Kits I liked

I enjoyed the Quality Craft, SIlver Streak, Golden Spike kits when I was in high school and early 20s. Unfortunately most of those were lost in many moves since then except one 60 ft Southern Boxcar from a QC kit that has been damaged some in moves. More modern I really like the Branchline Blue Print kits.

No photos right now.

Ye ole Huff & Puff

A Ye ole Huff & Puff caboose kit is the only true box of sticks kit that I've put together, although I do have an Ambroid  poultry car kit on the way. You mentioned plastic kits, Bowser, Branchine, Proto 2000 & Tichy  are some of the plastic kits I've put together. Proto 2000 & Tichy have good detail.

Here's three of the Tichy builds..... the gon has a load of real red cinders.....

I thought I'd throw a resin kit in here, an F&C center depressed flat car, with a Bill Brillinger load. My first resin kit build, being  white, I had trouble getting the paint color the way I wanted it. The caboose is the Huff & Puff kit and the hopper, the Proto 2000 kit. A note on the hopper car, the package of hand grabs was missing from the kit, and a call to Proto and they set me up with the grabs, no charge! Nice!

               I'm currently on the lookout for an older Roundhouse, Ulrich & Varney kits...…..

Labelle kits

https://www.labellemodels.com/

I have one of their wood opservation cars...beautiful model.

Kits

Sorry, I don't have any pictures, but over the decades I've enjoyed:

Rolling stock:

* Central Valley's kits

EDIT: I do have a recent pic! Here's a Central Valley "SP" boxcar kit that I was assembling a year or so ago:

Okay, back to the regularly scheduled program...

* Quality Craft kits

* Various other plastic kits that were more than "shake the box".

Steam engine kits:

* MDC Old Timer kits.

I also have a couple of Arbour Models "Brooks" Mogul kits that I'm looking forward to piddlin' with "one of these days":

"Sets":

Guilty. It would be VERY EASY for me to collect nice boxed sets, especially those with magnificent box art. However, I just will not allow myself to get started doing so. There are TWO EXCEPTIONS. I own two Lindberg Lines sets. First is a set that's like the set that got me into scale HO modeling back on Christmas Eve 1962:

That's a Lindberg Lines "B&O" deluxe set. Lindberg was way ahead of the others at the time in regards to nice sets. Consider:

* The SW had flywheel drive.

* All the equipment was painted in railroad colors, schemes, and painted with dead flat paint.

* High detailed sprung Delrin "Bettendorf" trucks that are so good they are still sought out today.

* Quick to incorporate NMRA RP25 wheel contours.

I loved my original Lindberg Lines set. To my young eyes, that SW looked EXACTLY like the switchers I often saw around Kansas City. Three of the cars from my original set survive and have been used on all of my HO layouts over the decades. (The other equipment was played to death and haven't a clue what happened to it.)

Then there's this rather obscure Lindberg Lines set:

Inside you'll find these items:

I saw this on eBay once with a "Buy It Now" of $60. I snatched it up, simply because I like Lindberg Lines and you almost NEVER see a complete set. (I've seen maybe 3 or 4 complete sets in all the years I've watched eBay for Lindberg Lines stuff.) I later learned that the above set was a very limited run set that Lindberg produced as a promo set for some company and that they are quite rare. My purchase price of $60 was pretty much a fluke. Among serious HO collectors, such a set (especially in this excellent condition) can command some significant dollars. Matters not to me, though, I enjoy owning it and looking at it every now and then.

So you see, Warflight, you're not the only one that fights an affliction for sets!!

All for now!

Andre

Following

Interesting, I'll follow along.

HO kits from the sixties

LaBelle was #1 for 1880s passenger and freight cars. Everything was square and fit precisely. Ulrich was my favorite for metal flat cars. (Wish we'd had modern CA in those days.) I had a twin hopper -- I don't recall whether I ever got the body height and couplers correct.

I'll see if I can snap some pics.

Some La Belle Kits

These date from late 60's to early 70's. The 2 painted cars are the 1st I ever did that were craftsmen type. The 2 passenger cars both have the same stock number, yet they are 2 different lengths. All 3 are HOn3. The unpainted one is my current project. I have trucks on order and when they show up will start back in on them.

