I’m ready to take the leap from plastic kits to something with a little more character … anyone have a suggestion or two? I’m thinking a small trackside industry or business, or a home.
I would look at the level of detail. Cattle pens are pretty easy. Small stores are as well. The bigger industries and fancy commercial buildings are harder.
Tools are a big help. The Chopper II is invaluable for wood kits. Other handy tools are pin vises, alligator clips for holding painted parts, clamps for holding glued objects. Inverted clothes pins are great as clamps.
Instructions are printed small and brief to save paper, so it helps a lot to have magnifying glasses to read them.
A ruler that shows 1/16 is crucial. One that shows 1/32 is even better. A fine lead pencil (.5 mm) is a big help as well.
there are some good craftsman kits out there, but you have to be patient and take your time when building one. My first craftsman kit was from Campbell. They are a big step up from plastic kits. You will need a number of new tools to help you complete the structure. Again, DON’T BE IN A HURRY!! Later, there are some fantastic kits like Fine Scale Miniatures. You will learn a lot be building these beauties. They will need to be at the front of your layout to be shown off. The instructions are very detailed. The structure will take several months to build, but the time and money will be worth it.
Here are two suggestions from American Model Builders:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/152-169
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/152-174
Although they are small they are thoroughly enjoyable to build. The parts fit well and there is enough there to be interesting.
Lance Mindheim
Visit Miami’s Downtown Spur at www.lancemindheim.com
Hey, thanks Hoosier! Great suggestions.
Assuming we are speaking of wood (or the heavy mat board of some older craftsman structure kits) i have no suggestion for the kit itself but to the above words of wisdom I would add (and every article says this, and every modeler knows this, but we keep ignoring it anyway, don’t we?) a nice supply of fresh, sharp knife blades, and be ruthless about replacing them regularly.
Dave Nelson
The American Model Builders kits utilize the newer technologies of laser-cut wood and will form nice models. The wood kits from Cambell are still recommended but involve a bit more individual cutting and sanding. Progressing from one through the other will help learn techniques for eventually scratchbuilding.
Enjoy.
Bill
Jimmy at railroadkits.com has a starter kit for $8.95, great kit and I have personally built it and no problems, he also has a web site where you can get any help you need when you want to tackle something more advanced.
I just bought that kit - should be a great starting point!
These kits are good and run from beginer to advanced skill levels.
They have mostly Canadian structures but are starting to do some US buildings.
Dan