Ready to run vs. kit

[Noah Hofrichter]

I myself prefer both, if there simple kits like athearn. Have fun with this poll,

Noah[:p][8D][:p]

P.S. If there are any more brands of kits I should add, let me know, as these were the only ones I could think of at the moment.

[Anonymous]

I have built nearly every kit in Both Athearn and Roundhous's inventory. I still buy several for the occasional take a brake and do something simple kick I am prone to have every now and then. But I tend to look for the higher intermediat level kits like Brachline or Craftsman kits like the old Ambroid Line.

James.

[AggroJones]

I like the simplicity of Athearn car kits. And with a little help, they are awsome.
Accurail, MDC, and Athearn bluebox are the base of my fleet.

If somthing is in kit form and RTR, I'd choose the kit. Its cheaper, and it uses some skill to assemble.

With locomotives, they come basically RTR anyway, so it doesn't matter.

[orsonroy]

I choose kits depending on my mood and what I "need" for my roster. If I need a basic kit and have the option, I'll choose a simpler kit by Accurail or Bowser, which are nevertheless very nice castings. If the car's not available by either of these manufacturers, I start looking at the higher-end kits with lots of parts: Red Caboose, Intermountain, Branchline, Life Like Proto. If they don't have what I need, I move on to resin.

These days, I generally stay away from Accurail and Roundhouse, since there are other manufacturers out there making most of the same cars that feature MUCH better tooling and paint accuracy. The only major exceptions are Roundhouse's wood side cabooses and passenger cars, which are almost the only cars of their kinds available, and lend themselves well to kitbashing!

[Anonymous]

Of the approximately 100 freight cars I have, only three are RTR. One is an Athearn wide vision caboose, another is an Atlas caboose and one is an Atlas Hopper. The rest are kit built Athearn, Roundhouse, Walthers, Branchline, Red Caboose, Intermountain, C&BT Shops, Accurail and other kits. Seeing the direction the manufacturers seem to be taking, I would have never bought the RTR cars I have. I don't want RTR or pre-built structures and am unwilling to support them with my purchases. I am sorry the people coming into the hobby now do not seem to understand the pleasures of building kits! I think this is sad!

[Anonymous]

That is one of the reasons I am hosting a scratchbuilding compitition. To show people that building models is fun. Not only that, its not as hard as it sounds.

[Hawks05]

a lot of the stuff i got when i first started was RTR or kits already put together.

but since time has progressed i've bought a lot of kits and i've put a lot together.

Grayhound i gotta talk to you on MSN.

[Anonymous]

i like all the choices except intermounitin

[nfmisso]

I have kits from:
Accurail, Athearn, Bowser, Branchline, ConCor, Details West, E&B, E&C, FRP, F&C, IMWX, InterMountain, Kadee, Kato, LL P2K, McKean, MDC-Roundhouse, Red Caboose, Robins Rails, Stewart, Urlich, Walthers, Westerfield

And RTR or built kits by:
Accurail, Athearn, Atlas, Bachmann, ConCor, E&B/Accurate Finishing, Ertl, Front Range Products, Intermountain, Kadee, Life Like Proto2000, Lima, Red Caboose, Walthers

My wife prefers that I get RTR, I like both <G>

[CP5415]

I do prefer kits over RTR. I'd only choose RTR if I there were no kit available.

Gordon

[easyaces]

[:)]Both are ok with me.

[Anonymous]

Both are. All my stock is RTR but I plan on buying some Athearn kits. I've been talking to Hawks and Grayhound and they don't look hard.

[Anonymous]

I would rather put together a kit than just open a box, but it depends on what's available.

[Hawks05]

i recently bought a Gunderson Husky Stack RTR car. the instructions on putting together the kit is insane. after putting together mainly boxcars i think i'll stick with them for awhile.

i do however plan on buying some of those stack cars in the future.

[Anonymous]

Kits all the way. RTR just doesn't have the flair. I can weather kits alot easier in kit form then in RTR.

[AggroJones]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Wolf0503

Kits all the way. RTR just doesn't have the flair. I can weather kits alot easier in kit form then in RTR.

Exactly. I was looking for an Athearn SP baywindow caboose kit because it's easier to weather in pieces, but all I could find are the RTR versions. That really blows. $6.75 vs $14.95.

Way easier to age in kit form.

[Jetrock]

All of the above. I try to buy used, although that doesn't necessarily mean "ready to run", as even RTR stuff new in the box may need new couplers, wheelsets, weathering, details, etcetera. I like simple kits as a fun distraction but a detailed kit can be enjoyable in its own way. But hey, sometimes I make an elaborate home-cooked meal and other days I just get fast food--the fast food costs more and doesn't taste as good but sometimes I'm not in the mood to cook! At least I know how to if I want to...

