# Modeling on a shoestring budget



## lears2005 (Feb 26, 2010)

Hey guys just wanted to see what your ideas are for modeling on what I call a shoestring budget.


----------



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Forget the champagne taste. Be practical. Read Shay's blog. He is tight on money and space. Everyone pinches a penny you just need a list and try to avoid impulsive buys.


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Build your details from bits of plastic and old sprue, along with whatever you can find in a junk box...let your imagination run wild.


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

T-Man said:


> Forget the champagne taste. Be practical. Read Shay's blog. He is tight on money and space. Everyone pinches a penny you just need a list and try to avoid impulsive buys.


Thanks, T. That's basically it...I long ago refused to buy the latest and greatest and instead adopted from the modeling of yesteryear, when you used what was available, not what was sold as there simply wasn't that much around at the time. It's completely changed the hobby for me with no regrets.

This picture cost me $12--the price of the loco. It had a couple of bent rods o one side, that's why it couldn't run at the time. A little TLC and it was doing laps in no time. Everything else in the picture is junk box freebies, including the ground foam...eve the bridge abutments are scraps of wood I had around the shop at the time, painted tan and weathered with chalks...


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Look for common household objects that you would normally consider garbage.

Wire ties, toothpicks, used chop sticks, ( I always get us 4 chopstick sets when ordering Chinese food, free wood beams for the RR ) bottle caps, vacuum packed blister packs, ( they have an assortment of shapes to make vents and other stuff), Packing foam for making rocks on your mountain, cardboard tubes for making tanks, the list is endless if you use your imagination.
Look what one member did with the old Christmas tree, he made a forest.And ground up what ever it was to make "weeds".:thumbsup:

As you go around look at garbage you see laying around and think, How can I use this on the RR. I have a box of stuff I find, seals, wire, odd shaped pieces of plastic, pieces of metal (good for the scrap yard) etc.

I am saving the pop up timers from our chickens we cook.
I don't know what they will make though.:laugh:

All it takes is an empty box to save them in. 

Think....garbage.


----------



## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

big ed said:


> As you go around look at garbage you see laying around and think, How can I use this on the RR. I have a box of stuff I find, seals, wire, odd shaped pieces of plastic, pieces of metal (good for the scrap yard) etc.
> 
> I am saving the pop up timers from our chickens we cook.
> I don't know what they will make though.:laugh:
> ...


I have a part-time job at a retailer (I call it beer money) I only work ~8 hours/week, but I unpack lots of incoming boxes. I collect lots of weird packing materials that the Chinese use, all kinds of plastic thingies and such and put them in a shoebox.

Also Hobby Lobby, especially around Xmas time. Seems like that time of year is good for cheap trees there.



> Think....garbage.


Are you referring to my posts again?


----------



## pookybear (Feb 3, 2011)

Well the advice of use what can is great. I never throw away anything 
before I look at it hard and think what can I use this for now. Strip all the
useful bits off and then toss the real junk. In time you end up with a few
boxes of great odds and ends.

Also look for box lots on Ebay. It is all fine trying to find that one engine
or car you want really bad. But with box lots you get all kinds of interesting
things thrown in with deal for usually at or for only a little more than the
price of a single item.

Pookybear


----------



## brylerjunction (Aug 8, 2011)

all great ideas!! And lears that picture looks great!!


----------



## lears2005 (Feb 26, 2010)

I have been on this buget for few moths now. I decided that paying 100.00 or more for locomotives and 30.00 each for rolling stock was just crazy. If I can not model something with 30.00 a month buget then I dont need it.


----------



## pookybear (Feb 3, 2011)

Understand the super tight budget. Been a hard year. n.n'

Anyways here is one of the photographs here on the website. 










Notice the trolley car on top of the viaduct. That is part of do not throw
anything away mentality. The body of the trolley came in an Ebay box lot.
It was just jammed onto and old car frame. I removed from the frame. I 
then noticed that an Ives motor would almost fit into the body. I have 
plenty of these motors so I modified one sightly to fit. The brass journal 
boxes came from a broken diecast frame I had boxed up in the junk pile.
And the brass steps where left over from another buy where I need two 
steps to complete a car, and then had two left over so I used them here.
All in all I got a sweet little trolley just by combining stuff that was junk.

Pookybear


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

DUDE!!!! ...those big honkin' wheels on that trolley are just too cool....:thumbsup:


----------



## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

with me I am always looking for ways to save a penny here and there, even if i had lots of $$$ laying around I still would as the money needs to be invested in the bank  anyways I usually will look at lots and find more for less, and I will literally take the cost of the lot(s) then divide by how many items there are in the one lot and that way I can see the cost per item in that lot then I will surf the web and figure out what the market values are of each item individually then add them together to see how much im saving


----------



## pookybear (Feb 3, 2011)

shay,

I have only seen one early type of trolley with small wheels, and Ives
item from 1910. Lets just say the price weeds out the men from the boys.
The rest from the pre 1930s all tend to have that size wheel on them.

And so you know, it can break the sound barrier with those big wheels
as well. 

Pookybear


----------



## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

I second (or third) on the box lots. I'd have to say that more than 75% of my stuff has come from others' throw aways. Usually after one or two items, but I'll buy the whole lot for pennies on the dollar. I cannabilize anything to get stuff back on the tracks. Even buildings. Yard sales are a great place to find scenery items. My wife found these little wooden houses, I think a dozen or so for $1. A bit small for HO sclae, but we put them up on the hillside to add "depth" to the scene. She also found a few bolts of fabric for a couple dollars that we used to skirt the train tables. The colors dont match, but who cares? It was cheap and the fabric was new.


----------

