Picked this up because I wanted to try a resin kit and I got it for cheaper that resist. But there's no paint, no, trucks, wheels or couplers, a zillion white parts, white decals on white paper with lettering smaller than I could read with a microscope, sticks of wire...
What the heck did I get myself into?
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
SpaceMouse wrote: What the heck did I get myself into?
A mess????
Hi Space Mouse
You are now in the deep end its sink or swim time
If you take your time read the instructions a million times you should be OK be a bit wary on some resin kits the instructions are not always that clear.
But if you get it right it will be a very trying learning curve but very rewarding in the end.
Just like the first scratch build is.
regards John
Fun?
This looks like a great kit to learn resin-building skills. With two complete kits included, build the first one for practice, then do the second, which should be better for the skills you've learned on the first.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
Have at it, Chip! Give it your best shot and enjoy!
F&C comes here to NE Ohio every year in October for the NMRA Divison #4 train show. They sell their kits buy one, get one free. I've been tempted to try one but haven't as of yet. Those short PRR flat cars ought to look nice when completed.
Chip, I'll be interested in how you like putting them together. If they end up bustin' your chops, I'll be glad to buy them off of you and take a crack at them myself. If you end up enjoying them, let me know. I can keep my eye out for any kits that your are interested in at the show in October.
Make sure you add the wood planking on top of the cars...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
cacole wrote:That's why they're called a "Craftsman Kit."
It doesn't say craftsman anywhere on the box.
But I aint ascared.
tstage wrote: Make sure you add the wood planking on top of the cars... Tom
I gotta add planking too? They should call this a "semi-kit" or a "enough parts to get you started" kit or a "you just started spending money on this" kit.
It may not say Craftsman Kit on the box, but their web site and listings in the Walthers catalogs nearly always mention exactly what you get and state that their products are all Craftsman Kits.
Their web site is at http://www.fandckits.com/ and might give you a little more information on their products.
The best approach to assembliing one of these kits is to take your time, and allow lots of time to the task. Also pay close attention to the types of paints and adhesives recommended for kit construction, and the preparation of parts such as washing in warm, soapy water to remove the mould release compound. Selection of the wrong type of paint or adhesive can potentially destroy a casting.
You might consider putting the kits on the shelf until you gain more experience. Then take use the plans to knock out some cars in plastic or wood.
Have fun
It's called modeling. As in railroad modeling. As opposed to model railroad purchasing.
Bob Boudreau
CANADA
Visit my model railroad photography website: http://sites.google.com/site/railphotog/
Railphotog wrote: It's called modeling. As in railroad modeling. As opposed to model railroad purchasing.
ROFL! It's still a kit and I still bought it.
I would suggest that it is not what you purchase so much as how you use it that makes you a "modeler."
Just wait until you try a LaBelle kit, chip...it's basically a box of sticks and wire with an instruction sheet.
Hey Chip,
Give it a try (one of them). If you don't like them, always remember E-Bay is on duty 24 hours a day.
Long live the "WOBBLY"
Johnboy out....................................
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
Thanks guys for the encouragement. Although I pitched and moaned I don't believe these "kits" are beyond my skill level. I think they will look nice. I really look forward to building them. But they will be shelved for a while for several reasons.
1) I haven't built the layout to put them on.
2) The time I spend on them will not equal the productive progresss I would make on the layout in other ways.
3) My autistic son doesn't know how to handle rolling stock yet, and they would be at risk.
The best way to gain experience, is to jump in and get your feet wet!
Try your best, take your time and don't worry too much about making mistakes. One of fastest ways to gain experience and hone your skills is fixing the mistakes to the point where they don't show. For those of us who think of themselves as craftsmen, we all made lots of mistakes but we also learned a lot fixing them. It's all trial an error, but if you just sit in your armchair and do the easy stuff and don't challenge yourself, you'll never get any better. Have fun and good luck and if you get stuck, just ask!
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
modelmaker51 wrote: The best way to gain experience, is to jump in and get your feet wet!Try your best, take your time and don't worry too much about making mistakes. One of fastest ways to gain experience and hone your skills is fixing the mistakes to the point where they don't show. For those of us who think of themselves as craftsmen, we all made lots of mistakes but we also learned a lot fixing them. It's all trial an error, but if you just sit in your armchair and do the easy stuff and don't challenge yourself, you'll never get any better. Have fun and good luck and if you get stuck, just ask!
