Downtown Deco
- Thread starter RexHea
- Start date
Rex, yes. One. My first and last one. They are hydrocal castings that are warped and none of the sides lined up, so there was a lot of file work to get things to line up. The hydrocal can't take much side pressure so I broke one wall and had to repair it. Regardles of what the instructions say, super glue does not work, you either have to use 5 minute epoxy or carpenters glue and brace it together for about three days until it cures. All the detail is cast on, not all if it very well. They seem to make buildings that you are supposed to finish in a rundown condition but I prefer they do complete castings of things like the window lintels and stucco wall coverings and let me decide how I want the building to look. After you get it together, it's a lot of painting and detailing since everything is cast in place so you need a lot of small brushes and a steady hand. It's very much like what you have to go through to finish a DPM model. They are very expensive for the quality and, although some of the buildings are unique, they are not all that unique, and some of them are actually kind of bizarre looking.
Did I mention I wouldn't buy one again?
Did I mention I wouldn't buy one again?
jbaakko
Diesel Detail Freak
Odd, I have Addams Ave 1, and mine is prefect!? I have not attempted to assemble it however, as I have no need for it on the current layout. A quick review of the parts showed that they were all in perfect shape. In fact they're better then the Hydrocal cast kit I got from Railway Design Associates (Fmr Ertl kit)
Josh, consider yourself lucky. I think DD has gotten better with some of their later kits but I had one of the earlier kits, Blair Ave, and it was a disaster. Like I said, $50 for their average kit is way too high for what you get and finishing them so they match the pictures is not for a beginning modeler.
Thanks fellows. I have a perfect place for them near the engine service facility and tracks...you know, run-down, seedy, sleazy, ho's and johns'. An area ideal for Busty Bertha and her gals.
I am disappointed to hear that there have been problems with them and their detail, but maybe I will try one and see if they have improved since Jim's experience. FirstPlace has them for ~$38.00.
Jim, I never found CA to be good on porous materials like plaster. I always have used Carpenter's or white glue. Are acrylic paints the type to use?
I am disappointed to hear that there have been problems with them and their detail, but maybe I will try one and see if they have improved since Jim's experience. FirstPlace has them for ~$38.00.
Jim, I never found CA to be good on porous materials like plaster. I always have used Carpenter's or white glue. Are acrylic paints the type to use?
Rex, acrylics are the right ones to use but it's vital that you first spray or paint the completed structure with white or gray primer and letting it dry for at least a day. That will seal the hydrocal and allow the acyclic paint to stay of the surface. If you don't primer the building first, the paint just gets soaked up and looks really lousy...good thing I started on the back wall first. They do make really nice seedy looking buildings when you're done but DD's claim you can finish one of these in "two or three evenings" is a joke, Plan on at least a week of evenings to get everything done.
They do make really nice seedy looking buildings when you're done but DD's claim you can finish one of these in "two or three evenings" is a joke, Plan on at least a week of evenings to get everything done.downtowndeco
Member
Jim,
Sorry you had a bad experience with one of my kits. I'm a one man operation & I apoligize if a couple of bad castings slipped by.
My policy is if you get a bad casting I'll replace it for free. If you get a broken casting I'll replace it for free. If you break a casting I'll replace it for free. If you build your first DD kit & your paint job "just didn't turn out right" (because you've never painted a hydrocal kit before) give me a call & I'll replace the castings for free. Like I said, I'm a one man operation & my phone number, email & address are printed on every set of instructions. if you have a problem, contact me directly & I'll try & make it right.
I like to see people buy the kits, build them & have fun with them. I sell thousands of kits a year to modelers that enjoy them & keep coming back for more. That being said I'm always looking at ways to make the kits better.
Cheers!
Randy Pepprock
Downtown Deco
downtowndeco@montana.com
Sorry you had a bad experience with one of my kits. I'm a one man operation & I apoligize if a couple of bad castings slipped by.
My policy is if you get a bad casting I'll replace it for free. If you get a broken casting I'll replace it for free. If you break a casting I'll replace it for free. If you build your first DD kit & your paint job "just didn't turn out right" (because you've never painted a hydrocal kit before) give me a call & I'll replace the castings for free. Like I said, I'm a one man operation & my phone number, email & address are printed on every set of instructions. if you have a problem, contact me directly & I'll try & make it right.
I like to see people buy the kits, build them & have fun with them. I sell thousands of kits a year to modelers that enjoy them & keep coming back for more. That being said I'm always looking at ways to make the kits better.
Cheers!
Randy Pepprock
Downtown Deco
downtowndeco@montana.com
downtowndeco
Member
Thanks fellows. I have a perfect place for them near the engine service facility and tracks...you know, run-down, seedy, sleazy, ho's and johns'. An area ideal for Busty Bertha and her gals.
I am disappointed to hear that there have been problems with them and their detail, but maybe I will try one and see if they have improved since Jim's experience. FirstPlace has them for ~$38.00.
