Hi everyone.
I have some spare parts in my Variety Printing kit. I am trying to find a way to use those parts. Any idea would be very appreciated.
Thanks!
Stéphan
It looks like you have most of a background building. You will need a few styrene scraps, but if you go to a hardware store and buy a few For Sale signs, that problem is solved. For a flat roof I use white poster board from an art supply or office store, cut to shape and painted with Rust-oleum specked textured black paint.
You'll still have scraps, so find a convenient cardboard box and start a scrap parts collection. You never know what will come in handy.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
A lesson I learned from the late Art Curren's book on kitbashing: don't toss spare parts (structures or rolling stock). Save them. By the way this goes for wood laser cut kits as much as for plastic kits. Among the uses would be future kitbashing or semi scratchbuilding. Repairing unexpected disasters is another.
Based on experience I will say that just tossing spare parts into a box (although that is still better than throwing in the trash) might be something to regret. It pays to keep track of just what source those parts came from. Don't expect a post-it note to stick to styrene forever either.
Dave Nelson
Put them in a 'scrap box'. As you add other 'bits' you find you can make small buildings you can add to a main one. Even make unique stand alone ones too.
Here is a timber yard made mainly from my scrap box.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
I use the boxes in which Walthers' larger structure kits were sold...
Wayne
Thanks guys.
I will not throw away spare parts. For the last weeks, I have been using a big ziploc bag to put all the empty sprues and spare parts. I even add two round plastic that restaurant put to protect pizza from touching the box. I found that the shape could maybe be used in an industry ;)
Other uses for extra sprue pieces: gutters to hide the seam between building edges. and stir resin. I prefer to hid so wife doesn't conclude that my layout's a royal mess. Keeping stuff organized is a def challenge!
Model railroaders - the original hoarders. Never throw anything out - though after so many kits I do start tossing the sprues because once you have a big enough stash, unless you start taking some out and using them, you'll end up with an 80 gallon tote of nothing but sprues.
One real oddity (even more than the 'table' from pizza boxes) - many years ago I helped my neighbor put up a new light in his house. To protect the ends of the brazz threads on the ends of each arm were these oragne cone things. Yup, looked pretty close to the taller construction cones in HO. I used the old Tyco trolley street sections for the main street in my town, so I painted one side with a frech concrete color and then set up the cones to direct traffic around the fresh area. Wish I still had pictures of those old layouts I had as a kid. Crude by "serious" modeler standards but here and there I had some neat features.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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