Reluctance to "bash" any of my stock.

[Sarah Winfield]

I've always been adverse to altering or modifying any of the rolling stock or buildings that I manage to amass. I think it has to do with not being confidence it my ability and having finally been able to afford some nice things I'm reluctant to risk damaging them.

I don't mind if I have an item which needs work and I enjoy the challenge of improving it, hence the repairs that I've had to do on many of my points.

A current example is some Playmobil platforms I have bought and on which I want to put some platform lights. It means drilling holes in the plastic and running the wire beneath. Is this the only thing I can do it?

SW

 

[Rich Skuse]

It's one of those things I suppose. When I first got the Playmobil set I have, I was dead-set on making no changes, then I decided to only modify parts that I had spares of (like the boiler) then I realised that I am unlikely to ever part with it, and I enjoyed the challenges of modifying it into something I like and want to run on my railway (when I get that far)
That said, there is no pressure per sé to alter anything if YOU don't want to, it's your railway and your rules.
I take you have seen my 'bash' thread documenting some of the alterations to my stock?
Also if you haven't seen it, this thread is BRILLIANT to give you some ideas of what you could achieve if you wanted to. maybe if you are lacking confidence start small, detail and weather a wagon that is replaceable, maybe a city-freight 'windcutter' wagon if you have one as they are still available as NOS online easily enough.

 

[PhilP]

If you can find any...
There is a Playmobil lamp, that takes a single battery, so is 'free-standing'..

I will see if I can find one of mine, and post a photo..

 

[Rhinochugger]

I've always been adverse to altering or modifying any of the rolling stock or buildings that I manage to amass. I think it has to do with not being confidence it my ability and having finally been able to afford some nice things I'm reluctant to risk damaging them.

I don't mind if I have an item which needs work and I enjoy the challenge of improving it, hence the repairs that I've had to do on many of my points.

A current example is some Playmobil platforms I have bought and on which I want to put some platform lights. It means drilling holes in the plastic and running the wire beneath. Is this the only thing I can do it?

SW

I know the feeling well - equally, I have been very reluctant to weather some of my slightly more costly items of stock.

I usually only bash if I either buy cheap with the intention of bashing, or if there really is no alternative.

I had waited a very long time to get my hands on the MDC Hustler, but at 1:29 it was much too small. It took me quite a bit of time to get ready to jump in the deep end, although, in the end it was worth it

Oooh, and those ore cars it's pulling have been weathered a bit as well

 

[Scot Lawrence]

Before: (a rather boring generic Bachmann Industrial mogul)


After: (the only 29n2 scale locomotive in the entire world!)


Before: (two cars became one car, On30 to On2 scale)


In progress:


After:




Before:

After: (My Dad made this one..the snowplow is a personal treasure of mine, because my Dad made it.
(and my Dad passed away in '09) The original pristine LGB car would be meaningless to me..)

(Also, the value of that original LGB car has dropped from $100 to $40 over the past decade)


Before:


After:



Before:

After:





Before & After:


So..I have zero hesitation to cut things up!
because changing them is what I *want* to do with them..
I like them much better after..for me, this is a large part of the hobby..
This winter im going to start cutting up several Aristocraft heavyweight passenger cars..

"ruining the value" is of no concern to me whatsoever..because they have far more personal value after they are changed..
monetary value is meaningless to me..im not planning to sell them, so why not enjoy them while I own them?

Model trains are not an investment! 99.9% of them go down in value over time..If you want to "preserve their value" you are in the wrong game! buy gold or silver instead.

The *only* time "future value" comes into play, for me, would be if I should happen to pass on before my wife. It could happen to any of us, at any time..
but you cant live your life concerned about that, especially when it comes to hobbies..(sure, we plan responsibility for an unexpected event like that..life insurance, etc. but disposing of hobbies simply cant be a concern, unless you are really getting up in years..)

As I get older, im already planning to downsize the train collection..
I figure by the time im 80 I will be living in an apartment, no more garden railroad, and I will sell off most of my trains before then and have only one or two remaining short trains on a shelf in the living room..If some are "less valuable" because I kitbashed them? meh..so what. We are talking differences of tens of dollars..a few hundred at most. In the big scheme of things, its simply a non-issue.

So..enjoy your trains! get the saw out! get the spray paint out! We should buy them to enjoy them..they aren't an investment, they will never be worth more than what you paid..If you reduce the "value" of a car from $40 to $20..does it *really* matter? of course not..not if you enjoyed what you did with it.. I would argue its actually *more* valuable after you are done..because it has a higher "enjoyment value"..which is all that really matters for a hobby.

Scot

 

[playmofire]

There are some photos here:

The CBR Line is Born.. - G Scale Central

Unfortunately, they are no longer available from Playmobil

 

[David1226]

Before



After



Link to how it was done Claptowte Railway - Passenger Coach No 6 - G Scale Central

David

 

[PhilP]

Sarah,
Buy some cheap rubbish. - I know I have! sometimes, not so cheaply!!
Then improve/bash that..

As your confidence / skill improves, you may, just, feel the need to have a go at something a little more ambitious..

Starting is the difficult bit.. - That's where I am too..

 

[Clive Tucker]

Sarah,
Buy some cheap rubbish. - I know I have! sometimes, not so cheaply!!
Then improve/bash that..

As your confidence / skill improves, you may, just, feel the need to have a go at something a little more ambitious..

Starting is the difficult bit.. - That's where I am too..

Exactly what I did! It can start off as simple as a paint job. A ToyTrain brake wagon bought from a second hand shop for about £10 (admittedly about 15 years ago now):

Or some slight modification (another el-cheapo bed frame wagon to which I added some wire to represent the frame for a tarpaulin):

It doesn't have to be an elaborate mod, just something that makes it personal to you. Guaranteed that you will want to experiment more once you've bitten the bullet and done your first!

