Why More People Don't Build Kits.

Nice model. Do you know the prototype? My childhood neighbor had one that looked the same but it was in HO from Lifelike I think.

Silver Lake, I don't know. The only thing missing in the box were the instructions. That made this model kit a little more challenging. It was kind of fun figuring all that out. I needed it for my mountain line. I wanted it to house an electric helper engine. Don

I can give you one reason - limited room on the layout. I am working on a small (13x13) around the wall layout with lots of track and accessories, and there just isn't going to be much space for buildings.  I'm starting out with a few Plasticville items such as a station and a coaling tower, and over time I'll want to replace them with something better, so that will provide some opportunity to build kits or scratchbuild. I love to build kits and I'll probably get a f small trackside industry or two, a freight shed, some things like that - but I don't see any room for a town, an engine house, or a whole lot of other things I'd like to have if I had the space. 

 

I agree with you about the Walthers Corner Stone line. Their station and switch tower were attractive, high quality pieces and the hobby is poorer for their departure. 

I think the main reason for me is the lack of a permanent layout.  I've considered getting different kits, but just don't have a way to store them when I don't have a carpet central set up.

For me it is a lack of time and not having a good eye for color.

 

I have always enjoyed building kits and have about 20 that I plan to build one day when I have time, some of them I have had for over 20 years.  In the last five years, I have grown to accept the fact that if I want to see them on my layout, I would be better letting someone else build them for me.

 

Very nice job on your building!

 

Happy railroading,

 

Don

Hi

 I love to build all kind kits and scratch build a lot of buildings and bridges.

  That may be me. Not one of the older but not the unger middle of the pack. 

My coal mine I have been scratch building had cut all the lumber my self.

 the top had started tocouver it with ribbed steal.

  our store was all scratch built.I try to keep it up dating.with the biulding as time goes on.

 the beidge is my latist project.

 

great point IMO. Building a kit is a great way to individualize your railroad
especially if you do a little kit bashing on the way. as you say, don, downtown deco,
banta, and a number of others ( I would definitely include bar mills in that group) make some easy, small and inexpensive kits that will help you get the hang of it. and the satisfaction of choosing your details and coloring and weathering make the experience so worth the effort. for the hesitant, these good companies have great instructions for both assembly and painting/weathering. bar mills (wood structures) and downtown deco (hydrocal structures) are particularly good. if you follow along you can't really go wrong and these two manufacturers REALLY stand behind their products if something goes wrong or is missing. many of these kits are perfect for small layouts. after making a number if these, for me it was a small step to some scratch building based on the techniques i learned along the way. give it a try.

jerrman

Your right Jerrman, I have a number of Bar Mill buildings. Another one I forgot is Main Street Heritage Models. I have two of their buildings. Fun and easy to build. The corner building is one of my favorites..Don

another reason is lack of skills.

 

i am just not capable.  have tried.  i am better at taking something that is finished and modifying it.

I have about 40 plus building kits on my layout. A few are kit-bashed but the majority are complete kits. Putting them together, painting them and weathering them was a big part of this hobby that I enjoyed. My kits are from Lionel, Korber, AmeriTowne, Atlas, Twin Whistle and a few others. They are made up of many different materials. I believe I like wood the most although there is so much detail cast into the plastic ones. If I had more room on my layout I would be getting some more Korber kits for my industrial section. My town is done. I'd build them for you Don, but I don't know about transporting them back to you after they were built. But I would enjoy building them! Paul

I don't have a lot of spare time. kits take a lot of time. I hate doing scenery. So I am using tin plate buildings, green carpet and anything else that is quick and easy.

 

Benchwork, wiring, and trackwork is easy.

Very nice job Don!

 

 building kits is well worth it. Unfortunitely not everyone has the time or patience. The last 3 kits I built (1 scratch) took me 2 months each, putting 3-4 hours a week in. The end result although ,is a unique piece as well as alot of satisfaction.Makes a big difference on your layout when people dont immediately recognize the piece.No excuse for skill. I am one of the worst at neatness, but ive found that if i do just a little,  a few nights a week, youd be suprised how good it can turn out.

While my first 'hobby' was model railroading, O-27 starter set, my main hobby today is kit building as I enjoy building and work in, the plastic model hobby. I hate that kit availability has shrunken while prices increased in recent years. There are still good items out there but nothing like it was in the 1970's. I remember my now father-in-law building a number of Walthers O scale passenger car and freight car kits. I wish these along with a lot of other items made then were available today. Kit building is so much more enjoyable to me that I have invested in a laser cutter to make my own 'kits' today.   

Because, there's no App for it! 

 

Rusty

This is a kit passenger car I got on E-bay. It was an observation car but I made it into an open air summer car. Don

Great photos!

 

Now that I have a laser cutter, I've been making my own kits. Some kits that I have purchased are a little too complex to assemble. With my own design, they're easy to put together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cesar

I just really suck at it. Funny thing is I did stained glass work once which is just as detailed.  I slop the glue,run the paint, then joints seem to fall apart over time. I did a few Ameritown and I guess they came out just OK. Korber kits were a disaster,the parts were warped and had no tabs to hold them together.   Walmart stopped selling airplane glue and Testor model paints so really there is no place close to me to get supplies.  I also am a toy train guy so I do not like weathering and such,a real advantage when making your own stuff. I just buy assembled buildings.  I really admire the work some guys do though,not knocking it at all.

