Chip, I have not made a Campbell model but I have now made over a dozen models from the like of JL Innovative, AMB, FOS, and others with about 8 kits sitting on my shelf awaiting attention. One thing that I have observed is that the modern laser cut kits from companies like FOS, Full Steam Ahead, Best and JL Innovative are far easier to construct than the old die cut models of a decade ago. Some of the JL models that I have made were pre-laser and what a pain they were to cut out the window openings. Your description of the light impression suggesting the place for the window opening is accurate. What I found was it takes many light strokes with a fresh blade to get the opening cut. I also found it better to make the openings a little small and then file/sand to the required size so that I can get a good fit for the windows. Those disposable nail file emory boards are great for squaring out a window opening. Remember of course that these kits are the antithesis of the modern R to R movement. Personally I get a great deal of satisfaction from mastering these types of kits.
Here are some walls from an out of production pre-laser JL Innovative kit I am working on. All of these openings had to be hand cut.
If you screw up with a wooden kit, there is nothing that some good wood glue can’t solve!
You know, many of these Campbell kits have been sitting on the shelf for years. The boxes are anything but airtight; the wood probably dried out on you.
I bet a “fresher” kit would have cut more easily without breaking.
I built a Campbell kit when I was in HO. I also built an American Model Builders kit and scratchbuilt a number of buildings from basswood; I found the Campbell kit no more difficult than either the AMB or scratchbuilding… …hence my guess that you got a “stale” kit.
You are absolutely right with your baseball analogy, I’ve watched both of them play for many years and your perceptions are very accurate. In fact, Barry Bonds is (was) so rude that he wouldn’t show up for team photos and was not that well liked or respected off the playing field.
Your second point is well taken, not only will pros help where ever they can, they will explain their skills in a way that is easy for one to understand. A truly talented individual, who truly understands his subject, should be able and willing to explain his expertise in a simple and straightforward manner without resorting to jargon or sarcasm.
Good luck with the Campbell Kit and I would love to see a photo of the finished structure,
I’m doing that with the Downtown Deco Grimm’s Funeral Home kit I have. When I first opened it and checked the parts I was severely depressed with the quality of the castings (little chunks missing here and there, etc. with no loose pieces floating about in the packaging). This may well be on purpose by the maunfacturer, I don’t know. What I do is take hydrocal and patch what I want to patch and let it sit, sometimes for weeks at an end. It’s one of those things I really have to have my head in the right space to work on it.
Granted one expects value for money spent, and some of the ‘craftsman’ kits are worth it, especially the research some manufacturers put into them. Good pictures and instructions really help here. Ditto for templates or drawings of same. When a product has defects in it I’ll try and make it work somehow. That’s happened with some of the Micro Scale Models kits I have. Fine kits, but sometimes the instructions, drawings and pictures don’t match. I’ll fix it and then I’ll have a building that no one else has even though they may build the same kit.
There is a steep learning curve to these kits. I know the first few I ever tried were disasters. Then you start figuring out what tools work best and how to cut some thing without breaking it. And how to paint it… Before you know it, you have one completed and it looks so much better than any plastic shake the box kit. I did a small FOS Scale models kit for a coal distributor last year. The whole thing was less than 3 inches long but it really popped out when it was put on the layout. Keep at it and be patient. - Nevin
After reading the 2 posts from Dave and Terry my fading memory got a boost and I too remember a recent problem with a Campbell Kit constructed last year. This Kit was their “Freight Platform” and was very easy to assemble and did not have any windows to cut out. However, it was sitting in my “to do box” for a few decades and there were some minor issues that I attributed to the age of the kit.
So hang in there with your kit and like I said before, please post a picture of the finished structure,
My suggestion was that neither Chip nor Campbells was at fault (i.e., the kit may have dried out), and that was the thread killer. Seems it was far livelier when it was poor manufacturing versus poor modeling. Why is that?
Sometimes I wonder if these fora thrive more on personal rancor and controversy than on simple explanations and modeling techniques.
Dave V.,
I’ve been on the 'net over 12 years, and what you said is exactly right. The more livelier discussions are always tinged with controversy and/or person rancor. It’s like the old newspaper line, “If it bleeds, it leads.”
People don’t pay much attention to good news, but give them some kind of bad news and they’ll always be back for more. Fires, scandals, wars, crime, natural disasters, etc., these stories can go on for weeks. Meanwhile, “good news” gets quickly buried in the next news cycle. It’s just the way people are.
Same goes for internet discussions. Without some kind of contradictory statements, a modeling thread will quickly drop off the front page. But if you add someone taking pot shots at the topic of choice, you’ll get a thread that will be active for days on end. A debate needs conflict to survive, and if there’s only agreement you won’t get much debate. For example, if you started a thread tomorrow about how good Kadee couplers are and how to install them on just about anything, it would get a few comments but would quickly sink to obscurity when the next “the future of the hobby is doooooomed!” thread pops up.
