Walthers Trainline ready built buildings

[PC101]

Bought my first Walthers HO ready built, a Wallschlager Motors building #931-805. The assembling process (side walls & roof) looks like a soldering iron tip was used to join the walls and roof at inside tabs, only three burn spots at each corner. Well it fell apart in my hands, within twenty seconds before I noticed how the walls were joined. I have mixed feelings about this assembling process, is it the normal for todays standards? Makes for an easy kit bash with a already assembled kit. Guess I'll just run solvent down the joints if I am going to keep as it was intended to be built.        

[tstage]

I've assembled a number of Walthers kits but have never purchased one of their ready-built structures so I can't comment it on them.  That's disappointing, nonetheless.

I guess it reinforces my desire to stick with kits when at all possible so that I can assure that the joints are going to adhere well together. 

Tom

[angelob6660]

Why would a plastic structure have solder?, unless it metal.

[tstage]

angelo,

The building is made of plastic.  What the OP is saying, however, is that it looked like someone used some sort of heating device (e.g. a soldering iron) to melt/meld the interior plastic tabs that hold the building together.

Tom

[PC101]

tstage

angelo,

The building is made of plastic.  What the OP is saying, however, is that it looked like someone used some sort of heating device (e.g. a soldering iron) to melt/meld the interior plastic tabs that hold the building together.

Tom

 

Exactly, thank you Tom. The item was made in China so I guess it was assembled in China and that assembler used a hot tipped tool to put the building together. All plastic parts, no solder involved, no metal. 

[rrinker]

 That's a fairly common method of fast assembly of plastic kits. They certainly don't have time to wait between steps and let glue dry. 

                                   --Randy

[richhotrain]

I own a Walthers Built-Up structure, the Dayton Machine Co.

It is constructed flawlessly and has six screws that attach the base to the rest of the structure.  The ability to unscrew the base to add lighting or interior decoration is a nice touch.

I did not experience any of the problems that the OP encountered.

Rich

[UNCLEBUTCH]

I always wondered why folks would buy prebuilt building. I consider ''building stuff '' a big part of the hobby.

Care to explane your reasons?

[josephbw]

I also bought that building, but had none of the problems the OP had. I suspect that typical chinese QC was the fault with his. I bought mine at a RR swap meet at a good price (cheaper than the kit), so I figured it was worth a chance. I did remove the printed up windows and replaced them with clear plastic. That way I can light the interior and show off the antique cars inside.

[tstage]

UNCLEBUTCH

I always wondered why folks would buy prebuilt building. I consider ''building stuff '' a big part of the hobby.

Care to explane your reasons?

I don't know the OPs specific reasons for choosing a "built-up" but most folks do so for the following reasons:

1. It's what they want
2. It's all that's currently available on the market
3. They have time constraints
4. They have physical or health limitations

I love kits and that's my preference for any rolling stock, buildings, and structures because I still have the hand skills.  Sometimes, however, I have to choose RTR because that's all that's available for a specific model.  I find that primarily for rolling stock, as certain manufacturers have choosen to go that route exclusively.   Thankfully buildings and structures are still readily available in kit form.

Tom

[richhotrain]

UNCLEBUTCH

I always wondered why folks would buy prebuilt building. I consider ''building stuff '' a big part of the hobby.

Care to explane your reasons?

 

Sure.

I agree with you that building from kits makes a lot of sense and I prefer it.

But in the case of the Dayton Machine Co., Walthers only offered it as part of its Built-Up series.

Rich

[hon30critter]

PC101

it fell apart in my hands, within twenty seconds

Easy explanation - the structure was built either first thing on a Monday morning or last thing on a Friday afternoon. At least, that was the excuse that we used when I worked on the line at General Motors in Oshawa in the 70s.

Seriously, having the building fall apart in your hands is very disappointing. If you don't want to fix it maybe give Walthers a call to see if they will replace it. I'm sure they would like to know about the problem.

https://www.walthers.com/contact-us

Dave

[UNCLEBUTCH]

Tom..Rich

Got it, I wasn't aware of the ''only offered'' part.And the other reasons make sence too Now I know  thanks

[angelob6660]

UNCLEBUTCH

I always wondered why folks would buy prebuilt building. I consider ''building stuff '' a big part of the hobby.

Care to explane your reasons?

 

I bought a prebuilt parking garage in N Scale. I couldn't a find a parking garage kit so that reason a Bachmann structure was necessary.

 

I wasn't found on the price though.