Do I hate myself? Who knows! I decided to build an Arbour Models A3 0-4-0 side by side with the Bowser M1 4-8-2. Guess how many problems can be fit into one of the smallest, simplest models they ever produced?
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I like to sit back and just watch you tackle these Arbour models, and be glad I never tried to back when they were advertised in MR!
At least you set us up for what to expect in your thread title.
Looking forward to the rest. Dan
These were definantly made for the machinest. You can make any model run flawlessly, the question is, is it worth the work ( a friend was a machinest).
This is why I've never been tempted to build a kit loco. I also refrain form hand laying my own track and have sworn off craftsman kits. I want things that make my life easier, not harder.
I was the manger of a hobby shop train department back when the Arbour Models kits came out. We literally only sold one.
Personally, I took one look at the thing and said "no way", these things are not going to be buildable for even intermediate skill level engine builders, and remember, this was a time when Bowser, Mantua, MDC/Roundhouse and other kits were still on the maket and commonly built by a reasonable percentage of modelers.
There might still be a market for steam locomotive kits if someone would develop a kit with a rolling chassis and provide multiple options and easy kit bashing for the boiler/details.
Personally, I have become spoiled by RTR but not in the way most have. Nearly every steam loco on my layout is kit bashed, some a just a little, some a whole lot, but it sure beats building complete kits, which I did plenty of when I was young.
Here is a typical project - Bachmann 2-8-4 reworked into a DT&I inspired Heavy Mikado - a moderate amount of work, that required nearly complete disassembly and fabrication of new parts.
I have now built five of these in three sub classes using different parts from the different versions of the 2-8-4.
Darth, Good luck with your Arbour kit.......
Sheldon
John-NYBW This is why I've never been tempted to build a kit loco. I also refrain form hand laying my own track and have sworn off craftsman kits. I want things that make my life easier, not harder.
I understand and agree. I have all those skills and still prefer to kit bash a RTR loco rather than build a kit.
I only hand lay special trackage, and have developed some interesting tricks, like curving regular Atlas Custom Line turnouts into very large radius curved turnouts rather than build them.
I still build a fair number of kits, even craftsman kits, but as a percentage of the 1300 car fleet, craftsman kits are a small percentage these days.
Easy is good when it meets the needs, saving the time and skills for where it is needed.
Yeah, I wonder how many people were actually successful building ANY of these Arbour kits... It's probably easier to build one from scratch! Good luck with the project and keep us posted.
Simon
John-NYBW, kit building's not for everyone, but even these are far beyond what most experienced builders would ever be willing to do. There have been plenty of easy to build kits that can be put together with only basic skill and tools, like the Roundhouse 0-6-0T that I built in a 90 minute 1-take video.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL, I'll bet these were a hard sell for most hobby stores! I can also see the fun and advantage in converting a RTR model into something else like you've done with yours. Having so many different ways to enjoy the hobby is definitely one of the greatest things about it.
I've built a number of Bowser, MDC, and Mantua locomotive kits, and most were fun to do. Pretty well all of them were detailed differently than with the kit's parts, though, as I had my own ideas about how I wanted them to look.
Mantua/Tyco Mikado...
MDC kit for a Consolidation...
...and also for a 10 Wheeler...
...and another Mantua kit...
...this one's the Bowser kit for a NYC K-11, I think, but now destined to become a TH&B loco...
I've sold-off or given away pretty-well all but one above, a Bowser Pacific, which will eventually get a make-over to match a hometown prototype.
All of my current in-use locos, all bought as r-t-r, have been modified, some very severely and others just with a few detail upgrades.
I have four r-t-r locomotives set-aside, 3 of them Bachmann Consolidations, that will be re-done as very specific CNR/DW&P locos, with the fourth one an Athearn/Genesis Mikado, also slated for a copy of a CNR prototype.
The big job, I think, will be a Tyco Consolidation with a tender drive...I'll make it into a copy of a TH&B consolidation - I've seen several decent rebuilds of Bachmann Consolidations into TH&B locos, but all suffer somewhat from the fact that the drivers are considerably oversized at 60", while those on the real ones were 55", exactly the same as those on the Tyco Consolidation. I have a fairly large Buhler can motor for it, and lots of lead for making weights, ao I'm hoping that it will be a very decent puller.
I've also done a number of locomotive conversions for friends, in plastic, cast metal, and brass, too.
Wayne
At least you don't need a milling machine and lathe like my stationary steam engines do. Great job Darth.
Pete.
Only kit built super detailed engine I ever did was an MDC shay, ran so slow at a tie a min.
Hi Darth,
Obviously you really enjoy a challenge! Watching you coax the chassis a bit at a time from a boat anchor (HO scale boat) into a reasonably smooth rolling assembly was really interesting. Literally, none of the parts fit or worked properly until you added your magic touch. The pile of filings was impressive too.
What I fail to understand is why Arbor Models would go to all the trouble of making the molds if they couldn't be bothered to make the pieces fit properly. It seems like the whole thing was some elaborate scam to cheat people out of their money and give them a pile of junk in return.
I eagerly await the next installment!
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critter Hi Darth, Obviously you really enjoy a challenge! Watching you coax the chassis a bit at a time from a boat anchor (HO scale boat) into a reasonably smooth rolling assembly was really interesting. Literally, none of the parts fit or worked properly until you added your magic touch. The pile of filings was impressive too. What I fail to understand is why Arbor Models would go to all the trouble of making the molds if they couldn't be bothered to make the pieces fit properly. It seems like the whole thing was some elaborate scam to cheat people out of their money and give them a pile of junk in return. I eagerly await the next installment! Cheers!! Dave
snjroy Yeah, I wonder how many people were actually successful building ANY of these Arbour kits... It's probably easier to build one from scratch! Good luck with the project and keep us posted. Simon
Believe or not, our shop sold one of the C&O Allegheny models to a novice model railroader (he was a concert violinist) and he built it and it ran beautifully.
Others were not so lucky, we sold a bunch of the NKP and C&O Berkshire kits, but I don't know if any got finished.
The shop owner (a mechanical engineer) tried one of the Sierra 4-6-0's and we could never get that one completed.
The major problem with the kits was the rods etc were all that soft aluminum and would bend and get out of kilter if they were even in kilter. The boiler and detail parts could be of the soft aluminum, but the running gear needed to be built out of stronger stuff.
There was also "The Locomotive Company" that tried the same approach, never saw a completed kit other than the reviewer from MR.
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!
Finally getting to part 2! I thought this would be an 8 to 10 minute video, but there were of course complications to work through. Things are turning out well though!
I love the old Mantua kits. I built a "Big Six" as a teenager, with rudimentary tools. I even managed to seat the rivets on the rudimentary valve gear with a punch set I liberated from my Dad's tool box. I painted it and decaled it for my ficticious "Cisco & Northwestern RR;" not knowing at the time there really had been a "Cisco & Northeastern RR" that was abandoned during WWII. At some time in my 30s I sold it at a train show as I was concentrating on ATSF & MKT models.
I wish I had that locomotive back. Over the years I have dis-assembled and re-assembled two Tyco 4-6-2s just to see how they worked. I have acquired additional locomotive kits including a Mantua 2-6-2, a Roundhouse 2-6-2, and a Locomotive Company 4-6-0; all which I intend to build in the near future.
I made a Bowser 4-6-0 and a Rounds House 2Truck Shay in the eighties and they still run great to this day.The Shay was a real challenge but the Bowser kit was not too bad The instructions on both kits were excellent
Tin Can II I have acquired additional locomotive kits including a Mantua 2-6-2, a Roundhouse 2-6-2, and a Locomotive Company 4-6-0; all which I intend to build in the near future.
I have acquired additional locomotive kits including a Mantua 2-6-2, a Roundhouse 2-6-2, and a Locomotive Company 4-6-0; all which I intend to build in the near future.
I've heard about The Locomotive Company a few times but have never come across one of their models before. I hear the quality and build process is similar to Arbour, so these videos might come in handy for you when you start that one!
When searching to find those kits, do they usually come up as "Locomotive Company", or are they more likely to be abbreviated to TLC or something?
Darth: I was a teenager when the Locomotive Company was advertising their kits; I could not afford the $100.00 price back in 1975. That's not to say I wasn't buying HO stuff, but IIRC, I paid $15.00 for a blue box powered SW7. So there were cheaper motive power options at the time.
When I was in the hobby shop business; I bought a 4-6-0 kit off of ebay for $100.00 and put it on the consignment shelf. Not a whiff of interest. I really liked their concept; boiler/running gear, cab, and tender. Not sure if I want to build it or just keep it as a sort of collector's item.
Tin Can II Darth: I was a teenager when the Locomotive Company was advertising their kits; I could not afford the $100.00 price back in 1975. That's not to say I wasn't buying HO stuff, but IIRC, I paid $15.00 for a blue box powered SW7. So there were cheaper motive power options at the time. When I was in the hobby shop business; I bought a 4-6-0 kit off of ebay for $100.00 and put it on the consignment shelf. Not a whiff of interest. I really liked their concept; boiler/running gear, cab, and tender. Not sure if I want to build it or just keep it as a sort of collector's item.
I worked in hobby shop when these first came out, no one ever finished one, the parts were cast poorly and it took 3 or 4 kits to get the all the parts to complete one engine. They did not last long in business.
I must admit that this thread made me very nostalgic towards my first build of the Tyco/Mantua 0-6-0 "Big Six" kit. On a whim, I went to ebay; found several kits for sale, and just bought a new, sealed kit for about a hundred dollars. I can't wait for it to get here.
Next video is up! Like the Bowser 4-8-2, this one is about getting the motor installed.
The spade was designed to go under the brush holder that you soldered to. Not saying this was a good idea, just what was planned I beleive. Had an MDC model (I think MDC) that did that.
I just watched videos #2 & 3. As I said before, your ability to make bad things good is amazing! Very informative and interesting!
Darth Santa FeFinally getting to part 2! I thought this would be an 8 to 10 minute video, but there were of course complications to work through. Things are turning out well though!
Excellent video and tutorial on a difficult project. I have never attempted an Arbour Models kit, so I cannot comment. I have in years back built every Penn Line (now Bowser) Pennsy kit along with the NYC K-11. I totally enjoyed the hours I spent and realized that this is not for everyone, but could be for many. I also encountered problems, but had a ball solving them and the final products turned out OK. then I discovered brass and the rest is history. Now I build all of my rolling stock from wood kits, but mostly scratch build along with structures. Many youngin's are missing out today on the thrill and pride of accomplishment of building trains and structures vs. just buying RTR. Hopefully this video series will encourage some to go beyond RTR as it is truly a work of great art in itself....great job and thanks for doing this. Please check out www.zanestructures.com to see my scratch-built work or www.nacesvideography.com to see layout and new 2 hour video.
Howard ZanePlease check out www.zanestructures.com to see my scratch-built work or www.nacesvideography.com to see layout and new 2 hour video.
Thanks for the links.
I am a huge fan of your modeling, and love your layout.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
That's really a great looking layout! Nice work on all that!
Time for part 4! Funny how something this small with so few parts can still take so much work.
. Way way back when the fish just started growing legs I was into building scale models. The main thing I learned was to treat every part of the model as a separate model. This way when everything goes together you can take pride in your accomplishments. Then after you bring home the blue ribbon you can blow it to peices with an M80.
I built one Bowser I1s many moons ago. Still one of the best running locos I have. That thing could be used to pull stumps out of the yard.
Nice job Darth.