Kit-bashing – thoughts of a beginner

Dear Miss/Missis/Miz/........ Sophie,
(use adequate/desired)

When i was house-trained (housebroken for you north-americans), it was still customary to use the male form of expression, when generalizing.

And i would be very gratefull, if you could enlighten me, how the use of modern expressions like "old hobbyperson" or other tongue-twisters would have changed the sense or nonsense i was expressing.*

in eternal admiration for the belle sexe, Korm

(*) with the exception of the "Darling do" thingie.
(but we all know, that these are life saving essencials, when coming from a female, and mere nuisances, when spoken by a male...)

edited as well - did answer, befor i discovered edit.
 
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Bless your heart, no worries about the "old" part. At 60 I am one of the youngsters in our train club.

Sophie B
Dismal Creek Railroad brakeperson
 
korm kormsen said:
Dear Miss/Missis/Miz/........ Sophie,
(use adequate/desired)

When i was house-trained (housebroken for you north-americans), it was still customary to use the male form of expression, when generalizing.

And i would be very gratefull, if you could enlighten me, how the use of modern expressions like "old hobbyperson" or other tongue-twisters would have changed the sense or nonsense i was expressing.*

in eternal admiration for the belle sexe, Korm

(*) with the exception of the "Darling do" thingie.
(but we all know, that these are life saving essencials, when coming from a female, and mere nuisances, when spoken by a male...)

edited as well - did answer, befor i discovered edit.
Click to expand...
Stop digging... :-)
 
idlemarvel said:
Stop digging... :)
Click to expand...
You were talking of epitaphs!
Out of curiosity, how many ladies are on this forum's list(?). It's a well-known fact that the majority of railway enthusiasts are men, mainly because we never grow out of our childhood, but I know that there are a lot of ladies involved.
 
Paul M said:
You were talking of epitaphs!
Out of curiosity, how many ladies are on this forum's list(?). It's a well-known fact that the majority of railway enthusiasts are men, mainly because we never grow out of our childhood, but I know that there are a lot of ladies involved.
Click to expand...

With the men, or the hobby?? :confused:

Epithet and Epitaph?
They're both old... Old Testament, I think?? :wondering:
 
To get back to the focus of the thread; like others, I started bashing and scratch building because there were very few UK based models available for 45mm and also because I didn't (and still don't) have a lot of money to spare.

Like you, I see all the imperfections in my models, but I do get a lot of satisfaction from seeing a train of my own built stock threading its way through the undergrowth.

I enjoy construction and operation in equal proportions.

I'd say that my model making is cost effective, particularly when it comes to locos. Most of my locos work out at somewhere in the region of £100 in total, but that includes the motor block, batteries and radio control system. However, if I was to factor in my construction time, even at £10/hour it would probably rise to nearer £500! Mind you, now I am retired, I am relatively time-rich and cash-poor by contrast to when I was working.

Rik

PS Another bonus is that all my scratchbuilt locos are of models which are not available commercially
 
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I remember, some 35/40 years ago, when in the model race car hobby it was of necessity that one "kit bashed" whatever limited subject matter was available to produce a specific car/marque/race version. Then, as low cost white/etch metal, quick cure resins and colour print transfers developed initially the "trans kit" appeared allowing the more effective modification of what mainstream models were available. Finally, those mentioned technologies, that particularly suited short run subjects, matured and we ended up with a vast plethora of accurate, highly detailed, affordable and desirable subjects being made available where there were once virtually none.

Much the same seems to happening now in the larger scale model railway world with the ready adoption of those established "short run" production techniques and now the rise of laser cutting and 3D printing technologies. In turn this has resulted in affordable kits of just about any subject to be made, provided even a minimal demand is there.

While I am an inveterate kit builder I have never felt I have had the skills nor imagination to produce a satisfactory fully functioning model from a number of "found" and scratch built source parts. I look forward to the ultimate developments in all these technologies so that I might avoid the need to go down the "kit bash" route anytime soon. Max

P.S. I have an overwhelming admiration or those with the skills to achieve the results I see on these pages as a result of their scratch and bashed efforts.
 
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