[#ditto] Too many so called “modelers” today aren’t.
I started with trains as a kid, then went into model railroading in the early 60’s, then Control Line airplanes, then back to trains, then to R/C airplanes, then back to trains. Everything was in kits. The last t
When I was a kid, Willie Mays was the guy we all looked up to. The guy could do anything. He could catch a ball on a dead run away from the plate, spin on one foot and throw the ball back to the infield so quick runners couldn’t advance. He’d would spend hours after the game signing autographs and talking the game with kids.
Now we got Barry Bonds, Willie’s godson. Barry is mean to kids.
Some pros help where-ever they can. Others just thump their chest and say how great they are.
Have built many Campbell kits and yes they can split but a little acc and fixed, openings were not exact but if you look at the window overhangs on their windows you will see that there is room for a lot of slop, just avoid the sandhouse and coaling tower unless you are good at craftsman kits, bad instructions on the coaling tower and the sand house has a few fitting issues.
Chip,Sorry but,unlike the common plastic kit the Campbell kits takes skill and tricks that many hasn’t learn.A gentle hand on the old modeling knife as well.
I lack those skills and know none of those tricks and after wrecking my first Campbell kit years ago I haven’t tried my hand with wooden “Craftsman” kits since.[:O]
I give up.
Yep, they’re way over my head. I don’t know what possessed me to think I could handle such master modeler stuff.
Where my Plasticville?
Great, another Presidential candidate with serious flaws. I gues I’ll just have to get my perfect wife to run instead!
LOL!
What do you think has more political clout, the Plasticville demographic or the Master Modeler demographic.
Chip,Don’t be like me and give up on these wonder kits.Continue building that kit…
Remember every master modeler started the same as you…Some perhaps like me by completely wrecking a Campbell kit the only difference they didn’t give up like I did…
I love those old craftsman kits. My first was a LaBelle flatcar, from there I went on to build a Central Valley caboose and then scratch/parts built two boxcars using the car sides from the NMRA Bulletin. My first scratchbuilt structure was a handcar/section building with 2 windows, regular door and handcar door following an article and plan in one of Kalmbach’s books. My second attempt at scratchbuilding a structure was a disaster - I was following an article in MR for freight house in O scale, but doing it in HO. I was halfway along when I realized that all my door and window openings were way too large - yep I forgot to convert them to HO size. And I had used the O scale size siding. [#oops]
Sure those kits were a “box of sticks”, but the advantage of the kits was getting instructions/plans, castings,wires, and correct size strip wood/wood shapes/wood siding all in one box. Once you figured out where to get those you could scratchbuild as easy as kit build. What little time I have now for the hobby is focused on building the layout - but I keep an eye out for those old kits and I have a stash of them for retirement in a couple of years.
Enjoy
Paul
Chip,
It seems like you’ve let your nose get bent out of shape because you didn’t get the response you were looking for from your original post. Instead of getting a bunch of people agreeing with you that Campbell kits were of poor quality, you got the opposite response. People disagreed with you and said that they were good kits that took, perhaps, a higher skill level than where you are currently at and you took offense with those comments. Another example where its wrong for someone to provide an open, honest perspective???
Ce la vie!
Paul,
I love craftsman kits. I can already see where this is going and it will look spectacular.
I’ve never built any craftsman kits for trains but I used to build and fly the airplane kits made out of balsa and covered in tissue paper. (the more complex kits too) How hard are these Campbell kits compared to those? I’m assuming the construction process is similar. The prices I saw at HobbyTown make me tempted to try one.
Loathar, I think they are easier to build if you stand on a pedestal and look down your nose. You have been warned![:D]
Over the years, I’ve certainly built my share of ‘bundle of sticks’ kits–usually rolling stock from Ambroid or LaBelle, but I’ve never attempted a craftsman building kit–well, okay, one–a laser-cut sandhouse that wasn’t that bad to construct, but ended up looking just not right in my engine terminal (it now belongs to my grand-nephew). Both my LHS carry a pretty fair inventory of Campbell kits, and I was looking at one of their mine kits, thinking that it might make a fair replica of the actual mine in Sierra City with a lot of kit-bashing. Then I looked just a little to the right on the shelf, and lo and behold, there WAS a model of the mine in Sierra City in a styrene craftsman’s kit. Needless to say, the Campbell mine is probably still on the shelf at Bruce’s, but that doesn’t stop me from examining them when I’m there. Unfortunately, I’m just about out of space for additional buildings, or I’d probably try one. I know they’ve been around since I was skinny and had hair (THAT long!) and I’d really like to try one.
