When you know you've reached your limit with models

[woodenhead]

So yesterday I visited Arcadia in Shaw, been there loads of times and Tim has always managed to wrestle money away from me without much effort.

 

Yesterday was different, I'll admit I was feeling a bit down in the dumps and that might have affected what happened next but it is still a valid question.

 

When you do know you have enough trains and that buying more doesn't give pleasure any longer.

 

I wandered round the store yesterday and I was looking for something that I felt I needed and the best I got to was potentially a maroon Western and maybe a Pannier tank.  Wagons, coaches, diesels, & steam - lots to see and buy and I couldn't get excited or put a finger on something that I felt I needed (not in Maslow physiological needs sense of course).

 

Coming very close to buying the Western was the best it got, I decided that it maybe didn't suit the type of line I am modelling so left (yes left Arcadia) empty handed.

 

In the evening I did log on and make some purchases from Hattons - a pile of Dapol replacement bogies so I can sort out a gauging issue with older Syphons and B sets plus I stumped for a green late logo Grange which leads to another question - if you have a Grange, Manor and a Hall how do you tell your other half they are not all the same locomotive!!

 

So how many RMWebbers have reached that place where they have enough and how did you come to realise that.

[Redford73]

Not quite there but coincidentally was just pondering the reduction in the number of locos (though not rolling stock) that I have purchased over the past few years.

 

I model BR Blue era with some BR Green/Maroon/transition era and have a large fleet of diesels and though tempted to buy new 47s, 25s, 08s etc I have several of each already.  Still going strong on Electrics and DMUs but sort of get your point about not getting the buzz/attraction.

 

Perhaps we've had it good for too long and have bought all the stock we desired.

 

Though I have to say increase in prices has contributed to the reduction in purchases.  In 2007/8 I was more inclined to buy second or third purchases of a Class of loco but with the price hikes just settle with one or two of a Class.

 

Two other thoughts with your post spring to mind - you could be in need of a change of era (or even scale?) or God forbid - you are losing interest in the hobby? (Sorry to raise a taboo subject!).

[PhilH]

I think I've got there with the realisation that I would have to live till I'm 150+ to do justice to all of the projects I have stock for.

 

It's not only model railways either...I have a pile of plastic kits for the dioramas I have in mind, planes to model a bit of Southampton airport in the 50s/60s, 1/35th tanks and figures for wartime dioramas, film cameras to become the next b&w photo king, guitars and amps to become the next rock god, the list goes on.

 

Um...having said that I have a USA tank and Southern gate stock on order for the big roundy roundy in the loft, so maybe not q-u-i-t-e there yet.

 

Heaven help my kids when I carc it....they'll want a few skips! 

 

I don't get bored very often though.

[cromptonnut]

I had a similar visit to Gaugemaster yesterday.  I was bored, the weather was rubbish, and there wasn't really anything specific I wanted.

 

I picked up a few pots of paint and some platform edges for my current N gauge project but there wasn't anything else I felt compelled to buy, and didn't see any point in buying just because it was on the shelf.

 

Really what I need is a random selection of assorted wagons and coaches for the yard on the 'preserved' part of the layout but see no point in paying full price for these items and Gaugemaster don't do second hand I will wait until I next have a chance to visit a model show.

[dhjgreen]

I made the mistake of going to a small show with a brilliant n gauge layout in code 55. That put paid to the stalled feeling!

[HillsideDepot]

It's an interesting thought. I must admit I look at the new product announcements which appear here periodically, and often look through the list of forth-coming "goodies" and think 'nothing for me'. But not in the frustrated way some posters seem to have, more 'what else do I actually want'? Maybe I'm fortunate, but apart from a few WR style suburban DMUs (and they're on the way) I'm pretty much satisfied. More that satisfied in fact, did I ever really think my stock shelves would be graced by RTR Falcon, D95xx, Baby Warship, AC Railbus - but there they are. Even a D600 Warship and an 'as preserved' King George V are showing on the metaphorical arrivals board.

 

Now I know coverage isn't as rosy in some other areas, and I hope other interests come to enjoy the depth of coverage of their region/era/scale that I have, but am I upset that I too go to the shop and come out empty handed? No, not really. In fact the opposite, I have what I need want, no more 'if only I had...' or 'I'd love to build a layout of XXX but there's no rolling stock available'. I remember, as a sixth former a number of us liked the small Scottish terminals and we wondered if we could afford enough Lima 33s, and then be able to make a reasonable attempt at converting them to 26s & 27s to make a layout possible. We've come a long way, haven't we?

