a spotlight on top. I'm going to try and track down another boat (or 2) and try a few things.

Anyway, I figured it was pretty close in scale and worth a shot for $6.00.
Here are some shots showing some different sides.

 I plan to take it apart and spray paint the parts. I'll make the deck white and the gray parts metal.

I also plan to raise the cabin up about a 1/4" to make room for the miniatures.

And finally a couple shots with a mini to show just how close it is.

I'm also thinking I'll have to grab 2 (I think I have a couple Hals laying around) of each of these:

Hal Jordan

Paramedic

  

 Then add some greenstuff life preservers to them and paint up a survivor crew and a zombie crew.

ERTL Farm Country

I had read online that the ERTL Farm Country play sets were good for O scale trains.
I figured it should be close for wargaming minis (28mm-ish). Well... they aren't perfect exactly, but they sure are close. For $24.00 (plus shipping) I got the Machine Shed playset and I think it's pretty awesome. A little small but these things come in all different sizes anyway.
Next I want to get the Barn set, then the Farm House.

I'll clean them up and try to buildup the insides a bit where they lack some detail, then get them painted up and weathered. They're going to look great on the Farm board I've been working on.