I opened my first Campbell’s Kit, the Scarlet Slipper. I spent 2 hours cutting the windows and doors. Not only were the cuts crooked and shallow but they walls were so fragile that half of them broke during cutting.
Oh, I’ll be able to save them. But next time I’m considering replacing the walls with styrene.
Like I said, for that price, I expected more.
They have many kinds Chip, Tomato, Chicken Noodle, Vegetable, OHHHHHHHH, you mean the OTHER Campbell…sorry Chip, it is late, and I just couldn’t help it…the devil made me do it !!! Hehehhehehehe
These kits were state-of-the-art 40-50 years ago… Think about it… Appreciate the newer laser kits!
Mark
Two years ago I overheard a kid at a show say, “It’s just a box full of little sticks!” when looking in a Campbells box. I’m not that old, but I remember when the kits were a solid block of wood that you had to cut the little sticks from, the instructions were Latin, the LHS was 20 miles away, snow was chest deep, up hill…
Chip,
I’ve heard others say that the tooling for the Campbell kits hasn’t changed in many, many years; which may explain the crooked cuts you ran into. That 40+ year old Alexander Scale Models depot kit you sent me a while back had some similar problems but they were fixable, too. Thankfully, the walls were anything but fragile. Even so, I still made sure that I stiffened up the corners (where the walls meet) with 4 x 4 dimensional lumber.
I’ve put three craftsman kits together so far. I can’t think of a single one of them that didn’t need at least a little filing, sanding, shimming, or squaring to make things fit or right. I’m beginning to come to the conclusion that it’s just part of the fun and “entertainment value” of putting one of these kits together.
Let me also add that those three craftsman kits…are my favorite structures on my layout. Funny how things are like that, huh? [:)]
Tom
Last time I was in HobbyTown USA I noticed THEY had started carrying quite a few Campbell kits. I thought that was kind of odd for H.T. to carry craftsman kits. The price was pretty darn cheap too. Made me wonder if they weren’t some new cheaper, lower quality version.[%-)]
Funny how I was able to assemble several Campbell kits when I first got back into the hobby without similar problems. As I recall, the window and door openings were partially cut out, one only had to cut through the remaining sections and/or re-cut the originals. Using new X-Acto #11 blades did the work for me. I believe the instructions suggest backing up the openings with masking tape on the inside to prevent splitting of the walls, which I did and it worked for me. Perhaps their kits have changed over the years? Or…?
The last Campbell kit I built was a mine A-frame. That was a whole bunch of ‘little sticks’ but was great fun. I still have the ore bin that I built to go with it.
Bob,
Tape would have been a good idea. If it was mentioned in the instructions I missed it. But to say they were partially cut, I would say scored. The cuts barely penetrated the shiplap siding. I was using a brand new #11 for the occasion. And even with the new blade the force to penetrate was considerable.
Perhaps it’s my lack of skill. But I’ve build several Muir Kits without similar incidents.
Mark,
I’d love some laser cut Old West buildings.
Tom,
It’ll look good. It’s just that next time I run into stamp cuts like these, I’ll probably just buy a sheet of styrene and replace them.
I remember building two of their bridge kits years ago when I was a teenager when I was in the local MR club - a single track truss bridge and their double track truss bridge. There were no major difficulties with construction that I can recall. They saw many years of operation of the layout before it was dismantled. Again, these were bridge kits, so there were no windows to deal with, but then again these are ‘craftsman’ kits and take a little more care to assemble. Remember - no all kits are created equal.
I love Campbell kits. Its my age, I’m sure. They are really scratch building where they assemble the parts and provide the plans. The instructions can be helpful at times.They are just a different experience from lazer. Muir may be even better in that all they are is sticks. I do get tired of cutting my own strip wood.
I’ve built three of them as well and like Bob said, you need to use tape to avoid damaging the walls. Did you try to cut through the wood in one cut? Don’t do that, just keep scoring the line your cutting and after a few swips of the new #11 blade you will cut right through it. If you were using considerable force that explains your broken walls. I struggled with my first kit but the other two went together great. I just had to learn the tricks to building them first.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the quality, or minor level of construction difficulty, presented by Campbell kits. Incidentally, the Scarlet Slipper is one of the simpler Campbell kits. Many thousands of seasoned modelers have very successfully built these kits down through the years without ever encountering any significant problems. However, and simply put, such kits are old-school and thus intended for the craftsman hobbyist - a term that used to be synonyous with the words model railroader. One needs to be prepared to expend some real time, care and work effort to get quality results from any of these kits, they do not simply fall together and look great. But once completed, there is an obvious world of difference between a well constructed wood and cardstock craftsman model and a slapped together, styrene structure kit.
I’ll add that those who are troubled by the level of skills required for assembling a Campbell kit would do well to steer clear of any of the high-end, quality kits, many of which are truly challenging to the hobbyist (like FSM, FOS, et al.). These often really are little more than a box of sticks and instructions but the manufacturer has assumed the purchaser has the degree of true modeling skills compatible to the challenge they present.
CNJ831
How’s the altitude up there? I’ve never seen a horse so tall.
The finished product will speak for itself. I just expected more.
To expect more, you need to develop some actual modeling skills, which to date your modeling leaves in a highly questionable state, not blame your shortcoming on a long established manufacturer.
CNJ831
Chip, I don’t think he was trying to come across like you think he was, he was just telling the truth. Those kits are for guys with years of experience that have fine tuned their “craftsman” skills and that have picked up little tricks to build them into a great looking model. To be honest I was way over my head with the first one I built even though I thought I was really progressing with my own skill level. It was very humbling, lol. Don’t take this the wrong way or anything but maybe your not up to the level you need to be to build one of their kits yet. I sure as heck wasn’t when I built my first one.
I say hack away at it! There’s nothing wrong with sacrificing modeling supplies. I’m going to attempt the same thing with my first kit bash, on my most expensive kits! I do realize that Mr. CNJ was more defending the quality that was called into question more than attacking Chip. Good luck with that Chip! I’m sure it will turn out nice in the end.
I took it the way he meant it.
The finish carpenter that trained me some thirty years ago told me that the difference between an apprentice and a journeyman is that the journeyman makes his screw-ups look like they were meant to be that way.
What I was commenting on is that the window impressions look like they were out of alignment and mashed onto the wood with a dull worn out die that now barely mashes through the relief on the wood. Now if old salts like CNJ has tricks to use that overcome that, I bow to his experience.
I can fix the splits so that not even CNJ can see them with his optivisor.
But like I said, for the price, I expected more. Muir Models are cut much cleaner for instance and I’ve build and kitbashed several of those.
Chip
I’m not an expert, and I’m not a skilled modeler. I’ve built 2 Campbell kits reasonably successfully, and have 2 kits waiting to be built. I too am surprised at the cut-out scores being crooked. I know when Leo Campbell was running the company, the defective walls would have been replaced upon request without question. Have you contacted Campbell (no web site or e-mail)?
I did not know about the tape on the underside, either. A very good tip I will keep in mind. I do know I had to make multiple passes to get a clean cut-out at the windows and doors, or cut items to length.
yours in building Campbell kits
Fred W
In other words, he’s calling you a dabbler.