Nickles and Dimes and Thriftshop Finds. A shifting of Focus.

James, you're not the only one who's operating a railroad on a shoestring budget. I'm a cheapskate by nature and have amassed an interesting collection of trash, uh, that is, uh, modeling supplies, over the years. I have cardstock of various sizes and shape, little pieces of stripwood, model scraps, plastic containers from those little vending machine toys, and on and on and on. You never know when there might be some creative application of these totally free supplies. In fact, I derive no small amount of pleasure from finding opportunities to put my little stash to good use. I like to think of it as taking all the little lemons and making lemonade.

100 or 10,000 dollars a year.  It is all fun.

I know what you mean. Be glad your not in G or O. Those are redicolous. My mom collects some Lionel stuff and she pays about 80 bucks a car, 80 bucks in HO or N could get some decent cars.

James I'm with you....I'm disabled and on a very small budjet ....I am working in N scale and use 2nd hand stuff almost 100%....Like a real short line I take 2nd hand engines and rolling stock patch it up and put it into service...Its almost a second hobby seeing how 'cheaply' I can do something....Cox 47

James,

No matter what stick with the hobby.  There will be an emptiness if you don't.  It's all good.  I applaud your attitude.  Just don't get down and keep having fun.

 

James are  you are not the only one as said before.  I am with  you 100%, and I asked the question a few days ago what people thought Ebay would do for the second hand market.  I am hoping almost as much as you are that the second hand market will take off.  by rough ideas, I would think that you would get 75% increase in the model railroad market share.  You will still have the new buyers, but also new buyers sell off stuff to expand, and us second handers come for the pickings.  I would think that is why some of us are in the hobby to begin with. We can do this hobby with little investment beyond time.

And who is to say that if the second hand market takes off that a secondary third market presents itself if it  has not already in some cases.

And on and on it goes.

James do you think I am heading down the right road on this idea.

One can still dream though.

Take care

Reeves

Well, fellas, I think the handwriting is on the wall, if you go by MR's overview of product prices for new items displayed/announced at the recent NMRA convention (under "Products and Hobby News"). Only 3 locomotives, out of the 23 listed, came in with a MSRP under $100. Most were in excess (many well in excess) of $200. I also noticed quite a few structure kits being priced in the hundreds as well. Hobbyists better start hitting the lottery!

CNJ831

  

Heck, I've been scoping out the 2nd hand stores, swap meets, and garage sales all my life.  I would be doing that even if I had a ton of money.  It is part of the fun finding those treasures.  Just because someone has a lot to spend doesn't mean they should just throw it away.  I find it interesting that everyone hasn't always been doing this, especially those on tight budgets.

the master craftsman will build from the cheapest of materials.
The rule is scrounge.  Some hobbyshops gear something like the conventional retail store.
But the hobby is just far from that. If theres a model  you want and no one makes it, you make it.
Or kitbash or whatever. Someone made a virginian 2-8-8-8-4 triplex using Mantua drives, very nifty.
I'd love to do that. The brass versions out there go over 1000 bucks all the time and a need help version went for over 700 bucks on ebay, it needed repairs, but not much and it would be a full engine.

reeveshd wrote:

James are  you are not the only one as said before.  I am with  you 100%, and I asked the question a few days ago what people thought Ebay would do for the second hand market.  I am hoping almost as much as you are that the second hand market will take off.  by rough ideas, I would think that you would get 75% increase in the model railroad market share.  You will still have the new buyers, but also new buyers sell off stuff to expand, and us second handers come for the pickings.  I would think that is why some of us are in the hobby to begin with. We can do this hobby with little investment beyond time. And who is to say that if the second hand market takes off that a secondary third market presents itself if it  has not already in some cases. And on and on it goes. James do you think I am heading down the right road on this idea. One can still dream though. Take care Reeves

You present some sound logical arguments and there is alot of second hand model train material on E-bay. My problem with E-bay is that alot of the items that are available on a second hand basis from e-bay are from people who by all rights shouldn't be within a mile of a model train. I continually see items up for sale with disclaimers like, "I do not know much about trains, I am selling for so and so's estate." or "Found this in the garage, taking up space." And the ones that really make me cringe are the ones that try to BS their way past you and try to hype up their item into something its not. I have seen many auctions where the Bachmann "Lustra Chrome" F-9A Santa Fe engine was described as being "Very Rare"

