Now I am the first one writing a model kit review here. I recently acquired Kibri #8917, an older kit which had been around in Kibri’s catalogues for decades. It’s an old town gate, and it is part of Kibri’s city wall series. A newer version hat the number #58475.

You can see a picture of the kit on the Amazon page, I still have to take my own pictures of my completed model: http://www.amazon.de/KIB...erk-Oberes/dp/B000M0YHSO

The town wall sections which can be seen on the box, are, however, not included in the kit #8917. They are offered as an own, seperate kit.

All parts were fitting well. The hipped roof is manufactured as a single piece, you only have to add a few detailing parts. Detailing of this model is very fine, however, some weathering could be useful.

I only wondered why the framework and the walls weren’t molded in a single piece, which has been a Kibri speciality for a long time.

What I especially like about the Kibri kits is the gravure of the masonry. In previous time, masonry mostly wasn’t so accurate like it is today, and in my opinion Kibri does the best job of all manufacturers when modelling such “inaccurate” old masonry.

After all, it took about one evening to assemble this kit.

Allthough most older Kibri kits are more in a 1:100 scale than 1:87, this model seems to be closer to 1:87 or at least somewhere between both scales. Most of the structures on my layout are 1:100, and this gate fits in quite well, so I think it’s more a “mixed scale”.

However, I have also seen Kibri offering this kit for TT with another ordering number.

Then, there’s something else of interest. Kibri kits often model real buildings, although Kibri does not always tell this. In this case, they called it the “City gate of Weil der Stadt”. This place really exists. In an older catalogue, however, Kibri called this article “City gate of Chatenois”, back then it had the number #8470. However, the model didn’t look French anyway - it looked more like a city gate from a town somewhere in Baden-Württemberg or Franconia. I just googled for “Chatenois” and found out that this place is located in Alsace and also known under the German name “Kestenholz”, or "Keschtaholz" in Alsatian. During its history, that region had changed hands many times between France and Germany, so you can find many cultural influences from both countries there today.

And I found a picture of this town gate in 1:1 scale: http://upload.wikimedia....4/Ch%C3%A2tenois_006.JPG

Natives call this gate “The Tower Of Witches”. Some more pictures of the town can be seen on this Wikipedia site, it seems to be a very picturesque place: http://commons.wikimedia...28Bas-Rhin%29?uselang=de

Regards,
Florian

Thanks Florian for you review. Nice little history lesson too. keep us updated with a set of pictures after you complete de model.

Finally, the completed model has been fitted into the layout.



Regards,
Florian

I have the tower too but the pelicans are missing from the nest