Manufacturer
Wm. K. Walthers, Inc.
5601 W. Florist Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53218
www.walthers.com
Comments: A drive-in theater can be an eye-catching feature on a model train layout. Now Walthers is rolling out its Skyview Drive-In, a styrene structure kit that lets you use a tablet computer to bring true video to your HO scale world.
The kit’s styrene parts come molded in three colors – light concrete, white, and gray. The parts have no flash and assemble easily into four separate structures: the screen, the snack bar/projection building, a covered entrance/ticket booth, and a free-standing marquee sign. The kit also includes short simulated wood fence pieces and 24 double-sided speaker stands (not shown in photo) to serve up to 48 vehicle spots. Clear window material is also included.
The screen is the largest piece of the set, measuring 7 x 11 inches overall. The screen opening is 413⁄16″ x 63⁄8″. This isn’t the proportion of an actual movie screen, but is made to match the format of a tablet computer screen in landscape orientation. The slot inside can accept a tablet up to 55⁄16″ x 7 7⁄8″, the size of an iPad Mini. Depending on which back panel you choose, it will accommodate tablets up to 9⁄32″ thick. The panels include screw slots to keep the screen from tipping.
If you don’t want to leave your tablet on the layout all the time – or if you don’t have one – Walthers provides three cardstock inserts with black-and-white images reminiscent of the cheesy B-movies of yesteryear. These match the fictitious movie titles on the provided marquee sign inserts.
The kit’s movie screen is designed in an Art Deco style appropriate for theaters built in the 1930s through the 1950s. The square main building, incorporating a snack bar, projection booth, and restrooms, has a molded cinder block texture. A bracket is included for mounting a flashing grain-of-wheat lamp or light-emitting diode behind one of the square projector windows. Interior partitions let the modeler isolate and illuminate the three sections separately.
The kit is simple to put together, and only takes a little paint and weathering to turn it into a standout scene.
