Reluctance to "bash" any of my stock.

[Martino]

As a small child I apparently got really upset because I was due to start French lessons at school. My upset was based on the fact that I didn’t speak French so, sensibly in my mind, I wouldn’t be able to cope with learning.
I’m sure many of us have memories of the Airfix kits that we turned into sticky messes with glue smeared finger prints and clouded cockpit covers. In many cases we were being over ambitious, although there is nothing wrong in stretching ones abilities.
Of course, you first have to decide IF you want to bash/weather/detail etc. if you don’t want to - don’t.
If on the other hand, you want to do something, start small. Maybe buy some detailing kits, or add some detail you find in hobby stores (adding fine chain to drop down doors or sliding doors for example). Perhaps try some small painting jobs - a coat of flat varnish to dull down an otherwise glossy and toy like appearance. You can get more involved as your skills increase. You don’t have to do everything at once.

Try weathering using weathering powders - you can wash them off if you don’t like it.

No stock on my garden railway escapes being changed in some way. That goes back to my 00 layout days when I tried all sorts of changes, some more successful than others.

It all depends on what you want to achieve.

Two conflicting quotes:
How to eat an elephant? Take a small bite first.
How to jump the Grand Canyon? You have to go for the whole thing!

If you want to learn, you have to take the first step. A small one I’d suggest. Read a lot. Look at YouTube videos, read past threads here and then try it.

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. If you do it today, and like it, you can do it again tomorrow.

 

[John Narvell]

I love bashing trains. I always pick up cheap neglected even broken inoperable trains. I get great satisfaction from repairing broken engines and modifying stuff at minimal cost. if I screw it up or don't like the outcome, back into the parts bin it goes. Something will always break. practice weathering on cheap trains, cut up $10 engines. I have one Bachmann ten wheeler I've probably re-worked 4-5 times. can't learn if you don't try. Adding in a healthy dose of whimsy also makes perfection less of an issue. just have fun and get out the saw.

 

[dunnyrail]

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?

Will do on one side.

 

[stevedenver]

I like martinos post.

Sarah, i too hate mucked up toys.
I too wouldnt drill, unless it would be pretty permanent.
My layput is always changing. But, i have drilled trolley platforms to take signals, signs, and lamps.

But sometimes you have to, or, find a way to conceal wires, use pallets, luggage, foliage, pipe, bench, etc.

To bash
I must accept the possibility of total loss. Its unlikely, btw. You may have to start over, but rarely is something unsalvagable.

I must: have a concept, goal, before i start.
I must know what is available to get there, ie parts, paints, decals, scratch built parts, light!!,, etc.

I started by copying a car, a toy train van, that i wanted to look more french. I painted it light gray and black roof and bracing. I added tail lanterns., and ball bearing pick up wheels (lgb) and a big steam pressure gauge on the brake platform wall. And some french looking car numbers. It looks great.

Buy a lehmann toy train. Theyre cheap.
Buy some fine and very fine sand paper.
Wash the surface clean with detergent, and dry.
Buy a can of primer, and a suitable rail colour.
And, wisely, some artist chalks. These are great reversible fun.
Build real wooden doors and stain and clear coat them for a unique car.
Add sandpaper or cigarette rolling paper to give the roof texture and interest.
Add chain and fine screen over the vent windows.
Etc.

And a good xacto, razor saw, and straight edge and files (or womans multi sided nail file) will make life easier. Paint brushes too. If your close vision is bad, a set of readers and good light. And glue.
You will risk some money, but you will learn. We all started this way.

Accept too, that bashing, typically, is not an inexpensive venture after all the stuff you buy.
Commit to your vision and execute.

 

[ge_rik]

Hi Sarah
The first question you need to ask is - "What sort of railway do I want to run?" If you are happy running random trains of miscellaneous rolling stock then there is no need to bash. If you decide you want to recreate a particular railway or you want to create your own unique railway, then you may end up wanting to repaint an off the shelf model to suit the needs of your railway or create a piece of rolling which cannot be bought off the shelf.

I wanted my railway to represent a hypothetical UK based narrow gauge railway which might have existed in the 1930s. When I started, 14 years ago, there was very little UK based rolling stock available off the shelf - so it was either making kits or bashing off the shelf models.

I started my adventures into bashing initially with GRS kits (now no longer available, sadly) and then moved on to HLW mini series wagons - Mini Series . These are very cheap (used to be £10 each, now £15-£20) and cry out to be modified - even if only to be given a couple of coats of Halfords grey primer.

A complete set of goods rolling stock could be constructed from HLW wagons - these all started life as HLW wagons.

Very simple bash - just added some Brittains ploughs to the basic chassis (see below)


Slightly more ambitious - but a toy crane could be added to the basic chassis and painted.


Four plasticard sides and some plasticard strips and you have a simple open wagon


I made this when we were away on holiday using a pack of lollypop sticks from the local craft shop.


