How much can we justify spending?

[Green_Elite_Cab]

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GEC This RTR craze is probably what has lead to the slow disappearance of detail parts, decals, paints, and other useful upgrade kits.
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Depending on the detail parts you need Atlas has a nice selection at lower cost then DA and DW.

As far as decals check MBK.

I'm a big fan of Atlas for exactly that reason. Kato must also be commended for having parts readily available cheaply. Bachmann too, although I am frustrated that they are out of stock of Acela style pantographs. Athearn only seems to be good for ordering old parts, its harder to get the parts off of something new.

That said, I've seen a lot of manufacturers of details, decals and paint go under. Sunrise Enterprises had some good details.

Herald King, Champs, they're all gone. We just watched Floquil and Pollyscale dissappear.

MK Klein won't be stocking much of those anytime soon. There is still enough stuff out there to do interesting projects, but our options are shrinking.

Ed,I still have 2 BB GP35s and 2 BB U33Bs..I also have several BB GP7s..

I suppose admitting to that I'm now on the "Not a real model railroader" list. :o :cry:

Also, I have one of those wide bodied GP7s. I don't think that it makes anyone "not a real modeler" to use those locomotives, and I hope I'm not giving off that vibe. They just aren't my first choice in a model mostly due to the nature of the hoods, but thats a personal preference, not a standard to be enforced on others. I couldn't care less in the long run.

[Brakie]

Also, I have one of those wide bodied GP7s. I don't think that it makes anyone "not a real modeler" to use those locomotives, and I hope I'm not giving off that vibe.
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Not at all..
I mention that fact on another forum and was basically told "real modelers" doesn't use Athearn BB.That set off a chain of replies from several BB fans. I was thinking of that when I made my reply and it was meant to be in jest.

[Lester Perry]

Man I love this.I have been complaining about this for about 10 years now. My last major purchase was probably 2001 or 2 I purchased a Walthers/Riverossi H8. That was big bucks at $300. My wife saw how excited I was about it and bought me another one for Christmas. I have been asked how much I have spent and reply I don't know and don't want to know. I will say that in the last ten years about $200.
I am not able to do upgrades and detailing anymore due to handicaps. I have some BB that I painted for C&O that I will put up against any of the new stuff. Now I have been going back and getting some old Mantua power out and doing some detailing but no super stuff. I am no longer able to do it. I am strictly steam now and I love it.
As far as Bachmann goes I used to hate them. I even told them in person. At the time I felt they were killing the hobby with the train sets a parent would buy a child for Christmas and it wouldn't run. Now I like them. I feel they ave improved tremendously. When you get one and it won't run like a $300 model, just remember how much it cost.

That is what love about this hobby,it is my railroad. If you stop by to look at it.

IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT LEAVE

[Catt]

Brakie said
"I mention that fact on another forum and was basically told "real modelers" doesn't use Athearn BB."

When I hear that line I ask "By who's definition of real?" It gets rather old when some moron lays that line on me.I like my blue boxes if they don't then don't look. :mrgreen:

"FYI" I am not always a gentleman when I ask that question. :mrgreen:

[Charlie B]

I once had a guy tell me my s-1 locomotive floor wasn't prototypical....My S-1 was 12" = 1 foot so any thing I did was prototype...
Charlie

[Brakie]

I once had a guy tell me my s-1 locomotive floor wasn't prototypical....My S-1 was 12" = 1 foot so any thing I did was prototype...
Charlie

I read in one of the magazines(Trains?) that some railfans contacted NS and advised them the paint color was wrong on two of their Heritage locomotives..IIRC it was the Interstate and Erie.

[ezdays]

Just to add to and agree with what most of you are saying, but what if someone had little money and bought only what he could afford (like most of us), even if it meant that his engines didn't have the correct details, the right shade of color or were noisy when they ran? What if his scenery wasn't that accurate or you could see glue joints popping out of his structures, his engines or cars were weathered too much or not at all, and what if his roadbeds lacked ballast in spots or was messy in others, and even couldn't ID all the parts of an engine, but yet he spent what he could afford and did the best he could. Doesn't he have a much right to enjoy what he has, as much as someone who is a stickler for details or has the money to spend $6,000 on one model? Does that make it wrong if his equipment or layout doesn't meet the standard of others? The very last thing that turned me off of that well-known forum of years past, was when someone had spend time and effort detailing and engine and was proud of what he did, yet the first response was "it would be nice if you used the right shade of yellow". :o ... Does it really matter if what you have or do isn't quite prototypical or if you haven't spent a bundle just to get things exactly the way others think you should? If you're happy, who cares?

