Walthers Cornerstone Series Kit HO Scale Al's Victory Service Station

Typical Walthers kit with good detail and decals. However, I wish there was no lube pit outline in one of the bays. I had to remove the edges and cut plastic to fit to remove so I could install a lift from a JL Innovative Design detail kit.

I put on my HO track looks great

This was a difficult item to assemble because it had so many small intricate parts and my fingers aren't used to such small items. It does look very nice since I have added a lot of things to it.

Very fast and easy assembly. It does need some painting to look realistic, since it is all molded in a single color (white) or actually two if you count the clear window glass material. I used red paint for window frames and 4 of the gas pumps, white for two of the other pumps, silver for rain downspouts and vent on the roof and aged concrete for the pump islands. Instruction sheet is easy to follow with parts numbered. I have not quite finished building yet, as one thing is holding me up. In the pictures on the box, it shows several thin black lines on the trim and I don't know how to get those put on without it oozing over into the white. Even a very thin brush might not work; maybe a toothpick? The kit comes with decals and I AWAYS have trouble with decals and usually end up destroying some of them. What I do as a precaution is to make a couple color photocopies of the decals and then I can always cut out the pieces and glue them on in lieu of the decals. If you really want to do your decals well, you also need to buy a bottle of Micro Sol, which softens the decal and makes them adhere better. (I have it, use it and it works well.) The kit comes with 3 different sets of 6 gas pumps, so you can use the pumps that fit the era you are modeling. Unfortunately there are only two pump islands, so you can't swap pumps if you want to change the era, even though you have the pumps for the 3 eras. (Too bad the kit didn't include three sets of pump islands.) The only other thing that defines the era is the standing sign; two signs included; one to accommodate Standard oil and the other to accommodate either "Al's Victory Service" or "Jerry's Gas and Garage" on the sign. The only thing that I really did not like about this kit is that the gas pumps seem to lack detail. They don't look like they have any dispenser hoses on them; that can make a big difference in realism. The decals are a bit "congested" on the decal sheet, so be careful. Also be careful with the plastic sprues that the parts are attached to. There are a few very tiny parts that can come loose; I almost lost the air pump when it fell off. This is a decent gas station kit and probably a good kit for a beginner, but I do think there are better looking gas station kits out there. Generally the Walthers kits are nice, but need a lot of painting to look realistic. This kit needs less painting than some other kits. Note: there are quite a few small pieces, so you need patience. Also this kit and all the garage and gas station kits I have bought and assembled do not come with a base or concrete driveways, so you have to create your own; I used heavy card stock and gray spray paint. The concrete joints can be made with a lead pencil and a ruler and look quite realistic.

Good Seller!

As with other Cornerstone projects, the service station was a good fit. Construction is clean cut and rewarding, graphics on building sharp. Great product.

Although it dont come with Texaco decal's, It can be a texaco station when you use the decal's from the Texaco 50 chevy pickup from amt.

It was at a smaller scale and I needed a larger one. So I returned.