Jim, I never found CA to be good on porous materials like plaster. I always have used Carpenter's or white glue. Are acrylic paints the type to use?
You can use white or carpenters glue but honestly the best glue for these is 5 minute epoxy. It gives you a couple of minutes to make sure the parts are straight & true but you won't have to wait all night for the glue to set. I agree super glue is not a very good choice (but I have used it in a pinch).
Let me know if you have any questions when you are putting the kit together. Cheers!
Randy Pepprock
www.downtowndeco.com
Thank you Randy for coming in on the thread. I am going to order a couple of kits this evening. Hopefully, I won't have to call you and it is nice to know you back your product.
Five minute Epoxy:Is that like the stuff that comes in parallel plastic tubes that you push out the two contents together for mixing... or is it something better? I hated working with this tube stuff and hope you are talkiing about something not as messy. I guess you can get it at places like Hobby Lobby?
Five minute Epoxy:
Is that like the stuff that comes in parallel plastic tubes that you push out the two contents together for mixing... or is it something better? I hated working with this tube stuff and hope you are talkiing about something not as messy. I guess you can get it at places like Hobby Lobby?downtowndeco
Member
Thank you Randy for coming in on the thread. I am going to order a couple of kits this evening. Hopefully, I won't have to call you and it is nice to know you back your product.
Five minute Epoxy:
Yes, the two tube stuff. You can buy it at any hardware store (or even a WalMart). Mix up just a little bit on a piece of cardboard w/a little piece of stripwood. Don't apply too much (the secret!) & hold the part until the epoxy sets. After a minute or two it will start to get firm but you'll still be able to make adjustments. In 5 minutes it will be pretty strong.
Glue the parts together in the sequence explained in the instructions & you should be fine. Feel free to call if you have a problem.
Randy Pepprock
Downtown Deco
rlundy90
Armchair Engineer
It is nice to see manufacturers who stand behind their products. Believe me, there are many that don't. I found that out when I bought a bunch of structure kits without instructions. Some companies, such as Branchline and Jv Innovative had superb service where some others were very poor. I try to steer away from the poor ones and buy where I know I will be treated fairly. I think I might just try my first hydrocal kits.
Randy, I'm glad to see you be a stand-up guy and come on to a critical thread. As I said, I think I may have bought one of your first kits since it must have been about three years ago. I didn't realize you would replace warped or broken walls or I would have taken advantage of that. My fault for not noticing that you do indeed make the offer on both your web site and instructions.
It turned out to be a pretty decent looking building although I do think you should be a little more specific on the amount of painting you have to do to really reproduce those wonderful pictures on your web site. Assuming the hydrocal casting problems have been solved, building the kit itself is not hard. I used the 5 minute epoxy for part of the building and carpenter's glue of another part. The epoxy wasn't hard to use as long as, like you said, you use a small amount so you don't end up with globs coming through the wall joints. I used the carpenter's glue on the parts of the walls that were warped and then used C clamps and thick rubber bands to get them in alignment. Hopefully that's no longer an issue.
Unless you've changed your instructions since I bought your kit, some more color photos of the finished structures and painting suggestions would be really helpful. Although I wouldn't rate your kits as craftsman quality in terms of difficulty, the finishing is certainly beyond a beginning modeler. I notice you have a few smaller buildings now so those might be good ones for beginners to use for practice.
I've enjoyed watching your line grow. I still think Adams Avenue Part V is way overdone with peeling stucco and the Angel's Flight Hotel is just bizarre looking but they are certainly identifiable as Downtown Deco. Now, I think your Dead End Alley is a real masterpiece and I'd consider it for my layout if my buildings weren't all in. OTOH, your web site says you can assemble the whole thing in two to three evenings. Either you have to be the fastest modeler alive or you may want to reconsider that statement.
I'm happy to correct any false impression I might have made that my review of your kits covered anything other than the one model I've built. It looks like you've made some improvements to the hydrocal process and you've come up with some really interesting new kits. I wish you a lot of luck in the future.
It turned out to be a pretty decent looking building although I do think you should be a little more specific on the amount of painting you have to do to really reproduce those wonderful pictures on your web site. Assuming the hydrocal casting problems have been solved, building the kit itself is not hard. I used the 5 minute epoxy for part of the building and carpenter's glue of another part. The epoxy wasn't hard to use as long as, like you said, you use a small amount so you don't end up with globs coming through the wall joints. I used the carpenter's glue on the parts of the walls that were warped and then used C clamps and thick rubber bands to get them in alignment. Hopefully that's no longer an issue.
Unless you've changed your instructions since I bought your kit, some more color photos of the finished structures and painting suggestions would be really helpful. Although I wouldn't rate your kits as craftsman quality in terms of difficulty, the finishing is certainly beyond a beginning modeler. I notice you have a few smaller buildings now so those might be good ones for beginners to use for practice.