To me, this hobby, like any other one, is what you want to put into it and what you want to get out of it. I'd never feel comfortable running sessions and so my layout is put together the way I want it, not being dictated by setting up my industries for pickup and delivery, probably not at all prototypical to some. I'm not sure if my layout would get a second glance by some modelers, but I'm happy when I build and place something even though it may not fit some people's ideas of what a layout should look like, but I really don't care what others think. And if I run a train for the sake of running something and not to make it accurate for an era, so what. I'm not even sure what makes an engine prototypically accurate, and yes I do have my share of Life Like and Bachmann. :? So, for those that want to run sessions, for those that need accurate details, run multiple trains, need sound and don't mind spending the money to get all this, I say fine, if you can afford to do it and if it pleases you, that's the important thing.

[Charlie B]

I agree with you Don, as for "right" shades, there really are none. I have seen Conrail locomotives in almost every shade of blue from dark blue, (almost Navy) to a light almost pale sky blue, and that is on new painted units. given a year of weathering it was all over the spectrum. Yellows and reds are even worse, so you really don't need to worry about shades because all shades are different. A color of paint is affected by the air pressure used to spray it, the amount of thinner used to thin it, and even the temperature. I learned that years ago when I was in the auto body business. Some paints were so hard to match (for a single panel) that we had to blend it by painting portions of adjacent panels so the difference was so gradual the eye couldn't pick it up.
I admire anyone in this hobby and I don't care what they do as long as they enjoy it.
Charlie

[Sumpter250]

When I have the modules set up at shows, I try to run locos and rolling stock from my "home road" :o

It's hard for the NIT wits to pick NITs, when they have no idea what is right or wrong. It's also interesting that most of the "nit pickers", don't have any of their work on display !! :o

One of the reasons I like modeling Sci Fi subjects is, most all of the models I build, have no "prototype", Like those in this picture,     they ARE the prototype ! All the "nits" are Alien, and dangerous to Human kind so,...........go ahead pickers, pick those nits !!

[Lester Perry]

Cool alien ships. I do have a question though. Why do they and all others I have seen have wings.There is no air in space so they won't work. Also what do rockets push against? Forgive me for going off topic.

[MountainMan]

We're so far off topic now nobody will notice anyway, Les.

Space ships have wings because the wings come in the fighter plane kits that are the basis for the kit-bashes! Seriously, because Hollywoody doesn't know squat about physics.

What do rockets push against? Third Law of Motion- every action has an equal and opposite reaction. We know this to be true because it applies to everything that happens in space right now.

[ezdays]

We're so far off topic now nobody will notice anyway, Les.

Space ships have wings because the wings come in the fighter plane kits that are the basis for the kit-bashes! Seriously, because Hollywoody doesn't know squat about physics.

What do rockets push against? Third Law of Motion- every action has an equal and opposite reaction. We know this to be true because it applies to everything that happens in space right now.

I wholeheartedly agree with your comment about Hollywood not knowing much about science and other things including criminology, they prove that over and over, but I think that wings in this case do provide a valuable function. Where else would you mount all that gear? Engines, fuel tanks, weapons and most important, landing gears? These things all fit well in this configuration. Remember too, the space shuttles all had wings with landing gears attached so they could glide to a landing here on earth.

And as far as staying on topic.... hey, who's keeping track? It's interesting how a topic can stray and how much you can learn because of it. Some other forums will slap your hand if you stray from a topic, here, we're used to it and are surprised when a thread does stay on topic for very long.

[Sumpter250]

Cool alien ships. I do have a question though. Why do they and all others I have seen have wings.There is no air in space so they won't work. Also what do rockets push against? Forgive me for going off topic.

Why do they and all others I have seen have wings?
The "winglike structures" are pylons to carry the weapons, and "shield" systems,and they are esthetically pleasing to the eye of the beholder, but not exactly "aerodynamic".

What do rockets push against?
In a way, they don't....however, the force of the expulsion of hot gasses is a force that has the equal and opposite force that is exerted on the rocket. The kick of a gun is the equal / opposite force of the explosive moving of the mass of the bullet.
The "alien ships" seen, do not have rockets, they are "inertial drive engines" Their "core mass" is "told" that it is moving in a direction at a speed" (( you see this in a Newton's Cradle, where the "inertia" of the "falling ball" is communicated through the middle three, and the fifth / opposite end ball instantaneously starts moving at the same rate and direction as the falling ball was, at the moment of contact )). Smaller versions of the main drive engines are used for roll pitch and yaw ( directional control ...rudders, tail flaps,and ailerons, are also useless in space )
The idea of "rockets" for space travel ??? Ludicrous !! rockets burn LOTS of fuel......... there are no "gas stations" in space.

[Lester Perry]

Speaking of alien ships. I know what happened to that Malaysian plane that disappeared over Vietnam.

[Brakie]

We're so far off topic now nobody will notice anyway, Les.

Space ships have wings because the wings come in the fighter plane kits that are the basis for the kit-bashes! Seriously, because Hollywoody doesn't know squat about physics.

What do rockets push against? Third Law of Motion- every action has an equal and opposite reaction. We know this to be true because it applies to everything that happens in space right now.

Maybe with our current level of knowledge but,who can say what a advance life form may know about physics ?

If the civilian and Government reports are to be believed these "unknown crafts" are far beyond anything we have.