I think kitbashing is not as popular anymore is because of the quality bar raised by the latest products. When you talk about what has been done by the "great generation" as far building a steam loco from a piece of raw brass or box car from a block of solid oak - you don't take into the account the a)standard of level of detail, b)average number of loco and cars owned by modeler then vs now and c)available free time and other venue of interest.
When I look at the models from 80s or even 90s I don't understand why would someone buy it unless he's a collector. Heck, I won't even buy a loco now that is not a DCC with Sound. It simply not cost effective to buy a DC loco and upgrade it to sound with DCC. I enjoyed modeling when I was a kid and could spend my endless free time on building planes from plastic kits. Nowadays I'm lucky if I have time to operate, and it's a real treat when i have time to install grab irons and populate engine cab and passenger cars. So I start from the most detailed, best quality DCC loco I can get for a reasonable price and go from there. I can think of a million other things to do in a time it would take me to get there by kit-bashing. And realize, for a lot of younger modelers there is no affection for a specific small railroad, so most items we want are either readily available in RTR form or require little modifications.
trainsbuddy:When you talk about what has been done by the "great generation" as far building a steam loco from a piece of raw brass or box car from a block of solid oak - you don't take into the account the a)standard of level of detail, b)average number of loco and cars owned by modeler then vs now and c)available free time and other venue of interest.
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Actually there's more to it then that..
At one time in the hobby there was very few road specific steam locomotives beyond Penn-Lines PRR locomotive kits..If one wanted a model of a IHB 0-8-0 he had to built it.Then came the brass steamers that the average modeler could afford-then the cry brass will kill the scratchbuilding segment of the hobby was heard -enter AHM and their line of plastic steam locomotives to include that IHB 0-8-0..Enter the brass diesels and there was little need to scratchbuild a locomotive.Freight car offerings improved with introduction of Train Miniature line of earlier wood freight cars..And yes,there was that cry of how the hobby was going to the lower inferno regions and won't survive the coming years.
It took the hobby years to what we have today...
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Sometimes the "real Hobbyist" can feel cheated because a person who just starts out can have equipment that is just as good if not better looking then what they have. All you need is a few bucks and you get detailed and sometimes weathered equipment. A person can actually do his hobby part time and still have a decent layout. So in that aspect I guess the old way is on the way out. I personally won't miss it but I'm sure some will. I'll just keep running my well detailed dcc/sound equipped loco's and not have to worry about kitbashing.
Springfield PA
People like John Allen, Malcolm Furlow, Tony Koester, Allen McCLelland had an influence on the Hobby. In particular McCLelland and Koester valued operation over model fidelity (to a point) in that environment, RTR and Blue Box kits are a better investment than custom built engines. Scenery also often dominates.
In other words, this hobby takes different forms and the dominant direction dictates availability.
The big problem with RTR as I've said in other threads is perceived value.
people look back to being able to use their meager allowance to buy a shake the box kit and compare that to current MSRP of an RTR car or engine and see a price disconnect. This is not a Craftsman issue as they would never buy RTR anyway. At best/worst, this is an indication that the Craftsman side of the hobby is not as dominant as other aspects, but I don't know that that is a bad or good thing. It's just a thing.