RDA Delaney Iron Works

[nycjeff]

For this new build, I thought I would do something a little different. A while ago while looking at different kit manufacturers on the web, I found Railway Design Associates or RDA. RDA was acquired by Rail Scale Models and that is where you find these kits listed under HO Injection Molded Structure kits. These kits are very reasonably priced and many have a turn of the century industrial look- which makes them perfect for any transition era layout. When researching RDA, I found Delaney Iron Works, but Rail Scale Models did not offer it at that time. Instead I got their Middleton Mills kit which I built as a branch line railroad office headquarters. Recently I found that Rail Scale Models offered Delaney Iron Works and I ordered it immediately. This kit is a complex of buildings for a low price. I really like the look of this kit.

When researching RDA kits I found many negative comments, but when building the Middleton Mills kit I found that it took only a little extra work to solve the so-called problems. Modelers expecting a Walthers Cornerstone style kit would be disappointed with an RDA kit as they take a little more effort, but anyone who has done any craftsman kits will take the problems in stride. As I go through the build, I will discuss the so-called problem areas.

So, here we go



Here is a picture of the kit as it came to me. Inside the box were three bags- one labeled stone building, one labeled brick building and elevated walkway and the last labeled warehouse. I received the kit within a week of ordering it and it arrived with no damage or missing pieces.



I decided to do the stone building first and here are the sprues with the stone walls. The stone wall detail is something that RDA does very well in my opinion and that was one of the reasons I was drawn to this kit. One of the complaints I saw on the web was the fact that the sprues and attachment points were thick  and that it was difficult to remove them and you had to do some trimming and file work before they were ready to use. As I said before, this is not a typical plastic kit and anyone who has done a craftsman kit will find the prep work very easy to do.



First I sprayed both sides of the walls with a rattle can flat red primer color.



Next, after the red primer dried, I sprayed the walls with a very light coat of rattle can flat grey primer by holding the can about a foot above the walls. This gave me a light misting coat of the grey.



Next I mixed a wash of light grey craft paint and water and spread that over the wall. While the wash was still wet I wiped off most of the wash with a paper towel removing the wash from the stone surfaces and leaving it in the mortar joints. If you're not happy with the first try, it is easy to do it again until you get a result you are happy with.



Now the fun begins. I used five different colors to paint the stones in the wall. I will detail the colors in the next post. Using a fine brush, I painted individual stones until most of them were painted. The unpainted stones blended in with the others due to the priming and the wash. The result looks a little bright at this point, but the use of an AI solution, dry-brushing and weathering chalks will tone down the colors into a hopefully realistic looking stone wall. That's it for now, more later.

[NEMMRRC]

Nice kit. Should turn out great.


Jaime.

[PRR Modeler]

The kit looks great. Very nice job on the wall.

[Keep It Rusty]

I recently bought a few RDA kits, so I'm very interested to see how you go with this one.

I like the stone work so far.

[deemery]

One of the issues with RDA kits is filling in the corner joints.  You'll probably have to do both filling and then paint touch-up after you glue the walls together.


dave

[nycjeff]

Nice kit. Should turn out great.


Jaime.

Hello Jaime, I liked this kit when I first saw it and was glad when it became available again.

The kit looks great. Very nice job on the wall.

Thanks Curt, I looked at several build threads and videos on doing stone walls and I'm pleased with how it';s working out so far.

I recently bought a few RDA kits, so I'm very interested to see how you go with this one.

I like the stone work so far.

Hello Rusty, I'm surprised that I haven't seen any RDA build threads on the forum, they are such interesting looking kits and are not your typical plastic kits at all. Glad you like the stone work.

One of the issues with RDA kits is filling in the corner joints.  You'll probably have to do both filling and then paint touch-up after you glue the walls together.


dave

Hey Dave, you're right about the corner joints. In doing my research I came across a build thread with a post from Postal Karl with info on how to do the corner joints. We'll see how it comes out.

Continuing on...



These are the paints that I am using on my stone walls- I tried to get several natural stone looking colors. Dark chocolate, natural grey, cocoa bean, cranberry wine, a second cocoa bean and slate grey.



A look at the actual paint colors.



I've installed the windows and doors on one wall and also brown construction paper window shades. You can see the bracing I've added to the ends of the side walls to give me additional glueing surface when assembling the walls



I've used my AI solution on the wall after finishing the painting- it has toned down the bright colors somewhat.



I next dry brushed the wall with the slate grey and also added some weathering chalks. A rusty color below the small nut/ bolt castings and some brown to further tone down the colors.



I sprayed the windows with rattle can flat red primer and then dry brushed them with the slate grey.  That's it for now. more later.

[SteveCuster]

Great start Jeff. I think the RDA kits are a great value and can be turned into nice structures with a little extra effort. I built a few of them and my main issues were getting the corners tight and getting the windows to fit. The windows are a little chunky for my tastes but it's not super noticeable if you paint them a darker color. I think it would be a great idea if Rail Scale changed out the molded windows for something laser cut and replaced the styrene roof with card stock and shingles or corrugated metal. Same thing could be said for many of the older kits. Campbells kits could easily be updated to sit with many of the current craftsman kits if they just updated the windows and doors.

