can any of you guys tell me of a site where i can get some info on scratch building tips and techniques?
Thanks, Thor.
You're Here Dude!
Toss out some questions as to what you are intending to build, there is a serious bunch of real model builders here that can & will help ya with your project! Most of them will even suggest where too look if they have links & other references specific to you ambitions. Please ask what you would like to scratchbuld & many folks here will help you out. That's what we're all about!
Thor - I'd have to totally disagree with Chad's opinion that this is an appropriate site to seek good advice in regard to scratchbuilding, or kit bashing. While there are a few individuals here that have talent and experience in those areas, the great majority of folks here do not.
A far better choice would be to join Railroad Line Forums: http://www.railroad-line.com/ . That site has some sub forums totally devoted to examples of scratch and kit building, often including entire threads devoted to specific projects. Likewise, that forum's make up reflects a much higher level of modeling experience and skill than does this one.
CNJ831
CNJ831,
I sincerely apologize, sorry man..
Chad, im building the walthers tri -state power authority kit. (power plant) im also adding the walthers modern conveyors kit 933 -3518, my idea is to scratch build some type of a hopper so i can have a scene where some dump trucks and tractors are feeding coal to the power plant as well as the train, also i want to add some pipes to supply the water to the plant. that the idea.
thank thor,
I'm an advocate of the "get your hands dirty" method of learning new techniques, particularly when you're dealing with inexpensive materials. Craft stores can supply you with balsa wood sheets and strips, and all kinds of glues and craft paint. Spray paints come from the hardware store. Your LHS can provide the more "exotic" material like sheet styrene with clapboard or tin roof surfaces.
DPM (now a part of Woodland Scenics) makes sectional brick pieces which can be assembled however you'd like to form a building. They are a nice transition from pure kitbuilding, where all the parts fit together and you've got a set of directions to tell you how, to making a unique model of your own from "raw materials."
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Kalmbach has published a number of books about kitbashing and scratchbuilding structures, but they appear to be out of print. You may be able to find some on eBay or at train show book vendors
Kitbashing HO Model Railroad Structures, Art Curren 1988
HO Lineside Industries You Can Build, 1996
HO Trackside Structures You Can Build, Bob Hayden/George Drury, 1994
How to Build Realistic Layouts, Vol 2 Industries You Can Model, 2007 (may still be in print)
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
The Art Curren book is outstanding, as are the original Model Railroader articles that make up the book (earlier he had worked his magic in articles for Railroad Model Craftsman). The only downside is that a number of kit structures that were his mainstay for raw material for the kitbashes are not available new anymore, and have to be sought out at swap meets, sometimes at collector prices. But the good old Mount Vernon Mfg from Life Like soldiers on and he made some astounding structures from that kit. And the main point of Curren's book does not need a specific project to be learned.
One of his techniques was to make Xerox copies of kit parts and then fool around with cutting them out and combining. I have tried this and it works BUT -- it helps to take steps to remember what kit a given part came from. Marking the page is no help once the sissors come out! Solution - copy each potential kit source parts on a different pastel color of paper: white, yellow, pink, blue etc.
Another good source of general tips and techniques -- also out of print but reasonable plentiful at swap meets, is also from Kalmbach: Building Plastic Railroad Models by Robert Schleicher a prolific author who went on to be editor of Rail Model Journal. It came out in 1979
Dave Nelson
Thor,
There is a Yahoo scratch building discussion group that is fairly active. You may want to look into joining and asking for some help there.
Also, back in the 1980's Wayne and May Cay Wesolowski published the ABC's of Building Model Railroad Cars which may still be available through TAB BOOKS, Inc. It provides a lot of useful, basic information for scratchbuilders, including the necessary tools and how to use them. There are sections on how to work with wood, styrene and other modeling materials. And there are a number of step-by-step projects you can build in order to develop your skills.
I have been scratchbuilding and kit-bashing for longer than I care to remember and I still refer to this book from time to time.
Have fun.
John Timm
Chad
Note that the OP responded to your post and not the rather off putting responce about this site being "totally inappropriate". That comment was inappropriate itself.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critter Chad Note that the OP responded to your post and not the rather off putting responce about this site being "totally inappropriate". That comment was inappropriate itself. Dave
Dave,
That wasn't quite what CNJ831 said. What he said was, "I'd have to totally disagree with Chad's opinion that this is an appropriate site to seek good advice in regard to scratchbuilding, or kit bashing".
He did not say that it was a "totally inappropriate" site. There is a difference.
