Two or three years ago I purchased a couple of Ameri-Towne full kits (#825 Pedicini's Bakery and #874 Granato's Grocery) and an additional building front to be used on my Happy Valley Railroad layout. The full kits have just the right footprint, 6 x 6 inches, to fit one of the corners and will be placed on a riser made from insulation foam. My plan is to add some interior details and LED lighting.
I have plenty of experience with plastic models and have built structure kits by Lionel and Atlas, but these will be my first Ameri-Towne projects. I thought it would be entertaining (and hopefully educational) to share my progress with the forum. Comments and suggestions invited!
Out of the box, the parts for these kits are seriously solid, with thick styrene walls and nicely rendered detail. The first step is to wash them with warm soapy water to remove the mold release agent. This is essential. The plastic was literally so slick that tape would not adhere to it—which means that paint would not adhere either. Secondly, nearly all of the walls were noticeably warped, especially the 3-story walls, but there’s an easy fix for this. Simply boil a few inches of water in a large skillet and dip a warped wall in it for about 10 seconds. Pull the wall out with a pair of tongs and gently bend the plastic (which has just slightly softened but is not hot enough to burn your fingers), in the opposite direction of the warp. It was a quick process, and all of the wall sections sat perfectly flat on my countertop. For the record, I do NOT recommend the method I’ve seen posted on OGR about heating warped walls in an oven. Who knows what sort of toxic fumes that might give off?
Also for the record, note that the bottle of wine on my countertop is capped: I was NOT drinking on the job! 🤣
In the next installment I’ll cover initial assembly. Let’s build!
