Bench and Trash Receptacle Manual

Thank you for choosing our Picnic Table kit. Whether you chose the N or HO scale model, construction is identical. With a little care you can easily complete this model in less than half an hour.

Identifying the parts

This kit is actually two kits in one: two benches and two trash receptacles.

What you'll need

Figure 2 shows all the tools you'll need to get start. There are two choices you'll need to make: the finish you want to apply, and the glue to use.

Figure 2: This kit requires only a few tools. You'll need a sharp hobby knife, some tweezers, a toothpick for applying the glue, paint or stain for the finish, and some glue.

The finish can be as simple as applying a stain to all the wood. Or you could paint the parts different colors. For example, you might paint the support legs and back with a concrete color and stain the bench seat and boards. You can use just about any stains or model paints for this process.

You'll also need to chose a glue, which is really a matter of preference. You can use any glue that works well with wood. Common choices are Elmer's white or wood glue, or Titebond (shown here).

Applying the finish

It's easiest to apply a finish, such as stain or paint, to the parts before you remove them from the carrier. Most picnic tables are of a natural or weathered wood finish, but you can also find painted picnic tables. If you want to use a stain, Miniwax has a product called Wood Finish Stain Marker that you can buy at place like Home Depot in the paint department. These are small markers that look like wide felt-tip pens. You simply "draw" the stain on the parts. Cover one side entirely, and then let the stain dry before you flip the plywood over and cover the other side.

It's also a good idea to try out the stain marker on a part of the plywood that you won't be using to make sure you like the color. Once you're satisfied, go ahead and apply stain to the area that contains all the parts.

Let both sides dry before moving onto the next step. The Miniwax stain seems to dry in about 5-10 minutes, so you should be able to stain and assemble several picnic benches in less than an hour.

	Figure 3: Using the Miniwax stains is really easy. Just follow the directions to "draw" the stain on the wood. Make sure you stain both sides.
	Figure 4: The inside of the trash receptacles should be black so you don't see the inside. You can use a Sharpie or other black marker to mark the back side (the side without the scribe lines) much faster than painting.

Building the jig

We've provided a jig as part of the kit that makes assembly the bench much easier. This jig contains six parts that you glue together by applying some glue to each slot and assembling the pieces.

	Figure 5: Remove each part of the jig from the carrier by cutting the small tabs that hold them to the carrier using a sharp hobby knife.
	Figure 6: Place a small amount of glue on a piece of paper, then dip the end of a toothpick into this glue. Finally, apply some of this glue to the slots on one part and assemble.
	Figure 7: The finished jig. There a a few things to not when you're building the jig. First, the two parts in the center with slanted cutouts each have a + sign etched on them. The two plus signs are both on the right, facing each other in this photograph. Second, make sure the jig is square while the glue dries. You can use the grid on a cutting pad, as shown here, to ensure the jig is square.

Building the Bench

	Figure 8: Be careful when you remove the bench seats and back. These are a single assembly that each contains three boards connected together. Simply cut the tab on each side of the assembly to remove it from the carrier board.
	Figure 9: Insert the bench seat and back into the jig, as shown. Then use a toothpick to apply a small amount of glue into the center groove of both parts.
	Figure 10: Carefully place one leg part into the center groove on each side. Make sure the boards are firmly seated in the jig and the support is square. Then let this dry for about five or ten minutes so the joint will be strong. Finally add the other two legs. Once they've dried, you can remove the bench from the jig.

Building the Trash Receptacle

The trash receptacles are a little harder to build because of their small size and the lack of a jig. But a little patience and you'll be rewarded with a nice model.

Figure 11: Here are the parts for the trash receptacle laid out so you can see how they fit together. You should color the back sides for each part black since they'll be on the inside. Note that the HO Scale bottom has two lines etched to show you where to glue to the sides with the legs (the N Scale is symmetrical and can therefore be glued in any orientation).

Figure 12: First glue two sides together, and then glue these two sides to the top. Once you've done this, you can place the assembly on it's side and glue the third side in place, as shown here.

Add the fourth side, then place the receptacle on it's top so you can glue the bottom in place. Once you've glued all the parts in place, you have a little bit of time to move things around to make sure all the edges are flush and the sides are square.