Perhaps the ice house and dock? Well, let’s see what I can come up with for some additional space. Only problem is that I don’t think there’s such a thing as Ambroid wood glue anymore, and joint-filling CA is too messy, and most other wood glues take too darned long to set up. Now Ambroid wood glue–THERE was a product!! Stuff made your wood models absolutely INDESTRUCTABLE! Oh well–
Chip, keep at it. I know you will.
Tom [:)]
If I may wander around a bit…back in the 80s I was with the JCPenney company. We picked up a few SONY products and we all thought we were going to have much fewer problems with their line. Well, for the most part, everything was great. Then came the portable cassette recorder. The very hungry portable cassette recorder. They ALL ate tapes. Some immediatly out of the box, others a few weeks later. So if Chip got a bad kit, I’ll avoid that particular kit. If all the kits were bad, then adios Campbell. If kits were bad at random, then I’d go back to taking my chances. In my experience with products of all kinds, in every line the odds that a problem is throughout the line are slim. The odds that one problem line is a sign of poor quality through the company is even less frequent.
Well, seems some folks have gon off on a tangent here.
As per typical for an internet forum[:P]
Anyways.
Being an O scaler, one winds up doing both craftsman type kits and scratchbuilding. One hint I have used when those pesky windows and door openings have not been cut out is to saw 'em out!
I drill a small hole, near one corner of the opening, and use a Xacto saw blade (just like a prototype SawZall) to cut out the opening. Patience and a vee-cut backer to hold the work down, if I do get any splits, I’ll CA the crack, and back up the area with some bond paper to add structral rigidity.
I have built several “craftsman” kits, rolling stock and buildings, and didn’t find them too tough to build.
The Hy-Cubes are Quality Craft kits, and the building in the background is a Gloor-Craft Bryan’s Farm Supply. The Farm Supply had no windows cut at all, I used the “O scale SawZall” method of cutting in the openings.
Chip, this coming October, the Somerset (Pa.) Club is hosting a show, with a seminar on kit/scratchbuilding on the schedule. Why don’t you come down and see us?
Sorry, I can’t leave this one alone even though I should know better.
I have to say that “nasty is as nasty does”. (superior attitude).
There is such a thing as tact when commenting or “educating” someone.
Chip has been nothing but instructive, helpful and considerate in his many many responses
on this board and he deserves better responses and respect from forum members, no matter what their opinion or higher level of experience might be.
NJ made some very valid points and is in the whole, correct in what he was saying, but
as an ex schoolteacher I wouldn’t have taken that kind of response from a KID without them either being asked to rephrase their feedback in a more positive and constructive manner or be exempt from an activity.
Should we expect less from adults?
I understand the frustration of scratch builder craftspersons and box of sticks modelers
and their resentment that everything is becoming more instant gratification oriented but
you’re not going to win over any converts or “apprentices” putting them down.
When I was a teenager I tried to construct a Campbell Model trestle. It was my lst move beyond easy styrene kits. I encountered much the same attitude and abandoned my efforts as a result. I too found parts that weren’t cut properly and as a kid didn’t know how to deal with fixing things. Grumpy superior craftsmen discouraged me, made me feel ashamed and it’s only now, 4 decades later, that I’m considering attempting one again.
I’ve given up largely on scuba forums due to the “chest beating” that goes on there
and was enjoying a respite with a forum and hobby where everyone was kind, helpful,
and encouraging. I’d sure hate to see that change now!
This sort of behaviour occurs on any forum. It’s not peculiar to any hobby or activity.
You should have seen the usenet newsgroups before the advent of the forums as we know them today. You would need a nomex suit and a hide two inches thick.
-G-
I’ve done both; rubber powered Gullows airplane kits and Campbell crafstman kits.
I think the Guillows have the edge in ease of assembly…but not by much. Guillows suffered terribly from what we call “die crushing”. I don’t think Guillows have replaced their dies in 40 years. They are expensive after all…
Just another reason why the rubber and RC airplane guys prefer laser cut kits. Laser cut airplane kits (if they are well designed) literally fall together. It’s gotten so your average garage/cottage industry can crank them out. While a good set up is around $15K you can aslo get a decent CNC router for even less. I guy I work with has a CNC router and with his CAD program and a PC he can crank out any airplane he wants.
I’m surprised that Campbell’s hasn’t updated their line with all the new technology available. They could be so much more competitive. they have some really nice structures but their build methods are archaic. That’s the reason they have the reputation they do for being so challenging. 50 years ago that was OK but not today…
-G-
