I have built over 400 Intermountain and Red Caboose kits for my layout. I can no longer see well enough to build the last 70 kits that I have. I got a table at a good train show, took the cars and other surplus items and sold all the surplus engines but not one kit. I was asking $10 each which is about 30% of the cost of the same brands RTR cars. I guess no one builds kits any more.
I still build kits. Mostly Accurail. But I'm at the point where it is getting harder and my glasses keep getting thicker. Plus, I really don't need anymore rolling stock.
seems that most of the modelers that build kits now days are in the same boat as you , i have about the same number of proto 2000 kits and not the time savers , have 24 new kits that i got in bulk buys , that i will never use took them to the regonal NMRA meet sold 4 in three meets. the only kits that i have sold out were a bunch of old athren bb's.
Sigh......here we go again
I predict 3 pages then it gets locked, as someone will say " purchasing rtf products means you're not a real modeler.
lets just ignore Accurail, Tichey, and the new company, Scaletrains kits.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
Put them on eBay. There is still plenty of kit buying activity on that venue.
CG
Join the Yahoo group HOSwap. Post your kits there. Costs nothing to join. This is not an auction site. The price is the price. If you have them priced right you'll probably be able to sell them.
UPFEF I guess no one builds kits any more.
False. Just cause you didnt sell kits at a show doesnt mean people don't build kits any more. I build kits. I'm working on a Proto 2000 WP gondola kit atm.
I just sold several kits on the yahoo groups HOSwap so I know kits do sell.
It is true hobby time is limited so RTR is popular and as you and many others found out over time, we often bought more kits than we had time to build. Isnt that why you are selling that pile you have? Nuff said.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
UPFEF, I think apart of the problem was your price. Train show people are looking for cheap cheap not 30% off. Depending on the kit, some are just to much of a pain in the caboose to bulid for the end results. I have bulit several 150 + pice cars and really do not look much better than the old Athearn Blue Boxes I did.
Now, if by chances you have some B&O or Bessemer rolling stock maybe we can work out something! I live in Maryville ILL about 2 miles from K-10 Model Trains. I know you know where K-10 is!
Drop my the Jeffery's Dinner and let me know if you have anything I might like.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/259794.aspx
I will buy you a and tell you about Might Mopars!
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
UPFEF - You just didn't get the right folks walking by your table. $10 for a railcar kit in HO scale is not bad at all. Had I been the, I might have bought a couple.
Yes, I still build railcar kits, and I'm still a youngin' in some folks opinion. (30)
Don't give up on selling the kits, as somewhere, someone, will want them.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
I can buy RTR for less than $20 on e-bay, sometimes as low as $12 and we are talking Atlas master or Intermountain factory RTR, I stopped building kits for that reason.
$10 may be too much. I see a lot of Athearn and MDC kits for $5-$8, sometimes less. Last train show I picked up an MDC Old Timer and a Proto 2000 kit for $1 each.
Currently in rolling stock, I have about 100 kits in S scale, 40 in O scale, and 50 in HO. This is way more than I need, so I am picky about buying more. It has to be unusual or a good price - usually both - before I'll buy. I also collect MDC Old Timer kits and All Nation kits in a casual way, so I buy these if the price isn't too high.
I think one of the things the RTR offerings has exposed is that most model railroaders aren't that interested in building kits. They are more interested in running trains. And if you're building a large layout (and I am), you use as much RTR as you can get. So those who used to build only because they had to turned out to be in the majority.
Paul
I still build kits, but I want undecorated kits that I can paint and decal. Many of these are hard to come by, especially Athearn Genesis cars.
I also don't go to train shows so unless they are on E-bay there is no chance I will try to pick them up.
Rick Jesionowski
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
At a train show, unless it is ** EXACTLY ** what I need, I don't even think about anything that is more than about half of retail. Between Ebay and online shopping I can get almost everything I need for about half off. For instance, Model Train Stuff just closed out some Intermountain F units for 99 bucks, WITH DCC and ESU sound. You just need to be very, very patient.
Not to mention I still have a couple hundred kits to build.There is only ONE reason something doesn't sell; the price is too high for the market.
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
Another contributing factor might be that most kits are for prototypes from the 60's or earlier (yes, I know there are exceptions). Folks that model the modern era have few choices but to get RTR because that's the only option available for their era.
Dan Stokes
My other car is a tunnel motor
From a very old dinosaur.....