 I have no idea where the trucks came from on this one. I also never finished it, probably because I got out of HS and left home. 8 yrs later I was married with 2 kids and took this and the caboose out to display on my dresser and my then wife gave into the kids demand that they get to play with them on the carpet. It and the caboose are going in for a major rework sometime this year I hope.

This is the current project. So far it is coming out a lot better after almost 50 yrs of more experience.

I have their tank car and a 80 ft passenger car also. Both standard gauge. Neither one is started yet.

Jack

This is my favorite old kit.

This is my favorite old kit. It is a Gloor Craft kit that I built almost 40 years ago. It is an all wood kit with cast metai details. I replaced the wood siding with scribed sheet styrene. I plan to upgrade this model and repaint it to represent 1927. As is, it is a 1950s prototype.

Jim

Kits

Whenever I came across the name of a kit that I hadn't seen before, I'd write it on the list. The list so far, in no particular order...… All HO

--Varney

--Model Die Casting

--Precision Craft Models

--Front Range

--Red Ball

--Mantua

--JC Models

--Trout Creek

--Labelle

--Ambroid

--Lindberg Line

--Central Valley Kits

--Aristo Craft

--HD Scale Models

--Pacific HO Company

--Circus Craft

--Ye Ole Huff & Puff

--Comet Products

--Keystone

--Arrowhead Models

--Alpha Models

--Globe

--Scale Craft

--Mainline Models

--Silver Streak

--Gloor Craft

--Roller Bearing Models

--Quality Craft

--Ulrich

--Binkley Models

--Eastern Car Works

--Ideal Models

--McKean

--Laconia

--E&C Shops

--Kaslo Shops

--Con Cor

--Blue Line

--The Old & Weary Car Shop

--Unique Scale Miniatures

--Central Lines

--Penn Line

--Kasiner Hobbies

--Hobby Line

--Walthers

--Thomas Indistries

--Train Miniatures

--Athearn

--Kadee Line

--Scale Crafstman

--Authenticast

--International's

--Taurus products

--K-Val

--Ayers Scale Models

--Northeastern Scale models

--Sun Coast Models

--American Railroad Models Inc.

--The Cliff Line

--Model Engineering Works

--JMC International

--Far West Models

--Lehigh Model Products

--OK Streamliners  Herkimer Tool

--Railmaster

--Kurtz Kraft

--Rail Shop Inc.

--Old Colony  Classic Cars

--Robin Rails

--Scale Craft Model Railroads

--Marker Light Models

--StromBecKar

--A-C Model Company

--Details West

--Westbrook

--Richard Dennis Models

--Chester Industrial Arts Co.

--New One Model Toy Works Ltd

---Westerfield---Funaro & Camerlengo, don't know how far back these two go...…..

And you could just about compile a list that long on structure kits......

That's actually useful!

Now I have some companies to look up! That's actually quite a useful list.

vintage kit makers

Agree that's a great list. Be aware that it goes from the 1950s (Ideal) to the 1970s ( E & C) or later.

Someone has probably shared a chronological list.

Also, the HOseeker site has instructions for many of these.

Ulrich kit for ART reefer

Yes, mostly a box of sticks. But terrific screen printing on the basswood sides, and a cast metal "fishbelly" underframe for a low center of gravity. From the era when the company was in N. Hollywood, Calif.

Jerry

Interesting list. I remember all but a couple. I wonder how many of them are still in business today. Not many.

Jim

Jerry

Great list. Train Miniature was another one. Dated from the 70-80's I think. Put out a lot of bill board reefers and box cars if I remember right.

Jack

Here Are Four of Mine

Only partially built one is the CRIP boxcar from Con-Cor.

And these two from Roundhouse.

And this one from Bowser, note picture on box does not match the kit enclosed.

Not kits but I remember

Not kits but I remember having a lighted HO freight station and Union 76 gas station as a kid. They were TYCO but they could have been made by someone else. Seems to me they were pretty nice looking  detailed structures but that could have just been my childhood wonder at lighted buildings.

