This morning, after several frustrating evenings characterized by multiple muted outbursts of profanity, I finished working on my first Branchline Blueprint-series kit, an NKP 40' reefer. The plastic kit came with many fine details. Unfortuntely, a number of those fine details didn't end up on the model. Some broke as I worked to gently cut them from the sprue. Others sprang away from my tweezers with a kinetic enery belying their diminutive size, ending up in some unseen lost parallel dimension. The parts surviving thus far had small pins, which aligned very nicely with little holes on the car body. But the pins had a very snug fit in the holes - still more pieces broke under my patient efforts to coax them into place.
Finally the car was finished, minus the roof corner grabs, a cut lever, and some underbody details. Still a fine model that looks nice in spite of my oafish modeling skills. I placed it on my layout with a mix of accomplishment and relief and admired it for a few moments. Then, I took a step back, to about where I'd be when running trains.
At that point I grabbed a 36' boxcar that had been culled from an ancient Roundhouse 3-in-1 kit, coupled it to my newest roster addition, and took a step back. The detail on the Branchline car largely disappeared. I found myself noticing mostly the overall form of the cars, rather than the individually-applied grab irons and ladders.
I'll post pictures down the road. But based on that experience, I feel much better about my fleet of mostly Blue Box and Roundhouse rolling stock. The detail difference from practical viewing distances as a moving train passes by is not noticeable, at least to these declining middle-aged eyeballs.
Jim
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
Jim,I can relate..I prefer my locomotives to be lightly detailed with the more important items like m u hoses,radio antennas and sun shades if applicable-like this:
I prefer cars like Athearn RTR,Atlas TrainMan,AccuRail,ExactRail (Evolution Series),Walthers and if needed the Atlas tank cars.
I lost my long time love affair with Athearn's older BB line of cars.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Being over 60, I have come up with some adaptations. De-spru tiny parts inside a gallon baggie. They still get away, but not far. Figure on replacing lots of grab with brass wire...you're going to break them handling the car, if not on installing them. I've had problems with Branchline parts fitting, get some of those tiny reamers from Micro-Mark. And, with older eyes, you're not going to be able to see the problems anyway.
MF
Mike
This may get me in trouble, but here goes.
First, everyone should enjoy this hobby however they like and to whatever standards suit them.
That said, fine model building is simply not for everyone. Some people do not possess the skill set, and/or are not interested in developing the skill set. That's fine.
That is way there is all manner of RTR and shake the box kits - expensive high detail or "three foot rule" close enough.
It is interesting that it seems the "craftsman kit building" crowd use to be the group considered a little "snobby" in this hobby. That gorup has both shrunk and lost a lot of that "snobby" image.
Now it seems the group with "snobby" image is the high end ready run, blue box cars are not good enough, but I don't have time to build kits, crowd.
Well, I still build kits of ALL levels and materials, and I have fair share of finely detailed models and I don't have any problems building those fine details or handling them once they are on the layout.
BUT, I also have lots of "three foot rule" cars, kit and RTR, and I'm just fine with that. They are not "stand ins" until better cars are built or bought.
What I only have a very limited number of are these $40-$80 high end RTR marvels. In most cases I simply will not pay those prices - plus it more fun to build something than just buy it.
So to the OP I say fine, buy, build and run what ever suits your skills, interest and budget.
Just don't blame that kit, because for those of us who are into that kind of thing, those kits are fantastic.
Sheldon
mononguy63, I don't know about how things are in the more primitive regions of the country wherein you dwell but out here in the 100 plus degree Desert Southwest we have these things they call plastic bags. Utilizing the one gallon variety ----- they are also made in two gallon sizes although these are sometimes just a little hard to find ----- try doing your work with your model ----- as well as your hands and tools ----- inside and you'll become absolutely amazed at how few parts disappear when they slip from the grasp of your tweezers.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
Hello;
I have built a few of these cars and I find that the corner grabs are easley broken. I get everything else of the sprues with no problem. Drilling out the small holes is a must because of the tight fit. My last car I broke both corner grabs which I am going to replace with brass wire ones. I have 2 Westerfield cars and these scare the begevvers out of me, so I bought there DVD on how to assemble there kits and it was very informative not only for there cars but any car with alot of added detail. My secret weapon to use when I attempt to build these cars is to have a couple of cans of the fruit of the barley, which seems to help.
