I was intending to scratch build a Signal Box, or I should say an Interlocking Tower as it is for an American layout (Jack's layout), but this kit popped up on that famous auction site instead. I had seen the same kit available in the US for anywhere between $8.00 ($10.65 Au) and $25.00 US ($33.35 Au). So, I decided to buy this one in Oz available at $25.00, plus $7.60 postage. My reasoning is that the sellers in the US wanted $26.00 US ($34.67 Au) - $28.00 US ($37.33 Au) for postage ! Even the cheapest kit and postage ($34.00 US/ $45.35 Au) cost more in Aussie dollars and wasn't worth the hassle and the long wait for it to be sent to Oz... I had also decided on a kit as when I researched PRR (Pennsylvanian Rail Road) interlocking towers, most had this angled umbrella of small shingles that form a roof over the lower section of the building. There was no way I could handle punching out several hundred small discs of styrene and gluing them in an overlapping fashion onto a base ! Anyhow, on opening the kit I found all pieces intact and the instructions present. Brilliant ! One thing with these kits from IHC, is that they require no painting at all. In a matter of fact, how it looks above is how it is inside the box ! So in reality, it does require painting... A selection of the pieces on sprue laid out showing the distinctive colours in all their glory... Brown, grey and mustard yellow is the order of the day, although in the pic above and clearly below, you can see that I have started painting the walls in a light stone colour, to which the PRR used. You can also see the multitude of shingles on that angled roof section below. As with most PRR towers, the window sashes were painted red with brown frames, so I started on these... Most of these will need a second coat, then again for that worn and weathered look, they don't look half bad with a single coat. I will repaint the frames, timber dressing and lower match boarding tomorrow, in brown. More to follow soon. Cheers, Gary.
