Well, I went to the LHS today and got some 22" radius curves and 2 athearn Blue Box kits. Wow! I never knew they were so easy to build! Otherwise I would’ve started buying them along time ago. Anyone else have any recommendations on other kit brands (it looks like Blue box is best for now)? I saw some from Stewart Hobbies, but they looked really difficult to build.
BTW I looked at the locomotives and they had a Lionel Veranda! Talk about early delivery![:D]
If you’re talking Rolling stock Kit’s I’d recommend some MDC/Roundhouse ones as well. easy to put together and run smooth too.
Jay
In addition to Athearn and Rounhouse, I highly reccomend Accurail. Their kits are high quality, easy to build, well detailed, and are well priced (list price is usually $11-12 ). They are also made in the USA!
Josh
Spokane, WA
[#ditto][#ditto][#ditto][#ditto][#ditto][#ditto]
Accurail kits are indeed very good. They aren’t difficult to assemble and I think are a bit more finely detailed than the Athearn blue box kits. Branchline’s Yardmaster series is also very good.
Tom Watkins
I’ve noticed both LHS’s in my area are down in Athearn numbers and I find Accurail just as good if not better and now cheaper than blue box kits.
After Athern, MDC, and Accurail, check out some of the Lifelike 2k or Walthers kits.
Go for the boxcar- hopper- covered hopper kits first. Take time to paint the weight & weather the cars. It’s easy to screw the KD’s in place.
Take your time and enjoy building the kits!
Don’t buy any high-end, fragile kits like the Red Caboose and Branchline Blueprint series until you master the simpler kits. If you buy A Proto 2K kit buy the timesaver ones, they are partially assembled. I tried to build high-end models first thing off, and I paid for it-I ruined a good Red Caboose reefer car. From MR reviews, the Stewart cars don’t look too hard…but stick with Accurail, Athearn, Yardmaster, and MDC until you know how complicated they are.
Happy modeling!
Christopher
Tom, You hit this one right on the head! I also like the Branchline Yardmaster series. They are easy to build, the paint job is very good with clean & clear lettering etc., and the kits provide a few spare parts[:D], in case you happen to break them removing them from the sprues[:(!].I have pretty good luck nipping the parts from the sprues with my Xuron Rail Shears, they’re not just for rails anymore[;)],but DON’T cut music wire or any hardened metals with them and they provide a clean and CLOSE cut, a plus for those fine details!!
Every suggestion offered on this string so far is right on-suggest you get several cars from each of the manufacturers mentioned (as a min, and as your budget permits) for variety-esp. box cars, since there was, and still is, a considerable variety of heights, door and end styles, sill details, and to some extent walkways, ladders, brake wheels and freight trucks Depending on what era you are modeling). A couple of other pointers for you as you build a fleet of freight cars-and you will! – pick an era (like 1940-1950, 1960-1970, or whatever. . . Suggest you confine your collection to that era as it would look silly to have a 36’ wood billboard reefer on arch bar trucks mixed in w/ Gunderson cars more than twice as long and 60 or more years newer. If you’re not sure at first look at the tiny markings on the sides of the kits referenced earlier in this string, and look specifically for a marking that reads ‘new month - year’ , for instance a car built in August 1945 would be indicated by: NEW 8-45. Sometimes, but rarer on prepainted kits, you will see RBT or RBLT month-year, indicating it was rebuilt at that later date, such as war-time emergency cars built with braced wooden sides (hoppers, box cars, gondolas, and even cabooses). By avoiding any cars with reporting marks w/ dates newer than the era you have chosen to model, you will quickly build a more realistic roster and you’ll avoid replacing inappropriate cars later on. Familiarize yourself with what freight trucks were in use at what time (as some of them like arch bar trucks were outlawed for safety considerations back in the '30’s) MR had an excellent article re: this a few months back. Other tidbits to spur the wheels to turn are to consider why your railroad exists-where does it go, what does it haul, what railroads would connect or interchange with it and why, etc. This will help you in selecting cars that fit in on your railroad. Do your homework and you’ll get lots more out of this wonderful hobby. And avoid that nasty
hey - 4884bigboy Didn’t notice 'til now that the person who opened this string was you , w/ 1045 posts to date, implying that you probably already knew everything I suggested and may have your own system or ideas about what I posted. Anyway, hope it is of help to others out there.
A couple of more tips I’ll pass along. If the kits you buy don’t already have operating knuckle couplers, I’d recommend that you convert them when you first build that kit and as a further suggestion, I’d select one brand and stay with that brand-I recommend Kadees as do most modelers who have been doing this for a while. Purchase an inexpensive coupler height gauge-I use a freight car that I know is at correct height instead. Also, the NMRA recommends certain weights for rolling stock and most kits, as offered, are usually a little light. Search this Forum for recent discussions on both Kadees and the weight issue. Lastly, NMRA offers a wheel spacing gauge - every truck should be checked before being put in service. Check wheels, esp plastic type for burrs, flat spots, out of roundness, etc… All this adds up to smoother running, less derailments, eliminates unwanted uncoupling, etc.
Yes, the kits came with EZ-mates, so I bought some KD #5s and put those on there. But, the KDs seem to be really loose, did I do something wrong? The kits are an SP 40’ boxcar and a UP 40’ grain boxcar. I’ll stick with 40’ and 50’ cars seeing as those were most common in the 40s and 50s.
Did you put the tension spring in with the coupler?
Jay
NTDN, yes, after I re-read the directions. Now they couple great!
Walthers also make some decent kits - not sure which are still available though. I’ve built 2 of their 5-unit spine cars and one of their Scale Test Cars - all were nicely moulded and easy to build. Just be careful when assembling the trailer hitches on the spine cars to make sure the trailers sit level.
Accurail cars are very nice in fact most of my grain hoppers are accurail
Bigboy, If you like the Athearn Blue box, better obtain as many as you can between now and Aug. cause I don’t think they will be the same after that. I know that Athearn has been bought out by a company that might just not care about doing the right thing in keeping the prices the same. If you can get any blue boxes for the $4-6 price, snap them up, cause it will possibly cost more in the very near future
Athean is Cheap. That’s why I like Athean
DOGGY
Doggy, Same here. Just hope the availability is still there in the near future.