 

Dale H

Don, as a kid how many models did you put together w/o even looking at the instructions?  Quite a few I bet.

I made a ton of airplane and ship models. Lived at the dime store. I think I kept Revell going. Your right I only looked at the instructions if I got stuck. Don

Work is what gets in the way of building kits + family and other commitments.

 

Still get the odd thing built but; did an inventory of the various model kits I have lined up when time to build from buildings to vehicles. Unless life slows down will never make a dent in the pile. And need more room to display them or more room on the layout. Not buying anything else to build no time or room. I think that is the issue for many in the hobby. The highly detailed built up kits coming out are very well detailed and look great.

 

Atlas O is bringing back the Walthers Cornerstone kits. Those O scale kits are easier to assemble than their HO scale counterparts. There is less gluing and welding required for the O Scale/ O Gauge Cornerstone kits. It is mostly about applying the paint in a believable manner.

 

Andrew

just a p.s. to my earlier post. one of the reasons I mentioned bar mills kits is that they are wood, which IMO is particularly easy to work with and you don't have to make it look like something else like you have to do with styrene. as for materials all you need is some Aileen's Tacky Glue (water clean-up) available at Michaels, Wal-mart and many other places. a cutting tool with a number #11 blade, a steel edge ruler and you are good to go. try one the the "one nighters" and you'll be surprised at the results you get. For painting, spray prime both sides and then spray a final color or brush paint with acrylics. Couldn't be easier and more satisfying. one of the reasons i'm high on bar mills is that the kits are well designed and Art Fahie, who owns the company is one of the real good guys in the hobby. He loves what he does, is always there for his customers and loves to talk about the hobby. I once built a fairly elaborate kit of his when I noticed a whole wall section was missing. With virtually no questions asked, my email was answered with the missing wall section within two days! I've always remembered and appreciated that kind of customer service. One of Art's small kits might be a good place to start for someone looking to give kit building a try.

jerrman

I think most dont have the time or paition to want to build or even build one from scratch...plus money factors in too...I should try one of those kits.. I build wooden R/C race boats.. some are kits and rest by plans..I have fun building them at times.can be challenging but once there done and looking good its well worth it..you can be proud in what youd built.. can tell all your friend look at what I'd built..

I really like building kits. All types. For me. It' a great de-stressor and very relaxing. Load classic rock in the cd changer, grab a glass of wine and I'm good for hours. Right now I'm on a freight car roll. Box cars, hoppers, tank cars, oh my!!!

 

Mark

Scale rail your kit looks fantastic!  Particularly nice, subtle weathering.

 

I agree kits are great.  So is just scratch building a building - most buildings are a box: how hard is it to make a box?

 

I do a lot of buildings that are in somewhere in between kit and scratch - more than modifying kits or built ups, but less than starting out truly from scratch with Evergreen sheet styrene and /or wood strips.  

 

Such projects are about the most fun there is for me.  

 

In the first photo below, the brownish gray building on the left is a "bonus building" that I made from left over panels and part panels from kits and built ups I bashed or cut up and put together differently - along with using the odd sheet of Evergreen or JTT sheet plastic for side walls, roof, etc.  In the second photo, you will recognize both a few built up buildings and a kit, but the yellow one, Pie in the Sky (a rather fanciful interpretation of the restaurant in the British TV series of that name) has a front bashed from two Ameritown kits with a scratchbuild entry foyer, and scratchbuilt sides, back, roof.  Both have full, scratch interiors (including second floors) made form card stock.  

Judging from what I've seen at train shows and more than a few layouts, a lot of people really suck at building kits. Badly painted, garishly painted structures with glue blobs, fingerprints, and poorly assembled parts show up all the time at shows and even hobby shop discount bins. If my skills were that lacking, I'd buy ready built kits as well. 

 

It's also easier to buy something all ready for a layout. Immediate satisfaction without any effort is what many are all about these days.

 

mark I would love to see your box cars and hopper cars and tank cars.. I had a post up asking if anyone scratch build freight cars.. Because man some of the new freight cars are alittle bit to much for me..was winning some box cars on ebay at great deals.but some are on the heavy side thow..

I only have a couple of out of the box, ready-made buildings, most are or like the Ameritowne kits.

 

I have built a few from scratch, here's a model of a Seaboard Air Line Section Master's house I built from plans from an old Mainline Modeler magazine:

 

 

Problem is I have no where to put it on my layout, the thing is HUGE and takes up a lot of real estate.

 

Most kits IMO are compressed, at full size they too would overwhelm most layouts.

 

At the price most "craftsman" kits are going for, it has to be able to fit and have a purpose on may layout or I don't buy it.

 

I want to build a model of this TANKAR station, but if one of the makers came out with it I would definitely buy it instead:

 

 

Of course, the kit would have to have the sign:

 

I've done several larger kits.  I also did a lot of model airplanes as a kid.   Great for an older foggy head on occassions.

BTS Cabin Creek Coal Tipple  Click on the underlined phase to link construction pictures. Click on the thumbnail pictures to enlarge or select a slide show. There are several pages in this file.  Listed 1351 parts.   I recently purchased several Arrista figures for the tipple.  Project is on-going. As is completion of this diorama.

I have used all ready-made, prebuilt structures (a majority of them MTH) on my current layout. At first glance it may seem that it is because of a need for instant gratification but it goes a little deeper in my case. First off, I agree 100% that nicely finished kits, or even nicely finished scratch-built structures, are the way to go. I do possess the skills to do so as one of my other hobbies is building scale plastic air and armor models (in 1/48 and 1/35 scale, respectively).  In doing so I have perfected the utilization of airbrushing, the application of small, detailed parts, and good knack for weathering. As a result, I am not one to shy away from using kit structures. The main reason for my use of MTH, and a few Lionel, structures was one of time and of the choice of the location of my layout. I chose to build my layout in one of the larger rooms on the main floor of my house, and not a basement - primarily because, I do not have a basement. Because of this I did not want this room to be a continual construction zone of a partially completed layout that never seemed to have an end in sight. My initial urge was to build kits along the way as I built my layout but I also wanted to see my layout finished in no more than a year. I am a goal-oriented person so when I put that goal out there in front of me I worked hard toward it. I put in about 900 hours over the course of that year (of my limited free time) - without the added hours of building kits. One more reason that made me go this route is I think the current structures you can buy from MTH and Lionel are actually pretty nice and I liked the look of them. Yes, they could use a coat of dullcote and a little bit of weathering but now that my layout is finished I have an urge to go back and detail these structures...and maybe even dive into building kits to replace these MTH and Lionel structures and give my layout an even more unique look than it has now.  -Len

If you seek a high rail look, you just have to use unusual kits, do some kit bashing and scratchbuilding, otherwise it is obvious where the buildings come from. I recently enjoyed seeing Eliot Scher's masterpiece in the making, and he goes to great lengths to find unique structures, and the results speak for themselves.

I don't do it because I do not find it enjoyable. I built plenty of airplane and  ship models when I was younger that were gifts but never searched any out or bought them on my own. It is not a part of the hobby I enjoy so I don't do it. It is not a "shame" that I don't do it, no more than it is "great" that the OP loves to do it. It is just how we enjoy our time in this hobby. When not running my trains I would rather go over catalogs and source material from some of the earliest days in the hobby. That is what I like. I do not find it a "shame" that there are not more that like to do it as well. We all bring different things to this hobby and everyone enjoys it in their own way. If I see a nice built up structure for sale I buy it. If I see a nice kit I pass it by.

Well, those of us who built Hudson Miniatures and Highway Pioneers model cars,

airplanes, (stick and paper) and plastic, ships, and later HO loco and car kits, and

even, to our later chagrin, "kitbashed" our tinplate trains, learned to build models

in our pre-teens, and to enjoy it.  I was pleased to, this time, come home from York with a couple of O scale structure kits.

While perhaps some of my now many models won't find room on the layout, I stocked up on inexpensive metal shelving racks, and they are displayed.

I am glad to see many are doing kits and are kitbashing and scratch building, and

as shown above, doing it well.

Since I build old gas stations, the Tankcar prototype photo was familiar, but the model was not...looks like somebody has built one?

Time is a factor....but, if a kid can do it, you can do it. But, it is always different

strokes for different folks...

why do some of us not build kits well for me it is simple.  i suck at it.  last time i ened up glueing my forhead to the table.  and yes it hurt alot. 

Since I build old gas stations, the Tankcar prototype photo was familiar, but the model was not...looks like somebody has built one?

 

I built that HO model years ago.  Now I want to build one in O scale to take the place of blue station that's in this old fuzzy photo:

 

 

But so far I haven't found a tankcar that I'm willing to use.  I need to find a RailKing tank car that came out of a RTR set, something not expensive.

One thing I don't think has been mentioned so far is:

 

Scratchbuilding is often MORE expensive than buying ready-made.  First you have to find the parts (harder to do if you're building a model of a prototype), often from a variety of dealers (equals more cost due to S&H charges).  If you can't find a needed part, you either have to stop what you're doing or scratchbuild it yourself (building a window piece by piece is not fun).

 

Now if you've gone to all this trouble you most likely want an interior, so that's even more searching for the right stuff (=more cost).

 

Of course if you have time on your hands then it's not impossible, but it might be cost prohibitive.

Mike CT

I've only been doing model railroading now for 7 years now.  Scale Rail was the guy I met on this forum who inspired my "epiphany."  Since then I've built everything from a Plasticville police station to a hydrocal tavern.  In between there I "scratch remodeled" a K-Lineville pharmacy.  I also have limited space on a 10 x 12 layout, but I really enjoy making the buildings.  Besides train operation, it's half the fun!  Thanks, Don.  And...as always...all of your work is outstanding!  I'll never be as good, but it's a lot of fun trying.  By the way, Don, nice avatar pic.  Where was it taken and who was the photographer?  Matt