It's that way in construction as well.
The difference between a journeyman and an apprentice is that the journeyman makes his screw-ups look like they were meant to be that way.
Put it on the shelf and do other kits that are progressively more challenging to develop the skills needed to complete it.
Possible progression. Shake the box type kits - Athearn, MDC, Accurail. Then Proto2000 timesaver kits, then Proto2000 kits, especially covered hoopers and tank cars. Try Intermountain or Red Caboose kits, especially a 4 bay cylindrical hopper kits.
As others have said. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Trucks and couplers aren't included in most craftsman type kits.
If you think these are challenging, try an old style Ambroid wooden kit or Modeler's Choice or Railyard models styrene kit.
As a previous post said, there's a difference between a modeler and model purchaser.
Have fun.
jktrains
Chip,
Wadda ya complaining about? These are possibly the simplest resin kits out there. The cars have what, eight grabs, four stirrups and K brakes? Piece of cake. And there's no wood deck because these are naval gun tube idler cars, and have all-steel decks, which are a simple one piece casting that fit onto the floor. After you get the flash removed from the parts (always the longest part of any resin build) the think shouldn't take more than three hours to assemble, including drilling the holes for the grabs and brake gear.
You want a challenge? Try four boxes FULL of resin car kits from F&C, Westerfield, Sunshine and Sylvan. I'm trying to replicate the 1940s, which means that only about half of the freight cars I want are available in plastic (and many of those are kitbashes).
Once you get these two under your belt, try a one-piece gon. Once you've done that, try a one piece boxcar. After that, try something REALLY challenging, like a flat kit for an ex-NYC boxcar turned into a rider car: 106 grabs!
Ray Breyer
Modeling the NKP's Peoria Division, circa 1943
mlehman wrote: Fun?This looks like a great kit to learn resin-building skills. With two complete kits included, build the first one for practice, then do the second, which should be better for the skills you've learned on the first.
And then you can recycle the first attempt as a light-duty rural bridge. After all, the prototype did it!
And once you've conquered that kit, try one made exclusively of card stock, with a (rough) wood roof and floor, a few very small sticks, some white metal underbody detail castings and two strips of clear plastic for glazing. Built and finished right, it produces a DMU carbody. If less than perfect, you can use it to represent an old diner being demolished to make way for a strip mall.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
SIMON SAYS: The truth. That is the best article on Resin Kit construction I have ever read. And, it is written by one of the world's finest model railroaders. I Have read it over three times. It came just in time for me to assemble the fine F&C NHRHTA baggage and RPO car kits I have been accumulating. I am glad I have been waiting.
The techniques apply to all ALL resin kits, buildings, etc.
I have a couple of F&C kits. I also have a couple of Tichy tank cars. And a bunch of non-timesaver Proto 2000 cars, a couple of tank cars of which I've actually built.
I've looked in the F&C and Tichy kit boxes. There were a lot of little parts (grab irons and what-not) to install on the Proto 2000 tank cars.
So I figure, difficulty-wise, it'll go something like this: Build a few more of the non-Timesaver Proto kits, then a couple of the Tichy cars, THEN tackle the F&C cars. Someday.
The reason I haven't already tried the Tichy and F&C kits is that other things on the layout construction list take priority.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
I was a coward and resold my two kits on ebay for a small profit.
Ive a Artillery gun that has a carriage that is still undergoing assembly. Once that one is done, I will never buy another of this style with the many bazillion parts.
Chip, I say go for it. You have a lot of skills based on the photos of your work that you have posted - I do not see how you could have fudged them with Photoshop. Once you get your Aug MR, read that article carefully and use it as a general guideline. You may have to buy a couple more tools, but they would be things you would be needing in your other modeling anyway.
The only two things you have to remember are
1) Small resin parts are brittle and can break easily - easy to get frustrated with them, put a new sharp blade in that hobby knife and do not use heavy pressure, multiple light cuts work better.
2) Don't glue yourself to anything when you are using that CA cement - keep a bottle of nail polish remover that contains acetone and some paper towels handy just in case.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch