VOLUME #1 - ISSUE #1
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Welcome to my monthly newsletter for November! In each issue you'll find helpful information designed for model railroaders who build and collect craftsman structure kits. I'll try to keep you up to date on the latest kit releases, availability, tips, tricks and techniques. |
Model railroading is dead.
How many times have you heard that statement? But just like the old guy in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” who's “not dead yet,” the hobby is far from being in the throes of a death rattle. In fact, that noise you hear may just be a resurgence, and I think we have the internet to thank for that. While the internet has played a key role in eroding the circulations of the monthly hobby magazines, it's also given birth too many great forums and chat groups. Some of these are geared towards hobbyists whose interests aren't catered to in the magazines, and most have fostered a spirit of sharing information that would not be practical in any other format.
No place is that resurgence felt more than with craftsman structure kits. As little as 15 years ago, your choices were pretty limited if you wanted to build a craftsman structure kit. Fine Scale Miniatures and Campbell were about it. Sure, there were a few other companies, but the quality and selection was poor. Builder's In Scale was just getting started, and Master Creations should have issued its kits with a prescription for Prozac. Campbell kits weren't the easiest to build thanks to spartan instructions, and FSM kits were rather expensive and becoming hard to get. Fast forward to today. Several companies manufacture “super kits,” and many other companies have formed to manufacture small and medium-sized kits to fill in the voids. By my count, no fewer than 10 new craftsman kit manufacturers have hung out their signs. More enter the business each year. Fine Scale Miniatures and South River Modelworks sell out their offerings in a few months, and Sierra West's kits find their way to the competition table every year. Bar Mills and Fos Scale Limited, offer a wide range of kits in a variety of sizes and complexities. The list goes on.
My goal with this newsletter is to inspire and support you to build some of these fine kits. The more we build, the more manufacturers will make these kits, and the way I see it, that's good for the hobby.
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Welcome to the inaugural issue of my newsletter.
It is my hope and intent to publish and distribute this on a monthly basis. Factors beyond my control, or sheer laziness may keep that from happening. I'll do my best though.
Please keep in mind that the content of this newsletter is the product of my fertile mind, and as such represents my opinions, and my opinions only unless otherwise written. Guest columnists are encouraged to write whatever is on their mind. We will always try to adhere to good taste, but realize that in order to make this newsletter unique, a certain amount of “color” may be interspersed from time to time. It is not my goal to offend anyone. I do exercise a strong sense of humor. Some of what I write may be laced with sarcasm. With that in mind, from month-to-month you will find new craftsman kit product announcements, kit evaluations and reviews (when time allows), kit release dates, updates on manufacturer's inventories, i.e. George has about 300 Bartholow Coal Company's left, editorials, manufacturers' advertisements, guest columns, tips for structure building, updates on what I'm working on in diary form, and more. This newsletter is free to my subscribers (right now the list is 3,800+ names), and will remain so as long as it's published. I do accept paid advertising, but will limit it to only pertinent advertisers. Your e-mail address will never be given out or sold to anyone by me. I hope you enjoy this newsletter. It is published with the needs of craftsman in mind. I'm open to any suggestions you have to improve its content, short of changing owners. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerly,
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Canopy Glue
If you've seen my DVD's, you've seen my speak very highly of an adhesive called Canopy Glue. Most of the questions I get that are related to the DVD's, centers around what this stuff is, and where it can be found, so it may not come as a surprise that the first “Tips” column is all about Canopy Glue.
Pacer Industries makes Formula 560 Canopy Glue under its Zap Adhesives division. It is a non-toxic, white glue-like liquid that dries crystal clear and has incredible bonding power. I have replaced regular white glue with Canopy Glue. I use it to bond wood to wood, wood to paper, paper to plaster, plaster to plaster, and wood to plaster. I also use it to glue my little people to the ground.
Perhaps it's most useful purpose, and the reason I stumbled across it in the first place, is it's ability to make window glass. The standard for those who don't want to cut their glass from clear plastic, has been to use Micro-Scale's Micro Krystal Klear. This white glue-like substance also dries clear, but must be applied with a piece of wire, or a scrap of stripwood. If alcohol and ink, or Dulcote come in contact with it, it will disintegrate. Canopy Glue is impervious to any substances that I have seen, and is much easier to apply because it comes in an applicator bottle.
A two-ounce bottle retails for $3.79 at my LHS. The website for Canopy Glue is: www.zapglue.com . There is a list of dealers on the website.
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South River Modelworks' Kingston Creamery
 The
first of this season's super kits, South River 's Kingston Creamery have begun
to ship. Many of you have received yours already, and many more will be receiving
theirs in the next few weeks.
Mine showed up on my doorstep two days ago. Despite my
close friendship with Bob Van Gelder, I have to wait my turn just like everyone
else, so when the UPS truck finally does pull up to the front door, it's as if
Santa in a brown suit is paying me a visit.
Like all the South River kits that came before it,
Kingston Creamery is a limited edition. Only 450 have been produced. Bob told me
that the kit is selling at a faster rate than last year's kit, Wrisley Paper,
but it has not sold out yet. The message here is crystal clear. If you want one,
you better order one soon. In the past several years, Bob has had about 20 kits
remaining for the Springfield show in late January, and those kits all sold out
before noon .
So what do you get for your $295.00? A big box of
stuff, that's what. The full box weighs about six pounds.
