Anyone build one of these on your layout for your diesel shop.
I just recently found and bought a couple of the older cardstock models in a second hand shop. Bought two of the diesel shops and a street car/tram depot also in cardstock. There were a couple of metal kits as well but the directions indicated they needed to be soldered and scared me off. The cardstock kits look to be quite detailed.
I built the diesel house in the 1950’s. Over the decades the walls bowed a bit and were corrected with heavier bracing. In 1996 it went into storage when the layout was moved.
About 3 years ago, I dug it out and looked it over. The warpage was much worse and some windows (acetate?) had shrunk and split. It was junked as unsalvagable. A similar fate has befallen most of my other cardstock and some of my wood models from that period
Now (for the last 40 years) I spray all the wood and cardstock parts thoroughly with a good primer/sealer on all sides and edges before starting assembly, add extra bracing, and thoroughly paint it inside and out after assembly.
Old style kits can turn out very well. I have a Paul Moore (manufacturer) interurban car with wood roof, card sides, and lead ends and details. With enough coats of sanding sealer and paint, the wood and card are almost turned into plastic and have an excellent finish. Some of the small lead detail parts were the worst problem as the molds were poorly formed and didn’t quite meet right. The parts had to be corrected with solder and filing. I’d buy modern brass or plastic details next time but I wanted this one to be an “archival” model from the hobby’s stone age.
So have fun with the Suydam kit but take precautions to moisture proof it.
You can use the thick gap filling super glue on the metal buildings.
By chance the owner of the store recently phoned me to tell me that there was a box in storage that has a dozen or so more of the Suydam kits. e a couple of other kits.
So, thanks to your advice I will go back and pick up a couple of the metal kits as well. One of the kits was some sort of mine kit complete with silos. Would make a great center piece industrial centre for my layout.
Thanks again, especially for sharing the pics of the metal kit, looks great weathered.