I am 37 years old, and from St. Louis MO. I am new to this hobby and I am in the process of designing and building my first layout. I have always wanted to build a real layout ever since I was a kid and got my first TYCO train set for X-mas. Last year I bought an Atlas True Track layout, the Northside Valley Line, and played around with that for a while but I did not weather cars, do scenery or structures. That layout wasn’t big enough for me so I am now attempting to do it “for real” and so far I am enjoying the process of maximizing my space, and trying to get everything I want into the space I have. I have a 10 x 22 foot space to play with and look forward to getting track down and running trains.
I am snowed in at home today so I am putting together the C. Smith Packing House structure from DPM models. I have put together one structure already, it was the Mt. Vernon Manufacturing Company from Life Like Precision Engineered. The DPM model has a lot of what I think they call flashing that all the windows and walls have hanging off of them. Then you have to file and sand that stuff down. I really do not like doing that part, I would like to just paint,weather and glue everything together. Is their a company that makes structures where all of the pieces are just in the box, and all you do is detail and put together? The Lifelike model was like that and I really enjoyed putting that one together.
There are several brands out there that has models already assembled, Atlas, Walthers, Woodland Scenic are some of the easier ones to get at your local hobby store but you also pay extra for it. But kits can vary a lot as well. I have put together a house kit from Atlas and it required very little trimming and it has been a mixed bag with Walther kits.
Unfortunately, it’s pretty common for a plastic model kit to have some “flash” that needs to be cleaned up. Even if there isn’t flash, you often have to sand or trim the spot where you remove a part from the casting sprue.
Other than Life Like, Atlas comes to mind. I haven’t bought one of their structure kits in more years than I care to say, but they should be pretty simple. I think Wm. K. Walthers Co. sells some kits that are fully colored and designed to snap together without any glue at all. Log on to their site and check 'em out.
As many have, you may become bored by what the hobby refers to as “shake the box” kits (you shake the box and the parts assemble themselves). There are a myriad of kits available from slightly more advanced than where you’re at now to the so called “craftsman” kits. They’re not called that because only Bob Villa can build one. In those you basically get materials and what amounts to a small book on how to build whatever it is the kit is for. You supply everything else, including considerable expertise. You’ll gather that expertise building the simple stuff.
Your approach is smart in a way because by having easy to build kits you can populate your layout quickly and always go back to detail or weather as time and interest permits.
I agree that eBay is a good option. I picked up 3 used - and nicely painted and weathered structures for less than I would pay for a new kit. I know some people enjoy the building part, but others not so much, or they are not as good as they would like to be.
I also picked up two built-up houses new from my hobby store. More expensive - but I could NEVER have made them to look that nice.
Since you are in STL, have you popped accross the river to K-10 model trains in Maryville Illinois? Well worth the trip! http://www.k-10smodeltrains.com/ make note of opening times as they are not very standard.
I like E-Bay myself for certain things. Awhile back I built a 4’x8’ layout for my nephews & I found everything on e-bay. I would usually buy larger lots of stuff & use what I wanted and the rest would go right back up for sale. Often times I would get almost as much & sometimes more for what I was selling than what I paid for it.
Although to be honest, unless it’s a really small delicate part, I like to use by good ole’ Xuron rail nippers. These things are worth it! It will really cut down on your cut time. (Pun intended)
Yes. Just about any company except DPM. Actually, every manufacturer kits has “flash” issue from time to time depending on the kit. You’ll also discover warped walls occasionally also from just about every manufacturer. Its great that you like to paint them, since I don’t like the tedium of trying to paint the molded in windows on the DPM 100 series products. Many kits have separately molded windows and parts that are differently colored from the walls. DPM’s 200 series kits and their modular walls are like this. Don’t recall offhand if your kit is a 200 or 100 series.
DPM kits are more in-town or business district kits whereas other manufacturers have more kits that represent railroad served industries, like your Life-Like kit… The DPM kits are fairly unique that way, are quite popular, and are excellent kits for the money. But yes, you probably will have to fiddle with them more.
A company called Smalltown, a division of Rix and Pikestuff, make building kits that are “towny” like DPM. I never built one so I can’t speak to their quality, but I think they are quite popular also. They have a website under the Rix name I believe.
Beware of ebay purchases of building kits that have been assembled by someone else. Glue spots and poor paint jobs can really detract from the crisp tooling. Taking you time with a kit will reap benefits for the next 30 years. Plastic lasts forever you know.
I actually did it backwards in that a couple of years ago I did my first structure project with a scratchbuild of a grain elevator/feed mill. It was a version of Maxon Mills from the Kalmback book titled “Lineside Industries You Can Build”. I didn’t build the entire structure, as it goes against my backdrop on my layout. What I built was complicated enough, with intricate roof lines and wall structures. It wasn’t a great piece of work but it certainly was a learning experience. It took me about a year to build, working on it on-and-off. I surely don’t regret starting out with a scratchbuild as it prepared me for any kit that is out there. The tough part about scratchbuilding is that just about every part has to be made, which, when you’ve gotten through measuring, cutting and fitting each and every part, kit building is relatively easy. By that time, just removing flashing from parts becomes a minor inconvenience. The only advice I can give on scratchbuilding is to not do it like I did - - start small! I did sometimes feel overwhelmed by such a large project that I wasn’t quite sure where it was going at times.
Welcome to Model Railroading and, above all, have fun, it’s a great hobby!
Welcome back to the hobby. I’d suggest you pick up some of the Blair Lines laser cut wooden kits. They’re relatively simple to assemble, and they have separate window moldings, that are more scale to size. There are a couple of things to remember when assembling a laser cut wooden kit:
ALWAYS use a new blade in your hobby knife.
If you’re planning on painting them with acrylics (water based), use a solvent based primer to seal the wood. This will prevent warpage.
I’ve put together a lot of kits from a lot of manufacturers, including Atlas, Model Power, IHC, Walthers, Blair Line, DPM, Kibri, Heljan, and probably more that I’ve forgotten. I’ll tell you one thing: every manufacturer has the odd kit that just doesn’t come out right. Quality control just ain’t there.
A couple of the suggestions are good ones. A good pair of sprue nippers, a sharp hobby knife, and an 8" mill file go a long way towards minimizing the amount of “retooling” you have to do on a kit, and making short work of it when you do.
Kind of like me and ballasting, which I don’t like to do but tolerate it because of the improvement it makes in the appearance of the track, cleaning up model kits is something you’ll just have to suck up and get through.
I second the suggestion about trying a Blair Line kit. The lazer cut stuff is pretty accurate and you can paint individual pieces before assembly which makes for a much better appearance. Also, give Bar Mills Scale Model Works a try. These are the only 2 lazer kit manufacturers that I have tried - there are lots of others. Just remember to thoroughly prime the wood with cheap auto primer before painting with acrylic paint so the parts don’t warp from moisture absorption.
I have also built a few Walthers kits and the amount of flash is negligable.
There is another method that has almost no flash whatsoever and that is scratch building. Give it a try. The results can be very satisfying.
Thank you to everyone for the suggestions. Maybe I am just overwhelmed right now with the first layout, and all that goes into the whole process. I have not tried a wooden structure yet , but I will add it to my to do list.