Hi everyone. There seems to be a lot of modelers with a problem of having lots of Modular wall parts and no way to connect them. The only way I have found is to buy Walthers brick sheets 933-3522. No need to use any other product. The four sheets are .040 " thick and 5"x9" in size. But most importantly they have the 7th row running bond of bricks that match both the modulars parts and other Walthers building kits. Recommend cutting away the upper and right most edge for pilasters unless your going to butt an edge of another type of building wall. This lip is also .040 thick so you will need to remove it. Cutting exactly straight across the middle you will then have two identical sheets that are the same one storey height of the pilasters.Cutting the correct width by using an original pilaster is recommended but I'm not sure how easy that process will be. One pack of four can be had on Ebay for about $12 .
Steven McDonough
Steve,
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Thank you for the tip. Great idea.
It looks like I will be trying to pick up some Walthers Modulars from time to time now.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Yes Kevin I have been on Ebay buying what I could afford and even found kit 933-3751 which is a Modulars based factory( with the weird 2nd floor blue ribs on the ends) at a local hobby shop (the last one there)!
Good hunting ,Steven
The modular walls still require top caps, so that's another problem with them.
I do, however, love the Walthers brick sheet. It's a good match for not only their own structures, but many others as well. I cut thin horizontal strips to use on the insides of the roof parapets, which are usually just bare plastic on most of them.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Yes the top caps can be made too if needed. You will have to add a rectangular plain .040 " rectangle above the end brick row after cutting on an existing pilaster you made. Out of one pilaster made I think you can make three top cap pieces and just add the plain rectangle on one narrow end (which is the top of the short piece )above the course of brick ends. Mister Beasley structure is very nice! Did you use green wire to make the handrails
from floral arranging? Got some to do that.Makes the stairway a lot safer for the HO workers and customers.Tried super glue but canopy glue is my go to glue to make a flexible joint for the plastic covered wire. Canopy glue is made by Pacer;they call it Formula "560".
Steve
Steve McDonoughDid you use green wire to make the handrails from floral arranging?
Good eye! Yes, I use that green floral wire for a lot of things. Handrails are easy to fabricate. I use acrylic yellow paint on them. I like either CA or Aileen's Tacky glue for things like this.
This is one of the buildings from Walther's Empire Leather Tannery complex. It's Cornerstone modulars, but I built it all as designed.
SeeYou190It looks like I will be trying to pick up some Walthers Modulars from time to time now.
Go ahead if you can get a good price on them. But, they are pretty limited if you plan to build them up any way other than what the kit provides.
I have found DPM modular sections to be be quite nice, and the parts are all available. With a few details, they produce nice models.
MisterBeasleyThe modular walls still require top caps, so that's another problem with them.
RIX makes some tile wall caps:
https://rixproducts.com/product/cap-tiles-ho/
I like the look of them and they were pretty common on masonry structures up through the 1940s or so. As I recall they weren't quite wide enough for some of the wall sections I needed to cover.
I have never used any of the Walthers Modulars but I have made several structures with the DPM sections. As Mr. B points out they are still commonly available.
Good Luck, Ed
MisterBeasley The modular walls still require top caps, so that's another problem with them.
Steve McDonough Yes the top caps can be made too if needed. You will have to add a rectangular plain .040 " rectangle above the end brick row after cutting on an existing pilaster you made. Out of one pilaster made I think you can make three top cap pieces and just add the plain rectangle on one narrow end (which is the top of the short piece ) above the course of brick ends.
Yes the top caps can be made too if needed. You will have to add a rectangular plain .040 " rectangle above the end brick row after cutting on an existing pilaster you made. Out of one pilaster made I think you can make three top cap pieces and just add the plain rectangle on one narrow end (which is the top of the short piece ) above the course of brick ends.
Mister Beasley raises a good point about the Walthers Modular kits. Not only are the "side pilasters" part of a separately purchased kit (Wall Columns & Caps - #933-3725), but so are other critical parts, including corner pilasters, cornices, and corner cornices.
What Mr. B. is referring to by "top caps" is actually the cornice, the cornice connector, and the corner cornice.
Your best bet when it comes to the cornices is to make a mold and a resin casting as I explained in a separate thread. At some point, it becomes too much of a challenge to fabricate all of these parts by cannabalizing other styrene plastic parts.
Rich
Alton Junction
MisterBeasley I have found DPM modular sections to be be quite nice, and the parts are all available. With a few details, they produce nice models.
The Walthers Modulars wall sections measure 2.0" x 2.0", whereas the DPM Modulars wall sections measure 2.75" x 2.75". This results in a multi-story structure that looks a larger than surrounding structures, particularly if you have a lot of Walthers Cornerstone structures on your layout, as I do.
In HO scale, the Walthers Modulars produce 14.5' ceilings, whereas the DPM Modulars produce 19.5' ceilings, and that makes the two different structures seem odd standing side by side - - - IMHO.
But the Modular buildings look good next to kitbashed non Modulars buildings. Plan to make a proper looking freight forwarding building from two Mirandas Bananas and also the REA building both Walthers building kits. Next to that is a Water Street freight house with those odd cornices removed. To my eye the office part of it looks better that way.
Steven