Back in 1974 my reentry into scale model railroad was initiated when I paid a visit to A&M Hobby Shop on the South side of Chicago to have a vintage 1950 era Lionel engine repaired. While there I spent some time looking at the various kits in the store while experiencing a not so fresh cup of free coffee and a somewhat stale donut all supplied by the shop. (This was late at night and both the coffee and donut had been fresh earlier in the day.) When I returned some weeks later to pick up the reworked Lionel engine I passed on the refreshments but bought a Campbell kit entitled the Sheriff’s Office. With store proprietor Tony Langhart and his staff providing me with advice in selecting paint and glue and a few nights working over a poorly illuminated kitchen table I successfully completed this first kit. That began an obsession with these and other craftsman kits that has lasted through many twists and turns in my personal life and brings me to the present.
Last week I was in a local hobby shop and prompted by my discovery of a single Campbell kit being sold on consignment I initiated a discussion with the store owner about Campbell kits. I lamented on times when stores had a complete selection of these kits on the shelves. The owner smiled and said that nobody builds those anymore. A customer who had been handling and judging by the look of appeasement on his face, apparently admiring, a ready built structure in a brightly colored windowed box chimed in with comments about the wood quality control issues, he had “heard” about, that were germane to all Campbell kits. This from someone considering buying a plastic pre built model from China.
Over the years I have heard the remarks from experienced/advanced model builders about the quality of the wood used in the Campbell kits or the slightly oversize windows. However, when pressed for disclosure, each of these modelers have sheepishly confessed that they had built at least one or more Campbell kits usually in their earlier years in the hobby.
While there are no statistics I am aware of to substantiate my feelings, I believe there are more BUILT Campbell structures on model railroads than any other wood craftsman kit and part of the reason is the instructions and isometric drawings done by Sherry Collins which are included in every kit. (I really wish I had met that lady before she passed.) If you follow the excellent instructions that accompany the kits you will end up with a built model. How appealing that model is depends on your attention to detail, the finishes you select and neatness in applying glue etc. I will guarantee you will get more personal satisfaction out of that build than any RTR item you have on your railroad.
On the way home I reflected on my personal experience with Leo Campbell’s contributions to the hobby. In the late 1970’s I was a member of a model railroad club in Chicago. We needed some structures for a project we were doing and we had little money. I sent letters to about 18 of the major manufactures soliciting donations. To the best of my knowledge, Leo Campbell was the only one who responded by sending us five of his kits. Yes 5! And they were not the less desirable kits. Several, like the Quick’s Coal were substantial kits. I never forgot that generosity!
Recently I was doing a bit of organization in the “black hole”. This had already netted one project described in my blog “Timing is Everything”. This time it turned up a two structure Campbell kit #366 with one structure missing and the other unbuilt and still in the box. This partial kit was not on my extensive inventory list but according to the price tag on the box apparently I gave $8 for it at a swap meet some time back. I pulled it out of its hiding place and got much the same feeling as when I had opened that very first Campbell kit back in 1974. Based on the original store price on this kit of $14.50 I believe it was probably first sold in the early to mid 1970’s. Currently, the suggest retail for this double structure kit is $67.24.
While I have numerous remotoring and regearing projects in the shops and am awaiting parts for some of them, I decided that building this kit would be the focus of my attention for the next few days.
I decided that for the most part I would build this kit in much the same manner as I had built the first kit. No major sanding of components as most first time builders do not do that. There would be no nail holes, no broken boards no distressing of wood or other techniques I have learned since that first build in 1974. Except for painting I would do a “vintage” build. Besides, recent conversations on some of the structure related hobby boards suggest that the whole nail hole distressed board thing has been overdone.
(Click on any image for a larger view)
Last week I was in a local hobby shop and prompted by my discovery of a single Campbell kit being sold on consignment I initiated a discussion with the store owner about Campbell kits. I lamented on times when stores had a complete selection of these kits on the shelves. The owner smiled and said that nobody builds those anymore. A customer who had been handling and judging by the look of appeasement on his face, apparently admiring, a ready built structure in a brightly colored windowed box chimed in with comments about the wood quality control issues, he had “heard” about, that were germane to all Campbell kits. This from someone considering buying a plastic pre built model from China.
Over the years I have heard the remarks from experienced/advanced model builders about the quality of the wood used in the Campbell kits or the slightly oversize windows. However, when pressed for disclosure, each of these modelers have sheepishly confessed that they had built at least one or more Campbell kits usually in their earlier years in the hobby.
While there are no statistics I am aware of to substantiate my feelings, I believe there are more BUILT Campbell structures on model railroads than any other wood craftsman kit and part of the reason is the instructions and isometric drawings done by Sherry Collins which are included in every kit. (I really wish I had met that lady before she passed.) If you follow the excellent instructions that accompany the kits you will end up with a built model. How appealing that model is depends on your attention to detail, the finishes you select and neatness in applying glue etc. I will guarantee you will get more personal satisfaction out of that build than any RTR item you have on your railroad.
