Walthers announced that they would be shipping N-Scale modulars in the fall. Check out this link for information on specific products and dates:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/wkw_05_06#modulars
EdW
thanks again . i see in the august MR a review of 2 other modular systems , bar mills (for wooden buildings) and DPM , so there are other systems if you want a different look for different buildings . cool [:)]
Part III – Wall Assembly
Now that I have a basic design, the next step is to paint the pieces and put the walls together. Because I have so many other red brick buildings on the layout, I’ve chosen to go with tan brick for the large modular building. I’m assembling the short ends of the structure first. This will make it easier to attach the corners on the large ends because I will have to have any completed side standing on end to attach to another wall section. The photo below shows the assembly of the end walls from both the back and the front.
First the good news. The modular pieces are well molded to fit together with the side and corner pilasters. As you can see from the photo, every two side walls are connected using a tongue and groove side pilaster. The gap you see between the side wall “teeth” are actually resting within grooves on the pilaster. The corner pilasters are attached in a similar manner. Wall sections attach vertically to form multiple stories in a similar manner but without the need for the pilaster. I really liked the corner pilaster pieces designed with these kits. It makes creating “square” corners very simple because you aren’t responsible for assuring “rightness” of the angle. I have little fear that my building will not be rectangular once I get to attaching the final wall side. I’ve had problems with this on other kits, particularly DPM where I had to sand the walls and too much sanding can leave a building a trapezoid instead of a rectangle.
This was a very easy construction process and I didn’t need to worry about proper sanding (some I experienced with DPM kits) in order to get the fit right. The gluing surface on these pieces is hidden from the exterior of the structure so any excess glue will never show on the completed building.
Now the bad news. I noted on the photo that even with proper joint connections betwee
Chalk the seams?
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by WickhamMan
Having read a few threads around here and other forums regarding the new Walther’s Conerstone Modulars building blocks, I thought it might be helpful to some to post a review of my experiences working with them. I’ve just purchased a set to get me started on filling in some of the cracks on my layout with new industries. Given my layout requirements (smallish holes to fill) and a lack of experience with kitbashing, I thought the Modulars might be a good avenue for me.
If you have questions about my experiences with the product or any of the steps I’ll outline in this review, please be sure to post them and I will do my best to answer them. Given that I’ve just gotten the product in hand, this review will take place over several posts on this thread that will include pictures of the product and my efforts in various stages of completion. I won’t be spending time talking about weathering or other universal techniques but only those steps required to work with these kits. Please let me know if you find this review helpful. If no one posts any interest, I will likely leave my review with just this installment.
Product Overview
The Walther’s Cornerstone Modulars are a series of kits designed to work together to allow modelers to create their own building shapes. Kits include walls, roofs, foundations and other pieces designed to work together in a variety of configurations as designed by the modeler.
First, I’d like to clear up some misconceptions about what you can and cannot do with these kits. On the downside, you must purchase several different kits just to complete a single building. I’ve read threads on this and other forums about how it might be nice to buy the wall pieces to throw together a building or two. This is not possible as viewed from my initial exposure to the product. You must purchase a minimum of three (3) kits to complete any type of building (walls, roof and wall
you could reduce the startup cost by buying this
http://walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3750
and then getting whatever additional kits required to build whatever you’ve designed
EdW - your review is informative and useful, please keep 'em coming.
Part IV – Wall Assembly Continued
Beyond connecting the four walls together, I’ve pretty much completed the assembly of the wall units along with windows and cornices. I must say, the sheer number of pieces required to assemble a wall using these kits is a bit daunting. The photo below shows the four completed walls from both front and rear views.
Due to the modular nature of these kits, each of these walls required between 20 and 30 individual pieces to be painted, weathered and glued to one and other. Fortunately, Walthers has done an excellent job of molding the individual pieces so that there is not a lot of shimming and trimming required to get them to fit correctly. In fact, beyond a little work with a nail file to remove nubs left from sprue attachments, I did not have any sanding or other “fitting” work to do on these walls. This is a pleasant surprise given the amount of sanding I’ve had to do on kits from DPM in the past (and they never seemed to fit right anyway). The tape you see on the window pieces is not required for attachment but just an easy method I’m using on this model to place window shades on each window.
I have to admit to one serious mistake I’ve made in building this structure. For some unexplained reason (lack of sleep, watching baseball, playing online poker, whatever), I placed a small wall with a door opening on the second floor of my building. [D)]By the time I caught the error, the glue was already dry and ripping the thing apart had little appeal. So, I’ve elected to leave it there pending the purchase of Walther’s fire escape modular kit which will be available later this year (another $10 down the tubes!). If that plan doesn’t work out, I’ll create something on my own with Plastruct stair kits and styrene. Until then, my factory workers will need to watch out for that first step because it’s a doozy! [banghead]
One nice bit on news on these kits is
For the door on the 2nd floor put a beam overhead with a tackle and hoist. Prototypical, you see alot of that in older buildings.
Cool idea. Never would have thought of that. Do you have any idea where I can get something to model as tackle?