I can't criticise to harshly though as there are sellers who obviously are hobbiests that are trying to sell their unwanted items and from these people I have had a large number of dealings. However in most instances I ended up paying close to MSRP for what I was wanting. after you factor in shipping and handling. In the items I have purchased however I wasn't neccicarily looking for a bargain as the items I have purchased on e-bay for the most part have been highly specific items geared for the intention of completing a project I had, have, or will have underway. While at the same time, being unable to obtain these items from hobby shops in my area. (If you can consider being 100 miles from the nearest hobby shop "in your area")Example, I was needing a set of Athearn heavyweight passenger cars so I can assemble an excursion consist for a railway museum I have planned on my layout. Manage to find all the cars except the baggage. In kit form to. But I payed close to $8.50 for each car. In the 2003 Walthers Catalog. (The last year Athearn was carried) Passenger Cars are shown at being $9.90. But now I have my excursion train. (The excursion train idea was from when I was modeling a freelanced BNSF line from Casper WY to Salt Lake City and since I have it, Im carrying the idea to my new layout)

The other problem I have with Ebay though is you can't inspect the item before purchasing it. You have to rely on the seller's description. As we all know, some are great, some are a joke. But if I can inspect an item. hold it, scrutinse it, and get a better idea for what I am getting into when I purchase it, I am generally more inclined to buy it. I have found that on E-bay that unless the item is clearly described to me, and well documented. I tend to ignore it. Also now that I have firmy cemented my focus for the Great Northern in 1969, that just alot of chaff gets routinely ignored. No needing to chase after UP GE Dash X 66,whatcha digtits any more. Don't need them. Even if they are listed at 2 powered units for $7.99. Since I can not inspect an item, I tend to seek out items that are new in the box items to help ensure against a higher rate of former owner induced defects.

Perhaps I will get lucky and find used DCC decoders for like $5.00 each. I was already given an older Digitraxx Empire Builder system for christmas. I just have to decide if I want to use it or not. Just wish I had more than three decoders.

On your point of their being a secondary third hand market. Its entirely possible for brass items. While not all that common, I have seen some items that are on their third and fourth owners. However I will say that these items are comparitivly ancient affairs having been made in the early 50s or so and are somewhat crude by even todays plastic standards. I know that some of the stuff in my possesion, i am the third owner. though its not really anything of highly significant collector value.

The only problem is that with the exception of Tyco. Unless the train set has F-units, Most train sets with diesel locomotives are appropriet for the 1970s or later. And I model the late 60s. Tyco locos though. Are good for the 60s. But except for the F-Units. none of their locos were good for GN. Drats this is going to be harder than I thought

he he he. Maybe I should model BN instead he he he.

Well if you are down to here. Thanks for letting me ramble some more.

James.

James!  I am hearng a brand new man!  Your perspective and attitude seem to have come 180 deg, and you sound determined, no longer dejected.  What a pleasant change, for you and for me.  As you can see, you are among friends who share your new approach to the hobby. 

 

It happens that two of my  grown daughters (one for sure, the other is tentative) are going to be returning home for an extended period, so that means wife and I must part with the Tundra and our two year-old travel trailer.  I retired at the same time as the trailer purchase, and we very much enjoy camping, so this decision was a tough, but necessary, one.  We can't afford, on my fixed income, to be towing a depreciating item in a gas guzzler and driving the girls to job interviews 20 km away, so out they both go.   That's life.

 

I hope you can find a great deal of happiness with your new purchases.