Bill
The first experience with a finer detailed kit liek Brnachline Blueprint or Proto 2000 is always the hardest. My first venture to this level was a P2K tank car kit. AFter getting down to the point of having one more grab left on the sprue and absolutely NEEDING that one to have a complete set of unbroken ones, I put the whole thing aside in frustration. Over time I aquired 2 more simialr kits at trains hows, and decided to have another go at it. This time I carefully looked over everythign at each step adn realized how by deviating slightly fromt he instructions, things coudl go together a LOT easier with less chance of breaking things. Plus I discovered that a single-edge razor blade is by far the best despruing tool for this fine stuff, even better than the little despruing ttweezers. Using one of those self-healign cutting mats as a surface, and shileding the cuttign area with my other hand, I managed to get all the parts cut off for thise second attempt without breaking any, and losing on one on the floor somewhere. Luckily they give you a couple of extras. Tip #2 - the parts are sized to fit the holes on UNPAINTED models only. So before trying to force (and break) any of these grabs and ladders, I drilled out EVERY mounting hole. This is probably the most time-consuming part of the assembly. Once the holes have been drilled out, the parts slip right in withotu pressure being applied, and assembly proceeds rapidly. AFter succesfully completing the secodn kit, I pulled out the one I had put aside, and finished that off. By the time I got to the third one, I had the process down pretty well, and it only took a few hours from start to finish.
I'm not stuck on these highly detailed kits, I buy whatever kits fit my layotu needs, be they AThearn, Accurail, the Blueprint or the Yardmaster lines - doesn't matter. One thing I apply to ALL aspects of the hooby - never force yourself to do anything. DOn;t go "Oh, I need to finish these 5 kits by Friday". Finsih them when you feel liek workign on kits. Many times I need to go away for a few days at a tiem for work, so I always take my toolbox and a few kits, once I get back to my hotel room and eat some dinner, I pull out a kit and do some work. Probably half my rolling stock was built either during business trips or train show trips. I've been workign a month now on tocuhups liek paintign all my couplers rust, and paintign the 'air hose' and the tip. Plus built a few more kits for the train I run at shows, lus worked on converting open hoppers to covered hoppers. Lot of people would be done with 2 or all of these things long already, but I only do an activity as long as I feel like it. As soon as I start getting bored, or my eyes go buggy from lookign close-up at couplers, I stop and pack up or goon to something else. It's when you are tired, or getting bored that you start making mistakes and messing things up. The hobby is not a race - the idea of a hobby is to be relaxing. Sit back, take your time, enjoy the ride, and have fun on it.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Call me Primitive Pete if you wish, but my take is that I really don't need any fine detail that I can't see from a meter away. That includes black grabirons on my black freight cars. Most of them don't even have brake gear.
I have nothing but respect for folks who build microscopically-detailed models - but I'd be lucky to be able to do in one of the G scales what they do in HO. Since I don't value frustration as an emotion...
As with sound and smoke, I just let my imagination supply what isn't really there.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - rather casually)
Hi!
Let me just thrown out my experience - which may or may not reflect yours...........
- The earlier Branchline Yardmaster kits I got had the sprues situated so as cutting them off (around the doors as I recall) exposed white plastic on the model. This was just bad engineering. Anyway, I made three attempts to get the paint color used from Branchline and got NO response. Sooo, I patched and weathered the car as best I could and sold off the remaining unbuilt kits.
- I'm now 68, and have built several craftsman plastic kits while in my '60s. Not bragging, but they came out pretty nice - especially with a coat of Dull-Cote as it covers up exposed ACC spots. As nice as these cars are (Intermountain, Red Caboose, etc.), I tend to display them rather than actively run on the layout.
- My layout freight cars are mostly Athearn or Athearn based BB built from kits, with KDs, weathered trucks, Intermountain wheelsets, and Dull-Cote. IMHO, these make up really nice postwar trainsets, and are pretty durable and "0-5-0 switcher friendly".
- I've been building plastic models since the mid '50s, and have been doing so thru today. Obviously age has taken its toll on my eyesight, dexterity, and steadiness of the hands. But, I've found that with a well lite workbench, an Optivisor with 2.5 magnifier, some of the more specialized tools, and a good dose of additional patience, my physical model building shortcomings can be pretty well overcome.
