Whats the deal with R-T-R models

[Anonymous]

Certain items on a railroad come in kit form, but has anyone noticed that almost all of the rolling stock has become ready to run? I'm not against having a selection of rolling stock that came built up already, but the kits were just so much a part of the hobby just 15 years ago. I remember when i was a kid, i used to love running my trains in a circle, but i learned so much of how they actually work when i built a car kit myself. When i got my first job, i used to save up and buy 3 or 4 athearn passenger cars at a time. I always thought that assembling the cars were just as fun as watching my new kit roll down the tracks. it just seems like there are too many manufactures that just sell the R-T-R models. Over the last few years i have found it very hard, cryptic almost, to find kit form models for sale in stores or even on the pages of the internet. And on top of it all, when i do find a kit form car, they are expensive. Just one example would be cars from branchline blueprint series. The cars they offer are excellent models, but are they worth $40? You could buy a R-T-R car for that much. I'm not saying that i cannot find any cars in kit form. I know that accurail for one still offers a large selection of kits. But athearn seems to be phasing out their kits. ...And alot of the kits that you find today are almost two times more expensive than comparable kits of a few years ago. The only thing i'm wondering is where have all of the budget kits gone???????AND WHY???????

[DSchmitt]

There are more people today who want to have model railroads but do not enjoy assembling kits. One reason may be they grew up with video games and never spent much time building kits when they were younger.

The simpler kits are really just a starting point for those who want accurate well detailed models. The complicated kits take knowledge and experience to build. Many of the RTR models today are far more detailed than than what, because of their lack of experience, most purchasers could build.

There is also the fact that many of us older modelers don't have the patience, eyesight and dexterity we did when we were younger. A few years agoI gave up trying to build Intermountain N scale tank cars and bought them RTR. Doing so saved me a lot of mony and fustration. I used to be able to do better.

Building kits also can eventually get boring for many people.

Also despite the dire talk about the economy from some circles, the generally justified complaints about cost from some posters, and the predictions of a decline in the number of participants in the hobby, there are more people with more money available to spend on the hobby than ever before.

[BR60103]

Another incentive for the manusfacturer to go RTR is that he only has to pack one piece in the box, as opposed to all the little bits and pieces that make up a kit. Reported missing parts can eat into the profit margin quickly.

[rexhea]

I have both RTR and kit rolling stock including Blueprint. I agree that there is a lot of self satisfaction to be gained by building your own rolling stock, but if others are like me they want to spend the time building their layout or operating between work sessions. I am grateful for the more detailed RTR models as they serve a very definite purpose on my layout by allowing me the time to do this.
I'm sure that as my layout progresses I will concentrate more on the details and want to build all my own cars.

REX

[Anonymous]

I have gone on and on about this very situation! However, Branchline Yard Master, Accurail, C&BT Shops Bowser and many others offer kits similar to the Athearn Blue box, Walthers, Roundhouse "shake the box" kits of a couple years ago, for slightly higher prices. I thank heavens for the kit producers. I have very few RTR cars on my layout and that's the way it will stay. I don't need no stinkin' RTR as I am a modeler, a builder of models!

[Anonymous]

Next time I go to the LHS I plan to get a couple blue box kits :) To me, it's so much more fun than popping a car out of the box, maybe adding a few exra parts, and running it. Matter of fact, I no longer have track to run it on :|
I've only assembled one kit in N scale, and it was fun but very difficult. Let's just say by the time it was done I was glad some parts included spares ;) I've assembled a few Athearn bluebox kits, and they're a lot of fun :D And I they're easy to modify and detail.
And best of all, they're uaually easier on my wallet!
Still, RTR has it's place. I'd NEVER be able to assemble an N loco kit or any complex steamer.

[ericsp]

I definately perfer kits. I suggest that those of you who want more kits to e-mail, write, and/or call the manufacturers and tell them so. I have done this. If enough people do that, then they might offer more kits.

I cannot figure out why someone with a small layout would want RTR. How many times can you watch a train chase itself at one time? There are many types of cars I would really like to get, however, they are only offered as RTR. Therefore I have been buying cars that I don't find as interesting but I can get as kits.

If I could get Athearn and Walthers to offer of their RTR and Genesis (Athearn only) products as kits, I would be in train heaven.

[Todd McWilliam]

I love athearn bluebox kits, I have about twenty that i have not built on my shelf. Why?? no time, so my most recent rolling stock purchases are RTR.

[Jetrock]

While I generally prefer kits, my favorite part of model railroading is building structures, so I have purchased quite a few RTR engines and bits of rolling stock (although most were RTR because they were used, and thus already built) so I could have trains running while I built the structures and scenery around them.

I have kitbashed and painted engines, but never built one from a box of unassembled part to completion (although I'm starting on a couple of traction projects that will do exactly that!) One of the things in my "do sometime" box is a Roundhouse SP 2-8-0 kit that I acquired with a big box of model-railroad stuff I got at a garage sale--it's an older model, but the detail looks lovely and once I have some of the higher priority things out of the way, I look forward to building my first steam locomotive.

But I'd *never* buy a pre-assembled building at a hobby shop! (I have purchased already-built used kits, because they were cheap, but don't consider them "ready to roll" until I have repainted and detailed them to my satisfaction.) The "built-up" kits I have seen, even ones that purport to be weathered, always look far too clean and generic for my tastes (a side effect of mass-production) and I'd have to put so much work into them to get them to look right that I'd rather just build the kit in the first place.

