I assembled kits for the Steel Water Tank, the Interlocking Tower, and the Five Star Service Gas Station. All three plastic kits went together easily. The only tools I used were a hobby knife, sandpaper, large rubber bands, tweezers and a tube of styrene glue.
Parts are clearly numbered and accurately sized. Walls, roofs, and other larger areas were not warped and fit together crisply. Seams, such as these on the water tower, are disguised by the seams of the wood or metal sheathing on the real structures.
Parts for the water tower are molded in dark gray, the gas station in white and two shades of gray, and the interlocking tower in gray, brown and a buff color. This selection allows you to build effective models with a minimum of painting. Both the gas station and interlocking tower come with interior lights. Each of the kits can be put together in an evening or two, depending on your work pace and the degree to which you choose to paint the kits.
The instruction sheets are especially clear, and Walthers should be lauded for including information about the history and usage of the prototypes and where the structures might best be used on your layout.
I built the three kits using different levels of paint and decals. I gave the water tank and water columns an overspray of Testor’s Panzer Gray to cut the plastic sheen, but otherwise they are straight out of the box.
For the interlocking tower, I used boxcar red paint (it looks brown and is a close match to the kit’s windows and doors) to paint the building’s trim, mimicking the tower pictured on the kit’s box. I also used a concrete gray color on the base of the building. I sprayed the entire building with Testor’s Dullcote to eliminate the plastic sheen on the roof and walls and to fog the windows, since, except for a floor, the interior is empty.
I left most of the modifications for the gas station. The kit comes with 5 Star Gas decals manufactured by Microscale Industries.
I thought some of the lettering looked too modern for the 1950s-era station I envisioned, so I used Sinclair station decals purchased separate from Microscale (P.O. Box 11950, Costa Mesa, CA 92627; $3 for O, S, and G catalog). I freelanced quite a bit. For example, the station trim should be green, not red, but the Sinclair decals transformed the gas station from generic to specific.
The gas station’s doors can be opened and closed. The building’s interior, is Spartan but needs only tires, tools, a desk, a mechanic, and a good helping of automotive junk (all of which you need to purchase separately) to create a model that will impress your friends. The roof can be left unglued to show any interior detail you might add.
I sprayed the completed station with Testor’s Dullcote to protect the decals, cut the plastic sheen, and fog the windows since I chose not to detail the interior. The station comes with two sets of pumps, a taller older style, as shown in the photo, and a squat, squared-off style that was the standard prior to today’s digital, pay-at-the-pump marvels.
All three Walthers structures are well-made kits and offer the construction ease and the flexibility to find a home on any toy train layout.