The basic chassis clips together - no glue needed - HLW bodies then clip directly on to this. Couldn't be easier and not too expensive if you do make a hash of it.


But that all depends on whether you feel you need some rolling stock which can't be bought off the shelf.

Rik

 

[ge_rik]

Almost forgot - this was a wooden trinket box from The Works with some plasticard straps added.


I think they made the trinket box specifically the same size as the chassis for just this purpose ......

Rik

 

[Sarah Winfield]

So much encouragement, thank you.

SW

Are the chassis available in the UK please and do they include wheels and couplings?

 

[Rhinochugger]

Hi Sarah
The first question you need to ask is - "What sort of railway do I want to run?" If you are happy running random trains of miscellaneous rolling stock then there is no need to bash. If you decide you want to recreate a particular railway or you want to create your own unique railway, then you may end up wanting to repaint an off the shelf model to suit the needs of your railway or create a piece of rolling which cannot be bought off the shelf.

I wanted my railway to represent a hypothetical UK based narrow gauge railway which might have existed in the 1930s. When I started, 14 years ago, there was very little UK based rolling stock available off the shelf - so it was either making kits or bashing off the shelf models.

I started my adventures into bashing initially with GRS kits (now no longer available, sadly) and then moved on to HLW mini series wagons - Mini Series . These are very cheap (used to be £10 each, now £15-£20) and cry out to be modified - even if only to be given a couple of coats of Halfords grey primer.

A complete set of goods rolling stock could be constructed from HLW wagons - these all started life as HLW wagons.

Very simple bash - just added some Brittains ploughs to the basic chassis (see below)
View attachment 242602

Slightly more ambitious - but a toy crane could be added to the basic chassis and painted.
View attachment 242603

Four plasticard sides and some plasticard strips and you have a simple open wagon
View attachment 242604

I made this when we were away on holiday using a pack of lollypop sticks from the local craft shop.
View attachment 242605

The basic chassis clips together - no glue needed - HLW bodies then clip directly on to this. Couldn't be easier and not too expensive if you do make a hash of it.
View attachment 242606

But that all depends on whether you feel you need some rolling stock which can't be bought off the shelf.

Rik

Rik's pictures here of the 4w open wagon make a very valid and interesting point.

I have always steered clear of trying to make plastikard sheet look like timber planks, mainly because after a few half-hearted attempts, I couldn't make it look anything like

.............but I found an alternative that suited my rather slapdash approach to modelling - remember, I'm a devout bodger - there used to be a few of us who ascribed to that very select club

Cornwall model boats do a humungus range of pre-cut modelling timber which means that, for G scale, you can order planks in whatever scale size you need. All you then have to do, is sand down the arrises, and you've got the basis for your plank wagon like this:



Then you can start to play with paint - thin washes, 'cos you can always add more, but it's difficult to take some off

Piccy's a bit distant, but you can get the idea



Neither way is right or wrong, and neither way is better than the other - it's just a question of finding out what suits your skills.

Now for the steady hand - my father-in-law, an amateur artist - showed me how to steady the hand by resting the forearm, or wrist, or even the ball of the hand on something steady while attacking a task (in his case all he was doing was daubing paint on a canvas, but it works for modelling in any form, gluing, pinning, soldering etc).

Then you can use the holding tools such as fine-nosed pliers, or tweezers to much better effect.

You don't always need to rest the arm in the same way when using the lump-hammer, though

But as Greg has said elsewhere, it's all about having fun, and sometimes a bit of Thomas the Tank Engine's ' I think I can, I know I can............'

 

[David1226]

My reasons for kit bashing stock are exactly the same as Rik's. I came to G Scale after many years of modelling freelance British outline narrow gauge in O-16.5 (7mm scale running on HO/OO track, or in US parlance On30). Everything was done on the cheap, loco bodies were built from scratch from plasticard and mounted on second hand OO chassis, wagons and coaches were built from plasticard. I guess you could say that my modelling skills were already honed by the time I changed scale. At the time I made the change to G Scale there was no British outline stock available, everything being either US or European. I was determined to continue with British outline so I had no choice but to kit bash.

From the outset I drew up a plan of what I wanted to achieve and started to collect stock, trackwork, points etc, strictly to that plan, not allowing any impulse purchases that would deviate from that plan and waste resources (money). For goods stock I concentrated on the LGB Toytrain range. There were two reasons for this, cheapness, as they were going to be chopped up and altered anyway, and, I wanted to incorporate a shunting puzzle which, to work, necessitated all the wagon lengths to be the same. For those reasons I standardised my goods wagons on the Toytrain chassis.

Link to the Claptowte Railway Goods Wagons The Claptowte Railway - Freight Stock

For passenger stock I wanted to create the typical ramshackle assortment of styles and shapes found on narrow gauge lines, but all had to be bogie stock. I also wanted my stock to be fairly unique and get away from the 'out of the box' appearance. Again, in order to Anglicise the coaching stock, I had to set about it with razor saw and craft knife to achieve to look I was after. It has to be said that however much a model has been chopped about and detailed, the biggest change in appearance has been brought about by a re-paint. I would say that the most useful tool in my small toolbox is the humble paintbrush. As yet I have not sought to weather any of my stock or populate the coaches, that will come in time, there is too much other more important work to do to complete my roster.

