Scratch Built ?

[Anonymous]

I read the Athearn thread about them getting out of the kit business. And I got to thinking. We have new young people here and we have, um, older members such as myself and many in between. [:D]

Just how many of you, and please realize this is nothing against any members that have not, have experienced the joy and satisfaction of building a locomotive or rolling stock or buildings from plans in MR or plans you found or pictures you took with the actual measurements using a tape measure.

Realize that when I started the many choices of today were not available way back when. And the tools available were not as nice as today. Air brush - unheard of.

And it does take some time to build one of these beauties. Takes patience, delays, a little enginerring, and correcting mistakes. But when done it is a one of a kind - and yours.

Please share any experiences about what you built, why you built, how you built, when you built, and where you built so everyone else can get a peek through the crack in the scratch building door I have just opened. [:)]

[Anonymous]

I want to scratchbuilt a CR slug! I though about scratchbuilding SD40-2s but I'd like them on an Athearn frame. Scratchbuilding sounds like fun!

[Anonymous]

The first structures I built out of cereal box cardboard. They were intended as "mock-ups". I actually built two from plans in "Trackside structures you can model" - a Kalmbach/MR book. The oil & gas shed is fully scenicked and on my layout. The engine house I hope to replace one day with a fully scratch built version. Both are currently on my layout.

The next structure I built was my first real scratchbuild. It is a water tower built by "eye-ballin'" the Atlas version. Here's a picture or two:
http://www.the-gauge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6422&highlight=water+tower

At this point, I figured I had worked up the courage to build the "craftsman" kits I had spent my hard-earned money on [;)]. It's funny, but the "free" ones were much less intimidating, since I hadn't really spent any money on them! The craftsman kits were very close to scratchbuilding, as almost every part has to be cut and fit properly. The only difference is that 1) the pieces are all there, so you don't need a shopping list, 2) the plans are included, so no real research, and 3) there's no left overs to fill the parts bin!

Once I was finished the kit, I did scale down my HO coal dealer, and scratch built a N version for a friend.
http://www.the-gauge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6682&highlight=coal

I have not (yet) scratch built a loco or rolling stock. Plenty of time for that - I'll need it to work up the courage [;)]


Andrew

[ndbprr]

I partially scratch built and partially kitbashed a representation of one of the Westinghouse schnabel cars with a load. I used a combination of a Walthers articulated flat car and Athearn heavy duty flats for the ends. The load was scratched froma length of PVC pipe. MR never responded to my inquiry if they would want an article or not so it resides in my basement.

[Anonymous]

Interesting, I to used cardboard for buildings and started with tool sheds. Must have been all of ten or so. Used Xacto tools. The curved blade was a heck of a tool to use in modeling. [:)]

[Anonymous]

I have scratchbuilt from cardboard, paper, watercolour paints, plasticard (you might know it as sheet styrene[:)]), evergreen strip and poly scale paints all the buildings on my layout bar two plastic kits, one craftsman kit and two old Sydam cardboard kits.

I don't buy craftsman kits as it takes just as much effort as scratchbuilding and costs a lot more. The Walthers catalogue is a great place to get ideas!

I don't scratch build locomotives yet but I am buiilding up to it [:)] I hope to be doning it by the summer.

neil

[mls1621]

Besides several trestles, my first challenging scratch building project was a concrete arch bridge for my neighbors layout in N scale.

The hardest part was deciding on the material to use. After deciding on styrene, the next challenge was creating the arches. The answer came from my wife. She suggested an embroidry hoop as a fixture for the curve of the arches.

After some experimentation, I was able to clamp square styrene in the embroidry hoop and palce it in a 200 degree over for 10 minutes. After cooling, it held the shape and I was on my way.

The final product came out great and I've used the method again to create a steel arch bridge for my own N scale layout.

I'm presently engaged in scratch building hot metal cars for my neighbor's N scale steel mill module. The double truck bogies are well on the way to completion and the metal vessel is just a lathe visit away from reality.

Scratch building is frustrating and emensely gratifying.