Dave, people always defend the products that they buy and are happy with. Look at Digitrax for instance, every time DCC is brought up the same people always say the manuals are to difficult to understand. I and most other Digitrax users understand them fine. I think if Chip asked for advice BEFORE he started to build his kit he may have had a better time building it. Bob’s advice on using tape is MANDATORY with these old wood kits, dried out or not. It also didn’t help him when he used considerable force to cut through the walls, making several passes over the cut line using very little force is the only way to do it without damaging the walls like he did. I think the problem was more Chip’s lack of experience building Cambell kits then it was the kit itself. Like I said in my original post in this thread, I had a heck of a time building my first one as well but the second and third ones went together great. Why? Because I had some experience with them after building the first one. If Chip decides to purchase a few more of them he will find they go together a little better the second or third time around. Another reason this thread died is because Chip stopped posting in it. He got his feelings hurt by a few people and didn’t get the response he was looking for.
When I work w/ wood, I always pop in a fresh #11 blade just to be sure.
Chip could have popped back in and said “yep, the wood was very brittle and dry,” or “no, Dave, you’re out to lunch; this wood was fresh!” It’s not as “interesting” I guess as watching CNJ, who I assume has never met Chip or seen his work in person, call all of his modeling “questionable” after Chip has a bad experience with a kit.
Rudeness makes for more posts. Modeling apparently does not. Again, I am reminded why I go elsewhere on the 'net for modeling, and come here for the banter.
I must have missed that, from the pics Chip has posted I would guess he is a better modeller then most here. Far from questionable in my opinion. You want to see rudeness on the net? Go to any street racing forum, you even get to type all the bad words without these things, ***** poping up, lol.
Eh, I know it’s worse elsewhere… but that doesn’t make ill-will right. The Internet is simply a reflection of (and probably amplification of) society’s ills. Some people feel better about themselves when they can point out how they’re better than someone else. You’d think we’d have a more mature, enlightened group than most, and perhaps we do, but it’s not without its share of mean spirit.
While I hate to barge in on this, I’d suggest you go back and re-read the first page. The first shot came from Chip. CNJ’s first response didn’t call all of Chip’s modeling questionable, he pointed out that these are craftsman kits and not shake the box styrene kits; that they take some time and experience to properly build. Chip’s response was rude - basically telling CNJ to get off his “high horse” and calling him stuck up. It was only after Chip’s rude comment/reply that CNJ questioned his modeling skills. Quite frankly I can see why he would do so, especially when looking at his ‘fix’ pics on page with all the glue everywhere. The way the fix was done doesn’t come right out and say “craftsman” quality work.
This was Chip’s first experience with a Campbell kit and his first reaction to having a problem was to blame it on poor quality from the manufacturer, not his own lack experience with similar kits. As evidenced by the many following posts, many people said that their first attempt at such a kit was not good either but that with some experience under their belt subsequent builds were much improved. As with many things in this hobby, you can’t expect perfection th
Actually I find the modelling info on this forum pretty decent - sometimes it veers off course, but usually it’s rather good.
Wondering where else you get your modeling info from (Message board-wise); railroad.net has been rather quiet on it’s scale modeling forum lately, and usenet…forget it.
That’s true, JK… I think both guys were a bit out of line.
I get pretty tired of the “high horse” comment. Happens whenever someone suggests how someone could have done somthing better. But I also don’t think CNJ needed to attack Chip’s modeling, thereby getting down from the horse to beat it to death. Addressing the “high horse” comment would have been sufficient.
And no, I’m not exactly the beacon of enlightenment. I’m not (nor do I want to be) the trains.com Hall Monitor. But good gosh, look at the play a thread like this gets versus any modeling technique or project threads I’ve ever started. Really makes you wonder…
I’m starting to feel silly anyway since Chip has apparently moved on to bigger and better things.
My goodness. You young whipper-snappers don’t know how easy you have it with your stamped out kits and your laser cut kits. Back in the VERY EARLY '50’s, (that’s 1950’s not 1850’s), my Dad & I built a balsa flying model of a Cesna airplane with rubber band power. The wingspan was 48". All the internal framing for the body and the wing ribs came PRINTED on sheets of balsa wood and all the outside framing was individual strips of balsa. It took all winter to cut out all the individual pieces and glue everything together on the full size plans and assemble them. After it was all together and the tissue paper skin put on and sealed, it was balanced. On the first nice day of spring, we took it down to the park to test fly it. Wonder of wonders, it flew perfectly for a couple of hundred feet and landed safely. It flew on and off for several years with only minor repairs to tears in the fabric until it was irreparably damaged during a house move.[#oops][|(]
As a 12 year old, I will never forget my Dad teaching me the patience to cut out all the little notches around the outside of the body framing members that the 1/8"X1/8" stringers fit snugly into and glued in place. That patience and the striving for accuracy and doing it right helped me many times through my working career.
Thanks Dad.
By the way. That kit cost over $15.00 and Dad was earning $28.50 a week.
