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Nebakenezzer posted:Er, true, dude actually owns Lionel trains What, 70-100 for a good loco with DCC, 10-15 each for rolling stock, $150 for your whole control system, 15-20 per turnout. After the first costs it's not that expensive of a hobby considering people slowly buy and grow over many years. The biggest cost will always be space. Doesn't matter if you go out and buy like 20 loco's and 200 cars, the space will always be 90%+ of the layout. So go hog wild and buy nice stuff.
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Nov 20, 2013 20:31
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Baronjutter posted:What, 70-100 for a good loco with DCC, 10-15 each for rolling stock, $150 for your whole control system, 15-20 per turnout. After the first costs it's not that expensive of a hobby considering people slowly buy and grow over many years. The biggest cost will always be space. Doesn't matter if you go out and buy like 20 loco's and 200 cars, the space will always be 90%+ of the layout. So go hog wild and buy nice stuff. OK, possibly dumb question then: how is it that I've seen N scale locomotives under glass for $700? Is N just that more expensive than Z? Or are these Loco prices just Loco?
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Nov 20, 2013 21:20
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N scale has about the cheapest stuff. Ho has like 8x the mass and size so it's just physically bigger so costs a bit more. Z is super tiny and you're paying for the miniaturization and nicheness of it all. Per-thing N is the cheapest scale. Although if you're buying by weight HO is probably the cheapest. I have no idea where you'd see a $600 loco, maybe it's brass? That's a whole other world. Brass poo poo is like audiophile stuff, there's a small market that thinks it's some how better and is willing to pay 10x the price for it. I think way back in the day brass could hold detail better but modern plastic locos are exactly the same, if not better. There's a whole weird culture around brass and they look at them as investments that will appreciate like fine art. Also in N a loop (that can run ALL equipment) can be 11" diameter and a human arm can comfortably work at a max of about 2' meaning you can have a nice shelf style layout you can always comfortably reach. The most human-scale and ergonomic of scales! It depends on what you like though! I just see absolutely no downsides to N compared to HO. Cheaper and you get 4x the layout in the same space. Z still isn't there yet, it's about where N was in like the 70's. Overpriced, unreliable, and no selection. It's only a bit smaller than N thought too, not even close to the size jump between HO and N. Absolutely not worth the very minor savings in space.
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Nov 20, 2013 23:19
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The only downside to N scale is selection and popularity, although there's still a lot of N-scale equipment out there (and rolling-stock wise cheaper than HO scale) and a lot more N-scale clubs as well. To me, HO scale is just the right size to balance detail (and ease of detail) versus operations. It would take more room for a mainline, or even branch line running, but then again that's what a shelf layout or a club is for. If I didn't have a lot of HO stuff and was closer to an area with more N-scale modellers, I might have went that way instead. With that being said, here's some absolutely stunning shelf-layout stuff in S-scale (1:64th): http://themodelrailwayshow.com/cn1950s/
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Nov 21, 2013 04:17
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Interesting. Well, my first hobby shop when getting into small plastic things did scale models, R/C, and trains of all sorts. They had a glass case at the back that had many locomotives from $350-$700. Some of them I remember were little steam locomotives, while others were finely detailed Canadian diesels (almost up Baron's alley.) They were very impressive, as far as it went...maybe somebody in store was painting them? No idea. Speaking of small plastic things, I'm almost done a 1/350 U-boat. I just have to do the radio rigging...
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Nov 21, 2013 05:38
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Dammit BaronJutter, I have no room, yet no self control, stop making your hobby sound so desireable!
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Nov 21, 2013 05:53
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You could easily get started with maybe a little 2x8' (or even smaller) shelf or dog-bone shape and maybe $200 bucks worth of starting stuff. Don't have to go DCC right away but everything now is easily upgradable. Grab a quality little $50 loco and like 10 cars for about $100 and a power pack for $20-40 and I guess track and some turnouts would probably be another $100 ok so $300 tops. There's tons of resources online and some great little communities that you can basically tell them what you like and what space you have to work with and they'll help design your layout and give you tons of tips and show you all the sweet deals. My interest in the hobby rapidly shifts focus every few months. One month I'm crazy about rolling stock. I want box cars, I want hoppers, I want tank cars, I want to hunt them down for cheap and then weather and super detail them. A couple months later trains are just what ever and I'm all about BUILDINGS. Gritty factories, pretty shops and apartment blocks and then asking ridiculous questions on the traffic engineering thread on how exactly to paint my roads and design my intersections. 1:160 scale urban planning! Then suddenly it's all on the back-burner as I go nuts for shiny modern trams and do research on how to automate a tram system for my city using an arduino and some sensors at the stops. There's always something different to do so it never gets boring. It combines so many fun hobby skills and activities. Sometimes I even run my trains! It's a pretty awesome hobby and cheap to get into really, then after that you just spend as much as you want slowly growing your fleet and adding cool details and models to the layout. Then you get sick of it all and realize you hosed up and you've learned so much in the last year and you rip it all apart and start over but you're only out a few bucks on scenery supplies and you begin anew with a bigger better layout. I've done this cycle about 5 times so far, just ripped up the layout I've been sharing pictures of because I moved and now have a  TRAIN ROOMCheck out my friend's awesome "layout in a box" the whole thing folds up in half for storage. It's only 1x6'       (The controls hide in this building) Baronjutter fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Nov 21, 2013 |
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Nov 21, 2013 06:10
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Well for the time being, I'm going to have to live with this: Plus side: he's 4 now, by the time I can reasonably start this, he can help.
