The Frateschi Water Tower kit is a great kit for new and experienced model builders. All Frateschi kits are available from Dream Trains. These kits need some work done for parts to fit perfectly and will need some paint for further improvements.
What You Will Need:
- Sharp hobby knife. We use Excel hobby knifes and #11 blades.
- Sprue cutter (optional).
- Cutting mat.
- Needle files and sanding blocks/sticks.
- Ruler and small square.
- Plastic cement of your choice. We use Tamiya Extra Thin cement.
- Mini clamps and/or tweezers.
- A filler to fill in gaps and holes. We use Tamiya putty.
- A plastic primer of your choice. We use Tamiya Grey primer.
- Masking tape of your choice. We use Tamiya masking tape.

Starting the Building proses.
Open the Frateschi kit and spread the content out on the table. Included in the package will be:
- 1 x “Concrete” tower base
- 4 x Pillar sections
- 1 x Tank support platform
- 1 x Water tank
- 1 x Water tank roof
- 1 x Ladder
- 1 x Brazilian Instruction sheet

Preparation.
Preparing the model before starting the build is very important. The model still has some releasing agent stuck to the plastic (used in the manufacturing process). This needs to be washed with warm soapy water and a soft brush (old toothbrush). Remember to dry the parts with a paper towel after rinsing it with clean water.
The pieces also have a lot of sprue that needs to be removed before the building process starts. They need to be filed/sanded away or the parts will not fit properly. Be careful to not sand away too much of the plastic parts.
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Cutting the building pieces from the sprue. -
All parts are washed, cut and dried. -
Sanding is needed for excess sprue. -
Holes also need sanding. -
All Parts are sanded and test fit before glue is applied. -
Assemble Water Tower:
After the parts have been sanded and test fit, use a small amount of plastic glue to fix the parts together.
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Glue parts together. -
Make sure all parts are glued perpendicular. -
Assembling the top of the tower is easy. Once again the minimal amount of glue is used when assembling these parts.
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Glue the pillar sections to the tank base. -
Glue the tank base to the tank. -
Glue can be applied from the inside of the tank. -
Apply the tank roof.
The ladder section was the only struggle because it was molded way to long and had to be cut shorter and a piece of the concrete base had to be filled away so that the ladder could fit 90 degrees with the tower.
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Ladder is way to long. -
Ladder needs to fit under the tank roof. -
Always use a pencil for markings. -
Carefully making a cavity for the ladder to fit. -
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Ladder fits but needs more work. -
Cutting away the bottom cross section to fit even better. -
Ladder fits 90 degrees with the Tower
Final Product and Thoughts:

The Frateschi Water tower kit is one of the easier kits on the market and very well priced. The kit will need some work and altering for all the pieces to fit perfectly. Remember that most of the items and tools are available at Dream Trains.
Improvements
Improving the Frateschi Water Tower kit can be accomplished without a lot of work. Use simple paint colours and figures to improve the kit to fit better with realistic scenery and buildings in it’s surroundings. When painting the kit, first apply a plastic primer.