But what of the future? What if we can't be tempted to part with our money? The manufacturers need our money! The retailers likewise. Heljan's prototype diesels are an attempt to prise more money out of us, likewise Hornby's industrials - nice as they are - but all are in the ranges because there is a limit to the number of class 47s, 08s or Mk1s (insert models of choice) they can sell us. My recent model railway purchases have been along the lines of several small structure kits, some material sheets, a good number of Oxford Diecast vehicles and perhaps a 'bargain' wagon. No locos, no coaching stock, or even full price wagons. Seems I'm not alone.
 

[cromptonnut]

It's an interesting thought. I must admit I look at the new product announcements which appear here periodically, and often look through the list of forth-coming "goodies" and think 'nothing for me'. But not in the frustrated way some posters seem to have, more 'what else do I actually want'?

 

 

Dace ballast wagons would be nice - any 80s Southern layout desperately needs them.

[woodenhead]

Two other thoughts with your post spring to mind - you could be in need of a change of era (or even scale?) or God forbid - you are losing interest in the hobby? (Sorry to raise a taboo subject!).

 

Not losing interest thank heavens, I like what I have but I am finding it hard to justify more and it's not a price issue when what i was looking at yesterday was under £100.

 

Scale is always one that plays with me but actually if I went up to 4mm then I would have a short end to end and it would have to be one region/time whereas i currently have in development a nice l shaped roundy roundy which will be a country location which keeps the track simple (and I'm still rationalising the plan at the moment).

 

I was going too mad with region/era options so have actually placed myself into two groups GW/SR transition and Wales/Scotland BR blue - I might yet even dump the Scotland option and offload my 26/27s.  So I do have variety, the fiddleyard can hold 14 individual trains of up to 5 coaches and there is a very decent scenic run to it so maybe I have found the right mix and perhaps that is what has finally led me to enough is enough on the trains front unless of course something special comes along that really touches one of the periods I have selected.

 

I would love a 31 but it doesn't fit with the locations I have chosen unless I go South West blue - I can have a 33 or two for central Wales but a 50 would be out of the question.

[woodenhead]

It's an interesting thought. I must admit I look at the new product announcements which appear here periodically, and often look through the list of forth-coming "goodies" and think 'nothing for me'. But not in the frustrated way some posters seem to have, more 'what else do I actually want'? Maybe I'm fortunate, but apart from a few WR style suburban DMUs (and they're on the way) I'm pretty much satisfied. 

 

But what of the future? What if we can't be tempted to part with our money? The manufacturers need our money! The retailers likewise. Heljan's prototype diesels are an attempt to prise more money out of us, likewise Hornby's industrials - nice as they are - but all are in the ranges because there is a limit to the number of class 47s, 08s or Mk1s (insert models of choice) they can sell us. My recent model railway purchases have been along the lines of several small structure kits, some material sheets, a good number of Oxford Diecast vehicles and perhaps a 'bargain' wagon. No locos, no coaching stock, or even full price wagons. Seems I'm not alone.

So I am not alone then, actually I am far from alone my issue perhaps has been I had been indecisive in the past and bought anything - I guess anyone who scratchbuilds doesn't do a random D600 alongside all their pre-grouping LNWR engines and coaches (or maybe they do because they can!!).

[F-UnitMad]

Wow, Reality check hits the Mainstream!!!

 

Despite all the propaganda that is endemic these days (not just in modelling) - happiness & contentment in the hobby is NOT dependant on the constant purchasing of new models!!!

Clue to this revelation is in the word "modelling"; opening RTR boxes has a place, but making stuff for yourself is rather more satisfying.

[cromptonnut]

Clue to this revelation is in the word "modelling"; opening RTR boxes has a place, but making stuff for yourself is rather more satisfying.

 

... or, in my case, "something to RUN the stuff on" (ie pulling my finger out and getting on with layout construction) is what I really need to do.  Can't run the models without the baseboards build and some track laid and wired.

[Nearholmer]

Very true FUMad.

