I found a seller on E-Stupid that are offering DPM kits. His shipping is only $1.25 and cost of the buldings are between $10 and $15. Seems fair for what you get if it is not junk.
I have done a few Walther kits and found them OK at best so far.
Best kite to date was made in Germany and starts with a H, think it was something like Harjar (sorry about the spelling). Only minor problems with wall's lining up.
Seller all so has neon lights made by Miller Engineering. This is all so a new name to me, anyone use them before and what do you think about them?
Thanks again Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
cudaken wrote: I found a seller on E-Stupid that are offering DPM kits. His shipping is only $1.25 and cost of the buldings are between $10 and $15. Seems fair for what you get if it is not junk. I have done a few Walther kits and found them OK at best so far. Best kite to date was made in Germany and starts with a H, think it was something like Harjar (sorry about the spelling). Only minor problems with wall's lining up. Seller all so has neon lights made by Miller Engineering. This is all so a new name to me, anyone use them before and what do you think about them? Thanks again Cuda Ken
I've done quite a few DPM kits. They have great detail and assemble easily. Have use the wall sections and related acces. for add ons or kit bashing. The roof material is fairly thin as most others. I always laminate an added piece of styrene as a stiffener.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
DPM pieces are fairly easy to work with and also make for easy kitbashing.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
As others have said, they are easy kits with nice detail Also great for bashing.
Could the other kit name be Heljan?
Tom
Life is simple - eat, drink, play with trains!
Go Big Red!
PA&ERR "If you think you are doing something stupid, you're probably right!"
Ahh, I see you have "graduated" to looking at the DPM kits. I have several, their basic kits are basically 4 walls with detail molded in, some kits have a few extra pieces (such as corner-type kits have a separate piece for the doorway, others have inset doors which is 3 extra pieces), and a sheet of clear plastic for the windows, and a sheet of white styrene for the roof. They also include a stick or 2 of square styrene for bracing the roof-wall joints, and extra "backer" pieces for the "chimneys" (makes the chimneys thicker). Overall, assembly goes fairly quickly, you'll need to sand/file the edges of the walls to get a square joint (they are tapered, makes them easier to get out of the molds at the factory), many modelers brace the corners with extra square styrene for extra strength. They key to making one really look good is painting. I spray the brick color, then brush paint the "trim" colors. I usually lightly weather mine with powdered chalks, and give them a shot of Dullcote, then add the "windows". Give me a few minutes and I'll post some pics.
Brad
EMD - Every Model Different
ALCO - Always Leaking Coolant and Oil
CSX - Coal Spilling eXperts
OK, here goes. Hope you're not on dial up....
Believe it or not, this one's unpainted. The upper part looks like a different color because of the way the light is reflecting off the "brick" texture.
These are in various stages of completion and/or painting. Some have window frames are missing (NOT lost) because they have been packed up for some time, and also because I didn't clean the paint off very good before glueing.
I consider this one "complete". Note the view block I have placed in the center of the building.
This is one of DPM's "modulars". It is mostly complete, as you can see. These consist of several wall sections, which you arrange to your liking until you get the shape of the building you want. Some modelers make photocopies of the sections to do a mockup of a building, to get an idea of what it will look like, and for checking placement and clearances. They go together fairly easily, but you need to make sure to fille the walls like the instructions tell you to (to get good strong joints), and to make sure the walls go together straight, level, plumb, square and flat. Otherwise, it will be hard to correct once the glue cures. They can be assembled to about as large a building as you care to build (or can afford).
I have placed mine on the layout not only for pics, but also to see how I want to lay out my "town", and to see plan how to do my scenery.
I think all of my DPM buildings are brick, so a big part of getting them to look good is painting and adding brick mortar. I use cheap spray paint from a big-box hardware store, plus craft-store acrylics for trim. I've accumulated quite a number of different shades, so I can put together a lot of kits without having them all look the same. These are mostly DPM, except for the two on the right side. They're Model Power kits.
After I paint the building (unassembled, so I've still got individual pieces) I rub hydrocal powder into the mortar joints. I then mist above it with a sprayer (the way some folks do ballast) to wet the hydrocal, and let it dry. After that, I wipe off the excess with a paper towel (it comes off easily) and then apply a thin wash of India Ink in water to tone down the bright white hydrocal to a dingy gray.
Earlier on, I tried the baking-flour-and-dullcoat technique. I think hydrocal was easier and I could control it better. These townhouses were done with flour:
The window shades are simply tissue paper glued to the insides of the windows. And speaking of windows, I've added some details to them with home-made decals. This DPM kit is the original, unpainted color, but I added brick mortaring, window shades and some business signs:
Speaking of decals, I also download old ads and print them on decal paper, which I can apply to the sides of the buildings:
DPM's are a great starting point. I like to look at them as a blank canvas to make a unique structure. Even though you could trim and glue together the building in an hour, I usually take a week or more (not full-time, of course) painting, assembling and detailing each of these structures.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
DPM makes some small structures -- small stores -- that are good training pieces. They also offer a paper sheet of templates of their various modular parts -- use a copier and copy them onto brown paper and you can make a decent mockup of a building.
Dave Nelson
Most DPM buildings consist of 4 wals with molded in details. While they are easy to construct, they take most time to finish. The ends of the walls will need to be squared. They are cast with a slight angle to help the part release from the mold. Use a large file to square the ends when needed. Also, a good solvent based glue is best to join the walls. Something along the lines of Tenax or MEK.
Be prepared to spent additional time painting the building since all the windows are cast in the walls. If done properly you will end up with a nice looking structure.
As for the Miller Engineering signs. I HIGHLY recommended them. I have 5 or 6 of them and they are amazing, especially their animated signs. In my book well worth the cost.
jktrains
Thinking back, there is something I've noticed about some of my DPM's. They did NOT come out with a rectangular footprint. I did some careful measuring, and discovered that the back of the buildings were about 3/16 of an inch too wide, which is just about 1 wall thickness. I ended up trimming the edges to square it up. (This is after the squaring-off step of the mold taper, by the way.) Has anyone else noticed this?
On the last building I did, I used a Dremel to remove the taper, and then finished the edge with sandpaper. With sandpaper alone, as recommended in the brief instruction sheet that comes with the kit, you are likely to get a rounded edge which won't glue well.
On my first couple of kits, I had a heck of a time painting the details. As I've become more experieced, though, it's become a lot easier and I'm getting better results. I've also had good results using blue painter's tape to mask parts of the building when spraying a second color for details, or where I want one story of the building a different color than the rest.
I love a DPM, both the kits and the modules. They do take a little bit of time to finish properly, though. They are also great fonder for kitbashing.
2 Smith Packing kits w/ stratchbuilt tower:
Some Laube's Linen Mills, center. Arch window modules, left. Cutting Sissors, mid-rear. Steel Sash modules, rear:
Town in progress:
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
OK, DMP is a big thumps up.
This is the look I am looking for.
Town is Alton IL where I work. I have all so been watching some DVD's on weathering and painting and with my back ground in Auto Body it should not be a big deail to get half way good at.
Thanks also for the heads up on the neon sighns (spell Check).
Cuda Ken
Ken
The Walthers Merchants Row series may be what you are looking for:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=Structure&scale=H&manu=&item=&keywords=merchants+row&instock=Q&split=30&Submit=Search
ALso, DPM has a series of buildings that would work. The round top window style building is also available in the DPM modulars series.
http://www.dpmkits.com/
If you want to go with the DPM modulars, download the planning kit, print off the pages you want and do a 3D design in cardboard. I like to use cereal boxes and attach the design sheets with glue stick. Tape together with Scotch tape and see how it looks. Make a list of the packs you need and call your LHS. Once you have your parts list, check the Modular Bulk Packs, you can save some money buying one of these if they include the parts you need.
The planning kit is at: http://www.dpmkits.com/detail/homod.pdf
This is a warehouse I am working on with the paper planning model next to it. As you can see, I changed the design in the loading dock area once I started building the kit:
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
You could also look at Smalltown USA kits. They're similar to DPM, a little smaller generally and thinner walls, but build easy and look nice.
Jim
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
Cuda Ken,
I have several of the DPM kits on my BRVRR layout and a few more waiting to be built. They are generally good little kits and worth their cost.
Here is my version of their gas station:
Here are a couple of more of their structures:
I find that they take a little longer to paint than some kits, but satisfactory results are relatively easy. There is a little more detail, particularly interiors etc. on my website Just push the 'Structures" button and scroll down. Link is in my signature.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
Here's a DPM building with a Miller Eng animated sign installed on the front. The sign has a 5 sequence animation. The building is still under construction with just a few more details to add. The picture was taken on my son's under construction module. I tried taken the picture so the front was in shadow in an attempt to show the sign.
DPM doesn't have a Gas Station. That's a City Classics Gas Station with the left bay removed. http://cityclassics.fwc-host.com
Geoj,
You are right about the gas station. Sorry. The City Classics kits are very similar to DPM. Same type of heavy castings, just a different grade of plastic.
Someone mentioned that all DPM kits are brick. I have a "Skip's Chicken And Ribs" kit that has wood siding, rather than brick. If there is one, there are probably more, "wooden" structures.
Most of my experience is with the walthers modulars.
I have not yet made the jump to DPM. I do feel that the buildings I made were kind of expensive however, I have lots of left over parts to finish my warehouse addition and cannot really complain that much.
That should work now.
The building was at this stage in 2006, still being worked on with minor additions planned such as a water cooling plant and warehouse addition.
The only problem I have with Miller Signs is they are one sided; i.e, they work fine on a street going away from the viewer where the back of the sign is not visible. ON a street parallel with the front of the layout, you have a nice sign on one side and an ugly blank on the other.
Some time ago I sent Miller an e-mail asking about this. They replied that you can glue a left and right sided sign back to back. Cut the pins off one of them, leaving a bit to solder to and carefully solder the partial pins to the coresponding full pins. The double sign then can be plugged into one power supply and will operate OK. I have not tried this yet.
I have recently worked on two of the DPM Goodfellow's Hall, both of them the rear wall was to narrow. Other than that they finish up nicely.
Larry