Model Kits: Am I an oddball?

[Anonymous]

For me, it's not a matter of kit vs R-T-R, but a matter of first accuracy and then availability.

Some of the Athearn kits (and some R-T-Rs) have incorrect markings or, worse, detail. The same true of in-Accurail and especially Roundhouse (at least, as far as RI models go - can't speak about their other roads). So I have started to avoid these brands, unless a certain car is only available thru them.

I have a relatively small layout, that will run five trains at most, so I feel I can be "choosey" about getting quality rolling stock.

For kits, I like Branchline and P2K.
For R-T-R I like Atlas and Kadee.

Even if they cost more, I feel I am getting my money worth.

[Anonymous]

For me, it's not a matter of kit vs R-T-R, but a matter of first accuracy and then availability.

Some of the Athearn kits (and some R-T-Rs) have incorrect markings or, worse, detail. The same true of in-Accurail and especially Roundhouse (at least, as far as RI models go - can't speak about their other roads). So I have started to avoid these brands, unless a certain car is only available thru them.

I have a relatively small layout, that will run five trains at most, so I feel I can be "choosey" about getting quality rolling stock.

For kits, I like Branchline and P2K.
For R-T-R I like Atlas and Kadee.

Even if they cost more, I feel I am getting my money worth.

[BRAKIE]

I also like to build the Athearn kits..I like the RTR cars but still prefer to build my cars from a kit..You see for me I love painting the trucks,frames ,weight and tweaking the car where it will give me trouble free operation..To bad the "I want it now" modelers can't take the time and build a simple car kit...Of course I have read on some forums that some modelers stumble and trip all over their selves building these kits...(LOL) To my mind those are the very ones that needs to gain modeling skills by building car kits..Of course if they would build some locomotive kits like Bowser or the Old Hobbytown of Boston locomotives then they would learn the basic skills needed to fix any given problem with a locomotive or car.

[BRAKIE]

I also like to build the Athearn kits..I like the RTR cars but still prefer to build my cars from a kit..You see for me I love painting the trucks,frames ,weight and tweaking the car where it will give me trouble free operation..To bad the "I want it now" modelers can't take the time and build a simple car kit...Of course I have read on some forums that some modelers stumble and trip all over their selves building these kits...(LOL) To my mind those are the very ones that needs to gain modeling skills by building car kits..Of course if they would build some locomotive kits like Bowser or the Old Hobbytown of Boston locomotives then they would learn the basic skills needed to fix any given problem with a locomotive or car.

[Anonymous]

oddball no way. I like the athearn kits becuase i don't have a lot of money i they are always cheap.

[Anonymous]

oddball no way. I like the athearn kits becuase i don't have a lot of money i they are always cheap.

[Anonymous]

No, you are not the oddball - the model manufacturers are. I got into model rairoading when my father gave me a Marklin HO set right after WW-2. It was all R-T-R, and while I had loads of fun with it, I didn't nkow what I was missing until one day Pop came home with a Roundhouse caboose KIT for me. It was unbelievable for a young teen-ager used to RTR trains - even the trucks were kits, articulated and with working springs. The kit had operating scale knuckle couplers and a tiny working door on the toolbox, with everything done in die-cast metal. I've been building kits ever since, with the bulk of my fleet coming from Athearn (both wood and plastic), Ulrich and MDC. My little brother became the family scratch builder after being exposed to a Red Ball kit. He still has an On3 layout in his basement that's completely scratch-built, so it doesn't bother him if all the kits go under. But it bothers me. I always enjoyed throwing an Athearn kit together after dinner, and would often pick up a kit or two on the way home from work. Obviously, that won't work with Athearn RTR. Why are Athearn kits so important to me? Because they are rugged, last a long time, and they were CHEAP. Not much else in the hobby comes even close to this combination. Oh, I'll probably get a few of the new RTR cars just out of curiosity, but at around $16 a pop, that will be it. Fortunately, I have a nice stockpile of Athearn kits still waiting to have their "boxes shaken". Gimme 99-cent Globe diesels and car kits any day and I'll keep buying. Maybe Bachman will buy up all those Athearn dies and re-issue those kits.

