Building the Tri City Laser Redesigned Old West Hotel

Another building in my Knuckleduster order was the Hotel kit. Again I have already built the old Hotel kit and I wanted to build the new one as a direct comparison. This has gone through a redesign similar to that of the General Store. The 1st and 2nd floors now feature a wood floor engraving, the plywood is thinner resulting in a lighter looking model but still no instructions. Much like the General Store I think Tri City did a great job updating this kit. I didn't have any problems building the kit but the stairs gave me fits again. I ended up going to the knuckleduster website and magnifying the picture as much as I could to see how it was suppose to go together. All stairs are not created equal. A very solid effort from Tri City Laser on this one and I'm very happy with the finished Hotel.

A few pictures of the build along with some comparison photos:

The Parts

The 2nd Floor already well along

Attaching the interior and exterior balconies

The stairs and the front desk. Got the stairs right this time

A close up of the stairs for those that might need it.

From the front. The porch railing has a more delicate look to it now.

The 2nd floor in place with the stairs coming up through the stairwell.

Beauty Shot

New on the left, old on the right.  The new one has a lighter "feel" to it

New Balcony, it could use a cap rail.

The old balcony

New on the left, old on the right,  Top shot. Never did get the stairs right in the old one. I figured out I put them together upside down. I would  have to pry them apart to get them right at this point.

A much larger front desk

A much smaller front desk and stairs with handrails.

I'm hope this close up gives you and idea of how much thinner the new plywood really is.