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Nov 21, 2013 06:18
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Nebakenezzer posted:Interesting. Well, my first hobby shop when getting into small plastic things did scale models, R/C, and trains of all sorts. They had a glass case at the back that had many locomotives from $350-$700. Some of them I remember were little steam locomotives, while others were finely detailed Canadian diesels (almost up Baron's alley.) They were very impressive, as far as it went...maybe somebody in store was painting them? No idea. Model railroading, with a little research, can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be.
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Nov 22, 2013 01:35
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Man, my local hobby shop just went tits up. They still have an online store, but considering how the owner would never shut up about how he hated online sales whenever I went in there, and that their website is serious garbage with little product on it, it doesn't give me high hopes that online component will last either. I think their main problem (besides owning a store dedicated to the nichest of niche hobbies) was focusing too much on trains. With all due respect to any train fans here, trains as a hobby seems like it's dying even faster than scale-model building. Scale models were kind of strewn about the store and placed in odd areas, as train stuff commanded the lions share of the space. Yet every time I went in there, any customers that were in there were interested in the scale stuff, and I never saw anyone buy train stuff, ever. The next closest hobby shop is a good hours drive away. They seem to be doing okay, but who knows. They focus almost completely on scale-models, with a tiny bit of R/C thrown in. They have a lot more product on hand in general as well, so it's cool to poke my head around there every once in a while and see what's new.
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Nov 22, 2013 04:17
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I think a local store was close to going out of business or something, since they had a 30% off sale on all 1:35th armour. Their card reader was broken though  Regrettably, it wasn't local enough to visit conveniently. Man, I wish scale models were more popular.
Ensign Expendable fucked around with this message at 05:35 on Nov 22, 2013 |
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Nov 22, 2013 05:32
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I live in Fairbanks, Alaska, so local hobby stores are out of the question. For all my modelling needs I rely on Spruebrothers.com. They have pretty much everything you ever need for scale armor or airplanes. They have some pretty good deals too. I don't think I've every bought a kit that cost more then $40, and most of my stash is Dragon Smart Kits. Definitely recommend them.
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Nov 22, 2013 05:43
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Bloody Hedgehog posted:I think their main problem (besides owning a store dedicated to the nichest of niche hobbies) was focusing too much on trains. With all due respect to any train fans here, trains as a hobby seems like it's dying even faster than scale-model building.
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Nov 22, 2013 06:27
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Man I got 2 hobby shops right near me. One is a general hobby shop that's mostly about RC's and tanks poo poo but has a decent little model train suburb in the corner. The other is used model train exclusive and it's been going pretty strong for the last 5 years or so. The shop is always an absolute mess but it's half train store and half social club and there's old dudes in there talking about trains till 9-10pm some nights. The big store's train section is probably about the same size or a bit smaller than the entire smaller store, but out of like 6 staff members only 1 cares about trains at all and the rest are mostly RC guys. They also of course all seem to have old-guy bergs and can come off pretty rude and matter of fact, almost like they lack basic social skills due to diagnosed spectrum disorders (shocking in the hobby!!!). A lot of olds think "the hobby" is dying but according to some people I know who actually work at a couple of the big model train companies, sales have been quite stable, if not up a little in the last 5 years. It's just like PC gaming, everyone was saying PC gaming was dying, but it was just switching from brick and mortar to steam. When you see all these old hobby shops with no online presence run by old guys who rant and rave about the internet ruining the hobby shutting down you think maybe the hobby is dying, nah it's just switching to online sales and idiots who can't be bothered to set up a website for their shop that are dying. The internet just has way more selection and way better prices, but almost all the online stores are also brick and mortar stores that were just not run by stubborn idiots and adapted to the times. Also just like PC gaming there's a huge flourishing of the "indie" market. Thanks to the internet there's a gently caress ton of small operations that make really niche poo poo. Back in the day they'd have had no distribution channels but thanks to the internet they have a huge audience now. Tons of dudes making resin or laser cut kits and a lot of them have grown into proper little companies now. Technology is awesome now too. DCC has become pretty much standard and people are running their entire layout from their computer or smart phone. There's so many really cool little electronic bits and bobs you can add to your poo poo, once again mostly made by small companies that would not have had a chance pre-internet. I'd actually say this is like some new golden age in the hobby.
