chutton01One kit I gave up on because of it's poor fit was the McKean (I think) Centerbeam lumber-flat
I'm so glad to hear I wasn't the only one!!! I finished the car, but it wasn't without plenty of time and aggrevation.
Have any of you built the Lonestar Models livestock trailer? Awesome model, but applying the individual grab irons up the side of the trailer was enough to permanently cross your eyes. Naturally, they brought out an assembled version of the model a few months after I built mine. Oh well, it made me a better modeler (if not a better person!).
Bergie
Hi Bergie!
I just read your post and a friend of mine had three of these livestock trailer kits.He was totally frustrated trying to put the grab irons on, so he brought them over to my place and downstairs to the workshop we went.After examining the cars and realizing the probllem, here's how I solved it.I keep the small plastic butter dishes you get at the grocery store, and they get used for partslater on.I took a lid layed it upside down and put a couple of drops of glue onto it, Testors glue won't stick to this stuff , but will dry out eventually.Next I took one of my modelling T- pins I use on my RC balsa wood airplanes and slightly enlarged each grab iron hole, then with a pair of tweezers I picked up the grab irons after removing them from their sprues ( what chore that is too!) and very carefully dipped it into the drop of glue on the lid, then placed it in the grab iron holes.Geee whihizzzz I think after that I qualify to be a brain surgeon! LOL!
Would I like to do this for a living? I would think rather not! LOL!
TheK4Kid
gatefiveNo one has mentioned the Roundhouse "TankTrain" tank cars. I can't even get the handrailsnout of the support sprues in one piece. Anyone know the secret to building these things? I have about a dozen of these cars to build. Tell me more about your concerns and how your over came them...... Dick Foster gate5&gbis.com
DF:
I haven't done these (they're out of my era) but one thing that sometimes helps with fragile parts is to cut apart the sprue tree to free the part, then trim the sprue remnants off a little at a time. I bought a pair of flush sprue-cutters (Channelock, from a crabby bolt dealer in another town) and they're great for this, and any sprue-cutting.
Arjay1969 I think so. I do have to admit, though...the layout that it was built for has never been constructed, so it has remained a "Box Queen". It's only been on the rails for testing purposes. Heck, the wee beastie hasn't even been painted yet! But as the instructions themselves say, you can't expect this mechanism to perform like a brass model.
I think so.
I do have to admit, though...the layout that it was built for has never been constructed, so it has remained a "Box Queen". It's only been on the rails for testing purposes. Heck, the wee beastie hasn't even been painted yet! But as the instructions themselves say, you can't expect this mechanism to perform like a brass model.
This project has been in process/planning almost as long as the real Cedar Tap RR operated....
tin can This project has been in process/planning almost as long as the real Cedar Tap RR operated....
Well, you have the flatcars I cast for you, I have the shay ready for paint, all we have to do is actually BUILD the thing!
Robert Beaty
The Laughing Hippie
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The CF-7...a waste of a perfectly good F-unit!
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the
end of your tunnel, Was just a freight train coming
your way. -Metallica, No Leaf Clover
Bergie; Some 'nice' fellow had me put those grab irons on that very Lonestar stock car---not 1 but 5!!! Talk about headache after doing 2 let alone all of them----and then not making them look like someone tried to bend them into a square knot----
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
My most frustrating kit was an Athearn Genesis 2-8-2 Mike that needed the deatailing added. The eyelets were so small to run the boiler grab rail through that I needed a magnifying glass to make sure the alignment was right. Add in the fact that the factory pre-drilled holes were a tad too small and you needed super glue to attach them, I almost threw the thing through the window. It still isn't right and I've had it for almost 2 years.
I have built all types of kits with varying degrees of sucess .My all time brain buster was a Red Caboose 8000 Gal. tankcar. It had the most difficult detail parts I ever ran across. What finally resulted was the first piece of a railcar junk yard I will someday model.And I can't imagine it had any thing to do with either the divorce I was then going thru nor my lack of consistant sobrity!!