 

I'm deeply in r-t-r-land at the moment, partly because I am very modelling-time-starved, but the thing I hanker after is the time to build things, rather than any particular existing on non-existing r-t-r train in my chosen scale.

 

And, if forced to play a "balloon game" with all the models I've accumulated, last over the side would be a particular scratch-built brake van. It is no great masterpiece, but I put a lot into it, and thoroughly enjoyed doing so.

 

Kevin

[Ravenser]

A short period of unemployment a couple of years ago when I brightly thought that I would now catch up with all the outstanding stuff in the cupboard.

 

Did I heck?

 

The result of a few months vigourous modelling with the spending tap turned nearly off - was that the "outstanding projects" list barely budged. A few modestly priced purchases of kits to "round out" sets and I was back where I started - albeit with rather more serviceable rolling stock.

 

And as the layout has almost all the rolling stock it needs and arguably more stock than it can handle - and as the pile of stock in the study is about at the limit I can accommodate and all the missing or possibly missing items (bar a second Regional 153 and an early W Yorks 144) are sitting unbuilt or un-upgraded in the cupboard, I've effectively stopped buying RTR, or new kits.

 

I'm currently setting out to build a 2 car set out of bits and cheap second-hand items which I could have bought as two Bachmann coaches for nearly £60 from a boxshifter. The whole exercise will work out at around a third of that.

 

It doesn't mean I've stopped buying anything - I need to visit a model shop today for a spraycan of maroon and some coach wheels and possibly one or two other bits.

 

But it's a sobering thought that I could replicate the two car Loco Hauled Substitute set five times just with the bits, kits, and RTR already in stock for intended projects. And double up my entire steam age coach fleet (with a couple of DMUs thrown in) on top of that. I could add an extra 5 Type 2s to the loco fleet (not to mention 2 x 37, and detailing and weathering 3 x Type 5s) - this for a layout that basically runs DMUs and requires only 1 or 2 locos. I could double the number of Modernisation Plan DMUs, and there are 6 second generation units to sort out, only two of which have been started....

 

Never mind all the "first loco kits" and other stuff that doesn't fit the layout.

 

I can't possibly justify adding to the heap.

 

I think there is a real issue that the hobby faces now, which is that we are largely saturated with product - and this stuff just isn't going to go away. It is potentially a huge problem for the RTR manufacturers: if we are all gorged on RTR and rising production costs are meeting price resistance and resulting in dwindling demand , how can they all carry on?

 

This is a very different thing from saying the hobby isn't going to go on. It will, but it may not take the form of buying lots of RTR from shops

 

I've never been a big buyer of RTR - but now I'm basically not buying at all. And several years in , the backlog of projects seems hardly to have reduced....

[jonny777]

I think that I realised I had reached the saturation stage when the D16 and J15 arrived in the shops. I could have bought them, and made up some excuse for both locos arriving in my area on a special, railtour or last minute substitution due to loco failure.

 

However, I thought that over £200 just for a rare appearance that probably would never have happened in the real world was a bit too much.

 

The Heljan O2 really was the last must have for a Lincs/Notts based mostly goods layout.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

I'll return to a theme I have riffed on before: the RTR manufacturers need to be brave and open up new territory. It's blindingly obvious that North of a line drawn Formby-Grimsby there are huge areas with little to no steam era coverage; and it isn't for want of interesting and beautiful subjects. Sadly they didn't get this ball rolling in the 200x boom period, and we now probably have to wait for the next surge of economical manufacturing for an opportunity to get this started.

 

It is possible of course that the contrary opinion which might be summarised as 'nothing more than a 150 or so miles North of London has much chance of RTR commercial success' is true.  The Q6 will go some way to enable Hornby to assess that.

 

Personally, there's a zillion items I'd like to buy RTR, and I'll replace my own hand made fumblings with such items prontissimo, as I have done recently with the Hornby J15 and J50. But then my modelling interest is the most diverse BR operation to be found.

[t-b-g]

This thread clearly shows how varied the hobby is and how different the approaches to it are.

 

The idea of going into a shop and being concerned about not coming away with a RTR loco, or even seeing one that I might be interested in just doesn't come on on my radar.

 

Many years ago, in the 70s, it was a case of saving up pocket money for many months, sometimes a year, to buy a RTR loco. The choice was so limited and we only got a couple of new models released each year, never mind the several every month that we get now.

