Kalmbach Publishing How to Kitbash Stuctures

Price: $21.99
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Learning to kitbash commercial structures is an essential skill for modelers. This title covers basic techniques for working with kits, how to use kits in unexpected ways, and step-by-step projects that will help enthusiasts take their layouts to new levels. Structures covered include railroad buildings, lineside industries, coal tipples, storefronts, and more.

About the Author:
Tony Koester has written eight books focusing on his lifelong hobby of model railroading. He is currently working on a multi-deck HO layout that depicts the Nickel Plate Road's St. Louis Division in 1954. Tony is a contributing editor to Model Railroader magazine, writing feature articles and the popular Trains of Thought column. He also edits Model Railroad Planning, a special annual issue of Model Railroader.

Table of Contents: (See Manuals for a PDF Sample of this publication)

Introduction: To kitbash or not to kitbash?

Chapter 1: Do not read the label on the box!
There may be a soybean plant hiding in a cement plant box

Chapter 2: Depots in disguise
House kits can often be modified into depots

Chapter 3: Towers and freight houses
A new roof and other minor alterations may do the trick

Chapter 4: Coal country structures
Kitbashing truck dumps, tipples, company stores and houses, even a church

Chapter 5: Lineside industries
Ideas for grain elevators, factories, paper mills, and "flats"

Chapter 6: Residential and retail
Disguising a kit's heritage may be as simple as applying a coat of white paint

Chapter 7: Bridges and trestles
Tips on modeling steel viaducts, through-truss bridges, and timber trestles

Chapter 8: Combination tower and depot
A Santa Fe prototype provided the inspiration for an easy kitbashing project

Chapter 9: From cement to soybean plant
A cement plant provided most of the components for a different industry

Chapter 10: Kitbashing cornucopia
Examples of structures from several of the hobby's leading practitioners

Key Features:

  • Helpful for beginner and intermediate modelers
  • Features a tutorial on making photo backdrops
  • Includes an inspirational gallery of kitbashed structures

This product was added to our catalog on February 20, 2014