Rich
Alton Junction
Thanks, To those of you who took the time to try and help me, I am almost afraid to post any of my questions, I have only been a model railroader for a couple of years. and my computer skills are not too good. thanks to those of you who try and help new people to the hobby like me.
OK there is a difference, but CNJ831's comment was still rather negative regarding the people who participate in this forum. I apologise for letting my short fuse get the better of me.
I have not researched doing an industry such as the one you want to build, as I tend to focus more on locomotives. I wish I had something more constructive to offer for your project. Best of luck though, it sounds like it will be a nice one!
hon30critter Rich OK there is a difference, but CNJ831's comment was still rather negative regarding the people who participate in this forum. I apologise for letting my short fuse get the better of me. Dave
I agree with your point of view much more than I do with CNJ831's comment. I guess it just bothered me that he was being misquoted.
But, anyhow, we somehow hijacked the OP's thread and his original question. Sorry about that.
Others out there must have built the Walthers Tri -Sate Power Authority kit and the Walthers Modern Conveyors kit. His scratchbuilding question about the hopper doesn't seem that difficult for someone who has built these kits.
thortenney Thanks, To those of you who took the time to try and help me, I am almost afraid to post any of my questions, I have only been a model railroader for a couple of years. and my computer skills are not too good. thanks to those of you who try and help new people to the hobby like me. Thor,
Thor,Ask away..There are many knowledgeable modelers on this forum that is well schooled in several facets of the hobby that is willing to help.
The weekends seems to be any forum slow time..I'm sure Monday somebody will reply with a excellent idea.
I have some but,it would be kitbashing and not scratchbuilding.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Thor
Kit-bashing and scratch building an industry is more a sense of knowing how that particular industry would operate on a daily basis. By guessing on the requirement of the power plant fuel intake you can bet a train of 20 one hundred ton hoppers are not going into the furnaces right away. If the boiler requires 50 ton per hour times that by 24 hours in a day. This would require 12 one hundred ton cars per day or a train of 24 every other day. Add a couple extra cars per train in case of train delays. Ninety nine percent or more of that train would be stockpiled. You will need to have a sufficient supply of fuel in between trains and even more in cases of train delays. Dealing with the stockpiles are done as economically as possible. Bulldozers, loaders, shovels and conveyors will then direct the stockpile to the plant. The more the fuel is handled the more it costs the operator. From the train load-out facility to the stockpiles would be one move. This would be done by conveyors to an elevation high enough for the whole train to be piled. This conveyor system can move on an axis to allow several piles or a continuous bank. From there a bulldozer can push coal to the plant receiving hopper or grizzly / crushing system to be conveyed to the plant. A tubular auger system (like a large screw inside a tube of steel) could be employed to crush and feed the plant also. That is two moves. The best you can hope for for economy.
The main purpose of the plant is not to make electricity. Electricity is the final product. The purpose of the fuel is to make steam to turn turbines to make the product. Large pipes would bring water from lakes and reservoirs to be made into steam.
Dealing with the waste ash is another industry in itself.
Research is the best tip anyone can give you. Google can be your best friend.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
This is an appropriate site to ask for tips or info on scratchbuilding and kitbashing. One of the keys to getting information here, or elsewhere, is to provide very specific info as to the information you are looking for and providing the members enough information about what you are looking for so that they can give you a reasonably well-educated answer.
There are a lot of great modelers that frequent this site and if you're lucky, you might catch them at a time they can give you an answer.
There are a lot of other sites out there, like CNJ indicates, that have different types of participants drawn to them. Some I've seen, that offer very different views in my opinion, include Model Railroad Hobbyist, ModelRailroadForums.com, and the-Gauge.net. All of them have their own audiences and different styles on model railroading.
Keep in mind the adage though that free advice is just that. And you get what you pay for a lot of the time. Try some of the techniques and advice and you'll learn what works for you.
thortenney I am almost afraid to post any of my questions, I have only been a model railroader for a couple of years.
I am almost afraid to post any of my questions, I have only been a model railroader for a couple of years.
The secret to successful forum usage is to ignore those comments that are...., well let's just say less than helpful, and acknowledge those that are helpful or at least try to be.
Without getting specific because you may have a completely different view of what you want, I would say, sit down and envision what you would want and how you would want it to look. Then I would think of what items resemble that item or at least close. Then get some and try to make it work. Usually, if during the first attempt with some material that does not work, while saying a few words your Mother wouldn't like, you'll get an idea of some other material that will. If you're like me you will repeat this process several times before you find that "just right" product. Don't forget to choose the right glue either.
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.