 

[chris m01]

You could always build something from scratch or buy a Newqida item of stock and chop that about.
My scratch built stock is crude but looks ok to me when running round the garden. These open coaches run on Bachmann bogies. The main floor made from left over flooring planks, the sides from 3mm play covered in embossed plastiard and the seats from L shaped mouldings from B&Q. The steps on the end are from plain plasticard. They didnt require much of an investment so there was not much risk of wasting a lot of money. It’s worth having a go at making something, you will learn a lot and have something unique to run.

 

[QC Rwy.]

In my thread, "Irish engine bashed from "Big Hauler", I picked up a damaged engine (boiler/cab) with a good mechanism for $10 at a train show.
I 've used various bits.....pvc pipe....styrene sheet.....thin plywood for the cab etc. and followed a rough plan based on two photos in books.
Am I having fun with this build....you bet! Do I care what I've spent....very little......and again as others have pointed out......the time I've spent enjoying building something I think may be "one of a kind" and sharing it with other like minded folks you'all makes it all worthwhile!!
Give it a try Sarah.....pick something you purchased "cheap" and get "creative"......tom

 

[dunnyrail]

Of course if you are worried about your investment Sarah you could always make a replacement body for one of your Wagons or Coaches from scratch. This type of tech is pretty simple and you have been into Model Railwys for some time so I imagine you will have picked up some skills along the way as we all have. LGB Wagons and Coaches have all screw fit Bodies so are easy to swop about with something that you have made.

 

[David1226]

Before.....



During.....



After



Click on link for details of how it was bashed Claptowte Railway - Passenger Coach No 4 - G Scale Central

David

 

[Rhinochugger]

There's a balance to be struck here - while it is good to use examples of our own abilities / inabilities to encourage others, it could also produce the opposite effect, and make someone think that they could never achieve anything like that.

There are some simple lessons in the modelling craft.

1. In G scale, there is what is known as the 10ft rule - this is the general viewing distance of a model running on a ground level railway. An exceptionally useful caveat, and you will notice that few of my bashed models are photographed close up
2. Another essential is to know how to cheat - in other words, where you know your own limitations in a particular area, work out how to get around it. One of the obvious ones is a loco boiler; for an impatient sod like me, I'd never be able to build and detail a boiler from scratch. So buy a cheap, knackered, second hand body to use as a basis. Also, when I built a carriage, I knew that I could never build 5 window frames each side that would perfectly match - so I found some doll's house windows of a suitable size. The carriage sides were built up from an underlayer of ply that was square, and structurally sound, then wood strip added on the outside for accuracy and detail.
3. The first attempt is unlikely to be the best - two options: firstly, start with little minor mods, secondly, as has been said before, start with something secondhand and cheap
4. Remember that, if after a couple of years it doesn't look as good as you first thought, give it another bash. I have a loco that now looks reasonably OK, but it's in its third or fourth iteration
5. Lastly, remember Rule 8 - it's your railway, and you can run whatever you like, when you like and how you like - so it's question of whether it pleases you, not the rivet counters

And with that off my chest, I'm off to see how many round tuits I can purchase, as I have a number of projects that need to be turned from pipe dreams to reality

 

[PhilP]

And with that off my chest, I'm off to see how many round tuits I can purchase, as I have a number of projects that need to be turned from pipe dreams to reality

Could you supply a supplier, and part number please?

 

[dunnyrail]

I have aired this before possibly in the old Mad days but well worth another showing in view of this thread.

This Van Body is made from Layers of Corrugated Cardboard to roof height then the last bits thinned to give a camber. Base of thin MDF but any kind of flat even good quality card would so. Sides from Cereal packets or thinish card. Side details made up with bent card and held in place with household pins for rivets. Thes will need shellacking to stiffen up. Fits on a Toy Train Chassis, self tapping screws in original holes will secure to the chassis. Only thing missing is the round bits for the axle assemblies to swivel on, a suitable pen should provide the right size to glue on to the base.Must finish it sometime, need a cheepo Toy Train chassis as all my others have now been painted in the livery that I want them the other ones that I got from Steve(Funand trains) many moons ago have been used on the body bits he sold me at the same time. Though with a few mods to the Bachman Caboose Chassis I have it would fit to that.

 

[PhilP]

I would be interested to see how badly the printing on the outside would show through paint?

Any chance you could blow it over with primer, Jon?

 

[Gizzy]

I bashed a NQD coach into a Driving Control Trailer once?



And I've bashed a couple of tatty LGB wagons into Departmental/MoW stock? One example is the snowplough wagon, which was a tired old post van with a Swift Sixteen resin plough bolted on, and sprayed yellow.



These were relatively simple bashes from cheap or second hand items....

 

[Sarah Winfield]

No disrespect, but that's easy for you to say.

I have absolutely no ability what so ever. I once tried (about 60+ years ago) to assemble an Airfix(?) Lancaster bomber. What a mess I made of that.

I've always been clumsy it's just one of my better traits.

SW

 

[Rhinochugger]

No disrespect, but that's easy for you to say.

I have absolutely no ability what so ever. I once tried (about 60+ years ago) to assemble an Airfix(?) Lancaster bomber. What a mess I made of that.

I've always been clumsy it's just one of my better traits.

SW

Ah, there's another trick - knowing when to quickly pull two freshly glued bits apart - leave to dry, clean up and have another go another day.

So, part of it is playing with glue, and working out what sticks what (and to whose fingers )

It's always worth having a dabble if you can get a base model cheap enough.

In my youth I tried to build a loco chassis - disaster; but I have successfully managed it in this scale