[Anonymous]

No, you are not the oddball - the model manufacturers are. I got into model rairoading when my father gave me a Marklin HO set right after WW-2. It was all R-T-R, and while I had loads of fun with it, I didn't nkow what I was missing until one day Pop came home with a Roundhouse caboose KIT for me. It was unbelievable for a young teen-ager used to RTR trains - even the trucks were kits, articulated and with working springs. The kit had operating scale knuckle couplers and a tiny working door on the toolbox, with everything done in die-cast metal. I've been building kits ever since, with the bulk of my fleet coming from Athearn (both wood and plastic), Ulrich and MDC. My little brother became the family scratch builder after being exposed to a Red Ball kit. He still has an On3 layout in his basement that's completely scratch-built, so it doesn't bother him if all the kits go under. But it bothers me. I always enjoyed throwing an Athearn kit together after dinner, and would often pick up a kit or two on the way home from work. Obviously, that won't work with Athearn RTR. Why are Athearn kits so important to me? Because they are rugged, last a long time, and they were CHEAP. Not much else in the hobby comes even close to this combination. Oh, I'll probably get a few of the new RTR cars just out of curiosity, but at around $16 a pop, that will be it. Fortunately, I have a nice stockpile of Athearn kits still waiting to have their "boxes shaken". Gimme 99-cent Globe diesels and car kits any day and I'll keep buying. Maybe Bachman will buy up all those Athearn dies and re-issue those kits.

[CP5415]

No, I prefer to build the kits over ready-too-roll.
I have over 90 pieces myself that I've collected in the past 6 years.
My local hobby shop as at least 150 Athearn kits, 50 Roundhouse & 25-35 Accurail kits in stock at all times as well as the RTR stuff.

Gordon [8D]

[CP5415]

No, I prefer to build the kits over ready-too-roll.
I have over 90 pieces myself that I've collected in the past 6 years.
My local hobby shop as at least 150 Athearn kits, 50 Roundhouse & 25-35 Accurail kits in stock at all times as well as the RTR stuff.

Gordon [8D]

[Anonymous]

I guess I'm an oddball too. I was at a hobby shop also and the only kits I could find were boxcars. I have enough boxcars, everything else was ready to run. I can't afford the rtr kits. To me this hobby is becoming a white collar hobby. The RTR does seem to be taking over the hobby. I'm afraid that this will happen because if it does I won't be able to afford it anymore. It is obviously a sign of changing times and ways of thinking. I'm a 60 hour a week employee with a wife and three kids and a mortage and I still find time to work on my trains. We as a people just want to be too busy. I want to enjoy life while I have it, so I would rather sit down and build a kit instead of buying a RTR, pulling it out of a box and setting it on the track. There's no sense of of pride and accomplishment in this. It does make me wonder if the world is becoming a RTR world, what are our grandchildren going to be like.


just my opinion,

Jeremy

Go Packers!!

[Anonymous]

I guess I'm an oddball too. I was at a hobby shop also and the only kits I could find were boxcars. I have enough boxcars, everything else was ready to run. I can't afford the rtr kits. To me this hobby is becoming a white collar hobby. The RTR does seem to be taking over the hobby. I'm afraid that this will happen because if it does I won't be able to afford it anymore. It is obviously a sign of changing times and ways of thinking. I'm a 60 hour a week employee with a wife and three kids and a mortage and I still find time to work on my trains. We as a people just want to be too busy. I want to enjoy life while I have it, so I would rather sit down and build a kit instead of buying a RTR, pulling it out of a box and setting it on the track. There's no sense of of pride and accomplishment in this. It does make me wonder if the world is becoming a RTR world, what are our grandchildren going to be like.


just my opinion,

Jeremy

Go Packers!!

[areibel]

You should all start modelling in TT scale!
Then you wouldn't have to worry about too much RTR- There isn't any!!

[areibel]

You should all start modelling in TT scale!
Then you wouldn't have to worry about too much RTR- There isn't any!!

[Anonymous]

Kit building and kit bashing will never die! There are to many of us oddballs out here that enjoy the modeling aspect of MRR.

There are 2 definitions for R-T-R: 1) the manufactures definition, Ready-To-Run. 2) the modelers definition, Ready-To-Rebuild. [:O]

[Anonymous]

Kit building and kit bashing will never die! There are to many of us oddballs out here that enjoy the modeling aspect of MRR.