 

-Crandell

I love finding nickle and dime stuff.  In fact, tonight I have been working on a structure that cost me exactly ten cents at a garage sale.  (I even saved on garage sale shopping.  I don't drive to garage sales.  I schedule my Saturday morning walks to hit the garage sales that in walking distance.)   Several years ago, I found a log cabin toy for ten cents.  Roof, windows etc missing, actually only the shell.  Not every well proportioned for my scale, made of a kind of tough rubbery flexible plastic.  Good I guess for kids who are going to throw toys at each other and bite them.  But it did look vaguely like a log building.  Went in my somewhere bin.  I model the factitious East Texas courthouse square town of Johnston in a forest industries region- lumbering, creosote wood treating, pulpwood cutting, etc.  The high school team is called the Johnston Lumberjacks.  I figured I needed an eating place in town, and to keep up the loggin theme, it seemed appropriate to have a restaurant that plays up the theme, the LUMBERJACK COOKHOUSE.  Appeals to tourists, etc. and to local high school pride, etc.  Restaurant is of course a log building.  The texture and geometry of my log cabin toy seema little too regular to be an authentic looking log building, but this is not supposed to be an authentic log building.  It is a MAKE BELIEVE IMITATION log cookhouse from some romanticized idea of logging.  The windows on the building were way too high and the building a little overly tall.  I cut off the bottom 4 scale feet of the building and that made it about right.  (I will use the bottom 4 feet and the base, turn it upside down and it will be a loading platform for an implement dealer!)  The upper walls did not hold their shape so I glued some wood braces inside.  Worse, the flexible plastic building was slightly skewed-- twisted along its longitudinal axis.  To get it to bend back, I wedged a piece of wood in from the front right upper corner to the back left loweer corner of the building.  I will have to build a low relief interior on both sides to hide the stick.  I am having one heck of a lot of fun with this project.  I plan to finish it and post it on www.atlasrr.com Sunday Night Foto Fun in a weekend or two.

(Edit: I just now took a picture of the 10 cent log cabin project and added it to a new comment further down...Thumbnail here:)

Also today I tried a new painting technique with a paint set I bought at a garage sale for 25 cents, a set of 24 water colors including WHITE, a color I don't usually see in water colors.  I want a white that deliberately covers POORLY, to look like badly deteriorating paint on a masonry building.  I first painted my structure with flat brown oxide primer spray paint, the $1 a can stuff from the Dollar Store.  I am loking the effect.

Some recent El Cheapo and junkbin projects I have uploaded to railimages...

I used to work in TV news in the 60s and early 70s when companies wanting a free plug on the news sent out freebie 16mm film clips to use when we had a dull news day.  I saved the plastic covers the film reels came in, mostly to make tanks of various kinds.  I cut off just about one-sixth of a film reel case to make a BARREL VAULT ROOF for a low relief store.

Some years ago, I built a 2 story house kit as a 1 story house just so mine would be different from everybody else's model and LIKE a house I knew in a prototype scene.  I saved the pieces from the 2nd story, even though they were not tall enough to make a single story by themselves.  Two weeks ago, I needed a minimal low relief house to put at the end of a residential street that otherwise just stopped.  The old second story pieces made up the upper half of the single story of a house, while scrap Evergreen clapboard styrene made up the bottom of the story.  The attic level leftover from a house kit that been bashed into a flat-roofed building provided the attic level of my minimal house while a piece of roof leftover from still another kit topped it off.  Foliage hid that the house had absolutely no depth behind the yard in front of it, etc.

Next, I plan to take an old Rapido N-scale coupler leftover from MicroTrain conversion, turn it on end and detail it to resemble a drill press!

 

selector wrote:

James!  I am hearng a brand new man!  Your perspective and attitude seem to have come 180 deg, and you sound determined, no longer dejected.  What a pleasant change, for you and for me.  As you can see, you are among friends who share your new approach to the hobby.

I went down a long dark road that was very unpleasent and do not wish it upon anybody. I barely survived it. However thanks to my super loving girlfreind, and my steller parents, I managed to make it through my ordeal. As far as my problems go. Im still at the bottom of the hole. But at least there is bright happy sunshine shinning in to it and now the place doesn't seem so bad and I can see a way out. Going to take a while to get things back in shape. But I now have hope, where I had none before.

James

I'm all for this approach.  I think the essence of modelling is using the simplest, most common materials.  I've bought a few locomotives and a couple of cars, but mostly I'm using my collection from 40 years ago.  These are still good enough models for me, particularly since I've found that my real focus is more on the scenery and structures than on the trains themselves.

