The Dragon Products cement plant is a combination of a Walthers Medusa Cement , a Faller Cement Works and a Pikestuff Yard Office kit. The Walthers and Faller kits were done mostly per kit instructions; I added a couple of stairways to the Faller kit. The Pikestuff kit was heavily modified to fit as a join between the other 2 kits. The dry bulk semi-trailer in the photos was also kitbashed. It started as a Road Champs 1/87 bottom dump trailer. A carved dowel, 2 halfs of a Plastruct styrene dome on the ends, some bits and pieces from my parts box and a lot of body putty finished the job.
The graval loader in Upper Greenvale is a coal loader - don’t rememeber who made it. From the catalog picture, I thought it was corrugated metal, but it turned out to be log cabin type construction. I sanded down the roughest part of the logs and made a styrene roof. I applied Campbell corrugated metal over all the surfaces, painted and weathered. I made an enclosed conveyor from a Walthers conveyor kit.
– Have you tried “kit-bashing” before? If so, what all have you kit-bashed together?
Yes, & I like it, I think it is one step further than super detailing! Generally Lokies & rolling stock…
–What is your preference for parts-- looting commercial kits, buying purpose-made parts, using found parts-- some of each?
Any parts that fit the effort, would be considered! Creative thinking ‘out of the box’ too!
– If you’re a proponent of kit-bashing from commercial kits, do you have any favorites?
Yes, there are many commercial kits that lend themselves well to any projects! Kato, Atlas, & Proto2K… Any model can be bashed, I almost didn’t want to answer this one…
– How much “bashing” (combining / modifying of parts) must you do to really consider the results “kit-bashed”?
Well any pretty major change, more so than just an add on parts, more like replacing a cab, nose, or anything that takes a SAW to change it…
– What’s your favorite or least-favorite project and why?
This one, should be done already, but I just seem to have hold-ups, if I can paint it OK it will be great!
PS: Seriously incredible work in this thread!!! Wow Guys!!!
Seeing Chad’s locomotive reminded me of another couple of kitbashes I have done
IN the 1970s, B&M built a road slug from an old GP-9 they got from another RR. I got a dummy, undecorated Athearn blue box GP-9 and started cutting and filling to get something that looked like the photos of slug 100 I bought at a train show.
The “Slug Set” was a railfan favorite for many years. Slug 100 ran with non-dynamic GP-40-2s BM 300 and 301 (also made from Athearn blue box with added prototype details). They were eventually repainted in Guilford gray, but I am not going there
From another photo. I built caboose MEC 646. A number of these were made by MEC shops in the 1960s from old 40’ boxcars. I used an Athearn blue box undecorated boxcar, wide vision caboose, styrene sheet and body putty to get the smooth sides.
This flanger for my freelanced Bunker Hill & Eastern was made from a Roundhouse 3 in 1 kit. I never seemed to get around to complete the other 2 parts - a snow crab and a jordan spreader.
I built this cabin for the Booothbay RR layout from an Atlas Trackside Shanty and a building from a Lifelike Trackside Shanties kit. I spliced the 2 buildings together and added a porch so the checker players could get out of the sun
[IMG]http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q301/ggpaine/Boothbay%20Railroad/Fishin
I saw that caboose a while back & set aside a Tichy box to ‘cut upon’ it was insiring. The slug is really neat too. You do real nice work. I hope to touch base again when I have something in paint & decals!
Thanks! Thanks to everyone who is showing inspiriation in this thread! Incredible Works of Art!!!
And my DM&E, (ex-MILW) SD10 with Cat Ears numberboard detail, could of used a ‘35 series’ cab on her, but went for the challenge & authenticity of one of the real models!
If I had to put it in another way, it would be: “You can’t buy that in stores!!!”
