I have heard the term “craftman kit” when describing buildings, but i dont really know what it means. Can someone explain that to me? Also, does anyone know if someone offers “craftman kits” for european buildings?
Thank you!
Hi!
Typically a “craftsman” kit is tailored for the advanced modeler, and requires more skills and tools and patience than your average kid would require. To me, “average” kits for structures would be Cornerstone, and for rail cars would be accurail. Of course others may see it differently as they have different levels of skill and experience as compared to me.
Of course price is a big differential, particularly with structure kits. Where as an average structure kit may run $30-50, a craftsman kit may run $100 - $300. IMHO, it is wise to walk oneself up to that level, rather than jumping right into one.
One last point… “do you get what you pay for with a craftsman kit?” Of course that depends. I’ve seen some that when finished looked well worth the money. But obviously the builder’s expertise has a huge part to play in the final result…
In the early decades of the hobby, a building “kit” was a box full of stripwood and cardstock with instructions of how to make a building out of it. It was kinda like a guided scratchbuilding project…“cut six pieces of 1/8” by 1/16" stripwood 1-1/2" long, and three pieces 3/4" long, to form the doorframes".
After WW2, plastic building and freight car kits started be offered. These kits were looked down upon by “real” model railroaders, who derided them as “shake the box” kits…kits so easy, you could just shake the box the right way, and the parts would fall into place.
To separate the two types of kits in ads and such, people started calling the old-style wood kits “craftsman’s kits”.
Today we have laser-cut wood kits that probably would still qualify as “craftsman’s kits” but are much easier than the old style ones to build.
OeBB,
Nowadays I think the term “craftsman kit” is somewhat of a misnomer.
I’ve put together older craftsman kits that have came with various-sized wood and/or plastic parts, where you had to cut everything to length and even scale the drawing plans so that you knew exactly what length to cut the individual piece or pieces. I’ve also put together laser craftsman kits that already had the pieces conveniently cut for you but you still had to carefully paint and assemble the pieces according to the assembly instructions. I’ve even put together kits that weren’t necessarily intended to be craftsman-type kits but had parts that fit together so poorly that it required a substantial amount of filing, sanding, and fitting to assemble them properly.
I will agree that the term “craftsman” generally requires a certain amount of skill of the modeler. That should NOT deter one from stretching their wings and tackling a project in order to hone their own modeling skills.
If that is what you are considering, I would pick up an inexpensive kit at a train show (e.g. $20-$30 range) and have at it. Once you are more comfortable with your skill sets, you can then tackle some of the more higher-quality craftsman kits like Fine Scale Models, which usually command 3-figure prices at retail.
Scratch-building is also another option. However, the advantage of a craftsman kit is that ALL the work instructions and pieces that you need to assemble the structure or piece of rolling stock are included and you don’t need to go searching your LHS or Walthers catalog for what you need.
Are you currently looking at a kit as a possible project?
Tom
Generally, craftsman kits are more difficult and/or require more work to put together than other kits. In the past it had meant a scratchbuilding project with all the wood pieces and castings needed gathered together with instructions. Cutting, fitting, painting, decaling/letter transfer required.
Today a definition would be a kit that requires most or all of the following:
painting
decaling/dry transfer
cutting parts to size
drilling holes, possibly tapping them
shaping parts
assembling parts squarely i.e. the 4 walls of a building or boxcar
gluing and/or soldering
Enjoy
Paul
Craftman kits are for the advanced modeler (generally speaking). They are very detailed and time consuming with respect to construction. But, I believe that an average modeler with a lot of patience can build one and learn a great deal in the process. Fine Scale Miniatures offers, what in my opinion are the best craftman kits. You will increase your skill level a lot and have a great model to add to your railroad.[tup] I am not familar with any European craftman kits.[;)]
there are many available “built up” models of buildings or what may be called "RTR - “ready to Run” railroad cars as well.
A “built up” is already put together for you and in many cases even “detailed” for you. {has people glued in, other items in place , etc.}. No assembly required. They can be $30-$50.
A “RTR” is also put together for you too. It means you can take it out of the box and it is “ready to run” on the tracks as it stands. No assembly required.