Right now, for example, I'm building a tall wood fence with posters and billboards on it.  What started out as "just another retaining wall" around an incline has become a focal point of the layout.  The fence is built from coffee stirrers "liberated" from work.  The posters are zero-cost downloads of thumbnails from the Web, printed on decal paper.  I used cheap wood stain and India Ink to color the fence.  The decal paper will be the biggest part of the cost for this scene.

I have an MOW train, an old True-Scale from my teenage years in the early '60's.  I've swapped a few wheelsets, but mostly I've been working on weathering these old things.  With a little work, I've got a real eye-catcher, not because it's a "quality" model, but instead because it's weathered and beat-up.  Similarly, I've added to my fleet of passenger cars with eBay purchases, and then I put lights in the cars and Kadees on the ends.  To me, seeing something that I've put a lot of work into cruising on my main line is far more satisfying than watching a high-dollar train.

I'm also working on a scratch-built building for my coal-and-oil business, Motley Fuels.  It's a couple of sheets of Evergreen siding, and maybe some roofing if I can find something I like.  I bought some doors and windows at a show earlier in the year, but the rest is just glue, leftover sheet styrene and cheap acrylic paint.  Yes, this takes a lot more time than buying a kit and putting it together.  On the other hand, if you put a few dollars away every week but it takes many weeks to assemble one scratch-built structure, then by the time it's done you'll have saved up enough to get the parts for the next one.

Right now, I'm in my "peak earning years."  Even though my wife seems to be in her "peak spending years," I still have money I could spend on train items if I want an extravagant model of something.  But, I really prefer to do it the old fashioned way.

I'm a supporter of second-hand trains. Gotta love train shows and eBay. I've picked up some good stuff from both that would have cost at least double at a train store brand new off the shelf. I'm a teen, and can't/shouldn't put everything I make into model railroading. I need to save for college, and make sure my car is always in working condition. Now, yes, I'll order new items when I can, or if that's all that I can find, but I'm always looking for a cheaper way to acquire something.

However, I have also picked up a few good thrift items from train stores. My best find would be a Bachmann Spectrum HO K4 for $10.

In my post yesterday, I mentioned the Lumberjack Cookhouse I am "junkbashing" from a ten-cent garage sale log cabin toy.  I went and shot a picture of it this morning to show off.  A project in the DIME category.

The figures for the interior are in the Nickle-AND-dime category.  They set me back about 15 cents apiece, some twenty years ago or so, I forget for sure.

Twenty years ago, I invested in special ordering some Plastruct figures that sounded inexpensive.  About ten for $2.  When they came I was disappointed.  Looked like they were molded in the translucent pink rubbery stuff that artificial fishing worms are made of, and I couldn't see putting them on the layout in the light of day.  But COULDN'T THROW THEM AWAY EITHER!  Read Model Railroader this month about minimally-visible interiors where you need something so structure doesn't look empty, but it doesn't have to be "good".  I knew the interior of Lumberjack Cookhouse would not be very visible.  Once I primed the Plastruct figures with flat white, they began to look vaguely human instead of shrimplike.  Not much choice or definition of figure positions but I can just cut off the bottoms of the ones that are supposed to be sitting in booths.

 

Did I mention cutting off the bottom four scale feet of the log cabin.  I think I can turn it upside down as a loading platform.  Why that's ALMOST free!

Thanks for sharing your inexpensive structure with us. It inspires me to go to garage sales and flea markets and the like.

James

This is the kind of thread that I enjoy reading as a model train shop owner, believe it or not, because it really puts into perspective a problem that some folks can see clearly in this hobby and some can't.

First I want to say to CNJ831, who made a comment about "price gouging" in this hobby in another thread the other day, that I know he was primarily speaking of those who set the MSRPs and not individual shop owners. My response was mostly tongue-in-cheek, but I am reminded and must get used to the idea that my sarcasm doesn't transmit well in this format.

In the rush to make this a ready-to-run/roll/pre-built "no hassle" hobby, the art of making a great model railroad is being lost. Someone else mentioned that whether you spend 10 dollars a week or a 100 dollars a week, you CAN participate in this hobby. You just have to be more creative. Creative...remember that word?

