I suppose that since I started modeling by building cars, ships & planes, I’ve always been partial to models. And in model railroading, this is kind of important since you can’t always find what you want for your layout. So the natural extension is kitbashing and scratchbuilding. Believe me, no kit is safe when i have my razor saw in hand!
I’d like to see the efforts of others along these lines so if you have a favorite or recent project, how about sharing with the rest of us? I’ll go first to break the ice…
An old side door caboose from Model Die Casting was the basis of this snow plow. No, it’s not exactly like the one that the Nickel Plate had but it does give the “look & feel” so it works for me. I don’t let super small details get in the way of my modeling fun.
The finished product works for me but since I’ve completed this project, there’s been no snow in the area to clear from the busy NKP mainline!
Man after my own heart. As a boy many an allowance and lawn mowing earnings were spent at the local variety store buying models. Same is true today, except my allowance is bigger, but no pay for mowing the lawn. And although the variety store is long gone, my passion for model building remains strong.
Btw, nice work on the plow. Thanks and regards, Peter
Most of my own kitbashing involves structures not rolling stock/locomotives. And there are (at least) two schools of structure kitbashing, one exemplified by Art Curren and his Kalmbach books (and older RMC articles), the other by Tony Koester and his Kalmbach book. Both focus on styrene kits.
Curren’s goal was to use familiar and inexpensive AHM, Tyco, Revell, Bachmann and LifeLike kits and build them into utterly unrecognizable yet highly impressive buildings, utilizing the fact that really large factories and other such structures are as a rule a combination of repetitive patterns. His raw materials, and he had favorites such as the LifeLike Mt. Vernon Manufacturing, or the Revell enginehouse/bakery/publishing factory, would be piled up and the results looked just right (he experimented by putting actual kit parts on a Xerox machine and then play around with the paper parts) He was not particularly concerned with modeling any one prototype structure, but the results looked highly realistic and prototypically plausible.
Tony Koester’s book by contrast generally has a prototype he wants to model, or at least closely approach if only as a stand-in until he can scratchbuild or acquire an exact model. But he too follows the Curren idea that really large buildings are a series of repetitive patterns and that kitbashing using small structure kits can get you there, or very close to there.
I can say, because I’ve tried it, that kitbashing using laser-cut wood kits is a bigger challenge because the material does not act like styrene and once you cut into a laser-cut wood kit’s parts you’ve likely already jeopardized or even lost one of its nice features that being the way the parts fit together, tab in slot.
A number of my friends really prefer resin rolling stock kits. While they make modifications to improve accuracy (or change eras) I have not talked to any who have attempted actual kitbashing in the Art Curren (or Rober
That’s a very nice plow! Everyone else’s work is great too.
I absolutely love scratchbuilding and kitbashing. Here are a few of my projects, some of which you may have seen before:
My most complex scratchbuild to date is my rotary snow plow. The prototype was built in Goderich, Ontario in 1900. The design had some shortcomings so there was only one ever built. The plow blades rotate (I even made the gear box), and it has sound and lighting:
I am building a whole snow train to go with it. The cars are kitbashed but, in most cases, the only original parts are the floors and trucks. Here is the cook’s car and the interior:
Scratchbuilt brass ladders. Boy was that fun![swg]
Spare water car:
Here is my first scratchbuild. It’s almost all brass. The only parts I didn’t make are the wheels and drive system, and the fake engine:
This is the engine house for the critter above. It’s mostly made from wood slabs that I cut out of a piece of pine:
This is a partially complete scratchbuilt engine house/machine shop. It was made for my first layout plan but it won’t fit on the new plan. Oh well, it was a good learning experience:
Here’s another one that I built from a picture that appeared in one of Tony Koester’s books on structures. You will likely recognize the Atlas tower with a second story from another identical kit. Don’t throw away the extra, left-over parts as they make a neat little structure as well.
I was surprised to find that I really enjoy scratch building / kit bashing; so much so that I wonder if I’m ever going to build a layout to put my efforts on!![sigh] [(-D][(-D]
Now THIS one goes way, way back! Some of you old timers (myself included) may remember a book published by MR that was something like EASY TO BUILD MODEL RAILROAD STRUCTURES. I think it was from the late 50s or early 60s but the items there were anything but easy to build. Most of them relied on hand cut pieces; windows, doors, etc. But with a few substitutions of more modern things like Evergreen Styrene clapboard siding and Tichy windows, I was able to come up with this crossing shanty. In my mind, it is one of the best jobs of weathering that I’ve done over the years.
Unfortunately your pictures won’t show on the forums because of the format you are using. You will have to use a photo hosting service like Imgur. Post your photos there and then you can link them to your MR post. There is a detailed explanation at the top of the General Discussion forum.
Thanks to others for sharing but I’m sure that there are a lot more kitbashers/scratchbuildiers ont there to share their efforts. C’mon, let’s see 'em!
This one is from a more recent MR article. I’ve always liked the idea of a combination station & tower and this one fit the bil. It uses a ConCor station kit and an Atlas for the tower portion.
I am building a whole snow train to go with it. The cars are kitbashed but, in most cases, the only original parts are the floors and trucks. Here is the cook’s car and the interior:
