Scratch Building

Maple · Post by **Maple** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:59 am

Now i am sure this is going to be a subject of mass debate, and i do not mean to offend

I like to build everything(or as much as i can), steam engines, electrics, rolling stock, points and scenery. But lately i feel like the only one( or at least one of few). Now i do not want to start the time old 'cheque book modeling debate' . Everything has it place, some people have no interest in model engineering etc, and i regularly order parts from many of these people(even its just wheels, safety valves, etc ).

My Question is, is there many people left like me? who want to build something completely different, as home made as possible. So they can sit back after months of awkward felting and say 'thank god it finally works'

andymctractor · Post by **andymctractor** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:20 am

I'm something of a 'cheque book modeller', this way my trains actually work most of the time and I wont be too old to appreciate them by the time they are in running condition. I do scratchbuild or kitbash some items though these have to sit alongside well known products.
There are a number of guys like yourself who raise thier heads in the forum on occasions.
I tend to seriously respect them, but from a distance.

Good luck

P.S. I'm not offended though I tend to use payp-l

Maple · Post by **Maple** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 11:48 am

I must admit if i had 3.5k the new garrett is lovely, but for that much i would be looking at a new car lol ( or the wife would kill me)

I must also admit, i am learning, ie not very very good at it yet lol

Dannypenguin · Post by **Dannypenguin** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 1:34 pm

I thoroughly enjoy scratchbuilding, however I struggle to find the time - I have a half finished coach which has been unfinished for months now and a few buildings that got knocked over by dog-zilla and need rebuilding that I've built - however these are stalled due to time constraints. Because of that I can be classed as a chequebook modeller but then again, I can't find my chequebook so there's already a snag...

Like Andy above I respect guys like yourselves that can scratchuild everything, I wish I was that talented and had the time too

Dwayne · Post by **Dwayne** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 2:01 pm

I enjoy building my own as much as my abilities and tools will allow. More often than not I will kitbash existing equipment which is just as much fun as scratchbuilding and often even more challenging. But then I'm also a "less is more" kind of modeler so I'm not swamped with unfinished projects which may lead to being frustrated with myself by not finishing what I started.

It's a hobby and thus I attempt to keep it fun. The hobby is my escape from the seriousness of life.

Maple · Post by **Maple** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 2:27 pm

Forgot about kit bashing. which i love. I know building steam locomotives is the biggest pain ever. For my next project im considering a billy chassis with home made boiler, burner, body. Or butchering a regner konrad.

I also agree. having just work must be a dream, hence the above project, it has taken me 3 years to get a working steamer, and still the throttle control is scale 60mph, or nothing.

Is there anyone that has bought a prefectly good loco like a regner konrad, and thrown half of it away?(or sold)

Busted Bricks · Post by **Busted Bricks** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:58 pm

Rolling stock and electric locos I build from kits but these are kits I have designed and manufactured myself ;)

Steam locos I buy but I do have plans to scratch build some when I'm back home. I have all the machine tools needed.

IrishPeter · Post by **IrishPeter** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 4:17 pm

I tend to live in the realm of 'does it work?' So I tend to approach the whole thing somewhat pragmatically. Basically, I do as much as I have time for, and build kits, or buy in the rest adapting it to my requirements, if needed. OTOH, I do have vague plans to one day get rid of my generic locomotives and build a couple of Barclay or Hudson 0-6-0WTs to replace them. I am primarily a railway modeller, not a model engineer, so the interest is more in running trains than building them. I also take comfort in the fact that most small railways had limited engineering facilities, so they pretty much went the same route - build what they could, and buy in what they hadn't the facilities to make. It is what kept Hudson, Hunslet, Motorail, and a few others in business.

16mm seems to be a scale that attracts both railway modellers, and model engineers. I can admire the efforts of the latter whilst freely admitting I haven't the time, the talent, or the patience for complicated scratch-builds. The one corner I definitely cut on the present railway was using ready made track, which on reflection was a mistake, as the commercial track in the earlier stages of the build just doesn't look right. I am perfectly capable of making my own track, but I wanted to get something running before I got distracted.

Cheers,
Peter in AZ

MDLR · Post by **MDLR** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:49 pm

It's quite interesting looking at new Association members - we have some coming UP a scale or two (from 4mm or 7mm scale) who are happy to buy the kits (or even RTR stock - something which wasn't around in 19 mumble mumble when I started in 16mm) and you get those coming DOWN from the model engineering scales because they can't manhandle he locos any more!

pskipper · Post by **pskipper** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:23 pm

I'm on a tight budget so scratch building, I'm enjoying improving my modelling skills. I am having to buy in wheels and such like as I don't have access to a lathe or similar tools. Wouldn't mind to do some cheque book modelling, assuming I can find someone willing to lend me their checkbook

Peter Butler · Post by **Peter Butler** » Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:42 pm

Maple:113838 wrote:
My Question is, is there many people left like me? who want to build something completely different, as home made as possible.

Does this answer your question?

Maple · Post by **Maple** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 3:17 pm

Peter, now that is truley orginal, i love it
Pskipper, if you find said operson send them my way
Brian, I have come up from 4mm and love the engineering side, although my firsst ecentric last night was terrible

.
Irish Peter, i also used ready made track(due to a good deal second hand purchase), but did build my own points using the rail from that.
Busted bricks, i have one of your locos through HGLW, brilliant love it. Kit building is good for the long winter nights with wine.

All in all , im gland im not the only one that likes to build things

Post by **-steves-** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 4:07 pm

I would love to go from scratch on a live steam loco. All I have done to date is Stewart steam engine from castings, a "polly" steam engine and boiler (a very simple engine and boiler from scratch, worked well but is just an oscillator engine), a few pistons etc made for mamods.

I have grand plans for "some point" to turn a leader boiler into a working train but I just don't get the time to do such things at the moment and doubt I will till I retire in some 20 years.

For now, I suppose I am a bit of a cheque book modeller when it comes to live steam engines for now, all of them Accucraft to date for the value for money side.

Rolling stock is a bit of a mix, some bought, some home built from scratch.

I also make boxes for my loco's too to keep the safe and for display purposes when not in use and of course ideal for transporting them more safely.

I did build a body for an Accucraft Bagulay chassis over the last few weeks and I am really pleased with how that is turning out. There is a build thread for it somewhere on here.

So I fall into the mix of repairer, scratch rolling stock and electric bodies. I was going to buy a fowler kit the other week but in the end got convinced to order the Accucraft Mannin instead for the exact same price, though still wouldn't mind having a crack at a Roundhouse Fowler at some point in the future, funds and time permitting.

IrishPeter · Post by **IrishPeter** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 5:14 pm

I came up from HO/OO because I had always wanted to have a go at 15/16mm scale, but the decision was finally made on the basis that a small house with a large garden equals railway outside. However, the decision to move up to at least quarter inch scale was coming anyway - as my last three visits to the optician have proved.

The main advantage to 16mm is that I can see what I am doing. I was originally an OO modeller, then moved to N when we lived in California, and then back to HO when I discovered I cannot see N! Compared to electric mouse modelling, 16mm is a lot more physical. I am not going to speculate how much rock and soil I have shifted, but we are definitely talking more than a slack handful of pubic yards, and this for a line designed not to incur large earthworks! However, it is worth it for a train that actually runs through a landscape, even if it is only the garden.

Another plus is that the fairly large scale encourages me to scratch-build, which is something I rarely did in HO/OO. As I lack the facilities to cast and machine parts, wheels, axleguards, and bogies are bought in, but anything wooden is dealt with at home. All of my rolling stock consists of home made wooden frames and bodies running on commercially produced running gear. I scratch build buildings too. The score on locos is two kits, two second hand RTR steam locos, and one bought new RTR. The Millie and the kit built "diesel" are my favourites, then the old Roundhouse Ana, and finally the two Rubys which are eventually going to be kit bashed to look O&K-like.

In all honesty, except on locomotives, I probably spent more time, but less money, on 16mm than I did on my last HO layout, and had a heck of a lot more fun.

Cheers,
Peter in AZ

dewintondave · Post by **dewintondave** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:57 am

Maple:113838 wrote:I like to build everything(or as much as i can), steam engines, electrics, rolling stock, points and scenery. But lately i feel like the only one( or at least one of few).

I seem to like building slow locomotives, and then running them round and round my layout pulling a LGB train. I'm not really into scale trains or the scenery side of things.

I dabbled in Picaxe electronics to make an automatic speed control + whistle control for one loco.

Best wishes,
Dave.

Maple · Post by **Maple** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 11:37 am

Dave you are famed for your steam engine building

. Building rolling stock can be a chore, i save it for winter when i am forced indoors by the cold weather

A pile of wagon parts and a bad film (and wine)

Peter Butler · Post by **Peter Butler** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 12:05 pm

Maple:113944 wrote: Building rolling stock can be a chore, i save it for winter when i am forced indoors by the cold weather A pile of wagon parts and a bad film (and wine)

I can't overemphasise the use of (red) wine in this process! Although it isn't an adhesive, nor is it a lubricant, it is still an essential ingredient in model making. Perhaps that is the reason my models turn out the way they do?

Maple · Post by **Maple** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 12:39 pm

Has to be Red, i have not yet found a use for white, certainly not drinkable. Will try and use as paint thinners

Post by **ge_rik** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 3:23 pm

I started buying stuff off the shelf when I was working but since I retired and am now more time-rich and cash-poor, I tend to bash or build.

I know my kitbuilds, bashes and scratchbuilds are not masterpieces - I'm more of a bodgeller than a finescale modeller - but I do get a lot of satisfaction out of making something myself and having something running on my railway which appeals to me and is not available commercially.

Rik

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