[Anonymous]

After sratchbuilding a few things (currently 2 completely from scratch, a few other things I have added on to) out of balsa, I don't think I will use a kit for anything but what I need a lot of.

My first project was an HO iron ore mineshaft. Rather interesting, as the only information I had on it was one picture http://www.mg.mtu.edu/eurek3.jpg. Took me about three weeks of hobby time to make. I had to guess every measurement, as the photo has no real scale reference that I could have used. I also only had a view of two sides, so the other sides were also guessed at. The finished model stands about a foot high and is currently sitting on a diorama awaiting scenery. After three weeks, I was anxious to start another project, so the scenery got put to the backburner.

My other scratchbuilt project (which, I am happy to proclaim "finished") is a small wood caboose. I worked from some hand drawn blueprints that I found somewhere. The only commercial parts are two Kadee sprung trucks, a cut down Athearn chassis rib, and Sergent couplers in Kadee boxes (oh, the irony). The sides were cut from balsa sheets, the roof from an old manilla folder, and copper wires for all the grabirons. I fitted it with a full interior, painted and lettered it myself. Brings some nice compliments down at the club!

I'm suprised more people don't scratchbuild. It's dirt cheap (about $1 worth of materials for my mineshaft and $.50 for my caboose, minues the commercial parts), provides a lot of hobby time, and the end result is a unique model that no one else has and one can be proud of. And no, those craftsmen kits do not count as scratchbuilding, because they have instructions.

[Anonymous]

To build mountains, I used chicken wire and paper mache. It worked pretty well. Made all the roadbed. Bevels were the hardest on curves to do. Bought the model gravel and glue. Looked pretty good though. [:)]

[Anonymous]

I've been scratch building and kitbashing for years. I started out with cardboard structures and moved on from there to locomotives and rollingstock.
Here's a link to some of my locomotives , some of you may have allready seen them.
http://www.the-gauge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6376

If you are interested in scratchbuilding, start with a simple project and work your way up. I've seen a lot of people get discouraged because they try to tackle a major scratchbuilding project as their first attempt. Practice your skills and do your research.
Happy modeling.

[DSchmitt]

[:)]My first scratch build was a the Meet Packing Plant from the from a book called Model Railroading which is mainly devoted to Lionel Trains. I was a Freshman in High School at the time. It is a Frank Elison Building. The article on consists of three pictures. One of the pictires has dimensions added showing it to be 6" w x 9 1/2" l x 6" h (at the eves) in O scale. I built it in approximate HO scale. Bricks , windows and door were drawn on paper using a ball point pen. Bricks were painded with paints from a paint by number set. The paper was glued to card board.

My second was Frank's Small Parts Factory from the same book. Again in HO, I eventually built two In N Scale while in college) [:D]

I have also built N scale various maintenance equipment (tie shear, spike puller, tie crane, etc. from plans in Railroad Model Craftsman, from photos and from copying the parts in a HO scale kit. My last one is a materials handeler crane on a gondola. I built it several years before the N scale kit by Railway Express Minitures. I had no plans or dimensions, just photos and knowledge and my preious models as a guide.

I've also built the turntable at Laws CA based on plans and photos and a representation of the ore transfer dock at Owenyo CA based only on poor photos.

You never know what you can do if you don't try. Scratch building is fun and gives one a strong sence of accomplishment. It also takes desire and motivation which I seem to lack most of the time..

The people who make craftsman kits are modelers who wi***o share with others and make a profit doing it. They deserve our support when their product is good. There is usually only a limited market for their products and a lot of effort is required to develop, manufactue it. Marketing is a little easier since the advent of the Internet, but still difficult. Therefore their prices must be high compated to the cost of materials involved.

I have bought kits where I decided, upon opening the box, that I could scratch build a better model. I have also seen nice models, built by others, from these kits.

Since I am primairly in N scale most of my cars are RTR or shake the box kits. I don't hesitate to repaint and decal to get what I want, however. I sometimes modify cars to make them closer to the prototype, but don't worry about small detail differences.

