what is the difference in suppliers

[wickman]

can some explain the difference from one supplier of structures compared to the other . I'm currentley looking for a good supplier for purchasing structures such as a steel mill saw mill and mine and possibly a brewery and cement industries basically a supplier for industries. On the internet there are all kinds of places but what is the difference in quality between one to the next I don't want to order something and find out its too toyish looking.I sit normal to purchase cheaper costly structures and then do what use call kit bash ing it ?
Can some of you more experienced builders give me some places to check out for structures.
Lynn[:)]

[jwr_1986]

You'll find that as long as you stay with reputable model companies, not the toy companies, you'll do allright. The main difference between suppliers other than price is the way the kit is constructed. Walthers plastic kits are relatively cheap and easy where as say bar mills laser cut wood kits require an immense amount of skill to complete. Get yourself a walther's catalog as it has a huge structure section and give one of them a shot then hone your skills and try more advanced kits from there. Good Luck.

Jesse

[cwclark]

what you have are a bunch of retail middle men who order from the wholesale companies that produce the product..in a nut shell most of the companies you see are legit... I like to order from walthers, trainworld, and standard hobby as advertized in MRR magazine and two of my favorite internet companies are www.internettrains.com and www.discounttrainsonline.com most of these companies are dependable with speedy delivery in most cases unless it's an out of stock item in which you'll wait months for it to come in due to the back order involved...chuck

[Adelie]

What generally makes a structure look toylike to me is oversized window and door trim (window frames that are 3 scale feet thick!). If you see pictures of what you are considering buying, it will be quite obvious if this is a problem.

Otherwise, pretty much any plastic kit can be made to not look plastic with a little painting and weathering.

[claycts]

Neat book to get, Basic Structure Mdeling by Jeff Wilson. You can get it from MRM. this will tell you how to take a $10.00 kit and make it look like a $100.00 kit. Mark hit the nail on the head as far s "TOY LIKE" you can shave off the toy stuff and make it look better.
My $.02

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cwclark

what you have are a bunch of retail middle men who order from the wholesale companies that produce the product..in a nut shell most of the companies you see are legit... I like to order from walthers, trainworld, and standard hobby as advertized in MRR magazine and two of my favorite internet companies are www.internettrains.com and www.discounttrainsonline.com most of these companies are dependable with speedy delivery in most cases unless it's an out of stock item in which you'll wait months for it to come in due to the back order involved...chuck

Chuck,

I don't think he was asking where to get 'em as much as he was asking which ones to get.

Cheers,

Ed

[wickman]

first off
Thanks for the links

Actually Ed I was inquiring also where to get them and I do appreciate the links all input I've gotten from all of you advanced modelers has been a great help.
I would like to know though if say something thats laser cut wood can be just as good or realistic looking as say one of the walthers models . Right now I'm looking into a mine at this site http://valleymodeltrains.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_142&products_id=3391&osCsid=f2903003c567e093efb6cd1066664c2e and I think it looks pretty darn good but kinda expensive compared to other mines I've seen that were also laser cut wood , now is it expensive because of the quality or because its just over priced. This is kinda what I'm trying to get sorted out.
I'm also looking as a comparison (or maybe not compareable) at this site has a mine http://www.discounttrainsonline.com/dto/item272-130470.html I'm not sure if its laser cut wood or not I emailed them to try to get some info.
I'm obviously going to be looking for other structures as well like saw mill , cement plant and anything to do with a loading dock for transports that sorta stuff. I'm a real novice at this.
Lynn[:)]

[dgwinup]

Lynn,

As you are rapidly finding out, modeling kits can get expensive. Discounttrainsonline is a good source for your modeling needs and they have reasonable prices. You might do better, however, by searching through the listings on e-Bay. The Faller old mine has been around for years. I believe Model Power made one just like Faller's or so similar that you can't really tell the difference, and Model Power would be cheaper (usually).

Spend some time researching what is available. The same or similar items have been made by multiple manufacturers over the years. Seems like one manufacturer makes a product for a few years, sells the molds to another company who makes the item for a few years, then sells the mold again. Some products have been available for dozens of years, but from different manufacturers! Most of the items sold for the model railroad hobby can be made to look realistic, even if they look toy-like to begin with. Painting to eliminate the plastic 'shine' will go a long ways towards realistic appearance.

Also, don't rule out a kit because the box is marked as something other than what you want. Model Power's old Casket Company kit can also be used as a brewery building, as well as other uses. Other kits can be similarly converted, often just by changing the signs on the building.

A word of caution: since you are new to modeling, you might want to avoid the laser craftsman kits until you have more experience building models. These are usually expensive kits that require a fair amount of skill to assemble properly. Start with some less expensive plastic kits until you feel comfortable with basic assembly procedures, then graduate to the more expensive kits. It is very demoralizing to make a costly mistake on an expensive kit. If you screw up a cheap plastic kit, you haven't lost much and the knowledge you gained from the mistakes didn't cost you an arm and a leg!

Look around at all the different kits that are available and consider how you can use different kits to make what you want. You can have a lot of fun finding a kit that meets your needs while saving you a bundle of money!

Have fun!

Darrell, quiet...for now

[GMTRacing]

Lynn,
Good advice above on starting with easy kits then working up. I deal with Valley Model Trains and all their stuff has been high quality, top shelf, etc. It is generally pricier because most of the kits have great detail and the owner doesn't stock the less expensive less detailed stuff.. They are also a lot more time consuming to construct even though I've been buildiing models for 50 years. If you shop around you can probably find the same kit for half a dozen different prices. I use VMT because I trust them and have had prompt service. If you are doing mail order stuff you should consider also the distance the vendor is from you. I gave up on a couple of the other vendors mentioned above because it took forever for them to even ship the stuff they had in stock. So, start simply, and find vendors you like to deal with. J.R.

[wickman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by GMTRacing

Lynn,
Good advice above on starting with easy kits then working up. I deal with Valley Model Trains and all their stuff has been high quality, top shelf, etc. It is generally pricier because most of the kits have great detail and the owner doesn't stock the less expensive less detailed stuff.. They are also a lot more time consuming to construct even though I've been buildiing models for 50 years. If you shop around you can probably find the same kit for half a dozen different prices. I use VMT because I trust them and have had prompt service. If you are doing mail order stuff you should consider also the distance the vendor is from you. I gave up on a couple of the other vendors mentioned above because it took forever for them to even ship the stuff they had in stock. So, start simply, and find vendors you like to deal with. J.R.

Thanks very good advice I've talked to someone else that did the exact same model from valley he said it was a very good kit and easy to follow