N Scale Structure Kits

[jland31]

My layout going slowly but surely.

I've got a Walthers Cornerstone Mountain Lumber Co. kit which commands a central location on the layout.

I'm not happy with it & would like to upgrade to a more realistic model such as a laser type[Blairline for example]

Any ideas from you N Scale Gurus?

 

[belg]

lumber mill?

My first question that comes to mind is why don't you like the walther's kit? Size, finish, or effect? Although the blair kits and other wood kits come with alot more realism in my opinion, they are substantialy more money. I would tend to look more at how to improve the existing model by painting weathering and adding other details if you already own the other kit.

 

[jland31]

Lumber Mill

To Belg;

Thanx for the reply. The Cornerstone kit appears offsize. It seem to be larger in dimension when compared to other N Scale structures.

For instance the doors & windows are much larger or appear to be than those of other comparable structures. Same goes for wall height.

 

[ezdays]

I don't have any Wather's kits to check, but just for comparison, have you measured any of these doors and windows. A door opening should be right at 80", or 1/2" N scale. Windows can be any size, but are ususally in increments of 6".

Don

 

[Drew1125]

Though I'm not familiar with that particular kit, I have used 3 or 4 Walthers kits (or portions thereof) on my layout.
I have always thought they were scaled fairly well.

 

[railohio]

Walthers kits are larger than most other model structures. They are closer to the size a real building might be; remember most older N scale buildings (Model Power, Life-Like, German imports, etc.) are extremely undersized. Most prototype factories are in fact larger than the freight cars that serve them. Modelers are so conditioned to using the smaller buildings they've forgotten this.

 

[Matthyro]

That's a good point you make Brian, I guess that is one reason I switched to scratchbuilding. It is hard to get the look and detail of a kit but in N gauge it is the impression a structure makes and it is so small, a lot of detail can't be seen so can be left out although it is comforting to know the detail is there in case someone takes a close look at it.

 

[rsn48]

I too have started scratch building. I bought the Red Deer Industry structure and when I looked in MR's, I saw it all over the place, including some great kitbashing with it. In N scale, structures can be higher and the scale can handle it, compared to HO buildings. So I too have begun scratch building: 1) to get unique structures 2) too get larger structures.

Right now I am working on the modern Alberta Granary by Jon Gregg in the Feb issue of MR 2002. It is a great height and looks different than anything available out there.