I just have one problem with the Bachmann Model train manufacturer brand. The tracks are fine, the trains are fine, but the buildings just do not give me the appeal I am looking for. For me, now I am a perfectionist, and they lack the detail and the kitbashing availability. This is the most popular brand at my local train shop, and I was wondering if anybody knows of a good, reliable brand with good detail and good Kitbashing ability. Please respond if you have any info. Thank you very much!
If you are a perfectionist, you want Fine Scale Miniatures for a start.
Bachmann Plasticville are toy quality which is common knowledge.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Who thinks this posting is for real?
The only Bachmann structures of which I'm aware are their recently re-released city structures, and they're very nicely detailed. If I were planning an urban layout, they'd certainly be on the list for inclusion.
Walthers offers a wide array of building kits suitable for kitbashing, as shown below, but there are other suitable structures by Design Preservation, City Classics, Rix, Atlas, along with Kibri, Vollmer, etc., etc. Check any recent issue of MR or RMC for structure ads.
Walthers kitbashes:
DPM modulars:
LifeLike:
Revell:
The three green structures on the left are Walthers kitbashes, while the one on the right is from Cox, I think: built-up and unpainted, it cost a quarter at the LHS, but a quick paint job and a couple of details helped it to fit right in.
If you're already willing to kitbash, you're only a step away from scratchbuilding. With doors and windows readily available from Grandt Line and Tichy, plus Evergreen sheet siding in various styles, Walthers plain brick sheets and numerous printed paper options, any structure can be scratchbuilt. Even those simple Bachmann kits of which you speak can be upgraded using Tichy or Grandt Line details: I have some as-yet-unbuilt AHM houses with clunky-looking doors, windows, and porch railings that will be upgraded in a similar manner.
One of the most important tools for kitbashing is having the imagination to see the model you want hidden inside of the model that's available. A good sense of design, basic engineering knowledge, and proportion helps, too.
By the way, BT, to the Forums.
Wayne
don7 Who thinks this posting is for real?
If it's not, we'll make it so.
Well,in all fairness,I've seen some of them and with a little work they could be satisfactory for a layout.
The Supermarket.Has a 40's-50's look about it.Throw the preprinted interior in the recycling bin.
Carve off the cast on lettering.Carve off the side window.Place some preprinted brick walls on the side.Place some clear styrene in the front window.Draw some sale posters in the window.Finally,get some Blair Line signs out front-they have A&P Supermarkets-or go to any image site like Flick'r or Google Images and look up vintage supermarkets and print them off and place em'on the front.
The House Under Construction.Weather it a little.Replace the figures with more accurate construction figures and equipment and vehicles.
AztecEagleWell,in all fairness,I've seen some of them and with a little work they could be satisfactory for a layout.
This Plasticville site use to be good, had links to all of the various O & HO plasticville kits, but now seems truncated - you can reach various products indirectly via Plasticville for sale (example - the infamous Cape Cod house), but my IE8 web browser is not showing direct links like I remembered - boo!With a little work you could make the various later suburban houses (e.g. colonial house from some website) look good (repainting a must, maybe replace the windows and details,some landscaping).
*I don't want to think how much a set of those 1-piece 1950s autos would cost now - but, since I purchaed my set in the early 1980s at trainland, they would NOT collectors items - whew!
I think this was a Plasticville Supermarket. It's something I had when I was a kid, probably in the EIsenhower administration.
I have a string of 3 of these buildings, Post office, Super Market and something else - hardware store, maybe. On this one, I tossed the paper "window treatments" and turned it into the Jack Frost Ski Shop, in honor of the shop my in-laws run up at Sunday River. I even photographed their front window and signs. I picked up some Preiser skiers to use as manequins.
I always regard any kit, even a high-end one with lots of detail parts, as a starting point for a model. Adding an interior, lighting and the surrounding scenery is what turns a kit into a model.
That's why I'm a fan of simpler kits like DPM and City Classics. I have a lot of fun with 4 walls and a roof.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Plasticville like any other plastic kit has potential, you have to look beyond the box. They all can be kit bashed into respectable structures. You will need to scrape off the lettering and do some filing, painting and detailing, it's up to you. The store fronts have that 50's feel to them and those single story stores fit real nice between two DPM kits, so you don't have to see the sides. I've used a few.
Bachmann HO scale Plastiville buildings are simply resized version og the old O/S gauge buildings from back in the 50s.They are a decent start for some nicely kitbashed buildings that simply are not available any other way.
I have some of the Bschmann Plasticville buildings myself. For the most part I don't really like the looks of them and they're relegated to the back of the layout. I prefer the DPM buildings for the closer structures.
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Bob Tommy .., and I was wondering if anybody knows of a good, reliable brand with good detail and good Kitbashing ability. Please respond if you have any info. Thank you very much!
.., and I was wondering if anybody knows of a good, reliable brand with good detail and good Kitbashing ability. Please respond if you have any info. Thank you very much!
Second to Fine Scale Miniatures, I would suggest Bar Mills. They are fine laser cut wood kits. Very well detailed.here:
http://www.barmillsmodels.com/
ANd here:
http://www.wholesaletrains.com/HOProducts2.asp?Scale=HO&Item=bmmklc
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
I just picked up the MR "Railroading in the Fifties" magazine and one of the articles in there speaks to changes in post-war architecture and the emergence of "kitschy" (my term) styles for retail stores (and restaurants, etc). To be sure, some of the vertical sign structures and such also predated WW2, but the Plasticville stuff does give one a good starting point for this type of building display. I found a number of them ar available at Hobbytowns in my area.
As relatively inexpensive kits, they DO present good kitbashing and innovating possibilities.
Cedarwoodron
Welcome to the forums, where collectively we have been known to cheer the well picked nit from time to time.The Plasticville line ( now promoted by Bachman) has been part of the hobby for a very long time, not because of their attention to detail, ease of assembly, or classic styling of mid-western Americana architecture, but mostly because their structures can be used as representatives of many generic places. Yes, I have some of their buildings on my layout that date back to my early days in this hobby in the 1960's. Part of progressing in modeling skills is the willingness to build to the best of one's ability, and then adapting, redesigning, kit bashing, scratch building something better.
Since you are ready to go beyond the generic, either find or order one of the Walthers annual catalogs, simply to be exposed to a sizeable portion of those kits that are available from many other suppliers. Their catalog will also give you a good idea of the range of detail parts and scratch building supplies that are available for hobbyists. This is a hobby that will let you grow in your perfectionism and still be considered a good fellow.
Welcome to Plasticville
I bought a couple of the Plasticville houses a couple of years ago at KB toys. They had them in a clearance bin for a dollar a piece. For a buck I wasn't going to lose much. After repainting, adding tv antennas, air conditioners, and landscaping the yards they came out really nice. The only problem with them is that they are really small and do not fit with other house on the market. As a background building they are fantastic. They are a bargain if you like to play around with buildings and like to modify things a bit.
RMax
RMax1I bought a couple of the Plasticville houses a couple of years ago at KB toys. They had them in a clearance bin for a dollar a piece. For a buck I wasn't going to lose much. After repainting, adding tv antennas, air conditioners, and landscaping the yards they came out really nice. The only problem with them is that they are really small and do not fit with other house on the market.
river_eagleWelcome to Plasticville