THEN there are the average regular kits that require some assembly and detailing. You get the pre-cut, pre-cast parts and you glue them together. Usually plastic but could be wood too. They can be about $10-30.
Then there are the "craftsman kits’ which require a lot more work to get together. You may have to cut the parts out and paint and then assemble and then detail to get a final “finished” product. FSm {FIne Scale Miniatures} is an example:
You will note here they tend to be over $100, +++ for the KIT to put together:
http://fsmkits.homestead.com/kitsforsale.html#fsm
Bar Mills is another type of “craftsman” kit:
http://www.barmillsmodels.com/
Bar Mills kits can start as simple kits for beginners under $50 and can go UP +++ from there for more advanced kits for the model “craftsman” to do.
If you want to try a “craftsman kti” I suggest the Bar mills “under $50” kits here:
Lots of good answers here and I really don’t have anything to add to the definitions presented. Galaxy has already alluded to “beginner” craftsman kits, and indeed there is quite a thriving market for lower cost laser cut kits that provide you with some of the challenge of the high end kits. These smaller kits expose you to the skill set to then tackle the tough ones. The point of a craftsman kit is “value for $ in hobby hours spent”. In other words, these are not a quick evening project and at the end of it you end up with something you are proud to put on your layout.
http://www.railroadkits.com/store/
Here are 3 of my favorite kit manufacturers that have not been mentioned so far. All of them offer great intro kits.
The higher the price, the longer the kit will take, the more details it will have. There are some build threads of some simpler kits in my Pictture trail link in my signature.
Craftsman kits are like building a bridge from toothpicks & glue in highschool. You have to build everything yourself.
If you are looking to step up i would go with laser cut kits (as others have already mentioned)
Some good companies include GC Laser, B.T.S., and Bar Mills.
Painting these wood structures can be a little tricky because of the way the wood absorbs paint. You have to spray prime them first, otherwise the moisture in the paint will warp the wood. I would then spray paint, or airbrush the larger pieces. Regular brush paint goes on too thick and you lose a lot of the detail.
If you want to be all gung-ho and go straight to craftsman, then campbell scale models has a large selection. But I would get a chopper and a HO scale ruler:
Of the three laser kit manufacturers that Don has listed above, I’d like to mention one more: American Model Builders (AMB). Personally, I think AMB is - no pun intended - a cut above the other laser kit manufacturers on the market because of the quality of their parts stock - particularly the windows and glazing. I’ve also found that their parts generally mate together better than the others.
Tom
To expand a bit on the definition of Craftsman: There are kits that may be hard to build and require lots of skills, that assemble into a model that lacks detail and crispness when judged by the standards of today’s modern kits. As others have pointed out, many of the kits from the early days fit into this category. I have purchased some of these kits but never built them due the lack of detail in the finished product. While I love to build kits, my time is limited and I am unlikely to want to spend time building a kit that won’t meet my standards as a finished model “just for the fun of it.”
This is not a diss against the older kits. One would expect the detail and accuracy of the hobby to continue to advance, some of the older technology was state of the art in 1950, but is of more value now for the “nostalgia” factor than as an example of state of the art Model Railroading 2012. I’m not suggesting that we all go RTR, I am instead suggesting that we build on the tradition of the past in terms of craftsmanship and skills, and apply these skills to modern materials to produce more accurate and detailed models.
Rolling stock kits are a good example of this. Why would I spend hours gluing cardboard or thin Wood sides together in a reefer car kit when Intermountain’s cast styrene bodies blow away the detail level of the older kit??? Now some might argue that Tradition is a valid reason. I’ll grant you that if you like the nostalgia approach…If I wanted the craftsman approach in rolling stock maybe I might take my skills and put together an RGM log bunk or a Westerfield Rock Hopper. Maybe scratch build an unusual car. Same skills, better detailed result wit
A “craftsman kit” means that you WILL have some parts leftover. [banghead]
Some years ago Walthers began identifying certain products in their catalog as “craft trains.” Maybe they still do. But often the meaning was simply that it was more difficult to assemble than the run of the mill stuff, or skills such as soldering were needed.