Sure, I build kits, and this is one of my most favored aspects of the hobby....but old wood kits such as Ambroid, Quality Craft, Labelle, etc. I'm presently converting my entire layout roster to assembled wood kits or scratch-built wood cars. I have assembled several plastic kits, and they looked OK, but when finished I could not tell them from an RTR plastic car....so they all went south.
In all fairness, even though I consider myself a passable modeler, my best constructed wood kit does not look better than a current RTR top of the line plastic car, but I greatly enjoy the pride of accomplishment and to me...there is something about a well built wood car that imbibes the old world spirit of this hobby.
My layout now has over 800 wood cars. I have over 1500 unbuilt kits in stock. somehow I think that they procreate behind my back as I have no idea how I wound up with this number. I do plan on building these when I become totally decrepit and cannot get into the basement. I'm just "crepit" now.
Last Timonium show I brought a few cartons of these wood kits to see If there was any interest. I priced them quite reasonalby. Out of 100 offerings, one sold and out of the probably 1500 folks who passed my tables...one looker and he was the one who purchased the Quality Craft wood hopper. Two decades ago, they would have been gone by noon.
I do like and enjoy building flat resin kits such as F&C, Sunshine, Westerfield, and my all time favorite....Westwood (wood and plastic) passenger cars. But stiil that hard to describe wonderful look of a wood kit is hard to beat.
I have found scale model railroading to have three basic genres...armchair, building trains, and building layouts.....and of course the fourth, which is buiding everything including locos. Todays "Plug and Play" (RTR) attitude seems to be king now, and that is fine.....just not my thing. I will comment on the excellent quality of today's pikes which are a vast improvement over days of yore.
HZ
cudaken UPFEF, I think apart of the problem was your price. Train show people are looking for cheap cheap not 30% off.
UPFEF, I think apart of the problem was your price. Train show people are looking for cheap cheap not 30% off.
Ken,
You misread the UPFEF's post. He was selling the kits NOT for 30% off but for "30% of the cost of the same brands RTR cars". $10 for a kit is a good price for Proto 2000, Intermountain, and Red Caboose offerings and a decent price for Accurail.
UPFEF,
I LOVE kits and still enjoy building them. Unfortunately, the only ones still available anymore are older ones (like those mentioned above) and Accurail; one of the last holdouts still producing rolling stock kits. While RTR is nice, putting a kit together is more rewarding, educational, and entertaining for me.
Accurail actually tried the RTR market for a spell then abandoned it and went back to their staple - i.e. affordable and good-looking kits that are fairly easy to put together. I'm really looking forward to the release of their 36' Double-sheath wood boxcars in the near future. I don't really need anymore boxcars but...some of those older, hard-to-find road names would look very cool in my roster - particularly AC&Y.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
rrebell I can buy RTR for less than $20 on e-bay, sometimes as low as $12 and we are talking Atlas master or Intermountain factory RTR, I stopped building kits for that reason.
I agree I picked up three of Atlas Precision Design 50' for $12.99 each the same price as the Accurail kits and some older BB kits.As you know those Precision Design boxcars are great looking cars so,for me it was a no brainer.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
So here is a different take on the question, I still build lots of kits, but I don't attend many train shows........
As others have suggested, the OP would do better selling them on Ebay......
Sheldon
I love to build kits, but I don't buy many these days because I'm fussy about what I will spend my money on, and I have enough unbuilt kits to keep me going for a long time. When I say fussy, I mean that I only want certain railroads, mostly Canadian Pacific in the 50s. Who made the kit is of lesser importance. For now I'm perfectly happy with spruced up BB although I would rather buy the better detailed makes. I just bought two Labelle passenger car kits and I have a few resin kits to be built too.
Where I guess I differ from lots of people these days is that I buy relatively little RTR. When I first got into the hobby I bought a lot of Athearn RTR 34' coal hoppers, and I picked up Canadian road names when I could get them at a decent prices, but with shipping costs to Canada what they are today I have really cut back on RTR. Heck, I'm rarely buying kits either.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hi!
Add me to the MRs that greatly prefer kits - and have a store of unbuilts!
For what its worth, I think its a shame that younger generations have shunned kit building (be it railcars, autos, ships, planes, or structures) - for they are missing out on honing skills and the wonderful sense of satisfaction of "I built it".
