I just got the MDC Overton 34’ Passenger cars I ordered. I was sure I ordered ready to roll…
I guess I know how I’ll be spending my evenings. These go with my daughter’s 4-4-0. She will be running 20th century freight for a while I fear.
Probably the old time freight cars I ordered will be kits as well. [banghead][(-D][:-^]
That’s why they call it “model” railroading[;)] Dave
I think you’ll find assembling kits is lots of fun. Maybe your daughter could even help you put the cars together.
Those should go together fairly quickly. The second one much faster than the first.
If you don’t have one already, get a sprue nipper, worth its weight in gold. And NEVER clip anything other than plastic sprues with it, or you’ll turn it into a handy paperweight.
–Randy
Sprue nipper? Is that one of those things like when you send the new guy out to change the spark plugs in the desiel tractor?
We have both been building structures. I’ve had the turnouts on order for two weeks from my LHS. They don’t seem to know where they are.
Those Overtons are what are called “shake-the-box” kits–shake the box and they come out done. If it takes more than an hour each to build those Overtons, I’d be surprised. Assembling car kits is pretty easy, and, frankly, that’s why they were so cheap.
If you ordered the IHC old-time freight cars, yes, they will be kits, and they are ridiculously easy to build. (One tip: Throw the couplers that come with the kit in the trash can and use Kadee #5 couplers instead). If you have a hard time with them, give them to your daughter and she’ll build them for you.
sprue nipper: A model railroader’s tool that looks like a tweezer with sharpened points, intended to neatly nip parts off the plastic “sprues” that plastic kit parts come attached to. A careful hand with an X-Acto knife will produce similar results.
Then the LHS wonders why they are struggling…
cancel your order and buy online…
I put the Overton kits together years ago. They’re pretty easy and fun. Sprue nippers are well worth the money. You can use a knife, make sure that the knife is sharp (new blade) and you support the cut - I use an old oak wood drawer divider.
Enjoy
Paul.
Back when all us old Dinosaurs got into modeling and model railroading, little was available Ready To Run! We built “shake the box” kits while walking up hill to school both ways trudging through shoulder deep snow drifts! Way back then, it snowed, even in Southern Minnesota! Most of us could build “shake the box” kits with one hand tied behind our backs and the other busy picking our nose. We didn’t need no “STINKING SPRUE NIPPERS” niether. X-acto knives were only a “gleam” in our daddy’s eyes, so we had to use our daddy’s razer blades!
Of course, we were tougher back then! I remember one summer we were so bad off Daddy couldn’t afford to heat the swimming pool! You young’uns don’t know how easy you got it with all this Ready To Run stuff!
None of the responses have answered your question about sprue nippers. No they are not the equivalent of plaid paint, bucket of steam, or snipes. They are a legitimate tool. Nearly all plastic kits are made by injection molding. in order to get the plastic to all the parts of the mold a bigger cavity is made like a pipe to carry the liquid plastic. When the plastic cools and the die is spearated to remove the parts the piece they are attached to is this pipe or sprue. If you just twist the part off you run the risk of tearing some of the plastic out of the part. For year people used Exacto knives to chop the parts off but sprue cutters allow you to trim right next to the part with no damage. Another tool you will want to get are rail nippers… They allow you to trim rails to fit with one squeeze. One side makes a nice square cut and that is the side you use on the piece you want to keep. Neither one is a cheap tool for their size. You could spend upwards of $15-25 each but they are excllent investments because they help you maximize your time constraints. using a nipper to remove a plastic part will save you minutes of time.
If you want Ready To Roll rolling stock, look into Athearn RTR. They don’t make anything much older than 1920, but they are truely ready to roll. I find kits to be a lot of fun though. Try some Athearn Blue Boxes, they’re the most fun and the easiest.
ndbppr,
Thanks. I’ve been using an exacto knife for most of them–never heard of sperm nippers–but I have been making my daughter take them of with a diamond file. Takes a while, but they come out nice once painted. The LHS is mostly a slot car/military model shop. they should have a set of nippers. Bet they don’t have the rail nippers.
Xuron makes the rail cutters. I think they may also make specific cutters for sprues. However, I use my Xuron tool for cutting both rail and parts from sperms. That way you only need one tool, not two. Others are going to say; “Oh my GOD, do not use your rail nippers for anything but rail”! To this, I say; As long as rail is the hardest material you will cut with them, anything softer is NOT GOING TO HURT THEM!
Very true, you can always cut something SOFTER than the tool was designed for, with no damage. But why even bring in the temptation? Besides, sprue nippers are a lot smaller than the rail nippers - and while this might not matter for your basic Athearn kit or a structure, if you’ve tried to cut the grabs off the sprue from those Branchline kits or a Proto2000 tank car kit, you’ll appreciate the smaller tool.
–Randy
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The best sprue nippers are available from PBL (www.p-b-l.com). MicroMark also offers them. Xuron has one that is less delicate but also (perhaps therefore) not quite as good. Your LHS should have one (where I live, at least, the LHSs that are generally lousy for trains still have a pretty good offering of modelling tools) but you might look it over and consider the alternatives.
I use my X-acto knives to remove delicate parts from sprues. The action of a knife placed upon a delicate part, backed up with backing support, breaks far fewer parts than using any cutter for such, in my opinion. Cutting with a nipper places twisting loads on the parts which they can not stand, again, in my opinion! However, the most important point here is to use the method which you have the best success with. I use my rail nippers for large sprues and X-acto knives for fragile parts. I have less of an investment. I even sharpen my own X-acto blades with a stone so a blade lasts many, many years. Yes, I am cheap!!
Mouse,
Being new back into the hobby, I’ll tell you there are some scary box car kits out there! They are beautiful, well detailed and will teach you a lot when putting them together. I got a couple of P2K Box Cars that had some incredible detail. They took much longer than I imagined to put together, but they run the track so well!
Some of the Athearn RTR stuff is very very nice especially the Genesis series.
Walther’s RTR Passenger cars are very nice too. I purchased before and after Christmas some of their WWII Troop Cars. Boy, are they nice and close coupled. They look very nice on the layout and very nice while running too.
Enjoy!
Chris
“sperm nippers”?
oh my. if i believed in the use of smileys i would post about fifty right now.
I have rail nippers and a couple of diagonal cutters but have not brought myself to buy the sprue nippers yet. Maybe next time.
I assumed that SpaceMouse knew what a sprue was because he mentioned that he has built kits already, so my explanation was a little brief.
kits are good.
Your explanation was just fine. (I actually guessed what they were when they were first suggested.) I’m a great believer in tools. Tim Allen’s got nothing on me.