Essentials Of Bashing

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coolhandmatt

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Sep 22, 2006
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Could someone tell me the Essentials to kit bashing?

What are the tools and catalogs neccessary?
Good places to get these things..etc?

I get tired of looking through the hobby store trying to find what I need.

Thanks,

Matt
 
Ok, BOOKS have been written on this subject, but here I go, OTHERS PLEASE ELABORATE!!

-First of all, you must think of a building you want to kitbash

-second of all, draw a rough plan of what you want to have it look like.

-Third, you gather the pieces from leftovers from other kits, buying old beat up buildings at shows, or finding some kits a garage sales, or the clearance aisle in the hobby shop. You don't even have to just do that. Craft sticks, bamboo skewers for BBQ-ing, sand paper and many othr materials will work too.

-usibg all the parts you have gathered, test fit the elements you wish to have in the building to see if they "look right"

-Finally, cut n' measure, glue, assemble, paint and weather, and there you go! :)

Hope this helps! :)
 
Yeah I've got that much down, with all my junk, but i'm going to need lots of parts for what I plan to do in the future. Some of the DPM kits all the way to bachmann look like what I want to build so i'll have a jump on some of the buildings, but I'll still need parts and tools. I need a good saw, measuring stick, and well, heck I don't know; That's why I came here. In addition I don't want a book - I want a catalog with all the parts in it. Photos of windows, door, brick sheets, etc.

Does Micro Scale still sell tools?
I guess Walthers still shows tons of stuff dont they. I haven't had a catalog in years.

And you all are wondering what i'm going to build. FYI Im going to build Front Street East Bank WV circa 1932. It will only take 7-10 feet and about 25 buildings. I have all the photos I need i'll upload one later.

BTW thanks for that tid bit. matt
 
DEPOT.jpg

mainsteast.jpg


mainst25.jpg
 
IF youll notice on front of the depot there is a bucked that says fire on it, before our fire department that was the fire suppression. They would come running yelling fire fire. In the 40s they build an alarm to warn everyone and bring help. There is a building in the pictures (the one right where the car is turning down the street) that burnt in the 40s. The mother handed one child out the window to people below and when back in to get another and was killed. I'm going to model it burning and the scene where she is handing one child out the window. I have lots of photos and drawings of my town. It would be a great one for others to model as it had even a coal mine coming off the mountian with a siding. Handley yard is just up the river, and in the teens (if you model that early) there was a narrow guage tram also coming off the hill going to the river.

East Bank had a theater, doctors, office, butcher shop, ferry, funeral home, large shool w/the best football team in the valley for year and years, the school once had a dormatory (but i'm not sure if it was a college). We even have a scene where about 50 people are standing at the station waiting on the FFV or George Washington to take them to a game in Cincy for a ball game. And to beat it all I dont think the town ever had a bigger population than 1000!

Theres tons of history and things to model thats why I chose my town.
 
A good scale ruler, an Xacto knife with a #11 blade, a razor saw, a pair of flush cutting nippers, a pin vise and assorted bits and an assortment of small Nicholson files are pretty much all I use for 'bashing and scratchbuilding.
 
You know, I think there's a kit for that C&O (?) depot you have there...lemme look. I saw it on tony koester's artice in the MARCH 1993 issue, on the cover. Titled : Steam on the Allegheny MidlandL A day in the life of a local frieght.

He might have scratchbuilt it, but I think it's somewhere in the walther's catalogue.

Found it, it's a Blair line kit (IN HO) Walther's # 184-185 (really!) It's a beaut, and may need reversal of the wall with the baggage and waiting rooms. A good kitbash right there! :)
 
Yeah I've got the station (bought one when it came out), you wouldn't believe how many there we're in my valley. Anyways the kits are expensive. I actually need two of them for the layout I want to build but that will have to wait - one thing at a time.

ShayGetz thats exactally what I needed to know. I was tired of using my 1:1 car tools on something 87 times smaller! I knew I needed that saw but I was never really into scratch building so I didn't buy it, I always relied on paint and a few minor changes to make it look "close".
 
To add to what was already mentioned on this thread:

Imagination, courage and patience to carry it out. :D :D I like those buildings.:thumb:

Good luck!:thumb:
 
Bought the catalog Monday! I've had it in the past but when I asked about all this stuff I totally forgot that Walthers had all those photos and supplys right in the catalog. DUH :rolleyes: .

I actually stepped away from model trains to play with the real ones but I finally got a wild hair to get things going again. I figured asking a few questions would remind me of everything out there.

Miles - Another depot is being produced by MPP Proudcts. It's a C&O Depot #2 exactally like the one in the photo. I was real happy to find that one.
 
Unfortunately the most important tools in a kitbasher's arsenal are things you can't buy: an overactive imagination (to help visualize what a kit COULD be rather than what it is) and a bulging parts box. The former is up to you, and the latter is developed by building kits and having leftover parts. Most kits come with extra optional components that aren't used by the time you complete the kit: save them all. Every window, every weird little decoration, every spare wall. Take regular trips to the hobby shop clearance table to pick up odd little bits of decor, off-brand modular walls, or "slightly defective" kits missing a wall or two but super cheap as a result. Throw in cast-off bits from scratchbuilding projects, a sprue or two, and nicely-sized bits of cardboard, plastic and metal from around the house. Let them stew for a while. Occasionally hold the box under your nose and take a deep whiff when considering ways to fill in that under-utilized corner of the layout. Rifle through them when you're trying to decide what to build next, and hold the details up to your reference photos to see if this kind of window works on that building. Repeat until your wife is complaining about the number of parts boxes.
 
Matt

Before I jumped into kit-bashing I would purchase a low cost kit (wood) and try your hand at building that first one. Perhaps a couple of DVDs on the subject just to get some ideas. Only buy what you need to build that first kit. It is an excellent way to learn before you go jumping off the edge. You will also be surprised at the odds and ends that you will accumulate after the first kit that will go a long way on the next kit or kit-bash. This approach keeps the initial costs down to a manageable minimum. As you enjoy the work and build more, your collection of tools and materials will grow with you.

Just a thought.

Trent
 
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