[Jetrock]

I started scratchbuilding at about age ten, like several people above have mentioned, making shacks and shanties out of cardboard. I never got much into scratchbuilding rolling stock, but I certainly built a lot of structures.

During a period when I was heavily into SF miniatures wargaming, I scratchbuilt a few 15mm and 25mm scale vehicles.

But mostly I'm into kitbashing. I have kitbashed plenty of rolling stock and motive power, or at least made modifications to kits I'm building. My latest kitbash was turning an old Mantua "bobber" caboose from a single-truck version into a double-truck version, using an old caboose underframe from the junk box. Total cost was about $2, and then only because I replaced the worn-out trucks and wheels on the old underframe with a new set, and the cost of a pair of Kadees to replace the original's horn-hooks.

I am drawing up plans for a couple of scratchbuilt projects--an interurban freight motor that was converted into a caboose, and an Art Deco gas station located near my home.

[Anonymous]

GG:

From what I've read Athern continues to insist they are not considering exiting the kit business. Why should they? Its both a profitable and traditional line for them.

Some of the less mature minds in this and other venues continue to spread disinformaton for their own purposes.

Randy

[Anonymous]

Hi rda1964, That's one of the reasons I started this post to have the members that have scratch built share with others what can be done. And to show that, Hey so what, we have other options available to us. Some of which can be plumb downright enjoyable to do.

I don't know how many have built wood rolling stock from kits. but the results can be mighty impressive. And then you can buy railroad model wood stock to build frieght and passenger cars. Let's see there would be the cost of paint, decals (anyone try decals on a computer yet?), trucks, and couplers. Alot of the hardware can be scratch built as in grab irons, ladders etc fairly easily. I would guess that a person could build quite a few frieght cars in a relatively short amount of time once the materials and tools were in place and templates made. And guess what they would be one of a kind as I have said before. [:)]

Just thought of something, our computers could very well be a big help in modeling. How many of you use real time to transfer plans or photos while your talking to someone. And this is off topic a bit, but I can let you into my computer to browse my railroad photos if I set it up. A temporary server in other words.

Also, you can tutor and/or troubleshoot computers this way. That's why I wondered about making decals from scratch on the computer. Should be able to. Will have to check this out further.

And don't forget back issues of MR (and others) for plans to use in scratch building.

A question here. How many evenings would it take to scratch build a simple freight box car if a person really got after it?

[Anonymous]

A simple HO boxcar could probably be scratchbuilt in about 3 evenings, take or leave a little. My caboose took about one week, but boxcars are significantly simpler than cabeese. The actual work could be done in one or two evenings, but time would be needed to allow glue and paint to dry.

[Anonymous]

How would any of you rate the ease of scratch building models? I think the simple box car the easiest and a Steam locomotive the hardest. Where do the rest come in?

[Anonymous]

I am thinking of using a kato frame with a scarch built shell.

[Dough]

For some reason I've gotten really interested in MoW. And other than a little bit of Kershaw stuff, it is looking like I am going to have to scratch build everything. I have never done anything that major so I figure that I will start converting box cars to tool cars and go from there.

Its going to be a long while before I start building any ribbon rail or Loram rail grinders...[;)]

[UpNorthBob]

I am interested in building some scratch-built structures. Several years ago, my wife threw out a box of old MR magazines that had gotten damp in our basement (they smelled moldy, and she reacts to mold). Many of those old magazines had nice plans for different structures. Does anyone know if MR has old plans for sale from their magazines?

[Anonymous]

Bob - you can order back issues from trains.com, but the easiest thing would be to see if your local train shop has back issues for sale. Mine sells RMC, MR, trains, and others for 50 cents each. You're right about the older issues - they seemed to feature more scale plans than today's issues.

Andrew

[DSchmitt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Dough

For some reason I've gotten really interested in MoW. And other than a little bit of Kershaw stuff, it is looking like I am going to have to scratch build everything. I have never done anything that major so I figure that I will start converting box cars to tool cars and go from there.
[;)]

Railroad Model Craftsman had 5 or 6 articles. I also used an HO kits as a guide to making models in N scale. I don't remember at the moment who made the kits, but I saw some of them for sale at the Western Depot train store in Yuba City CA last Saturday
I didn't know they were still available.

