Funny but all companys mentioned are connected in some way. Intermountain owns Red Caboose and both companys (even though one company now) use Tichy as parts or compleat kits which they turn into RTR.
Interesting responses, but I wonder if anyone else understood the question the way I took it?
I could be wrong, but this sounds like a curiosity question crafted to get informative responses without divulging why the question is being asked. Admittedly a process I am not generally fond of.
So in my response, I asked for clarification of the question, still hoping for a reply from the OP.
I will say this about the various responses, they clearly show how the hobby has changed in the last 50 years.
Sheldon
I've been in the hobby since I was 14, more intensely since about 2000.
I've never really enjoyed building models of rolling stock. Athearn/MDC/Accurail were simple enough and kinda fun, but I don't have the patience to detail individual cars. I hate applying all of the tedious details.
OTOH, I love kitbashing structures. Tearing apart poorly built kits found at train shows to make a silk purse out of a sows ear is a lot of fun for me. Conversely, I hate the look of RTR buildings.
RTR for the rolling stock and locos. Kits for the structures.
BTW, selling built structures doesn't work very well. Bulky and hard/expensive to ship.
Edit: I agree with AEP528 just above.
Edit 2: And the only assembled kit I would ever buy is one assembled at the factory (AKA RTR). Never a kit assembled by an individual.
- Douglas
mobilman44 First, a disclaimer - I am not selling anything! Here is my question... Say we have three premium rolling stock kits - one each from Red Caboose, Intermountain, and Tichy. And then we have three of the same aforementioned kits that are built up (nice job) and ready to run. Of the two situations, which would be worth more to you and others?
First, a disclaimer - I am not selling anything!
Here is my question... Say we have three premium rolling stock kits - one each from Red Caboose, Intermountain, and Tichy.
And then we have three of the same aforementioned kits that are built up (nice job) and ready to run.
Of the two situations, which would be worth more to you and others?
RTR. I find assembling cars and locos to be boring, and painting and decalling them is down-right mind-numbing.
I don't over detail my layout, because I fully understand that a model railroad is purely representational.
Every building on my layout is either scratchbuilt, where I want a representation of a specific structure, or heavily kitbashed where I just want a representation of a structure type.
I view my modelling effort as scratchbuilding a model railroad. Rolling stock is just a component of that.
I really enjoy the occasional kit build every now-and-then. I kind of use them to 'cleanse the palate' in between larger modeling projects. I had built quite a few Red Caboose, Intermountain and the ever ubiquitous Life-Like Proto kits going back to the late '90s.
I consider Tichy along with Carmelingo & Funaro and Westerfield types of kits more of a 'craftsman-level' kit as much of the brake rigging and piping has to be fabricated by the modeler but I have done a few of both, mainly because there were no other available options for securing that particular model.
However when it comes to things like the Rapido GLa hopper or F22 flat car when I might have 2 or 3 dozen in the roster or perhaps the Intermountain 40' box car where I really DO need 40 or so NYC 'Pacemaker' cars I really don't want to devote a couple hours each toward having a finished model. RTR is my friend.
I still have a stack of Life-Like Proto car kits on the shelf and really enjoy grabbing one when I don't have any other 'pressing' projects in the queue. They're sort of like revisiting old friends. Honestly, I really can't distinguish which cars, say out of the fleet of tank cars or drop-end mill gons passing by which ones I built from a kit or which ones I bought RTR. In the end there's great satisfaction in seeing both.
For the freelancers, I'm glad that there are still a few sources for unpainted rolling stock out there but I think their popularity is waning. Plus the manufacturers are claiming production interruptions to provide kits or parts. Many present-day modelers have no facility for painting nor the patience for decal work, if indeed there are decals available.
Cheers, Ed
I find that I am in both camps depending on the situation. I have gotten a few RTR cars that I have had to do some relettering on due to issues with the car numbers. (Duplicates sometimes or sometimes inaccurate numbers.) There even have been a couple that I've had to completely reletter as the letteering styles were wrong. I've also had a few kits that were that way as well.
Many of my cars and engines were kits (Athearn BB, MDC pre-Horizon Hobby, Accurail, etc). However, I do have RTR cars as well as some RTR on Advance Reservation as that's the only way to get them.
It all depends on what I think I need.
tstageWhich would be more popular? RTR. Which would I prefer? Kit. While I appreciate RTR and its availability, like MB - I find more pleasure and satisfaction in assembling kits. A kit also allows me to make changes should I decide to add or change something - e.g. adding interior or exterior detailing not offered with the RTR product. Tom
Which would I prefer? Kit.
While I appreciate RTR and its availability, like MB - I find more pleasure and satisfaction in assembling kits. A kit also allows me to make changes should I decide to add or change something - e.g. adding interior or exterior detailing not offered with the RTR product.
Tom
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
mobilman44which would be worth more to you
Hi mobilman44,
I much prefer kits as long as they don't try my patience. A few years ago I bought two LaBelle wood passenger car kits because they were the closest thing I could find to run on my small version of the Algoma Eastern Railway that ran from Sudbury to Little Current on the Manitoulin Island. The kits required a level of skill that I didn't feel I possessed at the time so they were parked on a back shelf. I have a Tichy 200 ton crane kit that sits beside them. They are all still way down on my priority list.
What I do like doing is fixing up older kits that someone has already assembled but that have suffered through the ages. I just bought a number of tin bodied Athearn and Varney assembled kits and two white metal freight cars of unknown origin. I don't have to worry about adding weight to those two babies!
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
RTR would be my choice. Not that I don't enjoy building a kit now and then, but nowadays with the sun racing across the sky at break-neck speed each and every day I prefer spending the majority of my modeling time doing what I like best; weathering RTR rolling stock. 'So much to model, so little time.'
Regards, Peter
.
If I understand your question, you are refering to an "aftermarket" situation where someone builds the kit and then sells it - correct?
I would much rather build the kit myself. In my whole 57 years at this hobby, I have only purchased a handfull of items built by another modeler, or things "used" as in spent time actually operating on someone elses layout.
I have bought lots of of "new old stock" unbuilt kits, and/or RTR locos and rolling stock.
My view on this is reflected in lots of things in my larger life style. Once I could afford new cars, I have not really bought any used ones. If it runs on electricity or gasoline, I am not very inclined to buy it used.
I'd venture the modeller's demographic is a significant factor in what is chosen here. Even if we dismiss the issue of available funds, I'm guessing older modellers are the more inclined to prefer the kit. Not just for the satisfaction, but for the exercise of skills gained through the years. A job well done is a reward of it's own making.
(Attuvian) John
Which would be more popular? RTR.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I often consider the "play value" of a kit vs. an RTR model. I really take a lot of pride in a kit I've assembled myself. My carfloat idler flats and my Hide Service Only boxcars thet run from the packing plant to the tannery are all Tichy models, with my own decals, which makes them all unique.
I feel the same about structure kits. I am happier spending a few weeks assembling, illuminating, painting and detailing a 4-walls-and-a-roof kit than just pulling something out of a box.
I paint and decal a few engines for my home road. That's just shell work, though.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central