Thanks,
EdW
Part V – Wrap Up
Rather than waiting until it is completely finished, I’ve decided to post a picture of the building before final touches. The addition of the roof to this structure couldn’t have been easier. The modular corner pieces guaranteed that the building would be “square”. Fortunately, the 4 by 2 small side design decision allowed me to just plop on a large peaked roof. Without any adjustments, the roof dropped right onto the roof flanges mounted to the cornice pieces along the wall tops. The roof kit comes with numerous (albeit the same) roof vents for structures along with roof fittings to allow you to attach the vents to either the peak or along one of the slanted sides. This photo shows the roof in place with a single (as yet to be weather and glued) vent.
I still have to attach the canopies to the doublewide doors along with side and end of the structure. There is one thing I noticed about the canopies and building height that may be of interest to those considering these along spurs such as mine. Although I did not notice this on photos that came with the kits, the canopies must be mounted too low to allow some rolling stock (such as that in my photo) to fit underneath them if the track is not laid at the same height as the structure. In my case, I’ve used track-bed on my spur resulting in the canopies being too low to cover the cars when fronting the building. This is a bit annoying as I must either drop the idea of using the canopies or cut them down so that they don’t overhand the track. Bummer.
Overall, I think these kits are relatively overpriced unless you have a location on your layout for which you cannot find an appropriate structure. Then again, that is likely the market niche for these anyway. I am impressed with the quality of the pieces and the way they’ve been designed to fit together. Given the sheer number of pieces in my first building (more than 100), I am pleasan
your building looks great and this was a great article , thank you
what do you figure your final cost for the building to be ? i’d like to compare it to what similar sized kits are selling for these days
While the basic Cornerstone Modular kits may serve well for creating rather small custom industries, the concept quickly looses its appeal if one is considering a factory or structure of any considerable size. I draw attention to one of the latest Walthers fliers offering a kit to build a modest milk products handling plant. That kit lists for $180 !
Any clever modeler could kitbash a larger, more complex, and just as interesting looking arrangement with a couple of large Kibri, Vollmer, Faller industrial kits or even two of Walther regular large Cornerstone factory kits…for half that price! If your intent is to build anything like a high density, urban industrial scene, I’m afraid you’ll go broke before you are finished by using the Cornerstone Modular System.
CNJ831
I paid around $9 per kit at my LHS. Of the three shops near me, only one carried these kits. I needed to buy 5 kits in order to make a structure of this size. I bought the roof, small walls, large walls, wall columns and foundation kits. Only the last was optional but I wanted to raised profile, loading docks and stairs. Total cost for these kits was around $45 plus tax. That is certainly pricey. However, I have enough left over pieces for a small, one story, building. I also have a significant number of loading docks and roof details that I can scatter around on other structures on my layout.
For comparison, the retired Cornerstone Backshop kit from Walthers listed at $40 but was a little larger than my structure. Again, I get one more small building out of this one so I think the price is comperable.
I think that two of the regular Cornerstone kits could be used to bash something similar to the large building of the milk plant complex, but it appears that the milk complex includes a couple of out buildings. I would think that to build the same amount of building “footprint” it might cost the same as the complex. I do agree, however, that price of the entire complex is a little steep - I sure wi***hat Walthers would offer each building of the complex as a separate kit. I like the main building, but not sure about the other buildings in the complex.
Good thread! If you want to reduce the cost by about a third (for these or any other building) try making it w/ only three walls. Use the fourth wall, along w/ other “left overs” to make a seperate building. The way my RR is laid out nobody can see the north side of my buildings, so they’re either sheet styrene or foamboard w/ the interior painted dark grey or black.
WickhamMan,
Great series, and your tips are invaluable! Thanks for sharing your kit experience with the forum.
Great idea!
Here in New Orleans there are still a few original buildings left in the old Warehouse District that have not been converted to office space or condos and I have seen these beams with the block and tackle or an electric motor with chain for lifting heavy items to a second floor entry.
Thanks,
Ryan
CNJ831,
I heartily agree that for any large scale development, these kits are not appropriate. Populating an entire region/city would be REALLY expensive. However, for that little nitch or unfound prototypical desire, these kits might foot the bill.
Also, Walthers has announced seven (7) new kits to be released for this series starting next month and into next year. These appear to be attempts to expand both the utility and diversity of the series. For those interested in seeing a listing (there are no descriptions for each yet), go to:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?quick=cornerstone+modular&quicksrch_butt.x=25&quicksrch_butt.y=6
EdW
I just happened to be spelunking around on the Trainworld site and noticed that milk complex is selling there for $125 (considerably below the list price). They also sell the individual kits for just $8, making this a little more affordable. I am guessing other internet sales sites might have comperable pricing.
EdW
Ive learned to buy something like the walthers 3-N-1 basic building and just get the required sections needed to complete my design.
All the left over parts go into a box and are used for further construction to cut down on excessive walthers blister costs.
They really ought to just issue a blister or box with nothing BUT blank walls. THAT will REALLY cut down on the costs.
Ive had very good luck with them so far. There are some minor issues with these parts over time but are really not worth getting into here. The strengths of the completed building outweights the flaw of one part.
I will continue to build buildings based on this system.
I always try to build them in stages divided by 7 days progress.
Example, week one design, foundation, parts.
Week two, first floor
Week three windows, doors etc for the first floor.
Now with that said, sometimes you gain a sort of momentum and that weekly schedule changes to a one day, day two, day three with the limitations being glue and paint drying time.