Thestore is on the net at http://www.westerndepot.com/

In 1983 I scratch built , in N scale, a Tie Shear, two different types of Tie Cranes, a Speeder, and a Spike Puller is 4 days This type equipment is actually pretty easy to build since it can be representated by combinations of very basic shapes.

[Dough]

DSchmitt, I'll have to look into those articals. I have seen a lot of the tie repair equipment and the ballast equipment. I am going to have to look for those articals and see what they have. That sounds like you have got some impressive N scale models though!

[Anonymous]

I went into old copies of MR today and there is a wealth of info residing in those pages covering plans, materials, and photos of scratchbuilds. Seems like the further back the the more there are. The point here is they don't get old. And if someone wants to model in a certain era much info is in those back copies.

We have the best of both worlds - ideas from the past and modern day tools and resources to scratchbuild. [:)]

[on30francisco]

When I get into a lazy mood I go to the public library and look through the old issues of Model Railroader or Model Railroad Craftsman (they have big collections) for interesting articles, plans, and instructions for scratchbuilding structures and rolling stock. As greengoose1 stated, the further back the more there are. When I see a useful or interesting article, I make photocopies of it for future reference.

[Anonymous]

I scratchbuilt my sawmill's main shed, based on some photos in a book about West Virginia logging RR's. The structure is all styrene and pretty simple. The windows are steel sash industrial windows from a DPM module pack. The roofing is corrugated metal from Campbell, treated with etchant solution to give it a really worn out look.

I built it because I couldn't afford the Walther's Mountain Lumber Co. I originally wanted, and it allowed me to tailor it exactly to fit my needs. And it was actually easier than many of the Walthers kits I've assembled![oX)]

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine dared me to scratch build a shed. Since then I have scratch built bridges, a few water tanks, flat cars and I have built many kits that are pretty much scratchbuilding - Rio Grande Models in particular. I highly recommend scratch building. It is fun and you get a great sense of accomplishment. It also allows you to have stuff on your layout that you won't find on every one else's layout (cornerstone kits come to mind).

Guy

[Anonymous]

Scratchbuilding is alot of fun . If you look at my web you will see that everything is scratch built .all the houses are ideas i got from a magazine or just out of my head .I enjoyed making everthing it was a personal chalenge. The wood came from a local supplier NORTHEAST LUMBER. the funny thing is ,all for free .Well I went dumpster diven and got alot of stock .all of the windows are Grant line .Some of of these houses were done two or three times ,this was all new to me .trying to make everything look realistic was the hardest ,do you no all this was done just for a turtle .My name became scratchbrules because scratchbuilding rules.Icant wait to finish more of my layout .This was all done in one winter so I cant wait to start again.

AL

[Anonymous]

Scratch building is well worth it - for my 009 layout (HOn30) I scratbuilt locos and rolling stock on commercial chassis usually in Plasticard and they still look pretty good to me. The downside is everything takes time but isn't that what modelling's about.

Take a look at the Model Railway Journal (a UK publiacation) if you ever get the chance, your very own (?) Iain Rice was a big wheel in there and the inspiration is incredible but don't expect to fill your basement in a couple of weeks - start small and set a standard and the satisfaction is oncredible

[rogerhensley]

I have scratchbuilt or kitbashed a highway bridge, a grain elevator, a Quonset hut, a garage, a church and several other structures. I am scratchbuilding a plastics plant even as we speak. No, it is not for the 'fun' of it. It is to fill a need on my layout. I want buildings like ones that I knew or that fill a specific need. Many folks think of scratchbuilt as a 'contest quality' model. Those are great, but it can also fill a need for your railroad.

To help promote scratchbuilding and kitbashing, the NMRA has added 'Scratchbuild Showcase/Kitbash Korner' pages on its web site. They link right off of the home page at: http://www.nmra.org/