I have been scratchbuilding in N scale for 25+ years now , really enjoy it. I have started a 2nd layout , this time in HO… well today at the LHS i was looking around for HO doors and windows etc, could not find them. the owner shower me a small selection , said thats whats left , that people just don’t come in looking for scratchbuilding stuff any more. Hope its just local , while i know todays world is i want it now and gotta have high tech, seems a big part of our hobby is getting lost.
Well, maybe he just does not stock that much, or his customers do not ask for scratch-building materials. There is lots of HO scratch-building parts available - just look at the Walthers catalog. Scratch-building/kit-bashing has dropped off in the past 10 years with all of the neat RTR or assembled models available. But, there are still lots of parts(even more than 10 years ago). I have been scratch-building some HO depots using Evergreen siding/Grandt Line windows/doors.
I have to drive over 75 miles to reach a LHS that has a complete selection of the above stuff, but it is available.
Jim
I wouldn’t worry too much. One LHS I go to has tons of scratch building stuff. The others have very little. you always have on-line if needed.
The interwebz will almost always have it.
I’m kind of in the same boat, none of the shops in the area have detail parts. I did pick some up at a show not too long ago.
If I needed scratchbuild supplies I would order direct from Walthers.
All to sadly a lot of shops no longer carry slow moving stock but,will order it for you.
It’s not lost. I order through my LHS in the Walthers catalog. I scratchbuild when my layout requires it. Other times I buy kits. Some people prefer ready made. More power to them. There is room for everybody in this hobby.
I just recently scratchbuilt this structure.
I do the same with my LHS–there is always something one can get still—BTW—like the looks of that complex here----
I’m fortunate to have several hobby shops in Omaha plus Hobbytown. One hobby shop generally carries scratchbuilding and superdetail parts, another will gladly order for me and Hobbytown usually has a good assortment of Evergreen, Plastruct and K&S Engineering items.
Ricky
There’s no hobby shop for me. Living in Germany and building American layout forces to mail order.
So I have sometimes to wait month for the parts. Like last time for bridge ties.
Wolfgang
My LHS doesn’t stock doors and windows, either. Of course, he’ll order anything for me, and I regularly shop the Walthers catalog and order through the shop. There’s another shop nearby that has a good selection of Evergreen stuff, but again, no doors and windows. I’ve just gotten in the habit of stocking up when I find this stuff at train shows.
Now, of course, the problem is finding the doors and windows I’ve already bought. They’re somewhere in the workshop. Or maybe they’re under the layout?
My first reaction was “not as long as I am alive”. But I know where you are coming from. A year or so ago I related an incident where I went into a LHS looking for some model paint. When I couldn’t find the display, I approached the clerk. He led me to a small cardboard flat on a shelf, which was apparently their entire supply. He explained that they no longer stocked building supplies because, in their opinion, “everyone” was going RTR for rolling stock and lineside structures. And BTW they do have an excellent inventory of pre-finished scenery items.
Now I do almost all of my hobby shopping on the web.
I’ve been kitbashing and scratch building for at least 20 years, so I’ve accumulated enough doors, windows and details to last several lifetimes. It is sad that so many stores have turned away from these staple items (along with locomotive detail parts and other such things).
It’s just as more people demand everything to be road specific and ready to run, and are willing to pay big bucks for it, the shops don’t see much traffic in the little bits and pieces anymore.
Lee