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
About 15 years ago I realized that my next layout wouldn't fill a basement. I started selling off dozens of Athearn Blue Box kits and replacing them with a lot fewer Red Caboose, Intermountain and Branchline Blueprint kits. I built many of them and still have 30 to 40 left. Now as my eyesight and motor skills degrade, I am selling those and buying similar RTR cars on eBay for $5 more than I can get out of the kits. I still enjoy building those kits, but they just take a lot more time.
mobilman44 For what its worth, I think its a shame that younger generations have shunned kit building (be it railcars, autos, ships, planes, or structures) - for they are missing out on honing skills and the wonderful sense of satisfaction of "I built it".
I agree. I built a few kits when I was younger and it gave me the initial motor-skills and patience to do what I am currently doing as a vocation: Building implantables in the biomedical field.
Almost all of the rolling stock I've ever owned has been kits, and those that weren't have been modified, in most cases, enough that their origin would not likely be recogniseable.I just finished building a couple of Westerfield kits and recently order two tank cars from Tangent - one is r-t-r (we'll see about that), but the other is an undecorated kit, as was the first one I bought from them.My only Rapido car, a reefer, was also purchased as an undecorated kit.I also enjoy scratchbuilding, and am close to starting on a number of freight cars - kits are available for some of them, and r-t-r for a couple, but I think that I can do at least as well, and at a more affordable price.
Wayne
I've got too much rolling stock already, and there are still lots of kits to be built on a shelf in my workroom. These days, I'm finishing up scenery on Phase 3 of my layout, likely the last major expansion. I've discovered that keeping up with repairs on existing equipment is taking more time now, too.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
doctorwayne I just finished building a couple of Westerfield kits and recently order two tank cars from Tangent - one is r-t-r (we'll see about that), but the other is an undecorated kit, as was the first one I bought from them. Wayne
I just finished building a couple of Westerfield kits and recently order two tank cars from Tangent - one is r-t-r (we'll see about that), but the other is an undecorated kit, as was the first one I bought from them.
Wayne,
Did you order one of their newer 8,000 gal tank cars that they are releasing? I just ordered the GATX "Globe Soap" Thursday and it's on its way.
I have a couple of Tangent 3-dome 6,000 gal tank cars, which are beautifully done and make for a interesting contrast to the single-dome 8K & 10K tank cars I have in my roster. I may have to look into one of their undecorated kits sometime. If the tank cars are on par with assembling a Proto 2000 tank car I shouldn't have any problems.
I see no reason to build kits anymore. There are tons of RTR models of freight cars that are equal or better then most kits. No need to waste my time building kits when I can work on my layout and buy the cars for a few dollars more than the kits.
DAVID FORTNEY I see no reason to build kits anymore. There are tons of RTR models of freight cars that are equal or better then most kits. No need to waste my time building kits when I can work on my layout and buy the cars for a few dollars more than the kits.
On the same path I would rather buy RTR cars and locomotives and spend time building a structure kit and adding some detail or weathering a freight car. Of course adding miscellaneous details to the layout is another way of modeling.
I haven't built a Accurail car kit since last year and those was a ICG and B&M 50' boxcar..
I still enjoy building a car kit but,buying car kits is getting far and few between since some Atlas and Athearn RTR cars can be had at or near the price of a kit..
I discussed this lament with a dealer at the Myrtle Beach (Murrells Inlet) train show about a month ago. He related how he had some young modelers admiring some of the new RTR freight cars and told them "you know that you can get four of these cars for the price of that one", pointing to the older Athearn blue box and similar offerings. They replied "Oh, but those are kits!" and they weren't interested.
I enjoy a good kit. Although I have no more room on the layout for more rolling stock, I just enjoy the process. I still have a number of the Westerfield N&W HP hopper car kits to assemble, and those resin kits take careful effort. I also enjoy assembling more Accurail USRA coal hoppers - an easy kit but then it has to be weathered and a coal load has to be constructed to fit. Often now, I have to amend the numbers using Accurail's supplimental decals. It is relaxing and something I do regularly. Hope to continue...
Bill
Beach Bill I discussed this lament with a dealer at the Myrtle Beach (Murrells Inlet) train show about a month ago. He related how he had some young modelers admiring some of the new RTR freight cars and told them "you know that you can get four of these cars for the price of that one", pointing to the older Athearn blue box and similar offerings. They replied "Oh, but those are kits!" and they weren't interested.
I guess if it doesn't come with a smart phone attachment of some kind, it isn't worth pursuing. Too bad...their loss...
Beach BillI enjoy a good kit. Although I have no more room on the layout for more rolling stock, I just enjoy the process.
I enjoy the process also. Even though I work on the layout using as much RTR as I can, it's a nice change of pace to build a car kit. I always have one or two under construction.