Reviews : Design-Preservation M.T. Arms Hotel Kit

I bought two of these model an NYC street front seen in a video on the St. Johns Terminal in downtown Manhattan (long since torn down). The M.T. Arms was a fairly close match and I'm saving my scratch building efforts for a different building. Anyway, the kit is a typical DPM kit with all molded detail with the exception of a chimney. The roof is a plain piece of styrene which I didn't use. The all-molded design makes it easy to build but makes painting the window frames a chore. I glued the two fronts together, with a lot of bracing in the back, and filled the joint with contour putty. I used one side wall and used a piece of foamcore board for the other side that was not visible. In accordance with the video, I added awnings to most of the front of the building. The awnings were made from fine fabric laid over a styrene rod support, then soaked with diluted white glue and painted as necessary. I will add more street front detail later. I used part of one of the back walls to make the building next to the main structure. The roofs are artist board covered with strips of paper and painted to look like tar paper. The kit is mostly flash free, but is marred by large sprue-like pieces in quite a few windows that are difficult to remove cleanly. The instructions are minimally adequate. A large amount of clear acetate for windows is provided. And don't forget, just because the kit says it's a hotel doesn't mean you can't use it for whatever you want!

This is a great building. It is a bargain--a lot of building for the price. I like that it is tall--the building has bulk without sprawling out and having a large footprint. Nice detail. A lot of opportunity for precision detailed painting schemes. An old-fashioned aire. Some of the windows have sprues in them from the manufacturing process. These would be a pain in the neck to actually remove. But I plan to add to them to create individual room air conditioners sticking out these occassional windows. I will use foam-core board to create actual floors and dividing walls between the two units. Don't forget that clear plastic is invisible--it doesn't look like a window unless there is a curtain, shade, sign attached to it. A tiny flyer or notice stuck to the window--floating in space--gives the illusion that there is a window there.

This Building like all Landmark structures have some nice architectural detail, but lack window treatments, decals and a sign to finish the building and let you know this is a Hotel Some sides requiring squaring to assemble. The roof has supports that have to be trimmed to length and are not long enough for all sides,so you have to put small pieces on each side (would it have hurt them to add enough support strips)? The Roof itself has to be cut from a sheet is white styrene they supply. There is some nice architectural detail, but unless you paint it to bring up that detail it would be difficult to see if the structure is more than 18 from the front of the layout. The Kit would have earned a 4 star rating if they would have added some signage or something to say it is a Hotel.

Another great building from DPM This model looks fantastic . Take your time with the detail , paint window frames first , dab ( don't brush ) with a small brush around the windows and detailed trim for best results . You will be impressed with the results . Sand joint edges first before painting , remove all dust and get creative with color choices . Add your own touches . Use a square when assembling and secure with rubber bands until glue sets . Repeat this process with all DMP models . I use left over roofing material for window shades to add a nice finish . You'll be impressed with the final results , as I am . They could supply window decals and a stronger roofing material , but , over all , a fantastic product here

I kit bashed mine made some fun changes and mad it into a background building, easy build need some sanding an fine tuning to get it to fit great but easy to build and paint

Also received in a timely manner. Both structures I bought will be apart of a scene I will submit pictures of soon.

Another great kit from Walthers cornerstone series. Fun to build looks great on my layout. Keep em coming