Anyone tried these? How detailed are they? Are they still in business. What might they be worth? What I am looking for are the logging camp kits.
I have a bunch. But I am only on my first one, a silver mine. It is basically a bunch of wood and a plan. I followed the plan closely on the first structure in the mine and did not like way it turned out–it looks rustic, but not the way I intended. The problem was the “corregated” that came with it. The wood was fine. I will alter the subsequent structure by using more card stock reinforcement. It is a lot of work, but as you have noted, they make mining and logging stuff no one else make.
Oddly, I did not buy any of their logging stuff as they make smaller mills and I am modeling a large one. But if I run across any of their loggin camp structures I’ll suck them up. Ultimately, I figure, they are training me to scratchbuild.
A company called B.T.S. has an ad in theNovember issue of RMC that shows logging kits.They have 7 versions of camp cars. Their website is www.btsr.com
Muir kits are not produced any more. Not the greatest quality, and the instructions are a bit sparse… Have a partial sawmill kit, but have not seen logging camp kits in this neck of the woods, so to speak [;)]
Andrew
Andrew,
Just curious how you rate quality here. The kit is basically wood pieces. How does one kit excell or not excell with just pieces of wood.
Joseph2. Thanks for the suggestion. The web site was incorect , it is btsrr.com and the buildings look wonderful. They are a bit pricey. I will wait until I have the time and the money to do the whole camp. Thanks again
Chip,
The Muir kits are hard to find around here (Eastern Ontario) but I have seen enough at swap meets to get a feel for them. The “partial” sawmill kit I refer to above was part of a lot that I got somewhere. There was enough of it, and instructions for me to review it as “nothing special”. If you had some good elevation and floor plans, you could probably build something from scratch with stripwood. That’s essentially what the Muir Kits seem to be.
Unless you are a real “board-by-board” kind of builder, new laser kits and/or scribed-siding scratch-building are probably better options.
Andrew
Okay, I can see that what you are really getting is the plans and wood. What Muir has done, if you believe their literature, is find actual historic buildings and give us modelers plans–albiet not very detailed–but enough to get the job done. Contrast this to Campbell kits that seem to be inventions of hypothetical buildings.
I agree thet there has to be easier ways. I’m already starting to cheat on my plans. I may decide to rebuild the plan I am currently building with styrene components.
A number of the old Muir Kits have been redone and are being produced by Campbell.
Rick
I’ve not heard this nor have I seen a cross-over. Do you have an example?