Hey, whether you buy RTR (is there really such a thing?) or build craftsman kits, the object is to ENJOY.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
The detail you need is directly related to how far away you will be from the models, on my layout 2' is the max as it is a walk-around. When I belonged to a club that had a centralized control, they didn't even need break wheels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree. The simpler and sturdier Roundhouse, Accurail and Blue Box Athearns look plenty good enough out on the layout. Especially if you paint the wheels and trucks. And give any glossy plastic parts a bit of DullCote.
On the other hand, building the superdetailed $20 kits is cool too. There is something quite satisfying about knowing that all those dinky little pieces are there, even if you cannot see them.
I have a lot of "basic" cars, and not quite so many advanced cars. In fact I have more darn cars than will fit on the layout. They are all good cars and I rotate them on and off the layout as the mood strikes me.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
I think a lot of the demand for highly detailed models is influenced by model photography. When close up pictures are taken, the details become very important. But once the trains are running, as you have noted, the details just aren't as apparent in the smaller scales.
While you can highly detail models in any scale and this can be an enjoyable activity, I really think you ought to model in O scale or larger if you enjoy this part of the hobby the most. The details are easier to work with and you notice them more on trains in motion. Space becomes a problem of course for building a layout, but for model building O or G is the way to go.
Like others, I mix RTR, highly detailed, and less detailed kits for my under construction S scale layout. For me, it represents the best compromise between layout and model size.
BTW, I have found sprue nippers to be one of the best tools I ever bought for plastic kits.
Enjoy
Paul
Hello Jim,
I can certainly sympathize with your frustrations for the first time building of the Branchline Blueprint-series kit. As owner of a large layout populated by about 75% Athearn BB and Roundhouse kits I began "upgrading" my fleet with these same Branchline kits and some Proto 2000 kits mostly because they had the cars and road names I was after. After building the first kit and having many of the small parts break during assembly I eventually came up with a plan of attack that works well for me. First I drill out every hole. Second I use a new single edge razor blade to cut the parts from the sprues. (Did not think of the plastic bag trick and may incorporate that on future builds). Third I use metal Tichy Train Group grab irons in place of the plastic ones supplied with the kit. I paint the metal grab irons with a small brush. Fourth I adapted the do not rush policy when building these kits. Having now built over a dozen P-2000 and Branchline kits each one gets a bit easier.
Using my fifty year old eyes from 3 feet away these cars when coupled to my Athearn and or Roundhouse cars may lose some of their detail but the paint schemes are well done and that is the principal reason I bought them.
Take a breather, run some trains and try another one. You have just passed the first learning curve.
John R
John R.
Interesting discussion going on. As a point of clarification, I want to be clear that I'm in no way bashing detailed kits. Quite the contrary - there are some very nice models out there that make exquisite models in the hands of a mildly competent modeler. I, on the other hand, working with reading glasses and a lit magnifier, am still addled by my set of seven left thumbs.
Building the kit was simultaneously frustrating and enjoyable. A conflicting experience. I might have to try another kit....
Following up on my original post, here's the finished Blueprint car
And here it is coupled to an old Roundhouse car, which I painted & decaled
I can also relate to this thread. What i now do is put a finger on the part to be trimmed and using a chisel blade I cut the part from the sprue, I leave a lit of the sprue attached and using a flexable nail file that I have cut down to small sanding strips I file the extra material away. I also went thru the wifes sewing box and found the largest needle, I now use it to open the holes for the detail parts and handrails, just what I do to help keep my sanity when building locos and rolling stock. The baggie trick sounds like a great idea also, have to try it, Jim.
Jim my Monon Buddie you are preaching to the chore now! I spent around 10 hour building a covered hopper that came with around 300 parts. I kept thinking "this is going to look so cool" and got most of the parts on the car. End results, from where I sit it might as well been a Athearn Blue Box.
It is the fully pictured Hopper on the left. Blue box in front and rear of it. While I sort of enjoyed building it, it will be my last 300 piece car i will build.
Ken
I hate Rust
cudaken Jim my Monon Buddie you are preaching to the chore now! I spent around 10 hour building a covered hopper that came with around 300 parts. I kept thinking "this is going to look so cool" and got most of the parts on the car. End results, from where I sit it might as well been a Athearn Blue Box. It is the fully pictured Hopper on the left. Blue box in front and rear of it. While I sort of enjoyed building it, it will be my last 300 piece car i will build. Ken
Is that car an Intermountain? Yes, they do take some time to build. But having built one myself, I'm pretty sure that I can tell the difference between it and an Athearn BlueBox. Maybe not from 3 feet away. But what benchwork I have is about at my chest level, so I can get close and personal with the cars.
