Login
or
Register
Subscriber & Member Login
Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!
Login
Register
Home
»
Model Railroader
»
Forums
»
Layouts and layout building
»
Who makes the best buildings?
Who makes the best buildings?
4334 views
7 replies
Order Ascending
Order Descending
Anonymous
Member since
April 2003
305,205 posts
Who makes the best buildings?
Posted by
Anonymous
on Friday, September 12, 2003 9:10 PM
I have gotten some really helpful information from my two previous posts so I thought I would try again. I am in the planning stage for my 4x14 foot HO scale RR for me and my two boys to enjoy (age 3 &5). I know that there are a zillion different building kit makers out there and I was wondering which companies you experts have been happiest with. I don't have time to scratch build everything at the start so I am looking for some realistic looking detailed structures to fill the spaces until I can scratch build some more advance/ craftsman structures. Thanks for the input.
Joe
Reply
Edit
Anonymous
Member since
April 2003
305,205 posts
Who makes the best buildings?
Posted by
Anonymous
on Friday, September 12, 2003 9:10 PM
I have gotten some really helpful information from my two previous posts so I thought I would try again. I am in the planning stage for my 4x14 foot HO scale RR for me and my two boys to enjoy (age 3 &5). I know that there are a zillion different building kit makers out there and I was wondering which companies you experts have been happiest with. I don't have time to scratch build everything at the start so I am looking for some realistic looking detailed structures to fill the spaces until I can scratch build some more advance/ craftsman structures. Thanks for the input.
Joe
Reply
Edit
Javern
Member since
November 2001
From: US
732 posts
Posted by
Javern
on Friday, September 12, 2003 10:57 PM
I prefer the Walthers kits, I have found them all of good quality
Reply
Javern
Member since
November 2001
From: US
732 posts
Posted by
Javern
on Friday, September 12, 2003 10:57 PM
I prefer the Walthers kits, I have found them all of good quality
Reply
Wdlgln005
Member since
April 2002
From: Nashville TN
1,306 posts
Posted by
Wdlgln005
on Saturday, September 13, 2003 12:39 AM
HO has a large variety of cheap plastic kits to choose from. Model Power structures come both as kits and built structures. Atlas, Lifelike, Bachmann all make easy to build kits. DPM makes small commercial structures. At the boy's age, they could pick them while you build, paint & weather them. Most kits are for ages 8-14+. Just go thru the pages of MR or MRC and see what kind of a town you will be building. Have fun !
Glenn Woodle
Reply
Wdlgln005
Member since
April 2002
From: Nashville TN
1,306 posts
Posted by
Wdlgln005
on Saturday, September 13, 2003 12:39 AM
HO has a large variety of cheap plastic kits to choose from. Model Power structures come both as kits and built structures. Atlas, Lifelike, Bachmann all make easy to build kits. DPM makes small commercial structures. At the boy's age, they could pick them while you build, paint & weather them. Most kits are for ages 8-14+. Just go thru the pages of MR or MRC and see what kind of a town you will be building. Have fun !
Glenn Woodle
Reply
Puckdropper
Member since
December 2002
From: US
725 posts
Posted by
Puckdropper
on Saturday, September 13, 2003 1:54 AM
"You" make the best buildings. Take the time to paint them, weather them, put "glass" in the windows. I've done this on several of my structures, and the assembled kit looked nice, but these look "nice!!!"
Reply
Puckdropper
Member since
December 2002
From: US
725 posts
Posted by
Puckdropper
on Saturday, September 13, 2003 1:54 AM
"You" make the best buildings. Take the time to paint them, weather them, put "glass" in the windows. I've done this on several of my structures, and the assembled kit looked nice, but these look "nice!!!"
Reply
Anonymous
Member since
April 2003
305,205 posts
Posted by
Anonymous
on Saturday, September 13, 2003 4:56 PM
The best are scratch or bash, but to answer your question the best kits are Faller, Design Preservation, Walther Conerstone, and some Model Power. Also don't overlook older craftsman kits made by various companies from wood, metal, and plaster that some older hobby shops have had for years. With inflation and devaluation of the dollar over the years these can now be a real bargin. In fact I like most kits except really cheap ones like plasticville. Almost any kit can be made to look fantastic with a little care, fitting, and paint. The trouble with cheap kits are warped pieces and poor detail more than anything. Examples are chinmneys that measue 12 feet by 10 feet on a house and doors that are 4 feet tall. Or walls that have a 1/2 bow in them. Avoid most snap togethers.
Reply
Edit
Anonymous
Member since
April 2003
305,205 posts
Posted by
Anonymous
on Saturday, September 13, 2003 4:56 PM
The best are scratch or bash, but to answer your question the best kits are Faller, Design Preservation, Walther Conerstone, and some Model Power. Also don't overlook older craftsman kits made by various companies from wood, metal, and plaster that some older hobby shops have had for years. With inflation and devaluation of the dollar over the years these can now be a real bargin. In fact I like most kits except really cheap ones like plasticville. Almost any kit can be made to look fantastic with a little care, fitting, and paint. The trouble with cheap kits are warped pieces and poor detail more than anything. Examples are chinmneys that measue 12 feet by 10 feet on a house and doors that are 4 feet tall. Or walls that have a 1/2 bow in them. Avoid most snap togethers.