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Nov 22, 2013 17:26
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Baronjutter posted:<snip> I hope this is true - I used to build lots of models before I got into RC and now that I've 'slowed down' a bit I'm back into scale stuff. There are lots of people in the same situation, I'm guessing with every hobby you can think of. There are loads of techniques and tools that are available now that I never knew existed, so it's cool to revisit 'old friends' like tanks and warplanes with a new angle and know I can do a way better job than 15-year old me did back in the day.
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Nov 22, 2013 17:40
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Is all Academy stuff dirt cheap? The store next to me had a Tiger for $35, a Stuart for $25, a PzIV for $18. Eighteen! You can barely get a good 1:72nd scale tank for that much money, let alone a 1:35th! Also the Stuart is tiny. Much smaller than I expected it to be, especially when compared to the hulking Sherman and Lee that I already have.
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Nov 23, 2013 01:08
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Baronjutter posted:Man I got 2 hobby shops right near me. One is a general hobby shop that's mostly about RC's and tanks poo poo but has a decent little model train suburb in the corner. The other is used model train exclusive and it's been going pretty strong for the last 5 years or so. The shop is always an absolute mess but it's half train store and half social club and there's old dudes in there talking about trains till 9-10pm some nights. The big store's train section is probably about the same size or a bit smaller than the entire smaller store, but out of like 6 staff members only 1 cares about trains at all and the rest are mostly RC guys. They also of course all seem to have old-guy bergs and can come off pretty rude and matter of fact, almost like they lack basic social skills due to diagnosed spectrum disorders (shocking in the hobby!!!).
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Nov 23, 2013 01:29
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Things like Kickstarter are also a massive boon to the smaller indie operations.
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Nov 23, 2013 01:54
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There are scale model kickstarters? I have never seen one, but then again, I don't look too closely.
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Nov 23, 2013 02:14
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Ensign Expendable posted:There are scale model kickstarters? I have never seen one, but then again, I don't look too closely. There are loads of them for wargaming miniatures. I can't recall any that are explicitly for scale models (mostly for want of looking), but based on how the funding model has allowed a lot of concepts to see the light of day, it's only a matter of time before someone makes the leap.
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Nov 23, 2013 02:27
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Academy stuff is cheap. and be careful because some of it is blatant copies of tamiya moulds from the 80s. love their Merkava though. Here's a pic of my near complete Tamiya 1/48 is2 just have to do the weathering of the tracks and running gear. super happy with the way the oil dot weathering and pigments worked out on the top though.  Also decided to do a 56 chev, never done a car model before so this is gonna be fun. http://i.imgur.com/EPElG9x.jpg griffia fucked around with this message at 10:32 on Nov 24, 2013 |
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Nov 24, 2013 10:06
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Sweet IS-2! And that explains the cost, I guess. Eh, I don't mind, Tamiya 80s stuff isn't that bad, except for the vinyl tracks, but those look passable with some work.
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Nov 24, 2013 21:04
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I got an airbrush about a month ago and finally finished up a dragon 1:35 Panther G to use it on.  I'm kicking myself for not getting one earlier, the paint looks loads better and it's way easier than working with a brush. I just have to remember to keep a dust mask on when using the cleaner.
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Nov 28, 2013 05:59
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I recently decided to do a model car and I haven't done anything like that since I was a child. I picked up a Ferrari Enzo kit by Revell, some testor enamel paints, a couple spray cans, some rustoleum primer, testor paintbrushes, thinner, and an xacto knife. I wish I had found this thread before so I could purchase some higher quality materials, but so far it's coming out all right. The parts in the Revell kit are attached to the sprues by far too much plastic most of the time. They fit together poorly enough times to be frustrating. Anyways I've started painting the body of the car with the rustoleum primer from a rattlecan and through two coats it went on fine but I looked this morning and there is a cracked jagged line in the primer in the crease on some of the molding of the body. For example, there is a right angle like _| on the doorsill of the car. The cracked line is found right at the intersection and runs all the way down the doorsill of the car. I sprayed a third coat which covered up all the cracked lines in the other trim/mold lines but the one in the doorsill remains. What can I do other than wet sand, spray again, and hope?
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Nov 29, 2013 17:01
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You can buy putty to cover up cracks and gaps before painting. Some really old models don't fit together very well, and really need it. Revell kits that I bought were kind of primitive as far as detail was concerned, but didn't have this problem.
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Nov 29, 2013 17:25
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There aren't any cracks in the plastic, like.. there's nothing to 'fill'. I mean i sprayed primer and there is a cracked line of through the primer coat down the trim lines of the plastic. I sprayed another coat and that covered up all the cracked primer on the trim lines except the doorsills.