[Anonymous]

You can write all the notes/emails you want to the manufacturers! However, they pay attention to what sells and all you folks buying RTR is what will be the death of kits! Better to send emails to those still making kits and thanking them for doing so!

Mark

[cmurray]

I prefer kits and will never buy an RTR model. I'm arrogant enough to think I can do a better job of assembling my kit than a factory employee can. I also prefer to use the glues of my choice. My favourite kit producers are currently Intermountain, Branchline (Blueprint series) and Proto 2000 because of the excellent add-on details (ladders).

[twhite]

I've got both. Actually, it depends on my mood. If I see an Intermountain built-up PFE reefer with WP heralds and it's RTR, then it's mine! If I see the same thing as a Red Caboose kit, it's mine, too! I usually stay away from Proto, because for some strange reason, nothing wants to go where it's supposed to when I start building them. I just set them aside for a REALLY rainy day (in California!). Like the Intermountain kits, and for 'shake the box' Accurail can't be beat. Athearn, of course, though I'm old enough to miss the old metal kits they had--six zillion parts that went together like a swiss watch. Also Roundhouse MDC--I miss their old metal kits, too. Oh, well--there's that Branchline Yardmaster SP boxcar that nobody else has and only takes an hour or so to put together. But like I said, I pretty much go with my mood at the time--do I want that car behind my loco the minute I get it home, or do I want to have fun--or frustration--putting the darned thing together.

[Anonymous]

I am an avid kit builder, kit basher, and scratchbuilder. Only of the RTR stuff is steeply discounted will I buy it. (In my experience There is something that always needs fixed anyway.) I like puting my own stuff together and I resent anybody who thinks they can take all my fun putting my trains together. [:(!]

[MACKINACMAC]

O.K. here's my two cents. I also enjoy building the kits. IF I had the choice between a kit & an R-T-R I'd chose the kit. However, I have less and less time to spend on model railroading and those R-T-R s are looking more attractive every day. After building about fifty + cars and I have about fifty more to build, I just don't have the time to fini***hem as well as find time to build my layout. I'm thinking more frequently that I've built enough cars and the time has come to buy the R-T-Rs so I can focus my limited time on other tasks. Does this make me a non-modeler. Heavens no! I just need to devote time to other efficiently on other jobs.

[Anonymous]

I'm a big fan of kits, due to their lower prices and the fact that I enjoy building them. However, I also have some RTR cars, some of which I would not have liked building from a kit - the Athearn Bombardier bilevel cars are a case in point - installing all those little plastic grab irons/bells/horns/etc would probably have become very frustrating, as well as being tricky to make a decent job of. The models that annoy me are when a manufacturer (Athearn particularly) decides to discontinue a kit and release the model RTR at a far higher price - their RTR Gunderson Maxi-III 5-unit double stack car is now priced at £60 RTR, while the kit was £30. Even if I took into account fitting metal wheels to bring the kit up to the same standard, I would still have saved enough to buy several containers to load the model with and a pack of Kadees (which I would need for the RTR car as well).

[Anonymous]

Everyone complains about the loss of kits, including myself.
Almost everyone, at least considering what sells, also then turns around and buys RTR.

[rexhea]

To infer that one is not a modeler because they don't build kits is ludicrous and [censored] insulting. There are many facets in model railroading besides kit building. As has been stated by many (including myself), time and physical limitations has everything to do with it. How big is the layout? How's your eyesight, dexterity, and patience?

I do build kits. Completed so far are: 400 piece blast furnace, coke plant, coal mine tipple, 3 Branchline heavyweights, and 6 boxcars. I have 5 more building kits in the box and just received 12 Branchline boxcars.

I also have about 40 RTR rolling stock including BLI hopper cars. The RTR's allow me to take a break on the layout MODELING and have some run time without having to stop and build something.

A question you should ask yourself: If I'm a modeler because I build rolling stock only from kits, then WHAT AM I if I use RTR track instead of handlaid?

[BRAKIE]

I for one enjoy the RTR cars and engines.Now,make no mistake I built more then my fair share of Athearn,Accurail and MDC kits over the years and today I am burnt out on building kits..I don't hand lay track and wish I could buy some buildings prebuilt..Why? I prefer to run trains more late;y then building them..I suppose this to will past. and I will go back to building kits.[:D]
Now,I also feel that the newer RTR cars look better then the cars that come in the older kits such as the older Blue Box and MDC cars which of course I still like.

[Anonymous]

I picked up a bluebox tank car today...

The selection of kits at my LHS is dwindling... [censored][censored][banghead][*^_^*]

[Anonymous]

The current trend in Model Railroading is indeed a greater shift to RTR models. And why not? some of this stuff really is quite good.

I myself have built many simple kits like Accurail and Athearn, up to the likes of P2K, Branchline and Intermountain, and then all the way up to resin. Which I have enjoyed a lot for the most part.

When I got in to N-scale just about everything I bought was RTR, except for a GHQ/Kato L1 I built, and I because I don't have a layout, I started enjoying it less and less.

Recently I've become more interested in actually building kits, since its something I can work on with my hands. But even then, I get a bit bored building them when it gets repititious, and repitition isn't always very fun.

Another point: I don't care for elitism in model railroading, the idea of saying, or acting, that anybody is somehow less of a model railroader by the fact that they do not build stuff is not what this hobby is about. This hobby, like others, is to escape the obligations of real life and have fun in your own way, at your own pace and not care what the rest of the world may think.

Alvie.