…doesn’t mean it’s a craftman kit.
I’m talking about the Authentic Railways Design “Craftsman Series,” B.R.& P Ashford Tower.
There are more sprues and injector marks than I’ve ever seen in a plastic model. The instructions are a picture of it. The pieces don’t fit the base. To top it off, two of the pieces shown in the picture are missing. Making missing pieces is not my idea of a craftman kit.
But my club bought a bunch of them and most of us took one home so I got to build it. [/rant mode]
Bummer Chip. I know what that’s like. I had two Heljan bridges with missing pieces.
I found the web site Railwaydesign.com. I’d tell them the problem and ask for a replacement kit.
Thanks, but it’s almost done. I’ve got 10 hours in it and I’m not starting over for anyone.
Ahhhh, the joy’s of a “craftsman” kit.
Kinda makes scratchbuilding look easy, doesn’t it?
The “Curse of the Instructions”: these either tripleing of the time to build with the reading and rereading them, or quadruple the time if they are not read until the “Eventual Obstacle” is encountered requiring disassembly of the kit back to the 14 step subassembly required to get around the obstacle.
The corolary to the “Curse” is the expansion of the box to include the 75 page “Manual” making the project too intimidating to start in the first place.
Either way a paddle is required to get down the creek.
Will
My biggest gripe is with plastic kits that try to put too include too much fine detail. Plastic is just not a good material for small parts. Last year I assembled Walthers concrete coaling tower and it almost put me in the nuthouse. I found it nearly impossible to assemble the system of pulleys and weights and ended up leaving much of it off. In addition, the weights simply did not weigh enough to allow the thread cables to hang straight down, resulting in an unrealistic appearance.
I had an equally frustrating expierience with a true craftsman kit, a South River roundhouse. It seems to me that if you are going to spend hundreds of dollars for a kit, the parts should fit precisely without having to file and/or shim them. In addition, the lumber was not cut to size. Each piece had to be hand cut and if it was not done precisely, all kinds of problems occured. My expierience has let me to swear off craftsman kits. They simply aren’t worth spending many times the time and money that one would spend for a similar plastic kit. Plastic kits that are well painted and weathered will look every bit as good with much less expenditure of time and money.
[#ditto], to the nth degree! Happily, I intended to use it as a “mine” from the outset, so it is as you describe. I’ve kept the uninstalled items just in case… I change my personality, er, mind.
No. It means it takes a ‘Craftsman’ to build one - creating missing parts, etc.
I like “craftsman” kits. Therefore I have only two buildings on my layout. A Campbell shed under construction and a plastic Revell lineside building I bought already built at a swap meet.
Ya wanna borrow my Craftsman chain saw, or will the hammer do the job?
Here are some pics of how it turned out.
Nice job![:D] It looks very good, even if it did have some problems.[:D]
I can’t see anything wrong with that! All it needs is to be dated with a bit of weathering, a patch in the stucco or six, Some off-colour roofing tiles, etc. Plant it and see if it grows on ya.
There’s plenty of dirt on the roof and walk ways, but the sides are pretty clean. Photo doesn’t pick that up though.
Now what’s wrong with that? It looks good. Even has some ivy crawling up it.
A tribute to your skill and understanding of basic building construction, that resulted in a good looking tower. Well done Mouse!
Will