 

In the last 20 years, there have been a handful of RTR locos that I thought I would like to have and none were seen on the shelves of model shops. I think that there may have been 4 in that period, at least a couple of which were limited editions that were sorted out via the net.

 

Even then, although they were nice models of prototypes that I like, I now find buying an almost perfect RTR loco a rather "empty" experience. The ones I have bought have hardly been out of their boxes. Buying a RTR loco is, to me, nothing like as enjoyable or satisfying as getting stuck in on the workbench and making something.

 

When I do get a bit "stale" as does happen from time to time, I can get my "mojo" back ever so easily by either starting a new kit or scratchbuild, perhaps in a different scale or gauge, or by switching from making a loco to doing a signal or a model building. The tools and techniques are so different it is like having several hobbies.

 

It wouldn't suit everybody but it works for me.

[Poggy1165]

If you 'collect' models, there is literally no upper limit.

 

If you have a model railway, there are only so many items you really need. The smaller the layout, the less you need. I think most of us are guilty of buying stuff we don't really need. I know I am. For example, I am the proud possessor of a Wath 'Daisy'. Of very little use unless one is modelling Wath yard. (As I don't own an indoor football pitch, I'm not.)

 

If I was starting literally from scratch I think I would be much more disciplined. Choose my prototype, work out the models needed, and have everything to a higher standard. But it would require strong self-discipline.

[woodenhead]

This thread clearly shows how varied the hobby is and how different the approaches to it are.

 

The idea of going into a shop and being concerned about not coming away with a RTR loco, or even seeing one that I might be interested in just doesn't come on on my radar.

 

I wouldn't say I am concerned, actually being able to say enough is a positive trait because it appears I have learnt what too much or too many means - heck I am nearly 50 so it's about time.

 

My musing is on how many other people share that trait and how many still feel that compelling need to get that loco (or stock item) now because it won't be there in a couple of months whether it actually fits their 'plan' or not.

 

If I had the confidence to build my stock I would do, i began toying with the idea of 3mm after Warley and still am thinking about it as a side project once I have done the basic scenics on my current layout build.

 

The beauty of this modelling world is that there is a such a wide span of possibilities in achieving your aims but I am placed very much near the RTR plonk end of the spectrum

[APOLLO]

I've been cutting down on buying for a while. My latest purchases were certain items on the like list that became available on various "bargains" lists. Who could refuse a Hornby P2 Master of the Glens complete set for £67 on amazon recently ? - Totally wrong for my layout but what a lovely loco. A Crosti for about £80 around Xmas (Locomotion) and a Bachmann blue 24 for under £70. Bought my me, as Woodenhead suggests, because "they won't be there (or at that price) in a month or two, or perhaps ever again.

 

That, for me, is more or less "it" also on the big spend front.

 

Yes I've walked into the occasional model shop and bought little (rarely nothing). I've also been in some and spent far too much !!!!

 

As F-Unit Mad says, time now to get stuck into more modelling. Lots to do on my layouts, they're never finished.

 

Of course the recent steep price hikes has a bearing on spending for a lot of us.

 

Brit15

[BG John]

I've just deleted everything on my eBay watch list, as I've got plenty of stuff to build or adapt already!

 

Looking at the box of locos and rolling stock for my EM layout, I've realised that there's just about enough in it already to operate the layout, and space for the extra stock I've got planned. So I think I'll be introducing the "9 Litre Rule" for most of my layouts: All the stock I need for this layout will fit in one 9 litre Really Useful Box. If it won't fit, the worst quality/most unsuitable items will be disposed of. The exception will have to be the O gauge layout, and maybe the O-16.5 one, where the box size will have to be increased in proportion to the scale. Of course this will only work with small/micro layouts, but once I've fully implemented it, hopefully the principle of applying limits will work with any bigger layouts I build in the future.

[Argos]

An interesting debate.

 

When I got back into modelling I quickly realised that a mainstream scale would lead to "that's nice I'll have one of those" and probably develop into an unsatisfactory mish-mash.

 

To avoid this I now model in 7mm (Pre-grouping, thankfully, as this avoids the R-T-R that is coming out in that scale now) and 2mm FS (so any N gauge stock has to be converted rather just opening the box).

I actually started in 3mm, but found that was a bit too obscure (although I do still have a couple kits stashed.......).