However that's beside the point. It seems every other day there is a thread started by someone bemoaning the fact that the hobby is expensive. What, may I ask, did you pay for that car? Probably less than $25. So it took you 10 hours to build. That comes out to $2.50/hour for a hobby. Where else are you going to have an hour's worth of "fun" for $2.50?
Hi everyone!
I have said this before: If your detail isn't that good just run your trains faster!
Seriously, I think there is a learning curve to most aspects of model railroading and building rolling stock kits is no different. The first time I built a P2K tanker I minced no words about the person who designed such a beast. I broke lots of the grabs and had a hard time installing the ones that didn't break.
However, I said to myself that if others have found solutions to the challenges then I should be able to solve the problems too, and I did. One key point has already been mentioned - if the holes are too small to easily insert the grab iron lugs then drill them out a bit! In fact, I don't even do a test fit - I just drill the holes out a bit automatically. Any small gaps are covered by the base of the grab irons.
When it comes to cutting delicate parts off of the sprues I still use a FRESH #11 blade. I noticed however that there was often a difference in the distance that the sprue joint sits above the cutting mat depending on which side you put down. The closer the sprue joint is to the mat, the less likely that the part would be damaged. It seems to make a significant difference.
There is an old saying: "If at first you don't succeed, then try, try again". You will get better, guaranteed! And, for your next challenge, try some 0402 SMD LEDs! I have to use my imagination to solder the wires to them because I can't see them when they are held in my tweezers! It works - most of the time My next investment will be an Optivisor with headlights.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Yup, meant to say that - for P2K kits and the Brnacline Blueprints (I still have a a good stack on my shelf in the "to be built" category), and others along those lines, I just automatically drill out the hols for grabs and ladders and any other such parts that need to fit in a hole. Where possible, if the hole already doesn;t go through to the inside of eg a house car like a bx car, I drill them through so I can apply cement from the inside. This isn;t always possible, but where it is, this si the best way to prevent marks on the finish.
Well, I'm farsighted. I see the detail better at 3 to 4 feet away than I do at 1 to 2 feet, and I seem to constantly bump into things if I run trains with my reading glasses on. So generally speaking, more detail is good.
I can tell the difference between a $7 BB Athearn and a new $20 RTR, but not between a $20 RTR and a $40 Exactrail.
I will only work with brass or metal wire parts. I break too plastic grabs and lift rings and some handrails and other thin parts when I remove them from the sprues. Or, if I try to leave more material on near the sprue to prevent breaking, I end up leaving little nubbies on the part that are hard to shave off. I can't stand taking the effort to build a kit only to have the look spoiled by a nubbie.
I have been reducing my fleet of BB's and replacing them with RTR's. Eventually, my entire fleet will likely be RTR from Athearn, Atlas, and Walthers; all basically around the $20-$25 range. No kits anymore for me.
.
- Douglas
Gidday Jim, nothing like a good rant, as long as it is kept seemly, to get whatever what you want to rant about off your chest.
I had a similar experience to you with the first detailed kit I built, and also wondered if the result was worth the grief, perhaps I'm just perverse, but I think it was worth it , if only for the challenge.
Having said that I have no intention in replacing my Athearn BB, Roundhouse, or similar style kits, and will only buy RTR if they are either on sale or unprocurable in kit form ie Accurail.( Athearn BB have virtually disappeared off the shelves here.)
I will continue to buy and build detailed kits for the specific cars that I require, and, if only I could stop breaking No: 79 drill bits , will still have fun.
To those who build and even kitbash highly detailed models to obtain specific prototype cars , "I doffs me 'at", to my mind you people keep the bar high.
As long as we're all having Fun.
Cheers,the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
One thing that may make people feel better is the fact that some kits have part sprues that are not correctly molded. I have 9 years experience molding HO kits. Those parts that frequently break are called "cold welds" where the molds are not run hot enough to allow the plastic to weld together. Branchline seems to be the biggest victim of this, but it happens to many other companies also. Those very fine parts cool rapidly so the plastic is not fused in the mold and break when you try to cut them lose.
I've put together a number of Proto 2000 and Branchline kits over the past few years. And, like Randy, my first Proto 2000 kit was a tanker. Took me 8 hours to assemble it. The 2nd on took nearly 1/2 that time.