It's not all that good for my business to tell people how they can enjoy the hobby without spending a bunch of money. But it wasn't so many years ago that I was saving enough money to buy an Athearn blue-box locomotive, (even though I was being pushed to buy a Proto 2000) and I don't want to ever get so jaded about the prices in this hobby that I lose the view from the other side of the counter.

Folks when I acquired this store in 1997 I rarely heard someone refer to this as a rich man's hobby. I hear it all the time now. It's scary.

But I'll say it again and again, you can enjoy this hobby to some degree no matter how much you can afford to spend. You don't need 1000 dollar DCC systems and 250 dollar locomotives. You don't need 90 dollar pre-built structures and 30 dollar freight cars.

All of you guys are correct, you can work within this hobby with used stuff. For selfish reasons I hope you can still make it down to your LTS once in awhile if you have one in your area and buy a couple of things.

And a quick note to James who started this thread, I just started reading this forum a couple of months or so ago, but it was around the time when people were sending you their best wishes for your situation.  I was so impressed with the concern that fellow forum members showed toward your situation that it made me proud to belong in such a group of people as those that make up our model railroading community...and was part of the reason I decided to join the forum. I hope that things continue to get better for you...and I don't want to get into details, but I deal with something nearly every day, and have for a long time, and to borrow something from the AA group, sometimes it really is one day at a time, everything does get better eventually even though it may never be completely gone but having the support of your loved ones and a hobby that you enjoy can sure work wonders.

 

One Track Mind wrote:

This is the kind of thread that I enjoy reading as a model train shop owner, believe it or not, because it really puts into perspective a problem that some folks can see clearly in this hobby and some can't. And a quick note to James who started this thread, I just started reading this forum a couple of months or so ago, but it was around the time when people were sending you their best wishes for your situation.  I was so impressed with the concern that fellow forum members showed toward your situation that it made me proud to belong in such a group of people as those that make up our model railroading community...and was part of the reason I decided to join the forum. I hope that things continue to get better for you...and I don't want to get into details, but I deal with something nearly every day, and have for a long time, and to borrow something from the AA group, sometimes it really is one day at a time, everything does get better eventually even though it may never be completely gone but having the support of your loved ones and a hobby that you enjoy can sure work wonders.

 

I am glad that you find topics like this insightful. My situation is being compounded not only by higher prices. But in my region of the country. I may buy the $7.50 car kit that has sat on the shelf for ages. then nothing gets reordered. Shortline Hobbies in Douglas WY has done this very thing. I have bought almost every single HO scale item they have. And they are not going to reorder because in their view model railroading is a dead hobby  and not worth their time to bother with. At Who's Hobby House in Rapid City SD. I have nearly exausted their supply of kits. When they reorder Its with RTR items that cost nearly three times the price. I have found that I am now forced to E-bay and Mail order to get what I want. But we all know the disadvantages of these sources and I have elaborated on them before.

So what am I to do? The solution I came up with seems like a mighty good one to me. I would hope as a hobby shop owner, now aware of this need, that perhaps you can still obtain from the manufacturors more affordable items. Also I think it would be a good idea to start a healthy second hand section as I know from now on when ever I find a hobby shop that has one, I will be thoroughly going through it.

As for my situation. Its slowly getting better. Basicly throwing money down into the bottom of the hole hoping I can stand on top of it as I make my way out. Things are progressing far more slowly than I would like, but the only other option is to fall back into depression again and after nearly not surviving the last bout. Slow and steady seems to the course to stay.

I just wish I could do more to help the high prices of the hobby.

James

 

I guess that I've been doing "modelling" on a budget for years and years. Last new locomotive I bought was 1976.. Haven't bought a new car kit since P2K brought out their 50' SRR auto car. I've scrounged garage sales, estate sales, E-bay, Goodwill, etc for years.

Done some scratchbuilding but haven't had much time I could devote to the planning aspect. I finally finishing some of those old wooden kits I picked up years ago.

