I do know that there are some buildings that companies don’t build. If they do, should I just buy the kit, or scratchbuild it. Another way I have came across was kitbashing. What is the best? Sound off.
Peace
Boy did you open up a bucket of fries with this. Actually I don’t think, or feel for that matter, that there is THE best way to for anything to be built. If, however, you need a specific building for the layout then maybe scratchbuilding the thing is the ONLY way. The question is what really works for you.
I’m in the process of doing a what if scenario on my layout involving a modification to a few buildings that create a kind of enclosed plaza/mall. My layout is based on the time period of the 70’s/80’s when reuse of older buildings became a kind of norm for most of North America. The ideas of some post modern architects like Charles Jencks, Ernesto Roberts or Robert Bofill tended towards using elements of traditional style in their buildings and so, in the spirit of such I started to think of enclosed plazas wherein the “poor beleagured people who ‘live’ in our layouts can go and not get great dust motes in their coffee everytime they go out!!” The real reason is, of course, a mental exercise in a what if kind of way.
So, in this scenario, I need to think in terms of what a few call scratchbashing ( a combination of the two).----so in your case—go where you nose leads you
Well, some will say that none of them is “the best,” but you could just as easily argue that all of them are the best.
I think it’s fun to develop new modelling skills. So, I start with a kit, but I always paint and detail almost every structure to make it unique, and to make it more exactly what I want for my layout. Or, I had one building which was really unique, and I thought I’d scratchbuild it, just to get an idea of what that was like. Last night, I was thinking of a space on a planned layout extension, and that looks like a kit-bash will be the appropriate technique. Use each new structure to improve not only your layout, but your own modelling as well.
One of the really great aspects of this hobby is how many ways you can do things, and how many different ideas can come together to make a layout. Before I started my layout, I had no idea that I would get into plaster casting, but now it’s one of my favorite techniques. When I get a kit, even the simplest ones, I’ll open it up, examine the parts, turn them over and over in my hands, and simply study the kit a week or so before I plan to start construction. I consider the paint and details that will go into the finished product, and give my mind a few days to come up with new ideas.
To me, every kit is merely a starting point, even if I assemble it exactly according to the instructions. Most of my structures don’t differ radically from the kits I started with, but they aren’t the original colors, and the signs in the windows didn’t come with the kit, either. There is different stuff on the roof, and usually the lights inside show off a simple detailed interior undreamt of by the kit maker.
Scratch building can be very rewarding and gives you unique structures. Don’t expect scratch building to save much money over buying a kit, unless you have a VERY well stocked junk box. A couple of mail orders for stripwood, shingled roofing material, and cast windows, and you will have spent as much as you would on a kit.
Advantages of kits. Everything is pre cut and square and it is easier to get the resulting structure to come out square and straight than starting from scratch.
I just finished a scratch built station. It’s not bad but as usual, it could be better. I’m looking thru the Walther’s book for a kit for my next structure.
Kitbashing is also a goodness. Especially if you start off with a cheap kit, say a train show purchase, or something cheap from the toy aisle at WalMart. You can combine two kits to make a single larger structure, make a flat, change things around to match a prototype, anything.
Details can improve any structure. Glazed windows, interior and exterior lighting, floors, gutters and downspouts, fire escapes, and signage can move a cheap toy into the really cool structure class.
The best way is the way you have most fun and you will be satisfied.
I build quite a few kits but sometimes I scratch build, like with this station. It’was fun!
Wolfgang
Given: I want a model of (fillintheblank, hereafter referred to as X.)
Possibilities:
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Somebody has manufactured a preassembled model of X. Buy. Most expensive, but quickest.
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Somebody has manufactured a kit for X. Buy and assemble. Third in cost, second in time needed.
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Kit Y can be kitbashed into X. Buy and kitbash. Second in cost, takes more time than simple assembly.
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X, or a reasonable facsimile, unavailable. Scratch build. Time-consuming. If you scratchbuild everything from raw materials, least expensive. If you scratchbuild with manufactured detail parts, can get pricey!
In my case:
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I have an out-of-the-box water tower that will serve Tomikawa’s municipal water system.
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Thirtysomething years ago I purchased a rather nice kit for a five-tiered pagoda that I would never consider for a scratchbuilding project. (Waaay too many fiddlin’ little details!)
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The Edna Mine (Walthers New River Mine) plus parts from some composite hoppers and other odd ends will be kitbashed into the larger of my two collieries.
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Finally, I need some models of rural, small-town and railroad structures, and a reasonably-compressed approximation of one specific sawmill complex - none of which have ever been produced in any form. Of necessity I will scratch build them from photos
Conclusion - I will use whatever method is appropriate to achieve my desired end result, and the methods will vary from structure to structure.