 

I can say that I get more pleasure from building stock and then running it than I ever would from a simple purchase.

 

It is also noticeable that having unearthed my remaining OO stuff from my youth to pass on to my lad, all the stock that I repainted or built I still had, all the pristine stuff had gone.

I knew every piece, it was "mine".

To be honest, I would probably struggle to remember all the pristine stuff that was passed onto new homes.

 

I appreciate my approach is a bit intransigent, but it works for me!

 

Edit:-

 

I should add there is a trite statement that "happiness is not having everything you want, it's wanting everything you have." 

If you have to invest time building it, it is something you usually want!

[County of Yorkshire]

Since I came back into the hobby around four years ago after some time away, I have been pretty one-track (absolutely no pun intended) minded in my RTR and indeed kit purchases. Essentially, if something wouldn't have realistically been seen on any part of the GWR in the period 1945 - NYE 1947, then it doesn't get bought. Now, whilst the breadth of my purchases has been modest, the depth has occasionally proven to be fathoms deep! For example, Hornby's Castle class is so exquisite, that I currently have five of the things, with my excuse being that the GWR had 141 of them at midnight on 31/12/1947, and all have been renamed and numbered. My 'depth' purchasing also extends to the Stars (3 with 1 on order),the 28/38xx's (4) and the 42/5/72xx family (4). My logic has been for some time however, that prices have, are, and will continue to rise exponentially for the foreseeable - even good second hand gear is doing so - and therefore I buy to suit what I feel my needs will be in the future. And yet, my purchasing over the last 12-18 months has been limited to the fantastic new Collett coaches, half a dozen Bachmann wagons, and at most 3 locos, all from the bargain bin. 

 

I'm now at the point where there are very few gaps to fill in my collection - I have 'enough' of all the currently available classes of loco, and enough kits and coach sides to last me for years to come. I definitely do think that we are approaching a saturation point for certain sectors of the market - for example, most current modellers of the BR steam era will probably have enough MK1's for their current and indeed future needs, and so-to with a lot of loco classes such as Black 5's, A4's, A3's, Schools, King Arthurs, Castles, Panniers, Halls and the majority of the BR Standards. I think the uplift in RTR purchasing over the last 15 years or so was mainly built on the back of the post-2000 standards of all new RTR items, which saw many modellers replacing pre-2000 models with the new equivalents, and this is something that I feel is now levelling-off.

 

Which sectors of the market will continue to do well? Well, well thought-through commissions are and will get my money, and as will retools of decrepit older items such as the Manor, V2, Lord Nelson and Princess Coronation to name just 4. Of course the perennials such as track, scenic items and buildings will always sell for as long as the hobby as a whole continues to exist.

 

In sum, yes, I am now limiting my purchasing to things I can justify and don't already have. The odd impulse purchase might get through if it is too much of a bargain to miss, but for now I am content with my stock. All that being said, better get on with building my layout!

 

Cheers,

 

CoY 

[Kris]

I don't know about reaching a limit for models in general, but I did reach the limit for magpie modelling a few years back. I looked through the ever expanding collection of stock, I just could not work out why I wanted such a mixed bag. I then set about moving on* all the models that did not fit with my chosen location and time frame. Hasn't stopped me buying the odd random modelled now and again, but this is now done with a focus - To sell on and fund the items I really want.

 

*with the exception of a few models with sentimental value. 

[Martino]

It is indeed an interesting topic. Having moved ten years ago from 00 to 16mm/ft NG in the garden I now have a railway that only requires a small amount of locos and stock. A small NG railway can only accommodate the stock it NEEDS - I tell myself.

 

If I move back to indoors and 4mm/ft I feel the dam will burst again!

 

Here in the US I see many modellers who just collect every loco of 'their' road. Each to his own, but I don't really understand it.

[mikes rail]

Interesting topic, I do find that I used to see new releases and it was a case of must have but the last few locos I have purchased once out of the box and placed on layout became A case of just another loco, shunted it around a bit and lost interest. From having a list in mind of oncoming purchases I now have stopped buying rtr be it new or second hand. Looking at the boxes of stock built up over the years I will never use it all and thining out would be a good idea. Decided to have a change and go for narrow gauge in 16.5 with the view to build as much of the stock freelance as I can. I am finding it more interesting doing so jus need the time to get on with things now!