Combining Less Expensive Kits Into a Scene

[geoawelch]

I've built probably a dozen "super kits" over the years (FSM, FOS, South River, etc). Following the usually great directions resulted in a finished product to be proud of.

As I get back into the hobby after an extended absence due to recurring health issues, I see the many fine smaller kits, especially from Doug at FOS and some other vendors. In fact the recent kitbash by Jason Jensen of three KC Woodshop kits really lit the spark to return.

I would like to know what tips you guys might have for believably assimilating these smaller kits into a believable scene. If you have examples to show, that is even better.

Thanks for your thoughts,

George
Loudon, NH

[Amagic41]

George
  glad to hear Jasons kit bash of 3 of KC's Workshops smaller less expensive kits help kick start your modeling bug ! Here is an example of 3 shelf orphans I had laying around these were 2 things that never made it to a kit (yet)  and one Marty's (in the middle ) that had been retired (Jason used this one in his kitbash) just to give you an idea


Kenny
KC's Workshop

[Amagic41]

Here is another with 3 current ones


And also Welcome !!

[GPdemayo]

Welcome to the forum George. 

[bparrish]

George...


Welcome aboard

see ya
Bob

[geoawelch]

Thanks Kenny, Greg and Bob.

Kenny, I appreciate the examples - for whatever reason, I missed out on the "imagination" gene!!

Regards,

George

[tom.boyd.125]

George,
Welcome to the Forum...
Tommy

[geoawelch]

Thanks so much Tommy

[vinceg]

I've built probably a dozen "super kits" over the years (FSM, FOS, South River, etc). Following the usually great directions resulted in a finished product to be proud of.

As I get back into the hobby after an extended absence due to recurring health issues, I see the many fine smaller kits, especially from Doug at FOS and some other vendors. In fact the recent kitbash by Jason Jensen of three KC Woodshop kits really lit the spark to return.

I would like to know what tips you guys might have for believably assimilating these smaller kits into a believable scene. If you have examples to show, that is even better.

Thanks for your thoughts,

George
Loudon, NH

Hi George - let me add my welcome as well.

I like this topic and think this is a great idea. For a long time now I have been wondering about how to best utilize commercial kits to populate my railroad. The super kits frequently guide you down the path of building a beautiful diorama. Great to look at but perhaps a bit difficult to integrate into the layout. I can't imagine how I could realistically install 40 or 50 pre-built scenes, each on its own plywood or foam base that's a square foot or two or three. It's even more difficult when some of them are designed to be multi-level to increase interest.

My conclusion is that a useful thing to do (for me, at east) is to effectively build your own super kits out of smaller buildings (Bar Mills, FOS, others as you have mentioned). In fact, it seems like these kit providers are frequently taking that strategy themselves - offering super kits that comprise a few small buildings that can be built individually but offered in a context with some pictures that suggest a larger, completed scene.

Although I still have many FSM, SRMW, and other kits to be built, my plan is to try to build them without the base where possible so that the buildings can be sited more flexibly. Of course, for some kits like the SRMW Rugg Manufacturing kit (I have a build thread in process on that one), this isn't possible or even desirable. But for others I think it will work out.

I didn't answer your question, of course -- I have nothing to show, yet. But I am in the process of trying to create a completed scene for my first town: Monee, Illinois. The plan is to use smaller kits and un-diorama'ed super kits to do that. Will probably take a year, I suspect.

I am also interested in seeing the responses to your post.

[restocarp]

Welcome aboard, George.

On way to help with visualizing a kitbash or scene with multiple buildings is with the use of mockups. For my rowhouse build (http://modelersforum.com/kit-building/walthers-row-house-kitbash-build-challenge-2016/), in which I supplemented kit parts with scratchbuilt parts, I photocopied the model's parts and glued them to cardstock. This allowed me the ability to slice and dice without ruining the kit walls.





On my current modular layout build (http://modelersforum.com/layout-tours/woodberry-fcsme-module-construction-thread/), I fabricated mockups of the structures from foam core. Again, this allows me to see the scene in 3d and manipulate it however I want without large expense.





Hope this helps,
Matt

[geoawelch]

Vince,

Thanks for your thoughtful response. Looks like we're on the same page, modeling-wise

Will watch with interest as your town evolves

Have lurked on the thread for Rugg. That and Martin Machine are my favorite of Bob's kits that I've actually built, both now quite a few years ago when they first came out. You're doing a fabulous job.

George

[geoawelch]

Hi Matt,

The use of mock-ups is a great idea. I have some old cardstock that would fit the bill I think

Thanks also for the kind welcome

George

[postalkarl]

Hey Matt:

I will also be watching.

Karl

[vinceg]

Vince,

Thanks for your thoughtful response. Looks like we're on the same page, modeling-wise

Will watch with interest as your town evolves

Have lurked on the thread for Rugg. That and Martin Machine are my favorite of Bob's kits that I've actually built, both now quite a few years ago when they first came out. You're doing a fabulous job.

George

Thanks for the kind words, George. I also have Martin Machine (in fact, there are only a couple of Bob's kits that I don't have). That's definitely an example of a kit that doesn't lend itself well to being flattened out. There will be a special peninsula on my layout with some "unintuitive" Illinois topography (hence the "protolancing" comment in my signature.

How about posting some pics of your previous builds? We all love pics.

[GPdemayo]

To your original question, I think the only thoughts I can come up with is to think of how things are done in the 1:1 world.


Find a large kit you really like, then look for others that will make sense residing in the same location. A residential neighborhood will generally only have homes, but in an urban environment, there may be some multi-family or some small retail businesses. It all depends on the location you are modeling.


As long as your backstory is logical to you, that's all that counts.