I've enjoyed watching your line grow. I still think Adams Avenue Part V is way overdone with peeling stucco and the Angel's Flight Hotel is just bizarre looking but they are certainly identifiable as Downtown Deco.
Now, I think your Dead End Alley is a real masterpiece and I'd consider it for my layout if my buildings weren't all in. OTOH, your web site says you can assemble the whole thing in two to three evenings. Either you have to be the fastest modeler alive or you may want to reconsider that statement. I'm happy to correct any false impression I might have made that my review of your kits covered anything other than the one model I've built. It looks like you've made some improvements to the hydrocal process and you've come up with some really interesting new kits. I wish you a lot of luck in the future.
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Thought everyone might like to see a DD kit that I just finished assembling, It is their Limited Editon "Pillow Factory" in O scale which was released years ago. Castings were in good condition, and were assembled with 5 minute epoxy. The green building on the left hand end along with the cream and brown buildings on the right hand are scratch to make nearly 9 feet of background for the layout.
IronBeltKen
Lazy Daydreamer
Five minute Epoxy:
Rex,
I've always used J-B Kwik 'steel' epoxy for my non-styrene model assembly. It comes in two separate tubes and has a consistency similar to toothpaste. The resin is black and the hardener is light gray, you can tell when they're thoroughly mixed when the whole glop is a uniform dark gray color.
[LATER EDIT: Ooops! I didn't notice until later that there was another page to this thread...
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My daughter just built the Gugisberg & Sons Machining Building. She's been doing the kit assemblies since she was in 4th grade, after helping me for several years prior. She did several years worth of increasingly difficult plastic kits, then moved up to wooden kits. This was her first Hydrocal kit. Yes, it did take a week, about 30 minutes a day. The first day she did a partial assembly, using the five minute two tube Epoxy. The second and third days she spray painted a primer onto the partially assembled building and various parts, one coat each morning and one coat each evening for a total of four coats of primer. The fourth day she painted the building and a few other parts a red brick color, one coat in the morning, a second coat in the afternoon. The fifth day she painted small details and the rest of the small parts green and black. The sixth day she finished assembling the building. The seventh day she applied the signs. Yes, it took a week, but it only took 30 minutes a day, it wasn't difficult, the instructions were very thorough, and the finished product is a beautiful addition to our layout. She did have to do a little filing and sanding and fiddle with a few parts to get them to fit. I do not believe this would be a kit for someone building their first model. But it's a great change of pace from the plastic and wood kits, and we love the building's appearance. It has already received several compliments from visitors to our layout.
I wish Downtown Deco would market a set of those pieces for streets. They could add a manhole cover to each piece and add curbs, sidewalks and water drains along both sides. It would be far superior to anything else available. They could include maybe two X intersection pieces and two T intersections where one street cuts off to the right or left, then include maybe a half dozen or a dozen straight street sections.
Dan Omlor
The Montour RR (HO)
Coraopolis, Pa.
I wish Downtown Deco would market a set of those pieces for streets. They could add a manhole cover to each piece and add curbs, sidewalks and water drains along both sides. It would be far superior to anything else available. They could include maybe two X intersection pieces and two T intersections where one street cuts off to the right or left, then include maybe a half dozen or a dozen straight street sections.
Dan Omlor
The Montour RR (HO)
Coraopolis, Pa.
bfhalloran
New Member
Delightful
I've put together and put away two DD kits, one flat and one seedy, run-down, beat-up bar and grill. I used minute expoxy, let it set for about a week, primed with Wally-world $0.98 primer gray, used craft paints to paint, clear scrap for windows, overcoated with Dullcoat. My railroad ends in northern NJ. I grew up in Union City and fled years ago, so these two story buildings aren't very different from the real thing. I love 'em. Bernie Halloran, NYK&W.
Has anyone put together kits made by "Downtown Deco"? What was your experience with them? How would you rate them? Any special words of advice?
I've put together and put away two DD kits, one flat and one seedy, run-down, beat-up bar and grill. I used minute expoxy, let it set for about a week, primed with Wally-world $0.98 primer gray, used craft paints to paint, clear scrap for windows, overcoated with Dullcoat. My railroad ends in northern NJ. I grew up in Union City and fled years ago, so these two story buildings aren't very different from the real thing. I love 'em. Bernie Halloran, NYK&W.
I've put together and put away two DD kits, one flat and one seedy, run-down, beat-up bar and grill. I used minute expoxy, let it set for about a week, primed with Wally-world $0.98 primer gray, used craft paints to paint, clear scrap for windows, overcoated with Dullcoat. My railroad ends in northern NJ. I grew up in Union City and fled years ago, so these two story buildings aren't very different from the real thing. I love 'em. Bernie Halloran, NYK&W.
Thanks for sharing you experience!
I've got a couple of them that are still in the box. I perhaps should check them out and get new castings if they are warped.
Did you notice that you were responding to a post from 2008?
