HO River Pass Layout Kit Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This kit does build the beginnings of a neat 4'x8' layout, and if you buy the two additional kits, additional tools and materials, and track it's all relatively simple. If it were just rated for the layout and for the amount of fun that you should have building it (if there weren't so many problems), it would be 5 stars.
But there are several problems that detract from the fun. The first is that while it's implied that you'll be getting everything that you need, you don't get everything you need or even close to it. Expect to spend at least another hundred bucks on tools, glue, extra materials, etc., and that's just with the first kit. You open the box and the first thing in the instructions is that if you want to make it a lot easier on yourself, you also need a low-temp glue gun and glue, a foam cutter, and foam knife. (And of course they're also all made by Woodland Scenics.) Take off a star.
The second is that it states that there isn't any dust or mess. I don't think they've ever built one of them, then, because the steps where you apply the plaster cloth are messy and dusty. I had to use a mask while cutting the plaster cloth into the required strips, it was so bad. And I had plaster on my clothes, enough to get my wife upset with me. Take off half a star.
The worst problem is that Woodland Scenics got lazy when writing the instructions. The first 2/3 of the booklet are fairly precise with lots of measurements and drawings, and things go easily and smoothly and you have lots of confidence that you're going to have a great looking finished product. Then suddenly your left on your own with generalizations about how to do the remaining steps. They say to "look at the picture on the box" for guidance, but it's really very little help if you've never built a layout before and don't already know what you're doing. Basically you've got to imagine how everything's going to fit together in the end, but if you've never done it before, there's no way to know how it's going to fit together. And reading the rest of the instructions doesn't help. So take off another star and half.
If you go into this knowing that you're getting quite a bit less than you're expecting, then it's worth the price. And the price should be around two fifty - anything more and you're paying too much, so look around a little.

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