Most challenging craftsman kit?

[rlundy90]

I got into model railroading because of all the model building required. I built one plastic kit and then a wooden one. I was hooked. I would like to know what you guys think is the most challenging craftsman kit. I always like a good challenge as well as the best bang for my buck. Ron

 

[jbaakko]

Older 70's era wooden craftsman kits require you to cut all the parts. I have some cars from Scale Craft Engineering that take some time.

 

[Espeefan]

I got into model railroading because of all the model building required. I built one plastic kit and then a wooden one. I was hooked. I would like to know what you guys think is the most challenging craftsman kit. I always like a good challenge as well as the best bang for my buck. Ron

Oh really? OK then, try anything larger from Sheepscot Scale. Beanfield Siding, and they had a gravel quarry building kit that was tough. They are out of production now but show up on e-Bay and at swap meets. They'll give you a headache!

 

[kenw]

For rolling stock the Ambroid kits are challenging and possible. I've done a few of the simpler ones and enjoyed the experience and results. Easy to customize, too.

 

[John P]

Intermountain covered hoppers. All the tiny brake components, all the walkway parts and the ladder parts--I bought three of 'em, built one and couldn't bear to touch the second and third ones.

 

[stationmaster]

Any structure with "multi-roofs". I built and HO model of the house with Seven Gables. That was a bear.

And yeh, Beanfield Siding and Sheepscot have quite a few challenging kits. Even at that, try a scratch-built model. Cutting and fitting takes patience and time.

Bob

 

[NH Mike]

Just about any of the Fine Scale Miniatures kits. The basic structures are pre cut walls but there is a lot of board by board to be done. Strip wood and the larger pieces for each sub assembly is bagged and pre cut but there are usually a few longer pieces of wood stock that require you to cut into shorter pieces for various supports, etc. George is a master at designing these kits and making sure the instructions cover every minor detail right down to distressing and weathering. The amount of detail castings and the quality of them is outstanding. Building them is not difficult but they do require moderate skill and patience. Nothing is prepainted and with the amount of details in a typical FSM kit a person could easilly spend a month of spare evenings just doing that. When done however you will have a piece of art you can be proud of. I built the FSM Freight House at least 25 years ago and I still enjoy looking at it and it still brings compliments from fellow modelers and non modelers alike. Still to be built is the Narrow Gauge Railcar Shed and Ezra Coopers Garage.

 

[tomstockton]

Hey, guys, while we're talking about craftsman kits -- I want to ask you a question...

I've looked at many a model railroad magazine and many more pictures on websites... and it seems to me that a lot of the craftsman kits "go too far" -- by that, I mean they look to be too much -- almost more of a caricature, rather than a model of an "eccentric" or "esoteric" subject.

I just love the DPM (and Smalltown and Walthers Cornerstone and Pikestuff and others too numerous to mention) kits. To me, they look much more like what I see and have seen. And I'm a huge fan of the kit-bashers, like Art Curren -- his MR book is one of my favorites!

What I'm saying is not meant as a criticism -- I'm a strong believer in "to each his own". I'm just wanting to find out if I'm the only one who'd rather build a "more sedate" kit, rather than one of the craftsman kits I've seen.

Does anyone else feel the same way -- or am I just at the airport, waiting for my ship to come in?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Tom Stockton

 

[rlundy90]

Hi everyone and thanks for the great replies. I wanted to ask all of you so that I could make a better decision on buying a kit to build. Knowing how expensive these kits are I know I will only buy one. So far for me it is a choice between Sierra Scale Models Twin Mills, FSM Barongould's Tannery with a toss up between a few others as well. I would like to see some pics of a few of the models that were talked about here like the Beanfield siding. Which of the Sheepscott models are the best as far as lots of building, goes? I am a modell builder in a broader sense as I have built RC planes and model ships as well. So far I have found model ships to be the most challenging. Tying those #%$* little string ladders. That gave me a headache. Then came the 1/5 scale P-51 Mustang. That took three years to build and weighed close to 20 lbs. Took about 3 seconds to reduce to a pile of rubble. That is why I thought I would take up a hobby that wasn't quite as hard on the nerves. But here I am again looking for something to make me crazy.
I hadn't thought about the kit being challenging because of bad instructions, but I know this is true becuase I have messed up on plenty of occasions because instructions were poor or nonexistent.
Well thanks again and keep the ideas coming. Ron

 

[stationmaster]

I think that scratch building is the hardest. I'm getting ready to start an NKP depot as soon as I can get the material together, then get the ambition to start. That should come with the first snowfall. I actually took some pictures, which I should post, and too measurements to ensure the accuracy of the project. And it has all of these hips, valleys, gables, and such that I'm sure to screw up at least twice.

Kits are OK but someone has already done all of the hard work, building the prototype.

Bob

 

[Rico]

Okay... so you want a challenge eh?
Go get some popsicle sticks and build us a G scale station!
You've got six months to do it..... go!
I have the interior goodies sitting at "Elumwood".

 

[NH Mike]

Hey, guys, while we're talking about craftsman kits -- I want to ask you a question...

I've looked at many a model railroad magazine and many more pictures on websites... and it seems to me that a lot of the craftsman kits "go too far" -- by that, I mean they look to be too much -- almost more of a caricature, rather than a model of an "eccentric" or "esoteric" subject.

