Woodland ScenicsN Scale Town and Factory Building Set

I've started using this kit, so a review is in order. As others have mentioned, there are some shortcomings with this kit. If you want the condensed version, here it is: If you want buildings that you can put together in an hour or less, look elsewhere. If you want good kits that require some patience and a little skill, then this you should like these.The good:-Very complete kits with several extras.-Good quality castings (no thin spots, swirls,) that are flat and fairly true.-Good price per building-All the buildings are from a similar era.-A reasonable amount of detal in the castings.The bad:-Everything is cast in one color (tan)-You will need to trim edges and flashing.-Instructions assume you have some experience with modeling.-Some of the edges are beveled due to the molds. Sanding them square is simple though.-Almost no roof details (AC units, Vents, etc...)A couple of additional items to note, at least one of the roofs is cut to fit (by you) from a thin sheet of styrene. I've built kits with pre-made roofs, and normally you have to trim those so I actually prefer this system. Also be aware there are no foundations or bases on these buildings as well as no sidewalks, so assembly is slightly more difficult. You do end up with a more authentic model (in my opinion) due to this.Overall, I'm happy with this kit, but I do prefer models that require some patience and give you the opportunity to make the details your own.

I thought " Ah No, a put together mess, I wanted built up stuff". My grandson came over and it all changed when we started the first set of buildings for our Empire Builder train set, N scale. My grandson is seven and went ape at the idea of railroading and scale model building. "We can make it like we want" were his words. We decided to model our layout on a 1950's Wyoming coal mining town. We will be making a passenger line based on the Durango and Silverton narrow gauge, also in N scale. I wouldn't have believed his excitement over the prospect of messy, crafty, FUN. The instructions are Easy and informative. The more you play with the realism the more attention to detail makes the difference. My granddaughter went nuts over the idea of her own set of buildings, and a gas station for her cars. They are saving some of their allowances for of their houses and businesses. This is an affordable pastime for all and a pleasure not a challenge.

I started getting to work on this kit last night. Each building is packaged as a stand alone kit, so there are some inconsistencies between buildings.Pros:- Great assortment of buildings (Different shapes, sizes, and styles)- Good Detailing- Price per building can't be beat.- Nice selection of decals and advertisements for your buildings.- A good sized bag of random accessories (light posts, dumpsters, ladders, etc..)Cons (keep in mind these are what allow you to get 13 buildings for less than $10 a piece):- Decent amount of flash from the molding process. It's not hard to remove, it's just something you need to do for every wall.- The edges of the walls are tapered from the mold. You need to sand them flat. Again, very easy to do. It's just an extra step- Not all buildings come with a roof piece. Several of them do, but the ones that don't provide you with a piece of styrene that you need to cut to fit (This one bummed me out a little). However, at least they include the material in the kit.- These buildings have the windows built into the walls from the get go. With some other brands, the window pieces are separate. You can take all the window pieces, spray them white, and then just insert them. These windows, as they are already built into the walls, will need to be painted by hand.All in all, I really look forward to putting these together. If you enjoy modelling, don't let the cons scare you away. They'll still be easy enough to assemble, they'll just take some patients. I'm fine with that seeing as this is probably the best deal on the internet for buildings, especially ones this nice. The included hotel is gorgeous, and I can't wait to get that one together. All the pieces seem to be cut to proper dimensions and everything seems to line up as it should.I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because of the need to cut some of the roofs out yourself. I would have really liked to not have to do that on some of the buildings. Regardless, I highly recommend this kit.

When I opened this box of building kits I was terrified. The pieces are all one color, many of the roofs have to be cut out by hand, some of the walls have to be squared off by hand-sanding, and I had no modeling experience.I have now assembled and painted eleven of the thirteen buildings, and it has been a lot of fun.Start by picking out one of the simpler buildings. Read the instructions start-to finish. They say to wash the models first. I found this to be unnecessary. Get a sheet of 150-grit sandpaper and tack it to a small flat board. This is all you need to “square up” some of the walls, and the instructions will tell you which walls to “square up.” Make sure you have a good knife (I used a box knife) to cut the pieces off cleanly.Atlin makes a set of touch-up brushes (available on Amazon at about $10 for a set of 100) which are very good for painting small areas like making the windows white before you paint the walls a different color. I am 70 years old, no previous experience, and not the steadiest of hands, but I found the Atlin brushes and little jars of Testors paints worked well.Plan ahead a bit. I found that painting the windows, then the walls, and installing the glass before assembling the walls seemed to work better than installing the glass after assembling the building.I goofed up a couple of things, but I spent a lot of time, had a lot of fun, dropped a couple of “f-bombs,” but in the end got a lot of nice n-scale buildings for a great price.