2020 Challenge Carolina Craftsman Kit #CCK1359 - AD Low & Company

Started by GPdemayo, January 26, 2020, 12:50:06 PM

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GPdemayo

Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

jerryrbeach


Greg,



Looks good, I vote "yes" on the trim.  Like you, I sometimes question the improved realism of the structure versus the time involved to add "missing" trim, rafter tails, etc.  IMO, the extra time and effort is worthwhile on what I term "signature structures", while buildings that are further from the viewer and/or "filler structures" are not worth the extra enhancements.  I justify this because I am a layout modeler, not a contest modeler.  Not sure why you need to know this, but sometimes it is nice to know other modelers have similar thoughts.


FWIW, I often omit kit components that seem to serve no purpose.  I recently completed Bar Mills Staton Marine and eliminated the dormer because it looked improbable to me. 
Jerry

engine909

Jerry, Everyone likes a little trim. Often the more the better. Nice work as always.
ed

GPdemayo

Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

GPdemayo

You're spot on about some kit designs Jerry. The other thing that is a problem , with some kit makers, is that they don't think much about the dimensions of the kits they put out.

For example, I have seen some a building that scales a bit less than 6' wide, are 2 stories without an outside staircase and wonder how the little people would get from one floor to the other. The staircase will take up at least 3'-4" of the width and leave little room to get around, let alone place any furniture or equipment on the first floor.

Thanks for the comments.  :)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

ReadingBob

Quote from: GPdemayo on March 08, 2020, 10:24:00 AMFor example, I have seen some a building that scales a bit less than 6' wide, are 2 stories without an outside staircase and wonder how the little people would get from one floor to the other. The staircase will take up at least 3'-4" of the width and leave little room to get around, let alone place any furniture or equipment on the first floor.

Well, there is the concept of selective compression.  If all the kits were made to the exact dimensions of the prototype we wouldn't be able to fit nearly as many structures on a layout.  Kind of like we don't actually model the entire main line so we'll have miles upon miles of track between our towns and cities.  We have to sacrifice a little bit here and there and let our mind/imagination fill in the blanks.   ;)
Bob Butts
robertbutts1@att.net

There's a fine line between Hobby and Mental Illness.

deemery

Often 'selective compression' is in the eye of the beholder.  Many SMRW kits look too compressed to me, particularly when I've seen them on layouts.  Some FSM kits look "funny" when I try to reason about how the structure would actually work.  One example was FSM 155, the long coaling dock.  This had both the main docks and then a bucket winch that was also for 'fueling locos.'  Turns out the original design was for ore loading.  When I built that kit, I re-purposed the bucket winch for sanding locos. 

When I start on my urban scene, I'll probably compress the depth of buildings, but try to preserve a reasonable width/street view. 

dave
Modeling the Northeast in the 1890s - because the little voices told me to

GPdemayo

Hi Bob.....you're right about the compression, but you have to use a little judgement and common sense when it'd done.

From the kits I've seen over the years, FOS seems to come to mind as one that abuses it more frequently than others and to a greater extent. Don't ask me which kits, I don't remeber, but some of the smaller kits and some of the commercial buildings I've seen, just don't look like they have the space to do what the sign on the building says they are doing.

An example of what you are talking about in my world is Union Station in St. Louis. I always loved going thru there on my way to visit relatives and get to Columbia for university. When I got back in the hobby, for the third time, I thought it would be fun to make it a focal point for the layout and got a set of plans from Washington University archives.

When I got it digitize into our CAD program and scaled down to HO scale, it turns out that I would need a 14'x22' space just for the station tracks up to where it connects to the mainline. Not to mention the over 140 switches and crossovers.  On to Plan B..... ::)

Thanks for looking in.  :)


Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

PRR Modeler

I think most of what it boils down to is what looks acceptable to the modelers eye.
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

GPdemayo

Quote from: PRR Modeler on March 09, 2020, 09:15:12 AM
I think most of what it boils down to is what looks acceptable to the modelers eye.


Exactly.....
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

GPdemayo

Quote from: deemery on March 08, 2020, 12:17:18 PM
Often 'selective compression' is in the eye of the beholder.  Many SMRW kits look too compressed to me, particularly when I've seen them on layouts.  Some FSM kits look "funny" when I try to reason about how the structure would actually work.  One example was FSM 155, the long coaling dock.  This had both the main docks and then a bucket winch that was also for 'fueling locos.'  Turns out the original design was for ore loading.  When I built that kit, I re-purposed the bucket winch for sanding locos. 

When I start on my urban scene, I'll probably compress the depth of buildings, but try to preserve a reasonable width/street view. 

dave


Spot on Dave.....I agree that we have to compress some building to fit in our very limited little worlds, but sometimes it has been done to such an extent that the structure look "off". I would expect that this process is a very tricky part of the kit manufacturer's business.
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

ACL1504

"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson

Tom Langford
telsr1@aol.com

GPdemayo

Quote from: ACL1504 on March 10, 2020, 10:45:17 AM
Greg,

Okay, back to your build. 8)


Tom  ;D


Hey Tom.....I'll probably have something later in the week.....
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

ACL1504

Greg,

You are still way ahead of me. I'm waiting on more Tichy windows for the second floor portion.

Hopefully I'll have an update on my build then as well.

Tom ;D
"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson

Tom Langford
telsr1@aol.com

postalkarl

Hey Greg :

it's coming along very nicely. Keep the pics flowing.

Karl

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