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Things that irritate modelers.

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Posted by DAVID FORTNEY on Saturday, September 5, 2015 10:41 AM

Know it all's on these forums

people who respond to your threads and add nothing to the subject

people who can't enjoy what you like and must set you straight 

people who criticize your choice of mfgs.

I think that is enough for now. 

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Posted by willy6 on Saturday, September 5, 2015 10:35 AM

Walking into the only hobby store in your area 35 miles away and remembering you left your shopping list at home on the layout, especially when you know one of the items is sheet styrene and you forgot the thickness.

Being old is when you didn't loose it, it's that you just can't remember where you put it.
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Posted by GP-9_Man11786 on Saturday, September 5, 2015 10:25 AM

Hmm, I could proably write a small book on this topic. Anyway, here goes:

1. People who think their approach the hobby makes them a "real model railroader." The ultra fine scale supper accurate prototype modeler is no more or less of a model railroader than the guy who builds a table top roundy rounder for his postwar Lionel stuff.

2. A certain model manufacturer continually pushing back the release date of a certain PRR N Scale steamer.

3. People stealing my credit card and forcing me to call my dealer (I know, that makes me sound like a junkie), due to item number 2.

4. The layout running great when nobody else is watching but acting up when the guys come over.

5. Not having a mini fridge in the train room, forcing me to walk down to the garage to get a cold beer.

6. seeking permission from the ICC (my wife) before making major capital purchases.

Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.

www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com 

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Posted by luvadj on Saturday, September 5, 2015 9:40 AM

Rivet counters and people who judge others modeling skills too critically....

Just my .02......

Bob Berger, C.O.O. N-ovation & Northwestern R.R.        My patio layout....SEE IT HERE

There's no place like ~/ ;)

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Posted by carl425 on Saturday, September 5, 2015 8:32 AM

BMMECNYC
That tool that you just had in your hand 5 seconds ago, that you spend half an hour finding.

A variation on this is the object that you moved out of the way 5 minutes ago that is now in the way again.

I have the right to remain silent.  By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.

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Posted by cedarwoodron on Saturday, September 5, 2015 7:30 AM

Rod Stewart mentioned that apron trick in one of his MR articles- proves that great minds think alike!

Cedarwoodron


 

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Posted by Hobbez on Saturday, September 5, 2015 7:23 AM

BroadwayLion
 
BMMECNYC

That tool that you just had in your hand 5 seconds ago, that you spend half an hour finding.

 

 

 

 

One time the LION spent 15 minutes looking for that tool. It turns out that it was in his left hand all the time.

 

ROAR

 

OMG, at least once a week.  Makes you wonder if your losing your mind sometimes.

 

My layout blog,
The creation, death, and rebirth of the Bangor & Aroostook

http://hobbezium.blogspot.com
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Posted by richhotrain on Saturday, September 5, 2015 6:56 AM

SouthPenn

What irritates you in model railroading?

My layout.   Super Angry   

Alton Junction

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Posted by BroadwayLion on Saturday, September 5, 2015 6:26 AM

BMMECNYC

That tool that you just had in your hand 5 seconds ago, that you spend half an hour finding.

 

 

One time the LION spent 15 minutes looking for that tool. It turns out that it was in his left hand all the time.

 

ROAR

The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.

Here there be cats.                                LIONS with CAMERAS

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Posted by BRAKIE on Saturday, September 5, 2015 6:02 AM

Getting down on all fours  with flashlight in hand looking for a dropped  part---only to find it defied the law of gravity and landed 6 feet away from where it drop.

Decaling and can't find the decal scissors or small tip decal brush that I just laid down.

And above all accidentally dipping my paint brush in my coffee!!! Bang HeadAngry

 

Larry

Conductor.

Summerset Ry.


"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt  Safety First!"

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Posted by RR_Mel on Saturday, September 5, 2015 4:52 AM

This is a great topic!!!! 
 
I have learned several things I hadn’t thought about.  The one that sticks out the best is the apron from Paul.  I put an Army-Navy white apron on my wife’s shopping list.
 
I also found out I’m not alone with many things that wind me up.  But I have to say that despite all of the irritable things that put me into orbit it’s still the best hobby in the world!!!!    
 
Thanks South Penn!
 
Mel
 
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, September 5, 2015 3:56 AM
  • Detail parts to be applied by user on a $ 500 loco.
  • Product announcement years before it is released.
  • No manual for that $ 500 loco, leaving it to the user to find out how to open it and lubricate it
  • No standardized pin socket for a plug & play installation of a DCC decoder.

 

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Posted by Burlington Northern #24 on Saturday, September 5, 2015 3:46 AM
Lack of models for my roadnames(primarily the SP&S).

Lack of models owned by my roadnames(primarily SP&S again).

Lack of DCC friendly Alco FA/FB's(cash cow loco, come on Walthers.)

Lack of DCC friendly RS1-3s and other unique hood units(I'm talking like drop in friendly with no soldering).

SP&S #700 not yet being made(Looking at you KATO, the solid 4-8-4s you guys make needs a new member in N).

Seriously we can make one road wonders but not a C636 or more 424s or 425s or 415s in N?

Lack of '60's vehicles(civilian and military, from motorcycles to jet fighters) in N.

Lack of Info regarding prototypes operations and history/ shots of infrastructure/ rolling stock owned by prototype but not shown in books/ references.

There's more but I'll keep it to myself, as they do not irritate me as much as these things.

SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.

 http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide 

Gary DuPrey

N scale model railroader 

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Posted by NittanyLion on Friday, September 4, 2015 9:22 PM

Measure twice, cut once, find out you had the wrong dimension in the first place.

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Posted by peahrens on Friday, September 4, 2015 9:03 PM

Well the kids are not here yet for the weekend so here goes:

10. I often can't find the list I started of things I want to be able to find because I may have put them in any of several places

9. My batting average of replacing the few Kadee coupler springs that become missing.  I have lots of extras but the poor replacement average is a man vs. machine thing

8. My hands shake sometimes when I'm working on small stuff. Which makes me worry about when they will always shake.

7. The one step forward, two steps back things.  Today I used a sound meter to help narrow the too wide range of my diesel sound levels across the fleet...at idle, horn, bell, etc.  It helped considerably, but I discovered a number of locos that go the wrong way, I think, so adding to the To Do list.

6. Keeping notes that aren't quite good enough.

5. Skipping the Do-It -Right-The-First-Time approach (intentionally) and having to fix something to make me happy later

4. Having to choose between model railroading and things I gotta / oughta do. Correcting this misconception is my primary goal.

3. Working nicely on a project and getting stopped by lacking the right tool or materials I could have foreseen

2. Getting so engrossed in what I'm doing, with the TV on, that I can't even tell you who's winning the golf match (or where it is this weekend)

1. That nothing about MR'ing bugs me enough to make me take another path

Paul

Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent

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Posted by tstage on Friday, September 4, 2015 9:01 PM

BMMECNYC

That tool that you just had in your hand 5 seconds ago, that you spend half an hour finding.

Totally relate to that one, BMMECNYC. YesStick out tongue

Two annoyances that come to mind:

  1. Weathering an e-n-t-i-r-e layout heavily and calling it "realistic".
  2. Canned video shots where all locomotives run the exact same speed.

Tom

https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling

Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.

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Posted by Hobbez on Friday, September 4, 2015 8:47 PM

Molded on details.  The wife calls me a car snob all the time for it, but molded on details just hit my eye so, so wrong.

My layout blog,
The creation, death, and rebirth of the Bangor & Aroostook

http://hobbezium.blogspot.com
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Posted by hon30critter on Friday, September 4, 2015 8:44 PM

I drop stuff all the time but I work over a smooth floor so I can usually find the stuff when it goes straight to the floor. What really bugs me is that piece that flies off into the ether after it pops out of your pliers, never to be seen again. It is especially frustrating when you can hear it land and you think you know which direction it went.Bang HeadSuper AngrySmile, Wink & Grin

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

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Posted by Paul3 on Friday, September 4, 2015 8:37 PM

As far as modeling goes, I have to agree with dropping things as my #1 irritant.  That's why I bought a white shop apron (at an Army-Navy Store, of all places).  This apron is made of denim material.  What I've done is clamp the bottom of it to the underside of my workbench.  When I sit in my chair to work at my bench, I slip the neck strap over my head.  Now when I drop anything, the apron catches it and I don't have to get on my hands and knees with a flashlight looking for that one-of-a-kind part that is crucially needed to reassemble that expensive model.

The only change I'm going to make is to replace the neck strap with a breakaway type normally found on an ID necklace.  I've already tried to walkaway once while still tied to the workbench.  The bench didn't move, and I stopped abruptly.  Sigh

Paul A. Cutler III

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Posted by RR_Mel on Friday, September 4, 2015 8:27 PM

Things that irritate me:
 
1)   I’m very impatience so anything that fights me is at the top of the list.
2)   Dropping stuff, old age has dinged the feelings in my finger tips and it causes the dropsy’s.
3)   Having three pairs of glasses, X2 for reading & computer, X4 for working on my layout and airbrushing, and X6 for working on fine detailing at my workbench.
4)   Sales calls while I’m working on my layout, having to stop what I’m doing to tell them ‘if you want money I don’t want to talk to you.”
5)   Running out of supplies or parts without a local store to purchase more and having to wait for them to come by mail.
 
Dropping stuff stays near the top of my list when I’m at my workbench.   
 
Mel
 
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
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Posted by crhostler61 on Friday, September 4, 2015 8:21 PM

Many things irritate me in the hobby. Most things outside my control. But...the most irritating thing for me is on one day operating a train on my layout and having it run flawlessly, then the next day running the very same train with no changes anywhere and having it derail repeatedly and sometimes piling up in my tunnels. Gremlins...critters...who knows. I have had black widows creep onto the layout and derail trains. Anyway. I'll typically spout out a long series of very colorful metaphors, shut down the railroad, and find something else to do for the day.

Mark H

Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history. 

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Posted by WVWoodman on Friday, September 4, 2015 8:17 PM

Winner - the tool that you had just 15 seconds ago.  Every I put something down I can never find it when I need it again. 

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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 4, 2015 8:05 PM

That tool that you just had in your hand 5 seconds ago, that you spend half an hour finding.

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Posted by Catt on Friday, September 4, 2015 7:47 PM

Modelers with blinders that will not look at other than their chosen scale and make a point of telling me how much better their scale is than yours.

Their reasoning being that if it isn't their scale there are no useful ideas to be culled from the other scale (no matter what it is).

Johnathan(Catt) Edwards 100 % Michigan Made
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Things that irritate modelers.
Posted by SouthPenn on Friday, September 4, 2015 7:25 PM

What irritates you in model railroading?

I'll start with the metal clip that Athearn uses to hold couplers on. They don't pop off very often, but when then they do, they can cause a mess

South Penn

South Penn

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