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Nov 29, 2013 17:48
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So the crack is in the paint? Was the paint sprayed on too thick?
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Nov 29, 2013 18:32
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No, 2 pretty light coats. I'll take a picture when I get home. The thin line of cracked paint only exists in the crevice between the mold line near the doorsills of the car where its at a right angle.
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Nov 29, 2013 18:37
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First Time Caller posted:No, 2 pretty light coats. I'll take a picture when I get home. The thin line of cracked paint only exists in the crevice between the mold line near the doorsills of the car where its at a right angle. Did you give the parts a wash in water with a drop of dish soap, rinse, and dry beforehand? Sometimes the mold release gets left on there and it can keep the paint from sticking to the plastic.
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Nov 30, 2013 03:28
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I finished a thing for the Sea Cadet unit I work with: The cadets themselves fitted out the hull and worked on the mast, I finished the rigging and decals for them. They did a decent job on the hull and it was a good learning experience for them, and now the unit has a pretty kickass training aid.
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Nov 30, 2013 15:57
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I finished my Dragon Imperial Series SU-76M 1:35th scale kit. It's 20 years old, and it shows. Some of the pieces don't go together very well, have really obvious mold lines/impact marks in hard to sand places, and the instruction manual doesn't really show where to put some of the fiddly bits, so you have to go hunting for reference photos. The kit represents a SU-76M after the 1944 modernization, adding a DP machine gun and ports to the sides. 4 sets of decals are provided: Red Army Austria 1945, Red Army Poland 1945, 1219th SPG regiment 1944, and captured by Korean Army during the Korean war (with huge Korean flags on the sides). No North Korean version though. I decided do go with the Austria set.    And, as always, an action shot with crew. 
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Dec 1, 2013 00:43
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Almost finished my rendition of Tamiya's Porsche 934. drat good kit! Excellent detail and almost perfect fit. Tamiya's always been good, but they've really stepped their game up. Even includes photoetch parts as a standard feature. Color's not a precise match of the original, but it's pretty close. Decals are aftermarket by Studio 27. Tamiya paints all around. Can't recommend this kit enough if you wanna build an old GT racecar.
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Dec 1, 2013 02:37
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Looks really nice! I want to build that kit but have to re-build up my skills again. I just stripped the clearcoat and paint off the Beetle I'm working on, Fairy Power Spray (I'm in the UK) works really well!
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Dec 1, 2013 12:22
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krushgroove posted:Looks really nice! I want to build that kit but have to re-build up my skills again. I just stripped the clearcoat and paint off the Beetle I'm working on, Fairy Power Spray (I'm in the UK) works really well! Thank you! What was wrong with the clearcoat? Here's the finished product:      
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Dec 3, 2013 22:01
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Wow, that looks so good. Congrats. I can only hope I can get a paint job that shiny on the 86 I keep putting off starting...
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Dec 4, 2013 11:48
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George Zimmer posted:Thank you! What was wrong with the clearcoat? That looks amazing! The clearcoat on the Beetle looked OK, I just need more practice putting a color wet coat on - it came out with a lot of texture and I had some high spots as well as places that weren't filled properly so I decided to start over with the new knowledge I'd picked up.
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Dec 4, 2013 15:47
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Granite Octopus posted:Wow, that looks so good. Congrats. Thank you! Believe it or not, polishing is pretty easy when you get the hang of it. I use polishing pads, which I feel make it far simpler than regular sandpaper sheets and less error prone. I got mine at Hobby Lobby, they come in a set that includes 3200, 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000, and 12,000 grit, but I usually only go up to 6000. Start that 86! I'm assuming this the newer 86 made by Tamiya. That's supposed to be a good kit! krushgroove posted:That looks amazing! The clearcoat on the Beetle looked OK, I just need more practice putting a color wet coat on - it came out with a lot of texture and I had some high spots as well as places that weren't filled properly so I decided to start over with the new knowledge I'd picked up. Thanks! The wet coat does have a bit of a learning curve. Are you heating up your cans in hot water prior to spraying? Definitely makes it smoother and easier to apply.
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Dec 5, 2013 00:49
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George Zimmer posted:Are you heating up your cans in hot water prior to spraying? Definitely makes it smoother and easier to apply. Woah, that's a thing? Just for clear coat, or all sprays?
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Dec 5, 2013 00:50
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Ensign Expendable posted:Woah, that's a thing? Just for clear coat, or all sprays? All sprays. Helps the paint get fully mixed and produces a finer mist.
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Dec 5, 2013 02:42
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Ensign Expendable posted:Woah, that's a thing? Just for clear coat, or all sprays? Also keeps the can from freezing up as the propellant expands when you spray it.
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Dec 5, 2013 06:32
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