A craftsman kit to my mind means a greater measure of skill than the norm is called for, but what does that mean? It can be hard to quantify. For example a well done laser kit calls for skill to be sure but no cutting and fitting is needed. A resin car kit calls for many skills and while a modeler from 1955 might scoff at calling it a craftsman kit, I myself would call most and maybe all resin car kits “Craftsman kits.” It took a while for the old timers to even admit that plastic could be part of a craftsman kit.
Some of those early craftsman kits were for all practical purposes scratchbuilding but with someone else doing the shopping for you, and supplying a plan. Often the only reason to elect a craftsman kit over scratchbuilding was if the manufacturer had created some special and unique detail parts such as windows, doors, cornices, that sort of thing.
The term has come to mean different things over time. I regret to say that speaking personally, “craftsman kit” has come to mean “the kits that still sit on the shelf.”
Dave Nelson
Unfortunately, I can relate to that.
Sometimes I think I’m more collector than builder.
Paul
I personally would stay away from the older kits. I’ve built a few that I bought at train shows and have had to replace certain pieces of them because of split or warped wood during the building process. I would bet they were stored poorly causing the damage. New kits from the companys listed are great but very difficult to build and if you don’t know what your doing you will end up with a 300 dollar turd. These kits are for people that are very advanced in the hobby.
And I’ve had 30-, 40-, 50-year old kits that have been just fine. A mild sniff of an older kit (for mildew) can often give you an idea how well it has been stored.
Tom
I would have to disagree.
I have Campbell structure and Silver Streak, Labelle, and Central Valley car kits that were bought/made in the '70s that have been stored in all kinds of climates, including flooded basements, and are still good. What I find interesting is now that I live in Colorado, the thin, dry air does make the wood more susceptible to splitting. And the white/yellow glues need to be diluted a little because the dry wood absorbs the moisture from the glue so quickly. But the kits still build just fine. As has been noted in other forums and threads, strengthening structures with extra bracing is a good idea - not that I routinely add bracing to mine.
I suppose you can pay $300 for a craftsman kit, but I don’t. The most expensive craftsman structure or car kit I have is a pile driver that cost me $40. I will probably double that high price in the next year as I add to my waterfront scenes, but that would be it.
I certainly wasn’t (and am not) very advanced in the hobby - especially back in the '70s. I cringe looking at my blob-laden soldering joints from back then. The wood kits just aren’t that difficult, now were they ever intended to be. They just don’t build in one 2 hour night. Which is a good thing for me, given my limited budget. A Labelle car kit takes 4-5 evenings by the time assembly, painting, decaling
How about this slightly different definition?
A craftsman kit is a kit built by a craftsman.
The kit is a box of parts, but the art of building it comes from the builder. The final model will depend on both. I take a great deal of pride in my version of Branchline Trains’s “Weimer’s Mill” kit, which represents an old gristmill with a water wheel for power. It’s a laser-cut wood kit. with some peel-and-stick parts and windows with separate upper and lower sashes. I had the kit on my shelf for a year or two before I felt “worthy” of building it. After it was done, to be honest, I felt a bit silly for waiting so long. It stretched and improved my skills a bit, but it is nothing that a careful modeler of moderate skill couldn’t do a nice job with.
But, then I consider another favorite model, the City Classics Diner. This is a plastic kit, with a sprue or two of detail parts, walls and a roof. Its very simplicity, combined with big windows all around, make this an inviting kit for a creative hobbyist. I think I spent more time on this structure than on the mill, because I wanted to finish it with an interior, proper lighting, figures and a setting that drew the eye not only into the scene, but into the building itself.
It’s my railroad, as we say. And that’s why I try to put a bit of craftsman’s pride into everything I build for it.
Tom and Fred. Thats just my experience and my not checking the box first. These kits were sealed but like I said, the way they were stored probably caused the damage. Not many people will let you open up a sealed 30 year old out of production kit just so you can look at the contents. Replacing the damaged pieces wasn’t a big deal. The quality and the thought process put into todays kits far exceed kits from 30 plus years ago. If someone wanted to build a craftsman kit for the first time then I believe they would end up with a better experience (less frustration) with a new kit vs a old kit.
I started in HO in 1959, and I would define a craftsman kit as the one I buy because I “really need and want it” and nothing fits right, and parts are missing.
It is called the “invasion of the gremlins”.
Bob