Dave comments have brought up a couple of thoughts that might be worth
passing around. Every S kit manufacturer, no matter what he makes, is
running a very marginal business. Several of the folks (BTS & Banta)
make them available in different scales so the design time is divided
between the scales--smart move!
The problem we have now is that some of these kits are in the $400
range. Your stupid (in today's world) if your going to tie up that kind
of money to stash under the layout without a real intention of actually
using it. It's not like the old Leigh Valley branch line station at $15
where everybody bought one. Face it an expensive structure kit is what
some brass is selling for on e-bay! Therefore if your going to make
those kinds of kits your going to have to market them like Dan & Jim
do. Sell a bunch up front (maybe with a discount) and gradually sell
the rest as time goes on. Nobody wants a lot of unsold inventory but
eventually it will sell, as people build their layouts. Also if the
grocery store has a bunch of extra goodies, do what BTS & Pine Canyon do
and market them as separate items at a fair price.
When it comes to scratch building, I don't do a ton of it but one Sunday
afternoon I was laying out a little town on the layout. I had room for
a medium sized building (not unlike the grocery store). I didn't have
any kits or finished building to put in place. I pulled out my drawer
stashed full of Evergreen siding sheets and Grandt Line stuff. I was
after a wooden store with a residence on the second floor. I sat down
with my Xacto knife, ruler, square and within three hours built up a
fine little building. The next night I designed some decorate trim and
an outside stairway. Third night and three colors of paint gave me a
finished model. Cost ---maybe $20! plus the building is unique.
Now I wouldn't want to try that technique with David's nice boxcars or
Jim Kings cars but sometimes scratch building is exactly the right fit.
Bob Werre
BobWphoto.com
David Clubine wrote:
> ctxmf74 wrote:
> >I actually want to scratch build as little as possible so I welcome
> >all products, especially ready to run scale modern freight cars and
> >locos .....
>
> That just proves that it is different strokes for different folks. I
> wouldn't mind if
> I ever saw another ready to run S Scale freight or passenger car ever.
> Kits are great.
> Smoky Mountain's freight cars have been excellent, and although they
> don't fit my local, readily,
> I will have some just for the fun of building them.
>
> Having seen the Grand River warehouse through its stages of
> develpment, I can tell you that it will be
> missed be many people if it goes away. There are items that have been
> included in the kit that aren't
> readily available at this time, and can be used all over the layout,
> not just with the warehouse.
>
> Thanks to Grand River Models for another quality building to join the
> likes of Banta, BTS and Ragg's to Riches.
>
> David Clubine
> --
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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