Girder & Panel is a toy construction building set, appropriate for ages 6-13, with which you can build buildings (as well as bridges with the Bridge & Turnpike building set, and powerplant with the Hydrodynamic building set). The completed structure is made to resemble real-life sky-scrapers, fire stations, bank buildings, bridges, pumps, and so on. Originally introduced by Kenner Products in the 1950’s, there is an entire generation of engineers and architects that have many fond memories of playing with this set as children.
Girder & Panel differs from other construction building sets in that it lets children experiment with real engineering principles. Because the Girder & Panel buildings are actually 1/87 scale of real buildings, children investigate how to build strong buildings and bridges, and how to make water flow for the Hydrodynamic building sets.
The sets include plastic columns and beams which are interlocked together to create the basic outside frame (just like real buildings are built using iron beams and columns). Then, thin plastic panels are added to the outside of the frame, creating solid walls, windows and doors on the frame. The building is completed with roofs, decorative flags and signs! Because the parts are scaled to the common HO scale (1/87), many accessories such as cars, trucks, trees, and trains can be added to your model city.
There are three types of Girder and Panel Building Sets.
The parts included in each set are interchangeable among the three types.