Link to the Claptowte Railway Passenger Stock The Claptowte Railway - Passenger Stock

Here is a scene, taken 7.3.2009, showing some of my O-16.5 creations, in the foreground is a freelance Crocodile loosely based on the RhB. The body is made from plastcard sheet and the running gear is a pair Lima BR Class 09 shunter chassis. It was built to run on, what was over 20 years ago, a ground breaking layout of freelance British outline narrow gauge running 'under the wires'. The layout 'Loch Watif' is still exhibited from time to time by my old friend, with whom I built it, Ray Roberts. The container wagon and the steam loco and coach in the background were also built by me from plasticard.




The point is that all of my creations were built from necessity and the desire to create something different. I used to practice and try out my designs in card until I was satisfied with the fit/appearance before cutting any plasticard. You will never know what you are capable of unless you give it a try. Get your paint brushes out (I Have an air compressor and two air brushes that I have never used, all my repaints use a paintbrush) and give it a try.

David

 

[a98087]

As already been said start small and simple answer work up, just a bit of patch repainting, then a whole repaint.

Here’s a photo, all I did was repaint the wagon decks, and they are unique and look in my eyes better

 

[ge_rik]

So much encouragement, thank you.

SW

Are the chassis available in the UK please and do they include wheels and couplings?

Hi Sarah
I used to get mine from Steve Warrington at Back2Bay6 and he always had a few at the Llanfair Show. Since he has sadly and albeit too soon passed away it looks like the only supplier I can find in the UK is John Sutton. He has four of the Mini-Series wagons on his website:

Tank wagon - Tank Car Kit – John Sutton Books and Models
Ore car (tippler) - Ore Car Kit – John Sutton Books and Models
Gondola (open wagon) - Gondola – John Sutton Books and Models
Flat car (the nearest you'll get to a plain chassis - £18) - Flat Car – John Sutton Books and Models

They sometimes come up secondhand on eBay - so you might be able to pick up some bargain versions there.

Yes - as in the photo in my earlier post, they come with wheels and LGB style hook and loop couplings. I tend to replace the wheels with metal ones to give a bit of extra weight.

Hope that helps

Rik

 

[Riograndad]

Totally agree with whats been said so far and so ask whats a bash?IMO it`s anything that has been "altered" from when it came out of the box and for examples,glazing or passengers in a passenger car,adding door handles to the doors of a freight car,simple repaint and maybe some dry rub lettering,all changes simple to do and when done and you say "that`s better,I like that"then it`s a job well done,there`s a saying,,,from acorns mighty oaks do grow and the same applies here,start small and easy and nothing too big to tackle.there was a teacher at school and when the kids said "I can`t draw sir" he replied that if you can write you can draw as you draw shapes in letters,circles,straight lines,triangles so never say you can`t draw,surprising how it changed their view and more importantly their confidence

 

[JimmyB]

There has been lots said already about "bashing", and maybe the term itself is what causes the trepidation.
You have bought the item to use, unless you are a speculator you haven't bought it to sell on. If it meets your requirement close enough that you are content, leave it be; however to get maximum enjoyment, if need modifying, from a small hole, to a total tear-down then its yours to do what you want.
Modifying models scratch, kit or RTR is a learning curve, enjoy learning, if money is the real issue buy cheap, and start with minor changes!!

 

[Madman]

Without having read, in depth, other's who have commented, I would say do it. In my opinion, if your trains are not collectors items, there's no harm in altering them to suit your taste.

 

[David1226]

Here's another conversion. This one is fairly common and has been done by quite a few but I think I have taken the detailing further than most.

Before



During....



After




David

 

[Brixham]

Almost forgot - this was a wooden trinket box from The Works with some plasticard straps added.

I think they made the trinket box specifically the same size as the chassis for just this purpose ......

WOW..this has inspired me to go out at lunchtime.....and buy two of these boxes from the Works.
Cost, £2 each, base size is 140 x95.
You also get a latch, and a pair of small brass hinges.

 

[Brixham]

Here they are in the raw state...

 

[Brixham]

Hmmm....shopping list for Llanfair.....
chassis..could be IP kit, could be HLW, could be short base from LGB tipper wagon etc
rivet strip
transfers

already have the paint...

watch this space ( but don't hold your breath! )

Malcolm

 

[David1226]

WOW..this has inspired me to go out at lunchtime.....and buy two of these boxes from the Works.
Cost, £2 each, base size is 140 x95.
You also get a latch, and a pair of small brass hinges.

Sounds like an open and shut case....

David

 

[JimmyB]

Sounds like an open and shut case....

David

or should that be open and shut trunk!!