Linka System

Houses and Buildings

Reviewed by William Greenwald

The Linka System set contains various molds for walls, windows, doors and many other shapes and textures for constructing houses and buildings. Each mold consists of numerous sections that interlock with each other so that any variety and shape building can be fabricated. Most of the molds are made of rubber and can be flexed and even wrapped around curved surfaces while the mixture is hardening. Other molds, for stone walls, cobblestones, slate and shingles, are supplied to make a variety of patio and roofing styles.

Additional items that are provided with the set include glue, sanding sticks, plastic window inserts and shutters, printed window acetates, three large bags of powder and an easy-to-read instruction booklet.

The instructions were easy to understand and well illustrated; construction and repair tips are included as well as a list of accessories available.

A word of caution to anyone using this system. Extreme care must be taken in removing the pieces from the molds, as the hardened mixture is quite brittle, with some of the window and door pieces being the most difficult, If you don't have much patience then I would think twice about using this system. (Ed. Note: A material available at most hardware store HYDROCAL - can be used instead and alleviates the brittleness problem.)

A mixture of the powder provided and water makes the pouring of molds and clean-up easy. The mixture is not too critical and I was able to get good consistency in a very short time. A few plastic cups and spoons are useful for mixing.

At first I poured all of the molds selected for my construction. After a try or two of removing the pieces, I found that pouring only a few pieces in each mold, especially windows and doors, works best to avoid the annoying breakage of pieces. Stretching the mold to remove the pieces is really helpful.

The advantages ofthe Linka System are that you can build realistic looking buildings, in any size and shape with this basic building-block approach. The resultant models are beautifully detailed and really add to the table top terrain. The sets (they come in various sizes and costs) are available from The Dwarven Stonecutter, P.O. Box 36091, Towson, MD 21204.

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