I just love the DPM (and Smalltown and Walthers Cornerstone and Pikestuff and others too numerous to mention) kits. To me, they look much more like what I see and have seen. And I'm a huge fan of the kit-bashers, like Art Curren -- his MR book is one of my favorites!

What I'm saying is not meant as a criticism -- I'm a strong believer in "to each his own". I'm just wanting to find out if I'm the only one who'd rather build a "more sedate" kit, rather than one of the craftsman kits I've seen.

Does anyone else feel the same way -- or am I just at the airport, waiting for my ship to come in?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Tom Stockton

I tend to agree with you Tom. The FSM kits are certainly way up at the top of the WOW factor as far as impressive and to use a word "busy". That I believe is what makes them so attractive. On the other hand there is just so much going on with all the sheds and gables jutting out and windows half hanging off the building it sometimes go beyond anything you'd likely see for real. I'm also not being critical as I really enjoy those kits I have and thankful there are people like George and others who produce them. I use them as a foreground structure and try to keep some distance from the simpler Cornerstone and DPM and City Classics buildings so as not to overpower them or make them appear too plain.

Having said that I hope these type craftsman kits will be available for many years to come because sometimes I just would rather spend a month or more of spare time building and detailing one.

 

[NH Mike]

Ron this is a couple of pics of my FSM Freight House. I built it around 1979 or 1980 I think. The platform is all board by board and was the most time consuming part. The walls are die cut and the shed roof over the platform has a ton of board by board for the rafters, etc. There are also interior walls and complete interior details. Of course I was clever enough to glue the roofs on so most of that goes unseen. Duh!
Sorry about the blurry pic.

 

[tomstockton]

Mike,

That freight house looks pretty good to me -- even if it is a tad blurry. I am assuming that it is to be fairly new construction, as most of the wood I see appears to be either freshly painted or still "brown" in color -- not the weathered gray that wood becomes after being exposed to the elements a while.

Someday I might tackle a kit like that -- to my eye (and in my limited experience), that freight house "looks normal". But for now, I'll stick to building / kitbashing the plastic kits I've acquired, and keep trying to raise my model building skill levels...

Thanks for posting those pictures -- and for your comments!

Regards,
Tom

 

[blownoutcylinder]

Any structure with "multi-roofs". I built and HO model of the house with Seven Gables. That was a bear.

And yeh, Beanfield Siding and Sheepscot have quite a few challenging kits. Even at that, try a scratch-built model. Cutting and fitting takes patience and time.

Bob

Scratchbuild an old factory or mill----a neat one would be one of these old types

 

[NH Mike]

Tom that freight house doesn't look as "new" in person. I took those pics shortly after getting a digital camera and at that time also didn't have a clue how to use the photo editor for color corrections. I did pre stain all the wood as the per the directions however I didn't want the building to look as shabby as it would have turned out so I didn't take that as far as it could go. Having limited space in which to place an almost non revenue producing dilapidated old building more or less set the limit for how much weathering and disrepair this building got when I built it. An old but maintained structure rather than one that looks like it is about to fall over is what I was after. If I had the room a perfect setting for this would be a seldom used weed overgrown siding and the freight house looking like the next Summer breeze would blow it over.

 

[rlundy90]

Wow Barry. That is some awsesome mill. Do you have any more pics of it. I actually would like to try scratchbuilding it. I am doing my first scratchbuild right now but haven't had a chance to do much lately. here are a few pics of the progress so far. Everything will be scratchbuilt, even the windows and doors. Windows are partially installed on one wall except for trim. I am waiting for 1x6 lumber to arrive. I am working on the pattern for the stone wall right now. I hope to be able to pur the castings next week. The first pic shows one view of the building, the next 2 show the walls complete and ready for staining. I taped them together to see how it would look. The last pic shows a few of the first windows I made. After a little practice they go fairly quickly and get better looking as well. I can now make about 1 window every 2 minutes including cutting and installing the real glass. I decided to take my first crack at doing nailholes. I did them 1 at a time with a pin, but save yourself a lot of time and grief by buying yourself a pouce wheel to do this.
Nice work on that freight house, Mike. Is that a kit or scratchbuilt? It looks familiar.

 

[Jon NFL]

RLUNDY - a neat building and you've got a good start. I can't tell what scale you are working - HO?

I mostly kit-bash or scratch build. The scratch built are from plans that I draw using a CAD program. Most of the time I draw full sized (HO scale) and temp-glue the plans to the plywood substrate; cut to size and cut out opens for doors and windows. I get as much pleasure CAD drafting as I do building. The dormitory building and car shop (I used the drawings in April issue of ScaleRails for creating my plans) are a couple of my most recent scratch built. The kit-bash are from a couple yardsale purchases. The 4 walls were put together and I added the interior, corner Ice Cream sign and roof details. Shorty's Ribs was an embellished kit )

 

[NH Mike]

RL that is a kit, an oldie. Fine Scale Miniatures Freight House, kit #150, @ 1978. Excellent work so far on your scratch built. I do scratch from time to time but nothing on the size of yours and nothing that follows an actual bulding such as you are doing. Even then I draw the line at doors and windows and use Grandt Line or Tichey parts. I admire all of you who scratch build every last detail.

 

[rlundy90]

Very nice work Jon. I too enjoy making the plans as much as building the model. I do all mine by hand, as I have no idea how to use a CAD program.
I thought I knew that model, Mike. I think I may have that kit sitting somewhere or at least one very similar.