Has anyone tried to fix up ‘cheap’ structures and vehicles and make them look less toy-like? Years ago I painted and detailed a Life-Like Hampden fire hall and two IHC ‘Mini Movers’ Mack CF series fire engines. Everything looked toy-like right out of the box, but with some paint and a few extra little details these models can be made to look like the more expensive stuff. Click on the link below to see a picture of the fire hall.
yeh, can be fun or annoying, especially when they look worse afterwards[:P][:P][:P]
New paint often makes them look better too.[(-D]
I think this is a great way to go. I don’t want to afford all craftsman style structures on my layout. The gas station here was a cheap Pola kit. The details with the kit were very heavy and not very realistic. I replaced them with details from JL Innovative and then plastered the painted structure with period signs.
Great ;job on the Fire engines
at first glance they look like regular Athearns - which is a compliment
aloco,
Looks great. Once you “plant” the structure and add a few bits of extra detail, you will have a very “craftsman” looking firehouse at an affordable price and great satisfaction in knowing that you did it. Again, excellent work.
Doug
Great fire engines! Are those the one peice molded things that come with the kit? I’ve been thinking about buying that kit.If thats how it can be made to look, I’m sold!
Paint and weathering can hide a multitude of sins. One trick I like is to replace any molded “wood” things (coal boxes,sanding station retaining walls,ect.) with scratch built wood ones. It’s a good starting point for getting into scratch building and it’s fairly cheap.
loathar
The fire engines were all yellow when I got them, including the cast-on beacons on the roof. I filed off the cast-on beacons and made new emergency lights for both trucks. The original horns were too big, so I replaced those with horns off a pair of Con-Cor GP38s. I used clear acetate for window glass, and the windshield wipers are brass castings for detailing diesel locomotives. I also drilled out the mechanical siren castings on the grilles and replaced them with non-working oscillating Mars-type lights. Everything else I touched up with a brush and Testor’s paint.
The fire hall was painted with Testor’s flat military brown for the bricks, flat desert tan for the stone trim, and flat grey for the steps. I made the chimney out of rectangular tubing, and I used the blank portion of photograph negatives for window glass. The driveway is made out of cardboard from an old three ring binder.
Aloco,
Yep, it sure can be done.
I wa***he structure or vehicle with soap and water to take off any oils.
Then, if the paint on it is thin and smooth, I just sand it with a Scotch Pad or 600 grit wet/or dry paper. Mask off windows, and whip out the old airbrush!
If one doesn’t have an airbrush, the easy thing to do with items that already have a decent color but are just too shiny is to hit them “Dullcote” in the spray can.
The HO Bachmann “Plasticville” buildings are cheap, and usually considered “cheesy” structures, yet they actually have potential and can be easily dressed up with paint, weathering and scenery details. Smart modelers will snag these “used” at swap meets and flea markets where they sometimes go for as little as $5.
Roger that.[:D][8D]
Nice job. I have had a bunch of old toy plastic trucks (close to HO scale) for about 15 years. I’ve held them for painting and detailing. Someday I hope to do just that! I hope it turns out as well as yours.
Walter
DITTO!!!
I have sworn of craftsman kits because I have found the simply aren’t worth the premium price and take way too much time to assemble. You can get results just as good for much less time and money by using inexpensive plastic kits as a base and painting, weathering, kitbashign and detailing them to your liking. The fine detailed parts that separate the craftsman kits from the less expensive ones can be purchased separately. There are a number of manufacturers that sell these parts. This also allows you to be more creative and produce truly unique structures.
Back in the late 70s-early 80s I felt a bit intimidated with some of the attractive craftsman building kits that were hitting the market. MRR almost always did a feature on some of them. A few of these kits had over 300 pieces to them. The funny part is that sometimes the MRR article made the particular kit even more intimidating, especially when the author ran into problems…
I’m not putting them down as they’re very attractive, but many modelers today don’t want to spend “months” putting a structure together.
I was smiling ear to ear when Walthers introduced the DPM and Cornerstone Series kits. Thankfully, with their low prices, this allowed the opportunity for struggling newbies or seasoned modelers with tight schedules to build up towns and industrial sites so much faster. Plus, you could still use those Tyco, Bachmann or IHC structures that, with some TLC, would blend right into the scene.
A friend of mine had an HO scale ]“Kentucky Fried Chicken” building that had great potential. Some of the toy buildings from Tyco also make for some fun, challenging projects to make them look believable.
Win-win.[:D][swg]