New Walthers Structures (November 2021)

[James Costello]

Just saw these new additions to the N warehouse scene amongst the advance reservations at Walthers:

Modern Steel Warehouse - 1960s to the present
https://www.walthers.com/modern-steel-warehouse-kit


Modern Transload Terminal - 1960s to the present
https://www.walthers.com/modern-transload-terminal-kit

Looks like a couple of nice new additions that add some needed variety to the large structure modelling.

[sirenwerks]

I am not impressed.  Especially when they are selling it at the same MSRP as the HO kit, and the HO one is on sale for about 25% off.  The least they could do is enlarge the kits so you get the same amount of plastic as the HO version...

[learmoia]

I am not impressed.  Especially when they are selling it at the same MSRP as the HO kit, and the HO one is on sale for about 25% off.  The least they could do is enlarge the kits so you get the same amount of plastic as the HO version...

Agreed.. it's the same kit with/without a rail entry door..

[peteski]

Don't they get a pass for creative thinking?     Their pricing structure has been wonky for a long time.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I am not impressed.  Especially when they are selling it at the same MSRP as the HO kit, and the HO one is on sale for about 25% off.  The least they could do is enlarge the kits so you get the same amount of plastic as the HO version...

So little of the cost of these things relates to raw materials though, so I don't think it's worth getting upset at that.

I do wish that they'd scale these things up a bit for N, acknowledging the inherent advantages of the scale, but I'm more concerned about buildings that can easily be scaled up with additional kits (which, for example, is really tough to do with the otherwise gorgeous Atlas factory building).

[Philip H]

So little of the cost of these things relates to raw materials though, so I don't think it's worth getting upset at that.

I do wish that they'd scale these things up a bit for N, acknowledging the inherent advantages of the scale, but I'm more concerned about buildings that can easily be scaled up with additional kits (which, for example, is really tough to do with the otherwise gorgeous Atlas factory building).

These would seem to fit that bill . . . .

[basementcalling]

These look very easy to kitbash.

Most of Walther's cost is in the mold making and drawings, so scaling up would require a second set of drawings, adding cost to the N scale version.

I'm just glad to see industrial buildings and not more quaint houses from Walthers. Maybe it's a trend that will continue. We now have 4 industry park style business buildings from them as recent releases. If these 2 sell well, perhaps they will keep new product coming. Still waiting to see the grain series come to N scale, but Shapeways and scratchbuilding can fill in a lot of those holes in the N scale grain elevator scene.

[thomasjmdavis]

Before I go on about pricing of N scale buildings, let me give Walthers credit for creating (assuming the dimensions in the ad are correct) a building with a realistic footprint.  At 10.5" by 6.3125", the "transload terminal" scales out to 140'x84' - which is a reasonable size for a small industry.  This is a first for them, I think, as most of their industrial buildings are minuscule compared to the real thing.

So little of the cost of these things relates to raw materials though, so I don't think it's worth getting upset at that.

I do wish that they'd scale these things up a bit for N, acknowledging the inherent advantages of the scale, but I'm more concerned about buildings that can easily be scaled up with additional kits (which, for example, is really tough to do with the otherwise gorgeous Atlas factory building).

Agreed Ed, as far as the raw material (insignificant difference).  However, the HO tooling is 4 times the size of N scale tooling (much more expensive) and runs on larger machines (much more expensive), the logic should hold that even if the material were free, the N scale models should be less expensive.  Granted, N scale tooling would cost more than HO if the N scale building were the same size as an HO building, due to having more stories, doors, windows, etc.  But there is little excuse, other than profit per unit (even though they make less profit overall by charging prices above the economic equilibrium price- where they would sell more units).  Of course, if the current production follows the usual Walthers sales plan, they will all be on sale for 40% off in 6 months or a year.

And before someone repeats the usual refrain about HO being more popular....

The usual "HO sells better" argument also doesn't hold water.  Walthers makes many times more buildings in HO- so average sales of a given building kit are likely, if anything, to be lower- since N scale modelers have so few to choose from, the N sales are divided among fewer buildings. For a given class of building, N scales are choosing 1 from 10, HO scalers are choosing 1 from 40- and that is just from Walthers production.  HO also has many more competitors making buildings.  N is just beginning to catch up, because N scale is much more economical in the 3D printing arena than HO, and we are beginning to see some nice stuff coming from small 3D designers, that becomes vastly more expensive when scaled up to HO.

I guess it really is an academic question for me- the new Walthers buildings in question are not applicable to my 1956 timeframe. 

[Rossford Yard]

I like them and will order a few of each for my industrial switching layout.  I recall stopping at the Walther's booth in Salt Lake City and they said they had some exciting N scale structures coming, and I guess these are those.

If they are like the steel mill and other recent kits, I think they will have tabs to align multiple sections so they can be built as longer flats and half width structures.  Even if they don't, it doesn't look that hard to do.

We have covered all the economics of N before, but in general, N structures sell from 25-40% of HO so they amortize whatever costs over fewer units.  That is not the case with unit train stuff, like covered hoppers, where N Trakkers buy just as many or more of those types of cars. 

In any case, I like industrial structures, and Walther's has filled a need there in N since the 1990's, and it was one reason I started in N.  Prior to that, all we had was Euro style buildings that never looked right.  So, it doesn't seem right to complain about structure cost, albeit, I understand that each new run seems to take the cost up about $10 from the last batches, which is noticeable!

[Englewood]

Nice to see Walthers continuing to pump out new buildings in N scale.
I don't think anyone else in N scale comes close when it comes to American buildings.

[Rossford Yard]

They are nice to have.  On a former layout I used an HO Peterson Warehouse by taking off the concrete bottom, which reduced the height and height of doors.  The corrugated metal was a bit coarse, but overall, the larger scale was impressive, and I still may do that again when I have the room.  I have considered using the similar looking HO diesel shed, because, how big is a window anyway?