Recently, I was able to get an all time favorite structure of mine, the Jack Work coal mine for virtually free with an ebay coupon. It was put out by several companies over the years, AHM, Model Power or as mine is Pola.

Re-reading that the thread title is about craftsman kits. Forgive me, my examples are all plastic but I just sort of went down memory lane a moment.

Ambroid

I guess I picked up this Ambroid B&M snowplow kit, oh 30+ years ago. Maybe I'll finish it someday.

 But I'm also partial to some other "old" kits I bought long ago and made within the past two years from Ye Olde Huff-n-Puff (Bobber Caboose), Keystone (sawmill) and the Cliff Line (gallows turntable).  

@Michael and "Out of Business"

That's fine. I love all kits... "Shake the Box", "Plaz-Tec", or craftsman... all are welcome in this thread... as long as it's a kit.


As for "Out of Business"... one of my joys in this hobby is finding those "out of business" kits on eBay, or a train show (which, I still have never been to a train show! HELP!) It started with the Oscar and Pikers I got from eBay... and then led to kits at the LHC that were from companies twenty or more years out of business.

Building kits, and craftsman building, and kitbashing, and general modeling is not dead... not by a long shot. The "Maker Community" is all about that, even if it's focus is wider than just model railroading.

We still have eBay, and shows. We still have out sources. And there's still companies like "B.T.S." that still do wooden car kits. (laser cut, sure... but so freaking awesome, and still that feeling of that "box of sticks" that got us so excited in this hobby in days gone by)


I want to see your kits... I don't care how old or new... I love seeing both... and seeing the old is just icing on the cake of what we can, and have done in this hobby.

So let me open this to scratch built engines and cars as well!

Show me what you got!

Caboose (kitbashed)

This is a combination of multiple kits, because the first kit, the white metal ends were rotted away. So it's a combination of Silver Streak, "Ye Old Huff & Puff, and another silver streak, with some Kadee, and Intermountain tossed in for flavour.


 


 

 

 

@ Jim

At least it seams like that when these companies were in business, they made plenty of the kits, that quite a few are still around today, which is good because they produced some really unique cars other than the common box, flat, gon. etc. and those are the cars I'm looking for...……

Ha, really wasn't looking, but came across some others, added them on the list...…..

@ Jack

It's been interesting doing the list, I've been really tempted to buy a kit from each maker just so I could get the box cover for the graphics on them. That's what I need, another collection, Ha Ha...…..

Inspiration.

Loving this thread so far... plus, it inspired me to start working on another kit 9I honestly haven't actually BUILT anything in a couple of months now... so today I decided to fix that.

It's a small kit... a Woodland Scenics white metal kit of what looks like a small shed, with a tree, a horse, and a guy walking the horse.

I sprayed everything with a "studio grey", and then silvered the roof (for later rusting, and weathering) and painted the ground piece in brow, and yellow, then topped it with some brown "back yard dirt" and some "beach sand" where the pathway will be. I plan to coat the "brown" painted ground with static grass, and instead of the tree than came with the kit, I plan to plant a grand central gems pine tree in the hole that the metal tree goes in. (since I have a big bag of those I haven't used yet... no worries... I'll find places for them all on the layout)

This is the kit I bought the Pan Pastels set for... to see if I can use the Pan Pastels to make the grey coated metal look like real aged wood... a bit more intense than simply weathering, maybe? I'll see as I go.

 

The base is still wet, but it should lighten up once dry.

The craftsman kits I have most enjoyed

The craftsman kits I have most enjoyed are LaBelle and All Nation (O scale).  My All Nation boxcar is metal on wood frame - so not exactly a box of sticks kit, but not a shake the box kit either.

I also enjoyed putting together a Bowser K4 Pacific many years ago.

Some non craftsman kits I have enjoyed include MDC, Athearn, Atlas, Pacific Rail (S scale), Silver Streak, and Train-Miniature.

Actually, I pretty much like any kit even if I have to modify it to make it come out right.

Paul

Found Another Today

Someone else started this and I picked it many moons ago!