Who amoung us still love building wood craftsman style freight car/passenger car kits? I for one love them for those long winter nights. Up till recently it was about required to model in HOn3 and still is to some extent, depending what prototype you want to follow. I am preparing to start a small HOn3 layout and am searching for more kits along with a PFM/United SP#9 4-6-0, if anybody sees these in their travels, shoot me an email please. Along the lines of wood kits, I picked up a full consist of American Beauty PRR coaches mint in the box. The metal body panels are perfect and all the wood parts are there. Once I find enough trucks for the coaches I will build them. I also found an old "Ye old Huff and Puff" wood box car kit that was started but not finished. I am working on it today. I got a pair of old Kaydee Andrews trucks for it at the same show. When I find a table full of old wood kits from a collection, I can spend the better part of an hour or more going thru them looking for ones that are unique or strike my fancy to purchase and build. The smell when you open the box of an old wood kit just brings back so many memories of years gone by.
LHS mechanic and geniune train and antique garden tractor nut case!
Hello I like the wood kits my self I have only built a couple silver streak kits and I have a old red ball card stock kit to build yet. I look for wood kits or metal kits when I go to shows. There is more work to these kits,sanding, filing to get things to fit right but that's half the fun. Good luck in your search none of the hobby shops by me carry anything like this. Have a nice day Frank
I really like the wood kits,I have built wood kits by Juneco, Labelle and even scratchbuilt a wood caboose. I like the old wood structure kits also.
Ron
I love building wood cars. I have lots of Ambroid, Binkley, Central valley, Red Ball, HD, Sandy River, Labelle and other kits. Hopefully i have a lifetime supply. i also do a bunch of scratchbuilding. I like working with wood. I'm not much for lazer cut kits. They're little different from taking a couple pieces of plastic and throwing in the glue.
My current building challenge are these American Beauty Lines PRR cars. Some are partial build, others are not even started. I have the RPO and one coach done, they just need trucks and couplers to be complete. I will have to start watching at shows to locate enough Central Valley sprung streamliner passenger trucks. I have some heavyweight trucks, but these are shorty streamline cars and need 2 axle streamliner trucks. I got these from the original owner and unlike many, the sides have not become all corroded from being stored in a moist attic or basement. I am thinking a Bowser T1 or PFM K4 would be a nice vintage engine to pull the vintage coaches. Have fun guys! Mike
toot toot I'm not much for lazer cut kits. They're little different from taking a couple pieces of plastic and throwing in the glue.
I'm not much for lazer cut kits. They're little different from taking a couple pieces of plastic and throwing in the glue.
I, on the other hand, enjoyed constructing a couple of American Model Builders caboose laser kits. It was nice having the many parts fit well.
Mark
I am always on the lookout for wood car kits. Don't see many in S scale, but I have managed to pick up a few. AFAIK only Ye Olde Huff n Puff is still making them in S.
Enjoy
Paul
IRONROOSTER AFAIK only Ye Olde Huff n Puff is still making them in S.
AFAIK only Ye Olde Huff n Puff is still making them in S.
Rio Grande has a line of Sn3 railroad car kits.
http://www.riograndemodels.com/S.htm
Not much in the way of rolling stock of late, but structures for sure.
Craig
DMW
I love old wood kits! I think it would be fun to see you other guys' work. How about posting some pictures?
Here's one of my wood kit boxcars:
The caboose is a brass kit (you have to solder it all together).
I love the way I can while away a week's worth of evenings on these kits (with Motown on the radio) - it must be a sort of "zen" thing.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
I really enjoy scratch building narrow gauge wooden rolling stock and cabeese. I find it's much easier for me to scratch build using wood rather than assembling a kit.
I began in the HO hobby in 1962 by building wood kits in my desk drawer while doing a worthless BS job in the army for a stint. Fortunately the chicken colonel who walked in on me one fine morning was indeed a model rail and was the main reason I escaped the firing squad.
I have never looked back and just recently I started acquiring a serious mess of old wood HO kits that are replacing all of my quality plastic cars like Kadee, Atlas, Red Caboose, and Intermountain. No, I can not build a car anywhere as good looking and detailed as a current American or Chinese made car, but it is built by me. That is now important to me....pride of building. There is also a look of quality in individualism in a long train of wood kit built cars.
I know of no hobby shop that stocks these kits today, Ebay and shows are the best source now. I plan on eventually replacing everything that runs on the Piermont Division with hand built wood cars over the next several years. There are flat resin kits such as Westerfiled, Funaro and Camerlingo, and Sunshine that are great fun to build, but in the end, they appear as an interesting plastic RTR car. I guess the key with resin kits is not to build them too well to achieve the handbuilt look.
I may add that building wood cars are among my favorite activities in this hobby.
Trucks....I've used just about everything on the market over the last five decades, and have now settled on Proto 2000 for a standard.