Oh by the way,I think I still hold a record for the longest launch directly from a spru!
twhiteBut there's something about those Proto 2000 kits--and I can't put my finger on it--that just drives me up the WALL!
Brothers and sisters, can we have an AMEN!!
I finally got one together minus several teeny weenie parts that broke or flipped off into never-never land. Speaking of 'never'... never again. It's all Atlas RTR for me from now on...
That car got itself donated to the club's rolling stock inverntory and I try not to look at it when it goes past for fear something will fall off.
Jarrell
Electriccharlie Oh by the way,I think I still hold a record for the longest launch directly from a spru!
Now that's funny!
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
The Dennis Storzek Soo Line caboose kit. I previously had built two of them, and the third got shuffled to the shelf, where it stayed for some twenty years. When I finally started building the kit, either I am getting old, or gremlins had made a home in the kit box. I managed to break the cupola roof, which by now had become brittle, I was frustrated by the directions, and it became an albatross around my neck, (without feathers). I finally tossed the directions in the basket, and built it MY WAY. With a few updates, it turned out okay, and is now on the layout
The Proto2k tank cars aren't far behind in being a PIA. One thing I found was, dump the plastic grab irons, and substitute Tichy grabs. Also I used brass wire for the railing around the tank.
Dumb Operator
The most frustrating I had was a Lionel train and building set from the 1970's. I don't remember the set name, but it included a number of action acessories/buildings all of which had to be put together. It was poorly made. I could get the acessories/buildings together, but getting the action parts to work correctly and reliably was impossible for me - the parts fit poorly and the plastic had warped in places. I finally gave up.
Enjoy
Paul
After scanning through all the posts, I can't believe there was no mention of Micro Engineering's Tall Steel Viaduct kits. Either nobody else here has attempted one or I need more help than I realized. I model Maine Central's Mountain Division and I wanted to include a model of Frankenstein Trestle. I already had one of ME's 75-514 kits that someone had "given" me (that should have been a clue) to get me started. Each kit includes parts for two viaducts, and I was going to need six in total, so I put the box aside until I had at least one more kit before starting. BIG mistake! As luck would have it, I found an assembled curved trestle supported by three Micro Engineering viaducts at a local train show. The viaducts had been assembled to a height of 50' (rather than the full 75'), but that was all that I needed to model Frankenstein Trestle. I found a single ME viaduct kit at a local hobbyshop to give me the six that I needed and decided to get started.
That big mistake I made was not starting construction of the original kit when I got it. (You know; do a little, put it aside - do a little more, put it aside - before the frustration level gets to the boiling point.) What a bear these kits have turned out to be. I have damaged several pieces just removing parts from the sprues, and yes, I am using very sharp implements. I am finding the instructions less than helpful. And remember, I have assembled viaducts to reference. I eventually went on line searched out ME viaduct kits. Guess what? So much has been written about the assembly of these kits that a couple of books could be published and there would probably be material leftover. The posts are extremely helpful though. One common thread was changing the order in which parts are assembled.
Anyhow, even though these kits are a true challenge to complete, the end product is amazing. The three [previously] assembled viaducts are in place. X's mark-the-spot on the scenery for the other three viaducts - after their assembly has been completed.
Cheers, Marty on Vancouver Island
This canoe car was my most difficult and somewhat frustrating kit I have assmbled. It came in flat white pre scored styrene sheets. I had to use my exacto knife on every piece. There were 8 pages of instructions. It took me hours and hours to assemble the many small parts. Then when it was almost finished I found out 1 sheet of parts was missing. However the supplier was great. He sent me the missing sheet at his own expense via courrier. I got it in 2 days. How about that. I must admit it didn't turn out too bad. But then that's my opinion...LOL. Now that P2K 10,000 gallon tank car kit...that was really difficult. The teeny weeny parts like the railings (which didn't hold up long) were relly hard to manipulate and instal.