But here are some tricks I've learned over the years;

Dean Freytag taught us in his industrial modeling book that Teddy Bear eyes from Michaels/Hobby Lobby,  painted makes great roof vents for industrial models. He has a somewhat elaborate but easily built setup he puts his on. I place mine on a small pedestal made out of a cardboard/styrene strip so it looks like an exhaust vent for the air handling system.

Need wire for handrails and the like on structures, how about car grabirons? Use bare florists wire.Cheap, easy to bend, nice to use if you need elaborate bends. Need corrugated tin for a roof? Take a large single cut b*stard mill file, lay aluminum foil on the file and press the foil into the file's grooves wiith a pencil eraser. Remove and cut the appropriate size and glue down using a contact cement.Want singles, Cut them from typing paper by cutting a strip 2' wide and then "fringe" this strip about 1/2 way thru.Glue down using white glue. Start at the bottom of the roof, applying glue to the part that isn't cut and overlap each row about 3/4 of the fringed section. Stain with washes when dry.

I've made car underbody brake levers and such out of desktop staples, and file card.with florist wire as the activating rods running toward the trucks. Deskstop staples also make great stirrups for any car. After painting, you can't tell them from the fragile plastic ones. Want some airhoses, again Florist wire with one end flattened and inserted into the car end or locomotive.

Want some cheap styrene? Go to any plastics supply house and you can get a sheet REAL cheap. A friend who does a lot of scratchbuilding in styrene went to one of these places and bought a 4 x 8 FOOT sheet for $10.

What people forget is that a lot of these "tricks" were part and parcel of modeling back when the choices from the manufacturers wasn't what it is today. If you wanted a certain model that the manufacturers did not make in a form you could afford you either; 1.Waited for it to be  produced, in a "cheaper form" which generally would not happen,. 2.Scratchbuilt it. 3.Kitbashed a reasonable copy from something else. 4.Did without.

Yes all this took time because it wasn't ready to take out of the box and place on the layout, but you also didn't go to 10 layouts and see the same 12 buildings on each one, nor did you see the same exact locos just in a different paint scheme. They may have been the same Athearn GP-7/9 on each layout, but the owner had done something to make it unique and not a copy cat.

All of those things are definatly good ways to pinch the pennies. And I several of those items already in my bag of tricks.

The one thing that is alluding me though is the 4X8 sheets of styrene. There seem to be no plastics supply houses in my area. At least none listed in the yellow pages. However foamcore is a suitable substitute for most of my modeling needs.

One thing I need to find a less expensive source for is model paints. With the amount that I have to do. Paint is simply to expensive  to get in the quantities provided. Then for me mail order is the only viable solution as the only options for model paints around here is Testors.

Oh well the battle continues.

James

Master of Big Sky Blue wrote:

One thing I need to find a less expensive source for is model paints. With the amount that I have to do. Paint is simply to expensive  to get in the quantities provided. Then for me mail order is the only viable solution as the only options for model paints around here is Testors. Oh well the battle continues. James

Depending on what kind of paint you use, lacquer based, enamels or acrylics, if you have a hardware store, home improvement store, auto paint store etc, these are excellant places to pickup basic colors.
All you have to do is look for the small quart, pint or smaller cans of paints these stores handle. Just because it doesn't say "model" on the bottle/can, doesn't mean it can't be used.Some will mix specific colors in amounts less than a gallon.

Auto paint/body repair supply stores are an excellant place to get custom mixed colors as well. They will mix paints in colors down to a pint. In fact one of my friends in South Al. is the painter for Overland. He uses paints from the local auto body supply store. These are all lacquer based paints and he goes there with a paint chip and he has them mix whatever color he needs. He will buy a quart at a time . He says he hasn't bought a "model" paint for over 15 years.

Not to sound redundant, but I’m in the same low budget boat.  If it was not for eBay, I would not be in the hobby.  Although I think the deals are getting more sparse there - but that's another issue for another day.

 

I think the second hand market is only going to expand.  A large segment of those in this hobby are currently in retirement and (trying to put this as tactfully as possible) are starting to reach the end of the line.  Estate sales of pre-owned equipment are already on the rise.  I’m hoping that a flood of quality second hand equipment will force manufactures to rethink their pricing.