I can now haul a 75 car train with 4-6 ounce cars with a simple Mike using these trucks....and up a 1% hill.
HZ
Asking Howard if he likes wood freight car kits is like asking a pig if he likes mud. Just got to figure out how to keep the termites away.
Wood kits are great. Just finished assembling two stake pocket gondolas/flats.
Allegheny2-6-6-6 Asking Howard if he likes wood freight car kits is like asking a pig if he likes mud. Just got to figure out how to keep the termites away.
Keep 'em away, heck! Who do you think he's got running the things !!?!?!?
John
jwhittenAllegheny2-6-6-6 Asking Howard if he likes wood freight car kits is like asking a pig if he likes mud. Just got to figure out how to keep the termites away. Keep 'em away, heck! Who do you think he's got running the things !!?!?!? John
Easy now John, Howard is probably one of the foremost modelers of our hobby and a heck of a nice guy we all get a little strange spending so much time in the basement it's the absence of sun light from what I am told. I have a few wood kits that I picked up at a train show a while back but just haven't gotten the nerve up yet to build em.
This is an old kit from LaBelle.You see the "big" grab irons. It was fun and I've ordered the next kit.
Wolfgang
Pueblo & Salt Lake RR
Come to us http://www.westportterminal.de my videos my blog
I will endevor to get pics of my newest kit I have built. I need to take pics of my Marklin stuff I am selling. I dismantled my layout today to a bare table. Going to start sketching new track plans for a small HOn3 layout now. Love to see more pics of wood kits you all have built or are building. Cheers Mike
markpierceIRONROOSTER AFAIK only Ye Olde Huff n Puff is still making them in S. Rio Grande has a line of Sn3 railroad car kits. http://www.riograndemodels.com/S.htm
Thanks. I am not into Sn3, but these cars are a temptation.
Allegheny2-6-6-6jwhittenAllegheny2-6-6-6 Asking Howard if he likes wood freight car kits is like asking a pig if he likes mud. Just got to figure out how to keep the termites away. Keep 'em away, heck! Who do you think he's got running the things !!?!?!? John Easy now John, Howard is probably one of the foremost modelers of our hobby and a heck of a nice guy we all get a little strange spending so much time in the basement it's the absence of sun light from what I am told. I have a few wood kits that I picked up at a train show a while back but just haven't gotten the nerve up yet to build em.
Heh, I read his book-- I think there's some strange goings-on in them thar hills...
Howard Zane I began in the HO hobby in 1962 by building wood kits in my desk drawer while doing a worthless BS job in the army for a stint. Fortunately the chicken colonel who walked in on me one fine morning was indeed a model rail and was the main reason I escaped the firing squad. I have never looked back and just recently I started acquiring a serious mess of old wood HO kits that are replacing all of my quality plastic cars like Kadee, Atlas, Red Caboose, and Intermountain. No, I can not build a car anywhere as good looking and detailed as a current American or Chinese made car, but it is built by me. That is now important to me....pride of building. There is also a look of quality in individualism in a long train of wood kit built cars. I know of no hobby shop that stocks these kits today, Ebay and shows are the best source now. I plan on eventually replacing everything that runs on the Piermont Division with hand built wood cars over the next several years. There are flat resin kits such as Westerfiled, Funaro and Camerlingo, and Sunshine that are great fun to build, but in the end, they appear as an interesting plastic RTR car. I guess the key with resin kits is not to build them too well to achieve the handbuilt look. I may add that building wood cars are among my favorite activities in this hobby. Trucks....I've used just about everything on the market over the last five decades, and have now settled on Proto 2000 for a standard. I can now haul a 75 car train with 4-6 ounce cars with a simple Mike using these trucks....and up a 1% hill. HZ
Any HOn3 kits in that pile of unbuilt kits? I picked up an engine, so now I am hunting a few nice old wood car kits. Would love to find a combine and coach, along with some boxcars and a caboose. Cheers Mike
jwhittenAllegheny2-6-6-6jwhittenAllegheny2-6-6-6 Asking Howard if he likes wood freight car kits is like asking a pig if he likes mud. Just got to figure out how to keep the termites away. Keep 'em away, heck! Who do you think he's got running the things !!?!?!? John Easy now John, Howard is probably one of the foremost modelers of our hobby and a heck of a nice guy we all get a little strange spending so much time in the basement it's the absence of sun light from what I am told. I have a few wood kits that I picked up at a train show a while back but just haven't gotten the nerve up yet to build em. Heh, I read his book-- I think there's some strange goings-on in them thar hills... John
Well? maybe it' comes form the lack of sun light being in the basement for so long. Let me put it to you this way. I took my 16 year old step son with me the last time I went to Howard's layout and when we walked into the basement the kid was awe struck and talked about model railroading and how we should empty out the basement and make the layout bigger or move it into the back part of my shop because that was even bigger and on and on for over three weeks. As great a book as it is the pictures don't do it justice.