Tom
P2K kits have been mentioned a number of times. I bought 4 of their 8,000 gallon tank cars. I built one of them (sort of) using the Tenax cement that was recommended. What a horrible experience... hated every minute of it. The other three sit there in their boxes. I've found it easy to resist the urge to build them.
Ditto for me - those P2K tank cars were a real challenge. I originally got 6 of these because they were on sale for $5 each at my local hobby store - I now know why. I took about a month [on and off] to complete one - then I had to apply the decals! Anyway it got a little easier each time and I did complete 5 and used one for spare parts. The hobby shop owner said he built a whole bunch - I asked him how long each one took - he said about 2 hours!! Is this experience or fantacy?
Anyway, I learned a few "tricks" to help with later projects:
Alan
Well, as I sit here in Guatemala aboard my sailboat reading about all the frustrations, it reminds me how much I relish the challenge, even though I don't need a Shay or a trestle. But as for parts that do not fit or are too flimsy/friable to make work, I do lose patience.
But if you have kits that won't work for you, I'd be glad to take them off your hands!!
See I LOVE P2K tank cars. If they are UTX or GATX plain black ones, send'em to me, I'll relieve you of the stress
I didn;t love them when I tried to build my first one. I actually put it away unfinished and gave up. A few months later I saw some more for a bargain price at a train show and decided to torture myself some more. After finally compelting the first of the new ones I found a great number of shortcuts that made assembly go MUCH easier. The next one took me less than 2 hours from the time I opened the box til I set it on the track, and then I went back to the old one and finally finished it. Oh and none of them were the "Timesaver" versions
Now of course you can't get any. I keep looking, but can't find any. Just the RTR ones. I want kits, darn it! Even Branchline seems to have abandoned rolling stock kits.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
The common complaint when building kits using those tiny #80 bits was one I lost a lot of hair over. What I found to resolve the frustration was to smear a tiny speck of model white grease between my thumb and index finger and then lighten coat the end of the bit. Changing to a #79 bit helps a bunch. Works great! And as the clothing man, Mr. Geo Z. says, "I quarantee it".
Ha again!
I posted earlier in this grouping, but apparently I had a mental block and did not recall the truly most exasperating kit I have attempted.
It was an early lasercut kit for a freight station, and the manufacturer was "American something or another". This was about 10-12 years or so when lasercut wood kits were not all that common. Well, I got my work desk all prepped and opened the kit and began to slice out the pieces with a sharp Xacto. I really was careful - imho - but out of the first 4 pieces two of them just split in two. It was like once the knife cut with the grain, the cut wanted to keep on going.
This soon got to the point that I was going to either burn it or wad it into a ball, so I stopped and put everything back into the box. A few years ago I sent it to a friend in Illinois for a present, and to this day he has (to the best of my knowledge) built it. In fact, I never got a thank you either.
Sadly, this experience has soured me against lasercuts, and I am sure there are good ones out there, but I just don't want to go thru than experience again.
Hope you do better!
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
IRONROOSTER The most frustrating I had was a Lionel train and building set from the 1970's. I don't remember the set name, but it included a number of action acessories/buildings all of which had to be put together. It was poorly made. I could get the acessories/buildings together, but getting the action parts to work correctly and reliably was impossible for me - the parts fit poorly and the plastic had warped in places. I finally gave up. Enjoy Paul
Paul:
Reminds me of the 'infamous' Lionel Paper Train that was distributed during WWII when they ceased production of electric trains. I was just a wee child, but my father--an architectural engineer--bought me one for Christmas and attempted to assemble it. Like just about any other father who bought it during the War, he finally gave up. The thing was IMPOSSIBLE to assemble.
I've always wondered if the REAL Lionel train set I got after the War was over was really for me, or just to relax HIM from all the frustration the paper train had caused, LOL!
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!