eBay November 2013

eBay June 2013

HO Scale Projects

Kitbashed Corner Building & Repainted Walther's Building

Millie's Cafe

S-Mart

Shop Smart, Shop S-Mart!

Sicken Tire Co.

My second pre-fab kit from Woodland Scenics, Sicken Tire is a good kit at a decent price, that suffers from some of the same issues as the previous kit I reviewed, such as holes in the walls.

It also suffers an issue with the name: is anyone else just tired (sick and tired, har har) of the puns in model railroading? I don't want to name the building this, and was hoping for a selection of signage. Indeed, there is a selection of different signage, but unlike the previous kit, it all says the SAME THING. Blah. I'll have to make my own.

This is what you get in the kit:

Seymour Block

Yes, an HO scale kit, and a work in progress. Stretching my artistic muscle a bit by going larger.

Tempera

Experimented with 'tempera' aka poster-paint last night, and the results were less than desirable.

If you're looking to create a model with realistic looking peeling paint exposing the color beneath, then go for it. Perhaps mix it with a bit of acrylic to give it some pull. By itself however, it just doesn't stick to styrene.

Wood may be a different story, since its ultimately made for paper and not plastic, but even then I suspect it may be easier to make it look distressed than acrylic.

What I may end up doing with this particular model is painting over the acrylic-tempera layer with straight acrylic, to give a bit of a 3 dimensional surface where its obvious a coat of 'new' paint was applied hastily over a previous peeling coat of paint (people do it, you know they do). My thought is that the new layer would help bind the previous layer, or at least the parts that had "stuck" well enough to have not flaked off prior to repainting.

April 2013

Ever since I started selling my N scale kits on eBay, I've noticed a dramatic uptick in the amount of competition. Today for instance, there are 18 listings for built-up DPM kits in N scale, vs. 4 in HO, even though HO scale has 4 times more modelers. It's like people realized how much money "someone" was making, and decided to suddenly copy him. Well, guess I know where to refocus my efforts. At least until others catch up with me there too.

 
I'm also contemplating going smaller and making some Z scale buildings; part of me wants to try making Sea Monkey habitats, tiny little towns perhaps with animation and lighting.....something novel, different.

I received my second 'pre-fab' kit in the mail yesterday and have started construction there, and will post pictures shortly. I think I still have to catch-up on my progress from the first as well. Hmm.

eBay Offerings April 2013

eBay Offerings February 2013

Layout February 2013

Kitbash: Hayes Hardware

Quik Mart Shelves

Had an idea for creating shelving in N scale using scrap parts meant as corner pieces for modular kits (Walthers I believe).

here you can see the backs showing the brickwork that will be hidden

these will be painted to look like miscellaneous merchandise

 

Pre-Fab Kit: Main Street Mercantile

I was curious to try one of the new "prefab" kits that have come out from Woodland Scenics. It's nice to not have to worry about construction of the superstructure, but at the same time it does limit kitbashing a bit.

When this particular kit arrived, I was shocked at just how small it was! I was thinking it would be closer to DPM Corner Apothecary size. Not even close. That's alright though, I've got quite the little "DPM Village" going on, so a little more character would be nice.

size comparison: DPM kit on left, prefab on right

Review: Wirl Wind "Quikits"

From 2012: I saw these on eBay, but could find little information about them online. I bought a set of 4 because they were cheap, and it would give me a chance to file a review and some pictures that perhaps someone else could use. I'll update this post when I receive them!

As an example of just how little I know about these kits from what's online, looking for them in Google resulted in a list of links where THIS post was #3, just 30 seconds after posting!

Update: that was quick!

Quikit N106

Quikit N108

One thing I've noted about both kits is that the store-front itself is the same with both, which is a little disappointing.

The three side and back walls are all a highly detailed brick, while the front is stone.

N108 is a quanset hut configuration, while N106 uses a standard pitched roof.

These kits are both very basic, with just the four walls and roof, but great for the price, and possible material for kitbashing.

Update: February 2013 - after sitting nearly a year, I've assembled all four kits, the first "as-is", and the other three with modifications, such as adding windows and doors to the other walls. One kit I even replaced the front door with a "better" more modern looking door.

Basic, Assembled, Painted Kit with no modification (rear)

Basic, Assembled, Painted Kit with no modification (front)

changed front door on this kit