Reply
Edit
BruceJob
Member since
February 2001
From: US
110 posts
Posted by
BruceJob
on Saturday, September 13, 2003 7:59 PM
I've had good luck with Walthers Cornerstone and DPM kits. Lots of nice details molded in, good clean molding, easy to assemble. The DPM 'Gold' kits give you structures and extra details all in one box.
If you stick to small buildings, you shouldn't have much of a problem with warped walls. You might want to start with the plastic kits and move up to 'craftsman' kits with wood, metal and plaster after gaining some experience.
Regards,
Bruce J.
Reply
BruceJob
Member since
February 2001
From: US
110 posts
Posted by
BruceJob
on Saturday, September 13, 2003 7:59 PM
I've had good luck with Walthers Cornerstone and DPM kits. Lots of nice details molded in, good clean molding, easy to assemble. The DPM 'Gold' kits give you structures and extra details all in one box.
If you stick to small buildings, you shouldn't have much of a problem with warped walls. You might want to start with the plastic kits and move up to 'craftsman' kits with wood, metal and plaster after gaining some experience.
Regards,
Bruce J.
Reply
Anonymous
Member since
April 2003
305,205 posts
Posted by
Anonymous
on Sunday, September 14, 2003 12:43 AM
Joe,
Another idea: It is often possible to buy assembled kits on EBAY in lots very inexpensively. I am not talking about the craftsman dioramas that go for big bucks, instead I am referring to the lots of plastic items (some of the brands mentioned already in this post) that might sell 6 buildings for $20..00. For some reason shoppers on EBAY seem reluctant to pay big bucks for assembled buildings (craftsman kits aside) and in my eyes they are some of the better bargains still left. Some are junk to be sure, but other stuff is quite nice. I see these lots quite often and have personally sold several very nice assembled buildings on EBAY for very reasonable prices.
Try searching the HO data base under buildings or lots or assembled/built up
With younger kids, some of these buildings could be just the ticket because they could handle them and put them around the layout as they pleased with little worry about damaging an expensive kit....Young kids don't care about the detail, they want to handle the building and really play with it...
From the modeling aspect, these buildings could be inexpensive guinea pigs for modeling techniques. painting, etc that you have the boys help you with...
Just a thought,
Guy
Reply
Edit
Anonymous
Member since
April 2003
305,205 posts
Posted by
Anonymous
on Sunday, September 14, 2003 12:43 AM
Joe,
Another idea: It is often possible to buy assembled kits on EBAY in lots very inexpensively. I am not talking about the craftsman dioramas that go for big bucks, instead I am referring to the lots of plastic items (some of the brands mentioned already in this post) that might sell 6 buildings for $20..00. For some reason shoppers on EBAY seem reluctant to pay big bucks for assembled buildings (craftsman kits aside) and in my eyes they are some of the better bargains still left. Some are junk to be sure, but other stuff is quite nice. I see these lots quite often and have personally sold several very nice assembled buildings on EBAY for very reasonable prices.
Try searching the HO data base under buildings or lots or assembled/built up
With younger kids, some of these buildings could be just the ticket because they could handle them and put them around the layout as they pleased with little worry about damaging an expensive kit....Young kids don't care about the detail, they want to handle the building and really play with it...
From the modeling aspect, these buildings could be inexpensive guinea pigs for modeling techniques. painting, etc that you have the boys help you with...
Just a thought,
Guy
Reply
Edit
wp8thsub
Member since
November 2002
From: US
2,455 posts
Posted by
wp8thsub
on Sunday, September 14, 2003 5:25 PM
"Who makes the best kit " depends to some extent on what type of structure you want. Modern metal industrial buildings can be had from Pikestuff and Micro Engineering, but few other sources. Sometimes it's not who's best but who's the only one.
Aside from the suggestions made by others, I'll add Great Western Models for concrete pre-cast industries, City Classics (now also part of Pikestuff ?) for midsize city buildings, and Smalltown USA (part of Rix Products) for companions to the Design Preservation kits. Also don't overlook the laser cut wood kits from American Model Works and Banta among others. They virtually snap together due to the precise engineering.
One HUGE help when assembling plastic kits with large walls (like Walthers) is to use a very fast drying solvent cement like Ambroid or Tenax 7R. These cements work much faster than typical MEK based products like Testors, allowing you to move forward with assembly withot waiting for glue joints to set up.
Rob Spangler
Reply
wp8thsub
Member since
November 2002
From: US
2,455 posts
Posted by
wp8thsub
on Sunday, September 14, 2003 5:25 PM
"Who makes the best kit " depends to some extent on what type of structure you want. Modern metal industrial buildings can be had from Pikestuff and Micro Engineering, but few other sources. Sometimes it's not who's best but who's the only one.
Aside from the suggestions made by others, I'll add Great Western Models for concrete pre-cast industries, City Classics (now also part of Pikestuff ?) for midsize city buildings, and Smalltown USA (part of Rix Products) for companions to the Design Preservation kits. Also don't overlook the laser cut wood kits from American Model Works and Banta among others. They virtually snap together due to the precise engineering.
One HUGE help when assembling plastic kits with large walls (like Walthers) is to use a very fast drying solvent cement like Ambroid or Tenax 7R. These cements work much faster than typical MEK based products like Testors, allowing you to move forward with assembly withot waiting for glue joints to set up.
Rob Spangler
Reply
Subscriber & Member Login
Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!
Login
Register
Users Online
There are no community member online
Search the Community
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter
See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter
and get model railroad news in your inbox!
Sign up