Some of that was just getting the experience with cutting and assembling delicate parts. Some of it had to do with the fact that I knew very little about the underframe/braking system of a boxcar or tanker.
As others have stated, the roof corner grabs on Branchline kits are especially delicate. I've also had to resort to drilling out grab iron holes so that I didn't have to press fit the part into the hole.
The essential tools for me for putting together these sorts of kits:
Even if your first attempt doesn't turn out as well as you wanted it to, try another. You might be surprised that you've managed to hone your skills - without even realizing it.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Swedish Custom painter and model maker. My Website:
My Railroad
My Youtube:
Graff´s channel
Hmmm, I for one, always only wanted to have some nice models, something that other folks don't have, & ones that show my efforts & skill. I like to say; "You can't buy that in stores!!!"
However, I have a problem, bad genetics; My grandfather (on Mom's side, yeah, even more bad), had severe Parkinsons.. If I am stressed, or can't get into modelling, it just won't happen. That kind of failure is just frustrating, knowing you CAN do that, but cannot execute it, & being unable to focus the control to do so, is a very incredible frustration.
I'd like to do better, but my recent modelling efforts are getting more & more, well, sloppy & inconsistent...
This is a project I started two years ago, & it is how it is today.. I hope to 'get in the groove' to work on it some more sometime soon...
My best wishes to those who try & want to do better, hey, we all want to improve!!None of my models are 'Perfect' but a coupe are pretty cool, at least to me!!!
That in itself, gives me a smile, & some happiness.
So yes, as my skills, patience, & talent may be waining, the 'Three Foot Rule' & 'Good Enough' are slowly gaining popularity over here..
I built my layout a bit taller I think than many do to put things closer to eye level so that it would be easier to see the finer details. This creates a much different perspective than with some layouts I see which are sometimes as low as standard counter height. Also, my layout is only 26 inches deep as it snakes around the room, with aisles that make it visible from both sides. Thus, there is no such thing as foreground and background. Everything is in the foreground and nothing is allowed to get away with hiding in the background.
Now, this presents a bit of a problem for me personally. Since I am relatively new to the hobby without the many years of experience of quite a few others here, I struggle sometimes to create and detail some things as well as my layout seems to demand. However, I refuse to lower my standards in trying to create something that meets my own expectations for the finished result. Did I set the bar too high for myself? Maybe, but that is the way I am. A good challenge makes it for me more fun even if frustrating as well.
Fortunately, I am lucky enough at least to be of some financial means, so it is easy to at times "help" myself along, by spending on high priced brass locomotives and other expensive things like high end custom trees from a very expensive supplier. I even pay experts to do a few things for me like weathering of some bridges and rolling stock in order to get just the right detailed look I am after in each case. Someday I hope to be able to do all of this myself to my own satisfaction. In the meantime I dont mind spending money in some areas to cover up my modest skills while I focus more on getting to a level of "perfection" on other aspects at which I am more successful at present, like building my own track, or automation and computer control.
What I have found sadly on this forum is that if you spend money on super detailed things like brass and such, some people here will call you out as a snob and aggressively attack and ridicule you. This will also include calling you "stupid" for spending money "excessively". They will make fun of someone who chooses to buy some things rather than build them themselves. These people have no respect for people that can't or won't do everything themselves. They forget that some of us are too busy making money (for example to put their kids through medical school) to scratchbuild everything themselves and finish in a finite amount of time. These people also forget that what seems expensive to them on fixed income in retirement - like a brass locomotive that looks great at any distance - might be pocket change to someone else with a successful business career that is still working much longer hours than most with no interest in retiring because they love their jobs. Yet they are incredibly obnoxious in trying to ridicule you for making different choices than they in buy vs build as if it is any of their business.
What is my point? Simply this: everyone who participates in this hobby does so in different ways with different expectations of what they want to accomplish, and they do so with different abilities to contribute time and money. Don't worry what others think. And if you want things to look good from one foot away and especially if you have more money than time to achieve that goal, then keep it to yourself or else prepare to be lambasted by immature, intolerant people here that can't seem to be able to leave you alone and let you particpate in this forum simply because you are different than they are.
I dont personally want to have to use a three foot rule on my own layout, but I would never think less of anyone else that did. Especially when a lot of my own modeling effforts don't look good closer than that. That is where my ability is today. That doesnt mean I don't have more challenging expectations of myself. I'm just not there yet. The journey is the fun part.
