Review

Following in the pattern of many of their other structure kits, Grandt Line Products' Valley Feed & Seed is modeled after an actual building. The prototype is located in Salina, Utah, adjacent to the D&RG tracks. It is very typical of buildings found in many small farming communities. The Grandt Line kit includes a sheet with a photo of the real building, along with a number of similar buildings. This will help you in deciding on the type of signs and details you want in your finished model.

This kit is composed primarily of molded styrene plastic parts. The main building consists of the four walls, two roof sections, and a base. All of these parts are extremely well detailed. The front of the building is horizontal wood siding, while the otherthree walls have simulated corrugated iron, as does the roof. The lower parts of the walls have a concrete foundation with vent holes. The base of the structure has sidewalk detail as well as wood interior flooring should you want to add an interior to your model.

The window, doors, and vent covers are molded separately of styrene plastic and are of the usual high quality we have come to expect from Grandt Line. The glazing for the windows is very thin, clear acetate. The acetate is not precut, but has been printed with the outline of the glass. Grandt Line also printed advertising on the various glass pieces. This is done in two different colors to help add variety to the building.

Building this kit is very straightforward and could be completed with little difficulty by anyone with a minimum of experience. I pre-painted all of the parts before beginning assembly. A medium gray was used on the side and end walls, and roof sections; this can be shaded differently once you begin weathering the building. These parts have simulated corrugated metal, but there are none of the seam joints that would normally be found. Instead it appears that one large piece of corrugated material was used.

The front of the building is molded with simulated wood siding and this was painted white. The windows and doors received a coat of boxcar red, which gives a nice contrast to the gray and white walls. I attached these parts and the window glazing to the various openings before the walls were glued together.

A molded plastic base is provided to which the walls are attached. As I mentioned, thisbbase has a concrete sidewalk and the individual wood-boarded floor for the front interior section of the store. All of the walls have stops molded into them which assure perfect alignment of these parts. The roof is supplied in two pieces and also has stops molded on to make the joints all but invisible.

Signs for the store are provided in the kit. Grandt line states these are made with an ink jet printer and cautions the builder to avoid getting them wet as the colors may run. I did a bit of testing and found that an alcohol/India ink wash worked fine on these without any colors running. A very light wash will tone the signs down and make them look more realistic.

A variety of plastic detail parts are provided to dress up the building. Actually there are a lot more than you can possibly use, so add the extras to your scrap box. Included are eighteen feed sacks, four fifty-gallon steel drums, and four wooden barrels. There is also a printer paper sheet of full-color feed sacks which you cut out an assemble. These do take some time and are rather delicate but, when completed, provide some excellent-looking chicken feed sacks. I made up about four ot them and them cut out just the labels and glued these to the plastic feed sacks.

Final detail parts include outdoor lamps, which are fabricated by the builder from provided brass wire and plastic moldings The "Public Scale' sign is printed on paper and is supported by a short piece of brass wire.

The feed store has an in-ground vehicle scale that sits next to the building. This is supplied as a one-piece plastic molding. I painted mine with a wood grain effect on the wooden planks and a concrete perimeter. This sits next to the building and i brought the ground cover right up to the edge.

The Valley Feed & Seed kit provides a great small structure that could be used on any era of railroad. All the parts are very well detailed and everything fits just as it should. The instructions are quite complete and provide references for different structures that will help create a structure that's just right for your layout.