On the way home I reflected on my personal experience with Leo Campbell’s contributions to the hobby. In the late 1970’s I was a member of a model railroad club in Chicago. We needed some structures for a project we were doing and we had little money. I sent letters to about 18 of the major manufactures soliciting donations. To the best of my knowledge, Leo Campbell was the only one who responded by sending us five of his kits. Yes 5! And they were not the less desirable kits. Several, like the Quick’s Coal were substantial kits. I never forgot that generosity!
Recently I was doing a bit of organization in the “black hole”. This had already netted one project described in my blog “Timing is Everything”. This time it turned up a two structure Campbell kit #366 with one structure missing and the other unbuilt and still in the box. This partial kit was not on my extensive inventory list but according to the price tag on the box apparently I gave $8 for it at a swap meet some time back. I pulled it out of its hiding place and got much the same feeling as when I had opened that very first Campbell kit back in 1974. Based on the original store price on this kit of $14.50 I believe it was probably first sold in the early to mid 1970’s. Currently, the suggest retail for this double structure kit is $67.24.
While I have numerous remotoring and regearing projects in the shops and am awaiting parts for some of them, I decided that building this kit would be the focus of my attention for the next few days.
I decided that for the most part I would build this kit in much the same manner as I had built the first kit. No major sanding of components as most first time builders do not do that. There would be no nail holes, no broken boards no distressing of wood or other techniques I have learned since that first build in 1974. Except for painting I would do a “vintage” build. Besides, recent conversations on some of the structure related hobby boards suggest that the whole nail hole distressed board thing has been overdone.
(Click on any image for a larger view)
Opening the still sealed parts package labeled “B” provided me with the unmistakable smell of wood used in the Campbell kits. Yes, I did inhale. I had planned on using Weather It to stain all the wood as I had done on the original model but the two bottles I have are old and older.
The oldest of the two bottles is quite possibly from the late 1970’s, and neither seemed to have much impact on the wood so I resorted to using my Alcohol and India Ink solution which I described in my pages on Building Hotel Hiser, to weather all the wood components. I then stained the front and one side wall that would be visible in the town with a wash of Floquil Pullman Green heavily diluted with solvent. Painting only the visible walls and expensive window and doors and wood trim components of early structures was quite common as paint was expensive and was applied sparingly. This left the unpainted parts of the structure to weather as nature saw fit. The trim sections were painted with a water based craft paint. In the future I would use another Floquil solvent based paint for the trim as the craft paint was way too thick and hid some details. I used Ambroid glue to build my first Campbell kit and still use it to this day.
Over the years through experience with warping I have learned about bracing wood structures and applied what I have learned to this build. I also narrowed the flooring base that the structure sits on. I have seen a few Western style buildings and have never seen one where the flooring extends on the sides beyond the exterior walls of the structure. The trimmed portion of flooring was not wasted as it was laminated to the back of the front facade to imply board sheathing between the upright corner pieces.
I created the sign from some strip wood and a couple of decals I had laying around. Prior to installing the trim around the sign I lightly brushed some rough sand paper over it to give it a somewhat weathered appearance. (OK so I did not know that trick when I built my first model.)
Some window glazing, a few window shades and a bit of chalk weathering and the structure is pretty much done. In the future once the final location of this structure is decided, I will add details around the building as suits my needs and maybe a figure or two.
Some window glazing, a few window shades and a bit of chalk weathering and the structure is pretty much done. In the future once the final location of this structure is decided, I will add details around the building as suits my needs and maybe a figure or two.
So in summation, this was a fun build because unlike my scratchbuilt projects I could put the brain in neutral and rely on the well thought out Sherry Collins instructions and isometric drawings to lead me from start to finish. I even cranked up the sound of my shop music system a bit because it would not interfere with my thought processes. Total time for this build was about 12 hours not counting the time idly spent mentally reliving the past.
Yes, the wood components in the kit were not up to today’s standards for wood craftsman kits and if this was to be a foreground model I would have replaced some of these components with higher quality materials or I could have done a bit of sanding on the boards between the battens which would have removed some of the grain and that would improve the looks a bit. But for the most part it turned out to be a good model that with some detailing will be a nice addition to a future project I have in mind. It has character and textures not present in most of the plastic ready built models I have seen. This build was a nostalgic trip for me stirring up memories of building that first kit on the kitchen table and revisiting that feeling of accomplishment I got when it was completed. I recall that even before I completed that first kit I immediately wanted to build another and another and started paying weekly visits to the hobby shop until I became a regular. This feeling of accomplishment is a sensation that guy will not get if he purchased that ready built structure he was admiring at the hobbyshop. I guess I should feel some degree of sympathy for him but nada, zip, zero!
I'll look forward to your comments.
One down, about eight hundred more kits to go. Now lets see, what’s next and, what was I originally looking for??
CWRailman
I'll look forward to your comments.
One down, about eight hundred more kits to go. Now lets see, what’s next and, what was I originally looking for??
CWRailman
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