[nycjeff]

Great start Jeff. I think the RDA kits are a great value and can be turned into nice structures with a little extra effort. I built a few of them and my main issues were getting the corners tight and getting the windows to fit. The windows are a little chunky for my tastes but it's not super noticeable if you paint them a darker color. I think it would be a great idea if Rail Scale changed out the molded windows for something laser cut and replaced the styrene roof with card stock and shingles or corrugated metal. Same thing could be said for many of the older kits. Campbells kits could easily be updated to sit with many of the current craftsman kits if they just updated the windows and doors.

Hello Steve, I agree with you on all counts. I did have a little trouble with the corners, but the windows all went in with just a little filing. The size of the window mullions does not bother me as much as some. If the windows were replaced with Tichy style windows, I think the price of the kit would go way up. I noticed in my research that someone figured out which Tichy window would fit the kit if desired. As for the roof, the plastic roof panels that come with the kit are typical of all plastic kits. I will replace them with cardboard and different types of roofing materials. Overall, I am very happy with the RDA kits that I have done and am doing now, the price is right and with a little work and replacement of some items I agree with you that they can be nice additions to a layout.

[nycjeff]

I seem to be having problems posting pictures right now, I will try again later.  Jeff

[nycjeff]

Alright, pictures are posting- continuing on... Here the walls are assembled and you can see the corner bracing as well as three across the top and the bottom. I used 3/16 square stripwood for this bracing. The wall corners matched up well with only a little filing needed. This was another problem that I read about that was not really all that serious.



To fill the seams at the corners, I first placed some blue painters tape as close as possible on both sides of the seam and then spread some drywall joint compound in the open seam.



After a few minutes, I removed the painters tape and then let the drywall joint compound dry overnight. I saw this method in one of the RDA kit build threads and a post by Postal Karl. It seemed to be a simple technique and it solved another one of the problems with RDA kits.



The next day I lightly sanded the joint compound and then painted the seam with my wall colors. This is the front and right side. After painting the seam, I used some weathering chalks to blend in the newly painted areas with the rest of the wall. The seams have not entirely disappeared, but I think this is my error not the method. I may attach some styrene dowel material to represent downspouts later to hide the seam entirely.



This is the rear and left side. You can also see the additional roof bracing I installed to give me more glueing surface for the new cardboard roof cards that I am going to install. The bracing also adds to the overall stability of the structure.



Here is a view looking down onto the roof bracing. So far I am very pleased with how the kit is going together. That's it for now, more later

[PRR Modeler]

Looks awesome Jeff.

[deemery]

I agree about replacement windows.  Laser-cut windows should be easy to provide for these kits, possibly as an after-market option.


dave

[ReadingBob]

Looks great Jeff.  Nice job coloring the stonework.   

[nycjeff]

Looks awesome Jeff.

Hey Curt, thank you. This is a different style kit and I'm having fun with it.

I agree about replacement windows.  Laser-cut windows should be easy to provide for these kits, possibly as an after-market option.


dave

Hello Dave, There is a build thread on RDA kits from the  Railroad Line Forum by  jaynjay that talks about which Tichy windows to use to replace the ones that come with the kit. Thanks for looking in

Looks great Jeff.  Nice job coloring the stonework.   

Hi Bob, thanks. I looked at several videos and build threads and sort of combined techniques that I saw. I'm pleased with how the walls came out.

Continuing on...



I painted the roof panels that came with the kit with rattle can camo/ brown with the intention of weathering them, but decided not to use them at all. Instead, I cut out cardboard and glued on some KC's Workshop paper shingles. I think this will look much better.



I painted the undersides of my new roof cards with brown paint where they will be visible and also glued on some 3/16 square stripwood bracing for strength.



I only apply enough glue for one row of shingles at a time.



Here are my four roof cards all shingled with some brown, rusty red and dark grey weathering chalks applied. I think these roofs will look much better than the plastic panels that came with the kit. I know that my shingle rows are not perfectly straight, but what are you gonna do ?



The roof panels have been glued on and I also glued some  4x6 stripwood painted with the dark chocolate trim color to the sides. This is as far as I am going with the stone building for now, it needs some more trim detailing, some roof castings , a loading dock and stairs, but that will all come when the rest of the complex is put together. Following are some more pictures



You can see the clerestory window wall here. First I glued on these walls and then when it came time to glue on the lower roofs, a gap was left between the wall and the lower roof top, so I painted some 1/16 styrene rod black and it filled the gap nicely. Hopefully it looks like flashing. That's it for now, more in a minute.

[nycjeff]

A couple more pictures of the stone building...





That's it for now, more later. Next it's on with the brick building and finally the elevated walkway. You sure get a lot for your buck with this kit and I'm not even including the warehouse building. I don't think I will use that structure on this build, I don't have enough real estate on the layout where I want to place this complex for that.