Keith
I will have to agree to building kits while staying at hotels. I do that myself as I go to school frequently, sometimes I stay in the hotel for a month. I don't limit myself to rolling stock. I have several engines, a few buildings (explain that to a TSA agent, they have always understood finally), but the most difficult has been the Tichy Crane and tank car. I find lots of patience, an optivisor, tweezers,etc...and alot of time to otherwise do nothing. It is very relaxing, and if you don't push yourself to do something you are frustrated with you get more enjoyment per dollar out of the kit. I must say the pair of Kemtron Moguls were the most trying, and it took several years of going back to them to get them to work smoothley. I also have Athearn BBs, Roundhouse, heck, I still have a Marx Cities Service green tank car I run. Detail can not get much more crude than thet, except maybe my Lionel Rocket Launcher (yes I am talking HO), and in my minds eye they are every bit as good as any of my best models, and after all it is my layout. I never thought of using a plastic bag, but I will take that advice and try it next time.
I will agree with the posters, take your time, hone your skills, and if that type of kit building is not your thing then don't do it and never feet bad about it.
Dayton and Mad River RR
maxman cudaken: Jim my Monon Buddie you are preaching to the chore now! I spent around 10 hour building a covered hopper that came with around 300 parts. I kept thinking "this is going to look so cool" and got most of the parts on the car. End results, from where I sit it might as well been a Athearn Blue Box. It is the fully pictured Hopper on the left. Blue box in front and rear of it. While I sort of enjoyed building it, it will be my last 300 piece car i will build. Ken Is that car an Intermountain? Yes, they do take some time to build. But having built one myself, I'm pretty sure that I can tell the difference between it and an Athearn BlueBox. Maybe not from 3 feet away. But what benchwork I have is about at my chest level, so I can get close and personal with the cars. However that's beside the point. It seems every other day there is a thread started by someone bemoaning the fact that the hobby is expensive. What, may I ask, did you pay for that car? Probably less than $25. So it took you 10 hours to build. That comes out to $2.50/hour for a hobby. Where else are you going to have an hour's worth of "fun" for $2.50?
cudaken: Jim my Monon Buddie you are preaching to the chore now! I spent around 10 hour building a covered hopper that came with around 300 parts. I kept thinking "this is going to look so cool" and got most of the parts on the car. End results, from where I sit it might as well been a Athearn Blue Box. It is the fully pictured Hopper on the left. Blue box in front and rear of it. While I sort of enjoyed building it, it will be my last 300 piece car i will build. Ken
Max, Maybe I missed it, but i did not see anyone bring up prices at the start. I paid $5.00 for mine at a Train Show so I cannot complain about the prices. Building a car with 300 parts is just not my thing. 25 to 50 parts is little more my speed. I built some Accure Rails hoppers from he fallen flag series, I enjoyed doing them.
Different people like doing different things when it comes to this hobby. My self, I rather make trees than 300 piece hoppers.
Cuda Ken
K. Holt What I have found sadly on this forum is that if you spend money on super detailed things like brass and such, some people here will call you out as a snob and aggressively attack and ridicule you. This will also include calling you "stupid" for spending money "excessively". They will make fun of someone who chooses to buy some things rather than build them themselves. These people have no respect for people that can't or won't do everything themselves. They forget that some of us are too busy making money (for example to put their kids through medical school) to scratchbuild everything themselves and finish in a finite amount of time. These people also forget that what seems expensive to them on fixed income in retirement - like a brass locomotive that looks great at any distance - might be pocket change to someone else with a successful business career that is still working much longer hours than most with no interest in retiring because they love their jobs. Yet they are incredibly obnoxious in trying to ridicule you for making different choices than they in buy vs build as if it is any of their business. Keith
There is a BIG difference between "These people have no respect for people that can't or won't do everything themselves." and simply being much more impressed by skill over means.
I have lots of respect for lots of people for lots of different reasons.
But show me two outstanding models, one you bought and one you built, and I am much more interested in the one you built - even if you simply made an already good commercial model better.
That big blue house I live in - I restored it and it recieved an award and appeared on national television.
Though the three foot rule is in force on my layout, I notice my thoughts of good enough continue to change as I gain more experience. Things that use to be good enough aren't anymore. That being said, all of my rolling stock is Athearn Blue Box purchased on Ebay. I'm sure some day that won't be good enough for me either!