There are 2 definitions for R-T-R: 1) the manufactures definition, Ready-To-Run. 2) the modelers definition, Ready-To-Rebuild. [:O]

[sparkingbolt]

I asked my long time fave hobby shop owner about this, sez yes Athearn is cutting back, or eliminating kits. Looks like the end of an era. Enjoy what's left of it while it lasts. Dan

[sparkingbolt]

I asked my long time fave hobby shop owner about this, sez yes Athearn is cutting back, or eliminating kits. Looks like the end of an era. Enjoy what's left of it while it lasts. Dan

[Hawks05]

since i'm just beginning i'm trying to find used stuff that is in decent condition to start with for cheap prices. right now it doesn't matter what they look like as long as i can see the road name and numbers and they run well. i'm bidding on some kits on ebay tonight to hopefully get started with. they are of the Roundhouse make. which i've heard are good for beginners. for me its easier to get stuff that is RTR because being in high school having the homework then trying to work after school i don't have a lot of time after school to work on stuff then except on weekends.

down the road though i think i'll turn to more kits as i find them at shows and on ebay.

[Hawks05]

since i'm just beginning i'm trying to find used stuff that is in decent condition to start with for cheap prices. right now it doesn't matter what they look like as long as i can see the road name and numbers and they run well. i'm bidding on some kits on ebay tonight to hopefully get started with. they are of the Roundhouse make. which i've heard are good for beginners. for me its easier to get stuff that is RTR because being in high school having the homework then trying to work after school i don't have a lot of time after school to work on stuff then except on weekends.

down the road though i think i'll turn to more kits as i find them at shows and on ebay.

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rrwitt

As I wander the aisles of the many area hobby shops, I have noticed the diminishing availability of HO RR car kits, particularly Athern, in favor of "Ready-to-Run" models. Upon questioning the hobby shop people, they tell me that Athearn is discontinuing most of their kits because model railroaders don't want to be bothered with having to assemble kits.

I liked the Athearn kits because they were an inexpensive base for becoming a kit bashed more detailed & realistic-looking model. By the time all the extra component [grabs, wheels, decals,etc] are added, the cost has grown to be extensive. Now, it looks like one will have to buy RTR at twice the kit price, and disassemble it to bash it into a realistic-looking model.

AM I THE ODD-BALL HERE? I thought that was what model RR was all about.
It certainly has been fodder for reams of articles and books. It seems that this is the way things in all walks of life are going. Do People prefer to pay others to do the things that they could often do better themselves, but no longer want to be bothered with it?

Is this hobby, like many others becoming milieu of the well-to do? I'd like to see the thoughts of others on this subject.

Rich

Yup!...sadly IMO.

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rrwitt

As I wander the aisles of the many area hobby shops, I have noticed the diminishing availability of HO RR car kits, particularly Athern, in favor of "Ready-to-Run" models. Upon questioning the hobby shop people, they tell me that Athearn is discontinuing most of their kits because model railroaders don't want to be bothered with having to assemble kits.

I liked the Athearn kits because they were an inexpensive base for becoming a kit bashed more detailed & realistic-looking model. By the time all the extra component [grabs, wheels, decals,etc] are added, the cost has grown to be extensive. Now, it looks like one will have to buy RTR at twice the kit price, and disassemble it to bash it into a realistic-looking model.

AM I THE ODD-BALL HERE? I thought that was what model RR was all about.
It certainly has been fodder for reams of articles and books. It seems that this is the way things in all walks of life are going. Do People prefer to pay others to do the things that they could often do better themselves, but no longer want to be bothered with it?

Is this hobby, like many others becoming milieu of the well-to do? I'd like to see the thoughts of others on this subject.

Rich

Yup!...sadly IMO.

[Anonymous]

I agree that the diminishing numbers of Kits are a worry. Some of the discontinued kits are not being replaced by RTR versions, and the loss of Athearn's dummy locos is a bit of a nuisance (I tend to run one powered and one dummy loco when I operate carbody units like Fs or C-Liners, as I use Kadee permanent magnet uncouplers and using two powered units tends to result in one escaping!). At the moment, I'm frantically buying up the last few Athearn kits I need to complete my fleet before they go the way of the dodo. Units like their Dash 9 and AC4400 seem to be becoming the hardest to find in kit form - I spent a good few months searching for a CSX Dash 9 recently (finally found one last weekend).

I'm not against RTR stock, Indeed, I have a few RTR items. However, for those of us on limited budgets kits make far more sense. For example, the Athearn Gunderson Maxi-3 5-unit double-stack container cars were priced at around £30 when they were last available over here. I've seen the info on their website regarding the RTR versions of the same model, which will supposedly be priced at about $80 - this will probably translate to about £70 over here. I'd rather have the kit and spend the money I save on containers to load it with!

