Reviews : Walthers Merchant's Row I - Kit - 11 x 5 x 4''

I have MS which affects my fine motor skills. Doing detail work, or really anything that requires a steady hand, is a challenge for me. I like models that are a step above idiot-proof. This does not fit that. The directions are a DISASTER. The printing was faded to almost non-visible. What was visible was, well, useless. It was nothing more than a series of faded drawings showing the placement of the window glass. Speaking of which, the part numbering scheme on the sprue was indecipherable. I ended up guessing which pieces were what part, and what went where. Many times the apparent part number on the sprue did not jive with where the directions seemed to want them to go. As noted above, it's very difficult to paint -- problematic for someone with a fine hand tremor. There are no suggested color schemes beyond what you can see on the cover. The actual building itself was very easy to construct, except for the misnumbered window glass. Everything fit first try. (I use a small cabinet-makers right angle clamp to hold the corners together during gluing, which really helps.) Sadly, my paint job was less than stellar, so it doesn't have the best appearance on the layout. However, I have to live with it. I recommend this with reservations. For someone with steady hands, a good eye, and experience with fine detail brushwork, (airbrushing would probably be a good way to paint for someone who uses that technique.) this should be a good layout addition properly painted, but beware the annoying small issues that crop up.

I started by painting the brick and cement with spray can paint. Masking between each coat adds to the time required. The trim and wood is hand painted with cheap acrylic paint. Mortar was added using Robert's Brick Mortar. At this point 2 dull acrylic clear coats were applied to protect the finish. For window glass I used a Microscope cover glass cut to fit. Noting looks like glass better than glass.Shade and blinds were then added from City Classic. Then I added signage, also from City Classics, to the front of the stores directly to the glass. Judicious application of Tacky Glue was used to hold all of this in place. When dry the glue is clear.I used City Classic Picture Windows to make four of the stores look like they are fully functional businesses. These are backlit with LED's to make them stand out more.The fifth store is detailed with Model Tech Studios Soda Fountain Counter and 2 customers and an employee. This store is lit with a LED. All LED's are in series except for the one in the restaurant which is parallel to the other four, and all are controlled with a SPST switch. Since the back of the building is visible it is painted and detailed. I added a Tichy Train Fire Escape. Everything was given two coats of India ink and alcohol wash to dull it down A fun build even with all the colours used on the front. Went together well with the sides fitting well and easy to make it square.

This is a deceptively simple model. Deceptive because it is pretty easy to actually build, but if you want it to look anything like the picture on the box be prepared to do a lot of painting. The parts are high quality and free of flash, mostly. They are straight and fit together well. The rooftop sections do have some flash that needs to be filed or cut off. The instructions are poor. The first step tells you to glue the window glass in - Arrghh!! No, don't do that! Paint all the walls first, in fact, do everything else first and glue the windows in LAST. An experienced modeler knows that, but a beginner might not. Generally you always want to paint first. In this model, however, I recommend building all the roof details before painting. I used a variety of techniques to paint this, including some spraying, but mostly brush work. Washes, dry brushing, Tamiya weathering powders and Roberts Brick Mortar Formula all came into play. Truth be told, I was never so happy to finally be finished than with this building. It does look great, though, and will occupy a prominent place on my layout (once I get it done!).

Nicely detailed building, moderately difficult to assemble with easy directions to follow for the most part. Highly recommend to dry fit all parts before cementing them in place, so be careful and check twice but glue once. Model comes in 1 color plastic and clear glass, but if you take your time and paint the different structures different colors and even better to place 2 to 3 complementary colors on each of the different buidlings (like shown on the picture on the front of the Box) the model really comes to life. The Kits also comes with 12+ signs and decals for the signs so you can turn the buildings into any type of store you want. These extra signs also came in handy for building the Landmark series structures which do not include signs so those buildings can get the detail Woodland scenics Landmark series were to cheap to include. Over all an excellent structure with nice details and a wonderful addition to any layout or city scene.

This town was fun to put together a lot of painting , but that was fun . if you prep the pieces they fit together great . the signs were kind of a pain , because of my big hands , but i got them . i mounted it on foam board to give the side walk some height . all around a good product fun to put together and reminds me of my Grandparents home town . It came with decals for the signs but i opted to hand paint

Merchants Row was pretty easy to assemble, the directions are well detailed as are the parts. It comes with a lot of different decals so you can pick and choose many different types of merchants that you want in your row from all different ereas. The only down side is that there are no window details so you have to make your inside scenes or window details. Overall, this is a great purchase.

Difficulty: High Beginner / Low Intermediate Pros: Good design. Comes with signs (note that the larger signs in my picture come from the Village Pizza Set) Cons: The base / sidewalks aren’t the same size as the sidewalks that come with the Walthers Brick Street Set, so I ended up not using it.

Love the old town look . Great detail . A little difficult to paint ( used a very tiny brush ) but the end result looks great . Could use some store front window pictures like I've gotten with other models . It took me 3 days to complete it , but in the end , it was well worth it .

Building fits in great with my small town layout, not too difficult to assemble in just a couple of hours. Love Walthers products and have several on my layout.

Good quality model. Made some of my own modifications like always. Painting this one was fun to get all the colors into it. Nice addition to my town

Found this to be actually easy to assemble. Only draw back is I wish there were store dividers inside so I could have lights on in certain stores.

adds to the business districts of the town and with the sidewalks already there can go and do streets and alleys from there

I can't wait to get started on my project. wish glue and paint were included. upload coming soon and completed project

Easy build pieces fit great. Looks great as all sort of industrial office building on my train layout.

excellent product has great detail but all one color lots of painting will work great

the one page instructions with this model make it a bad purchase

Excellent product - Adds dimension and excitement to my layout

Excellent works well with my train town setup looks real