Friday July 25, 2003

"Race-able Scenery" Part Two

SCALEBUILDINGS

When it comes to scenery, we can't forget about structures. Adding grandstands, pit boxes, and garages, just to name a few, add a lot of identity to your scale model raceway. Since the very first kit we built by ScaleBuildings, I knew that these were the type of kits that could not only be built with a good amount of detail, but would stand up to the hard racing we sometimes see on our layout, and that makes them "Race-able" scenery for us.

These kits are some of the easiest structures you can build. They do not require any special tools, just your favorite adhesive, and in just a few minutes you can have some of them completed, and ready for detailing. Made of a white styrene sheet plastic with a 1/8" inch thickness, once these kits are constructed can withstand serious punishment by that stray slot car that happens occasionally.

Assembly is about as straight forward and simple as you can get as well. Once you remove the contents, the instructions are very clear and easy to follow, in fact, some of you could most likely put them together without them. All the parts come with a plastic static sheet to protect the surfaces from small nicks and markings and protection against scarring/burning during the cutting process. Just peel this plastic off the components, and you are ready to begin assembly.

Now some of you might choose a different adhesive, but we have used Super Glue on every one of our kits with excellent results. In just a few seconds you can continue to the next step, without waiting for long periods of time, or having to utilize gluing jigs or modeling clamps. If you get any excess glue on the sides of the kit, it is easily sanded away using 100 or 150 grit sandpaper. Fit and finish of these kits prove the precision involved making them, as none of our kits have had a problem in construction. All of the kits except one grandstand were built by my wife in one afternoon, so needless to say you can have these structures on your layout rather quickly.

What else can I tell you? Your finished! Now you can begin to paint and add details if you wish. These kits are a scratch-builders dream if you ask me. They can be the start of a highly detailed structure, adding items such as signs, bill-boards, and you could even have them lighted if you wanted to. (CLICK HERE to check out some neat ways to add lighting to your layout) I have started to paint most of my structures a primer gray to start with, then on some structures I use black or brown for the roof. Nothing grand to speak of, but look well enough on the layout for now.

Every single kit we have constructed has held up very well. One of them even took a trip to the floor when we were re-designing our new track, and it survived without any damage. My collection of these kits continue to grow as our goals of a scale model raceway begin to take shape. Currently there are structures also available in HO Scale, which are just as easy to build.

The bottom line for me is that ScaleBuildings brought us not only durable structures, but ones that were missing in our 1/32nd scale model racing hobby. Yes, there are others available, but for my money, these kits are the ones we enjoy the most. They help make our scale model raceway come to life, and are just one more way of adding fun to this hobby.

Harry

Feel free to email me at wiseone@yhti.net about these kits, or just the hobby in general.

Better yet, drop into the Home Racing World Message Forum and share your thoughts and ideas with other enthusiasts as well.

I want to thank Scalebuildings for providing all of us with these nice kits, and to say job well done!