build or buy?

[Joseph]

Hi Folks. I was at the MRR shop last week and I asked If people build their own engines and rolling stock from kits and he said "no, they usually buy them already completed".
From following along on these forums I see a lot of painting and building of units, info going back and forth which is great to follow along and watch the progress!, so I assume he is not exactly correct???.
I know my progress is slow, but you guys keep me motivated and enthused, keep it up. graemlins/notworthy.gif graemlins/notworthy.gif smile.gif . Still working on deciding the layout.

[LongIslandTom]

Hi Joseph,

It depends on how much attention you want to pay to detail.

Those whose idea of fun is to just run trains usually go for the "ready-to-run" engines and rolling stock.

Those whose idea of fun is to detail engines and rolling stock to accurately represent particular prototypes would rather detail and paint their own.

Either way is perfectly fine-- It's your hobby! :D

Me, I'm one of those engine detailing nuts.. I don't have much room for a layout so I spend most of my time detailing and painting motive power and rolling stock. I prefer to paint and detail my own because it just makes them look better in my eyes.

[Wolfgang Dudler]

I like to add details as sun shades, antennas, MU cables.
I wanted weathered rolling stock.
I've my own railroad / paint sheme.

And I've built some kits: GE 25 ton from Keystone,
ELNA (http://www.westportterminal.de/nau_elna.html) from Weinert.

This way I can add sound to my engines.

Wolfgang

[stewarttrains98]

As for the locomotives, to me it does not matter. I can buy a RTR and will replace most of the parts anyway. Then I have to go in and add what they did not. I simply can not take a locomotive out of the box and be happy with it. Freight cars is another matter . I buy the kit, assemble, maybe add a few decals, repaint or paint and then weather to my liking. But what ever makes you happy and you can afford to do, that is the way to go. I perfer kits. But it seems that us kit folks are being laid to rest.

[StickyMonk]

<font color="336633">[b]It all started for me when Walthers started only doing rtr models, I got a couple of them (a bulkhead flat and pulpwood flat) and they were the worst put together models I have ever seen, glue marks everywhere and bits used to fall off if you looked at it to hard.

The trouble is most companys only produce RTR now, although if they do an undec model then it would make sence to make that a kit???
It makes no sence to me to buy an undec loco then have to remove certian parts (like grab irons where decals need to go) before I can paint it, and these parts normally do not come off that easy either.

But it seems that more people now are happy with the ammount of detail on there stock (and its not that surprising really as compaired to a few years ago), or people just dont have the time to do major detailing projects.

Sorry for the rant, but im not a 'morning' person ;)

[Dave Jones]

The most important thing to me is the road name and style of car, based on those two criteria, I'll buy rtr or kit - whichever is available.

However, I do tend to draw the line if the rtr car exceeds 2 to 3 times the cost of an equivalent kit. Recently I've noticed an escalation beyond my comfort point by some manufacturers.

[LongIslandTom]

Yep, the prices of some of these RTR locos makes me cringe.. I don't see myself spending $80 for an RTR engine, when I can spend $30 for an Athearn blue box undecorated unit and $50 in detail parts + decals, and end up with a loco that looks much nicer than the RTR, for the same amount of money spent.

LOL I guess people like me who prefer to superdetail are obsessive-compulsive to some degree.. :D graemlins/220.gif

[Joseph]

Well the price looks better that way. I've been looking at Steam engines and I see prices of $120 , up to $800 or more!!! I almost fell over. :eek: :eek: :eek:
I think i might get the kit and start building,a good steam engine that is. I'll have to start shopping around.I know I would get a lot of satisfaction in building it myself. Any suggestions would be apreciated.

[stewarttrains98]

Well for building a steam loco, do like we do with diesles, get an Athearn, $130 or so, and super detail it up. :D I have not heard of too many people doing that. I know some people rant and rave because they do a basic version of the steamer and then the details are not correct for the road that they model so that is the end of what I hear. If I where really big into steam that would the route that I would go. Just have to be alot more patient and lots more careful removing some of the piping. :eek:

[Mark Wilson]

Originally posted by stewarttrains98:
Well for building a steam loco, do like we do with diesles, get an Athearn, $130 or so, and super detail it up. :D Raymond, That is exactly what I plan to do when I start building my steam roster. Almost HAVE to do that because very few RTR models are detailed for 1900 era steam. Most are 1920's and later. Just give me a good running mechanism, razor saw, airbrush and WATCH OUT! graemlins/223.gif That 1945 USRA 0-6-0 just did a time warp back to 1902! :eek:

[Joseph]

Well I guess, like anything else, the decision is up to me.Doing a fantasy or ficticious display gives me liscence for a little leaway, but I find it difficult to pay all that money for an engine and it not being authentic.At least for now I'll continue working on the layout with what I have and grow into it as time passes, and I learn more. Thanks for the advice.

[friscobob]

Originally posted by LongIslandTom:
Yep, the prices of some of these RTR locos makes me cringe.. I don't see myself spending $80 for an RTR engine, when I can spend $30 for an Athearn blue box undecorated unit and $50 in detail parts + decals, and end up with a loco that looks much nicer than the RTR, for the same amount of money spent.

LOL I guess people like me who prefer to superdetail are obsessive-compulsive to some degree.. :D graemlins/220.gif Tom, I got lucky with my last two RTR engines- Athearn GP35s in Frisco colors. I added some detail parts like a rotary beacon, cab antenna, Kadee number 58 couplers, and repainted the handrails & grabirons.

Since I model Frisco, I find it necessary to buy the diesel, get the detail parts neede for that particular engine, and go to town. I don't get too full-goose-bozo on details, but recently I've started adding Cannon & Co. cabs to some of my EMDs. I employ a 3-foot rule- if it looks good from 3 feet away, it's good to go :D

And I add the right parts to make a locomotive look like a Frisco diesel (nose lites where applicable, plow pilots, Leslie S5R ST horns, rotary beacons, cab sunshades, lift rings, grab irons), plus the O/W paint & proper decals.

The only engines I have that are RTR that I haven't done much to outside of Kadees are a U30C in UP colors and an SD45 in Santa Fe livery. They MAY get some weathering later..... graemlins/088.gif

[friscobob]

Oops- almost forgot my Bachmann Spectrum 2-10-0, Frisco 1632- it's running with just new Kadees and a re-centered doghouse on the tender, otherwise it's stock.