A tip for the person having trouble with the lack of pin-point bearing wheelsets in a RTR car - try squirting a little silicone spray lube into each bearing hole (you might want to disassemble the car to avoid getting it on anything else). This seems to help in similar situations, and it's cheaper than buying new trucks!

[Anonymous]

I agree that the diminishing numbers of Kits are a worry. Some of the discontinued kits are not being replaced by RTR versions, and the loss of Athearn's dummy locos is a bit of a nuisance (I tend to run one powered and one dummy loco when I operate carbody units like Fs or C-Liners, as I use Kadee permanent magnet uncouplers and using two powered units tends to result in one escaping!). At the moment, I'm frantically buying up the last few Athearn kits I need to complete my fleet before they go the way of the dodo. Units like their Dash 9 and AC4400 seem to be becoming the hardest to find in kit form - I spent a good few months searching for a CSX Dash 9 recently (finally found one last weekend).

I'm not against RTR stock, Indeed, I have a few RTR items. However, for those of us on limited budgets kits make far more sense. For example, the Athearn Gunderson Maxi-3 5-unit double-stack container cars were priced at around £30 when they were last available over here. I've seen the info on their website regarding the RTR versions of the same model, which will supposedly be priced at about $80 - this will probably translate to about £70 over here. I'd rather have the kit and spend the money I save on containers to load it with!

A tip for the person having trouble with the lack of pin-point bearing wheelsets in a RTR car - try squirting a little silicone spray lube into each bearing hole (you might want to disassemble the car to avoid getting it on anything else). This seems to help in similar situations, and it's cheaper than buying new trucks!

[DSchmitt]

I'm mainly in N scale with cars dating back to 1968. Most of my equipment is RTR or simple kits like the Roundhouse, but a lot of it has been repainted and decaled to represent prototypes that weren't available. I've built some Fine N Scale Products kits ( they are pretty simple) There haven't been a lot of kits offered in N scale.

I also have built some Intermountain kits (box cars and reefers), but had to give up on the tank cars. As Ive gotten older my vision has gotten dimmer and my fingers seem to have gotten thicker.

I build an O scale kit once in a while Intermountain, Red Caboose and old wood and metal kits I pick up at train shows.

For structures I prefer kits. The few built up structures I bought over the years have usually been taken apart tou se as pieces in a custom structure.

[DSchmitt]

I'm mainly in N scale with cars dating back to 1968. Most of my equipment is RTR or simple kits like the Roundhouse, but a lot of it has been repainted and decaled to represent prototypes that weren't available. I've built some Fine N Scale Products kits ( they are pretty simple) There haven't been a lot of kits offered in N scale.

I also have built some Intermountain kits (box cars and reefers), but had to give up on the tank cars. As Ive gotten older my vision has gotten dimmer and my fingers seem to have gotten thicker.

I build an O scale kit once in a while Intermountain, Red Caboose and old wood and metal kits I pick up at train shows.

For structures I prefer kits. The few built up structures I bought over the years have usually been taken apart tou se as pieces in a custom structure.

[Anonymous]

I hate Ready To Run. I don't know about other people, but every Ready to Run piece of rolling stock I have purchased have been a piece of junk requiring near total disassembly to correct. I would just assume savethe money and go with kits that get assembled right the first time.

Also, my skills have developed past Athearn, MDC, and Walthers kits as I am now scratch building and building craftsman level kits. I still buy several if the lower level kits to chill out with after a long and frustrating day. But they are no longer the main contribution to my rolling stock roster.

[Anonymous]

I hate Ready To Run. I don't know about other people, but every Ready to Run piece of rolling stock I have purchased have been a piece of junk requiring near total disassembly to correct. I would just assume savethe money and go with kits that get assembled right the first time.

Also, my skills have developed past Athearn, MDC, and Walthers kits as I am now scratch building and building craftsman level kits. I still buy several if the lower level kits to chill out with after a long and frustrating day. But they are no longer the main contribution to my rolling stock roster.

[CJBeard]

okay, its
november.

When I go to trains shows I see many dealers with cars and engines for sale. nearly all are plastic wrapped so you can not inspect the box. I can count on one finger the amount of undecorated kits I have found.

We, as a group, must not forget our history. we didn't used to have much of a choice when it came to roadnames. We can all stripped and redid. It was fun, it was educational, and it let us personalize our equipment.

How many of you out there still bother to weather you equipment? We are getting so lazy. Is it any wonder we can not get kids into this hobby? What do we offer them?

I would like to carry this on further with anyone who cares to respond.

Chris B


























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