The box of detail castings inside accounts for better than a pound of that
weight. The first thing you see when you open the box is the 92-page instruction
book. The book alone may be worth the price of the kit. It is filled with photos
and illustrations to guide you through the construction process. Also inside are
two 11” x 17” posters with color photos of the finished structure from every
angle. There are two packages with laser cut wood siding, three bundles of
stripwood, two sets of Northeastern Scale Models' pre-glued shingles,
representing a rounded slate and wood shake. There are several template cards
with cardstock roofs as well as several instruction cards that enhance the
instruction book with additional illustrations. You'll also get some etched
brass details, a sheet of signs, and of course, the resin castings.
 The
resin castings, representing the stone walls of the creamery, are highly
detailed. I did not find one air bubble in my inspection. There was almost no
flash on the casting edges.
By my estimation, the average modeler should expect to
spend about 90-100 hours building this kit. It can be ordered through the
company website: www.southrivermodelworks.com and is available for immediate
delivery.
A Dying Breed… Guest Commentary by Dave Frary
When Scott asked me to contribute to his “In-Training” Newsletter I thought it appropriate to try and convince all you kit collector's to open those yellow (or red) boxes and start building. In my view there's a whole lot more fun, relaxation, and enjoyment in building the kit than there is waiting for that short-term rush you get when you sell it. But today's hobbyist is a different breed of modeler.
A growing segment of the hobby buy, sell and trade kits like pork belly futures on the New York Stock Exchange. How do I tell someone who only sees the boxes as an investment that the real value lies inside the box? I admit I have sold unbuilt kits, sometimes at prices a lot higher than retail. This was the only way I could afford to build a high-priced kit. I'd buy two kits, one to build and one to sell. Hopefully to earn enough to pay for the kit I built.
I started building “craftsman-style” structure kits in the 1950's. In those days there was Tru-Scale, Suydam, Ayres and several other manufacturers. I even built the ones I couldn't afford. I copied advertising photos from Model Railroader, RMC, Model Trains, or HO Monthly to build a facsimile using shirt cardboard, airplane cement, and 410-M paint. By today's standards the little structures would be very crude and ugly but in those days they were the epitome of beautiful, realistic modeling, at least in my mind.
As the years passed and money got even tighter my obsession continued, and to pay for it I reviewed craftsman kits for Railroad Model Craftsman. Tony Koester was the editor in those days and he sent me every kit he received for Test Track reviews. Bob Hayden joined the review process even though he was under the Pacific Ocean on a nuclear submarine. I built the structures, took several photos and sent my notes to Bob. He wrote the review text. During one year in the mid-1970's we published over 80 reviews. About 40 were structure kits. I never told Tony that I would have built them all for nothing, just for the fun of it!
I still have many of those structures. Some have been on 3 or 4 different layouts over the years. Every time I look at one I think about how much fun it was to build it, and now, to have it on my layout.
After 50 years of structure building my obsession continues. I still look for interesting kits, buy the yellow and red boxes, and relax at the workbench. Model railroad structure building is still the most fun you can have at home, alone. So get some paint and glue and get going!
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Visit http://www.mrscenery.com for Dave Frary's products & services.
Want to submit a column or article? email Scott.
Paper Creek Model Works Shingles and Siding
For too many years, the choices in roofing materials for the kit builder have
been slim. Campbell wood shingles have been the standard, and still can be found
in every Fine Scale Miniatures kit. I never thought they were all that hot. Recently, Paper Creek Model Works
(www.papercreek.com)
has produced a line of laser printed, and in some cases laser cut shingles,
corrugated roofing, tarpaper, and brick paper.
I’ve used the laser cut wood
shingles on a number of projects, most recently the Dexter’s Dead End I build
for BCSK Volume 2. They are fantastic. They look great. They’re easy to work
with, and best of all, they’re new and different. They require no painting. I
just dry brush a little Aged White paint on the tips to create a highlight.
I just received an order of
tarpaper, which I’m using on the roof of one of the structures that make up
Houligan’s Alley. Each package contains two 8 ½” x 11” sheets of laser printed
tarpaper. The tarpaper comes in weathered black, gray, red and green. I got one
package of each, and was impressed with the realistic look. In the past, I’ve
always spray painted a sheet of paper either black or gray, cut out strips,
glued and weathered them in place. Obviously, the laser printed paper lacks the
third dimension that traditional tar paper methods offer, but from a couple of
inches away, you can’t tell the difference. I’m very happy with the look.
I also received two different
styles of corrugated metal roofing. The first set is moderately rusted, and the
second set is more heavily rusted. I plan to use both of these on the Houligan’s
project. One again, from two inches away, you can’t tell it’s a two-dimensional
piece of paper
So what don’t I like about this
material? The price! Paper Creek charges $6.49 for a package of two sheets of
what amounts to printer paper. I’ve also found that if you go by the estimate of
coverage that Paper Creek provides, you’ll come up woefully short. I take that
estimate and multiply by two to get a closer-to-correct amount of material
needed.
Paper Creek products can be
ordered directly from the company website. Delivery is listed as two-three
weeks, but I’ve never had to wait that long.
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Published monthly by Scott Mason ©www.scottymason.com - EMAIL SCOTT - Visit www.scottymason.com Volume 1 Issue 1 November 2006
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