 

Of course this could all change if people start taking on the practice of having their trains buried with them… 

Hello James,

I've been following your posts with interest because, as I mentioned to you once in an email message, I was in a similar situation to yours in the early 1980's. Like you, I had a core group of friends and family who eased the pain enough to help me dig my way out. Since then I've gone thru cycles from having plenty of cash to being broke [my kids' school tuitions aren't cheap!].

One thing I've learned [and I have to keep re-learning it unfortunately] is that, mrr is only a hobby - it cannot be The One Thing In Life that brings me happiness. If I try to use it as a means to stardom - trying to impress everybody - then I'm setting myself up for disappointment, big-time! But when I casually spend time building a kit, painting a structure or doing some other type of train-related activity --- and sharing with a small group of friends, locally or online --- that's where the hobby 'payoff' comes in. My fondest hobby-related memories are of my late teen years, when I did not have a layout of my own but collected [and painted] Athearn BB locos and ran them on the BSME club layout. It was those memories that nudged me back into mrr'ing in my mid-thirties.

I stopped subscribing to Model Railroader and the other mags because I noticed the ads were making me anxious that I "just gotta have" this latest-and-greatest new product that's beyond my budget. The stuff I've accummulated that's sitting on my shelf can keep me quite busy for a few years, even though I realize my end results are unlikely to land in the pages of MR. As long as I accept that I'll continue to enjoy the hobby - even on my limited budget.

I always look for used equipment at train shows or hobby shops. Sometimes, you can get a real steal on something, even if it's the wrong roadname. A little oven cleaner or Castrol Super Clean will fix that. Nearly all of my N scale stuff was used, with the exception of my Kato E unit. So far, I've stripped the paint from many of the passenger cars and repainted them for PC--not too hard; spray the cars aluminum, the letterboards black, then use the Microscale diesel set.

I've found train shows to be an excellent source of inexpensive used equipment and structures. Don't overlook these venues.

Many craft stores sell bottles of acryllic craft paint that dries very flat for $.50 each. Sometimes on sale 3/$1.

Jim

Its good to know that I am in good company.

 

James

I am in G scale and have modeled in On30 and HO. A lot of items in Large Scale (and On30) are about the same price and even cheaper than items in HO or O. I too am a cheapskate when it comes to paying for modeling supplies, rolling stock and locos and will not pay MSRP if I can help it. Trainworld, Ridge Road Station, and MB Klein are a few online hobby shops that have good customer service and deep discount prices on quality supplies. For scratchbuilding supplies, paints, stripwood, styrene etc. I get these at either Pearls, Michaels, Blicks, or Walmart for a fraction of the price the LHSs charge. The selection of colors of paints, both acrylic and solvent-based, at these stores is humongous and the prices are a fraction of what the so-called "model paints" sell for. These stores also are much better stocked than our LHSs. I also make use of common objects such as beads, handicraft supplies, turkey basters (makes great water spouts for water tanks), clothespins etc.

Master of Big Sky Blue wrote:

One thing I need to find a less expensive source for is model paints. With the amount that I have to do. Paint is simply to expensive  to get in the quantities provided.

I know you are talking about the model railroad colors paints, but it reminded me.  I never buy specific paint for scenery.  I watch the "oops" bins at Lowes and Home Depot where they put paint that they have mixed for people that came out the wrong color.  They often have quarts for $0.50-$1.00 and gallons for $2.00-$5.00.

If it is any shade of green, brown, or grey I buy it, and then mix to get whatever color I really want.    But even that isn't necessary, when one starts mixing violet, orange, and other yucky colors they eventually turn dirt brown!  Mixing blues and yellows turn some shade of green. 

jaabat wrote:

Many craft stores sell bottles of acryllic craft paint that dries very flat for $.50 each. Sometimes on sale 3/$1.

Yes, last time Hobby Lobby had a sale on these (I think it was actually 4/$1) I bought 2-3 bottles of every color they had.  Even the pinks and violets.  They are wonderful for painting structures, automobiles, and for weathering.  Since they are cheap it is easy and fun to mix them until the exact desired shade is achieved.

I haven't done it, but there isn't any reason one couldn't mix them up into a batch of big sky blue and then over coat it with clear gloss.