I am going to add one of walthers black gold asphalt plant kits to my HO scale layout and i was curious if walthers’ hot asphalt plant is an accurate model and there is nothing major left out.
Most Walther’s kits are based on a compressed version of a prototype to be found somewhere. In the past, they were based on “European style” buildings but, now they seem to be more American in composition. I would bet that the kit is “modeled” on a prototype that is either a “one of a kind” business or someone’s view of a composite structure.
Jimmy
Generally speaking I have found all of Walthers Cornerstone kits to be pretty accurate and fairly detailed but thats where one’s individual modeling skills come into play. I was told once by a master builder that you need to make the structure your own. Individualize it add details to make your model stand out form the rest. One of the easiest things is to change the color. I would do a Google image search of Asphalt plants and see what you come up with, you may need to kit bash or scratch build a few little things.
It looks like it has most of the correct parts. You might need some piping, and trucks. of course.
Using either maps.google.com or bing.com, do a search for:
pike industries, 346 Avenue A, Williston, VT
That is a large, modern asphalt plant here in Vermont. There are good photos on both sites, the bird’s eye view on bing is the better of the two.
Hope this helps,
Gil
From what I can remember about that plant it is the same kit as the Madusa Cement plant is it not? The signs are the only difference I thot…I could be wrong but if you have a Walthers Reference book look at them side by side and see if thetir the same kit…
As said before, Walthers kits are usually compressed version of real prototypes (structures). In fact, with many models, by joining 2 or more kits of the same kind you can actually build the real thing! A very good thing about the Walthers kits is that they are very kit-bashable, as a matter of fact most of them are designed for such thing. Overall the machining of the kits are very good and the fit is almost perfect in every kit. Maybe they are a bit simplistic, but a lot of after market datailing is available. With a bit of work you can have a great model. I’ve built about 20 Walthers kits and have no complaints. I have the Black Gold Asphalt kit, and I’m planning to kit bash it to make part of a limestone quarry. Here is my last kit, a week of work finished it last weekend, the Railroad Tug:
It is completely different than Medusa Cement.