[sparkingbolt]

So far I've gone mostly with kits, but I did find that an Athearn RTR SP bay window caboose was painted nicer, the details were painted, such as the aluminum window frames, grab irons and finer lettering. The end details, including the ladders were the body color, not black plastic and bare metal wire.. The RTR also has glazed windows that the kit doesn't include, and the RTR has metal wheelsets. It was only about 1/4 oz shy of NMRA weight, not enough to fuss about. All of this raised the bar on what I'm gonna have to do to the kit I have of the same type caboose! Well worth the extra price. Dan

[Anonymous]

I like both. But I voted Ready to Run.

[IRONROOSTER]

I buy based on the car regardless of whether it is RTR or a kit. While S scale has been growing and has a good supply, it has not yet reached the point of having a lot of overlap of products. I enjoy building the kits and have also collected parts to do some scratchbuilding, but I have to admit when you're first starting in a scale RTR gets you going quicker.
Enjoy
Paul

[tomwatkins]

I prefer kits. I've built Accurail, Intermountain, Red Caboose plus a variety of resin kits from several manufacturers. Kits take more time but I find them easier to detail, weather and weight properly than RTR.
Have Fun,
Tom Watkins

[ClinchValleySD40]

I like both. It doesn't matter which it is, if I need (want) it, I buy it. I really love the Atlas ready to run, my favorite.

[Fergmiester]

What ever catches my eye and looks good. Except for the price I would give Walthers two thumbs up as they are starting to produce some very nice stuff.

I get little satisfaction glueing hand rails and other small items on a body as I find this tedious and mind numbing. But that's just me.

[MAbruce]

Kits in N-scale?? [(-D][(-D]

There were actually a couple of N-scale kit makers not too long ago - Roundhouse & Intermountain. But they stopped making them. You can still pick up the Roundhouse kits on clearance, and I like them (especially for the price). Intermountain kits are harder to find, and seem to command a higher price.

[Martin4]

Although I have a few RTR items, I prefer kits because the fun of building is an important part of the hobby for me. Kits are easier to weather and superdetail. I don't have a real preference for any brand as I have kits from almost every manufacturer, but I appreciate Intermountain and A-Line kits for putting many detail parts that don't exist in other brands' kits.

Martin
Québec City

[Anonymous]

The last time I looked at the pole results for this post, nobody was saying anything about MDC-Roundhouse (which, by the way is the same company). If you like Athearn kits, there is no reason you won't like MDC! I think MDC should be getting way more [:)]Smilie Faces[:)] than they seem to be getting! Sheesh, if you need Ore Jimmy-Jenney cars, they got 'um! How about old truss rod cars, yep! Overton, Overland, Harriman passenger cars, Yup, Yup! They offer an outstanding inventory and are priced very reasonably! Their best offerings are their many differant cabeeses! MDC cars are generally slightly more complicated than Athearn's. They will take you a whole 15 minutes to assemble, as opposed to 10 for Athearn's. I saw one person slam MDC's cars on this forum and have to say I totally disagree!

[rambo1]

I like to sit down at night and work on a intermountain or proto 2000 kit for an hour or two until the kit is finished I find this relaxing unless you lose a small part. I love the end product from these hits. rambo1....

[AntonioFP45]

Deschane,

Two points I like to comment with you:

[1] I must agree with you 100% that MDC/Roundhouse makes some great looking freight car kits. I was especially pleased with the MDC/Roundhouse 5 bay Southern Railway hopper that I bought recently. I wi***hat MDC/Roundhouse would offer a greater variety like Athearn. I like Athearns freight cars, but incredibly I have KD coupler pocket problems 70% of the time! Nothing a few tools can't fix though.

[2]On page 1 of this thread, you commented that it's a shame that new comers to the hobby are being introduced to RTR. I hear you, but at the same time consider that there are some adult "newbies" that have "spurts" of available time to model and want to build up a small or large fleet in a short time period.

Additionally, some modelers prefer to spend more time on operation than they do kit building. I'm a kit builder myself and have never owned RTR freight car models, but I'm "squeezed" timewise also, especially since I'm getting into DCC which is a time consumer itself!

I'm considering "checking out RTR cars", however, I can't see spending $30 for some RTR freight cars that I saw at my LHS. I hope that there are some decent RTR cars in the $10 to $20 price range. I can always add "see thru" walkways myself with detail parts.[;)]

For now, 90% of my freight cars are Athearn & MDC. [:)][8D]

Just a thought![;)]

[Anonymous]

AntonioFP45, My only problem with RTR stuff is it appears they are replacing kits for some manufacturers. Walthers is really not offering much in the way of kits, if at all. I liked Walthers transition era cars and they are certainly gone.

I truly believe people really have more free time now than they did when I was a kid and certainly more than my parents did as kids. I think it's more a situation of what they chose to do with their free time, as opposed to not having any. I know if you have school age kids, the schools are taking their share of parent's free time.

My personal opinion! So, Like my recruiter told me when I told him I thought the war in Viet Nam was wrong; "Take your opinion, Kid, and 25 cents next door and buy yourself a cup of coffee"!

[on30francisco]

I either buy a kit or scratchbuild if it's a freight car or other piece of rolling stock. I prefer locomotives RTR.