Do you add details parts to your trains?

[bc6]

Ive thought about adding the detail parts to my trains & wanted to know if anyone else does.

[domino]

I do not, i think the train offen has enough details so i just leave them in the box,and they also are very small for me to really appreciate the extra work that takes to add them to my trains 

 

Brian

domino

[NGT6 1315]

I usually do add these parts, though they are very fiddly to fit in N scale! Some fine tweezers and a good hobby knife or indeed a scalpel are a must, in my experience.

 

However, I recently spent at least thirty minutes to fit a pair of add-on parts (windshield wipers, to be exact) to a H0 scale model, which almost drove me mad - the message of which is that large scale does not necessarily equal easier fitting of parts. Of course, it also depends on how intelligently the add-on parts themselves have been designed - the sand boxes on ACME's Bombardier TRAXX engines being other prime examples of how not to do it.

[Martijn Meerts]

I will be adding all the details once I get settled after moving next month. I'm also planning on weathering pretty much everything.

[Nozomi]

for the following reasons I never add these parts:

-I'm too stupid, I will almost certainly break the cars

-Should I want to sell the sets, the sets look more 'new' with parts still in their original plastic

 

the same is true for those rub-on stickers. I'm so afraid of ruining my sets that I never apply the stickers. this is one of the reasons why I prefer kato shinkansen sets over the tomix sets. applying ultra small rub-on stickers of car numbers to a 16-car shinkansen set frightens me. even worse: all instructions are in japanese....

[Bernard]

for the following reasons I never add these parts:

-I'm too stupid, I will almost certainly break the cars

-Should I want to sell the sets, the sets look more 'new' with parts still in their original plastic

 

the same is true for those rub-on stickers. I'm so afraid of ruining my sets that I never apply the stickers. this is one of the reasons why I prefer kato shinkansen sets over the tomix sets. applying ultra small rub-on stickers of car numbers to a 16-car shinkansen set frightens me. even worse: all instructions are in japanese....

 

 

That is always in the back of my mind, if I do something to the train will it effect it's resale value, even though I know I'm never going to sell them. And when do I ask this question most often, when I convert a train from DC to DCC.

[bc6]

I will be adding all the details once I get settled after moving next month. I'm also planning on weathering pretty much everything.

 

Thats one word I never thought I hear from a Japanse railroad modeler (weathering), I used to do a lot of that on my American rolling stock. Compaered to American railroads Japanese rolling stock is so clean you can eat off it.

[Martijn Meerts]

I will be adding all the details once I get settled after moving next month. I'm also planning on weathering pretty much everything.

 

Thats one word I never thought I hear from a Japanse railroad modeler (weathering), I used to do a lot of that on my American rolling stock. Compaered to American railroads Japanese rolling stock is so clean you can eat off it.

 

That's why I'm weathering them, not much to mess up there, since most trains are incredibly clean =)

[CaptOblivious]

I always apply the "fiddly bits" as I call them. Tweezers and a little white glue (to hold, but allows removal non-destructively) help a lot. The fiddly bits on the Tomix HOKI800 are the worst: some of the holes were too small and had to be drilled out!

 

My Yumekukan set didn't even have holes for the details parts in the first place, and that was a little nerve wracking, drilling them out myself with nothing but my wits and a small diagram to guide placement. But I did it.

 

Rub-on transfers are easy to do, and easy to line up: Tomix provides horizontal lines to help you keep them straight and aligned properly. I much prefer them to Kato's thick plastic decals you have to cut out yourself.

[ChrisWV10]

Fiddly bits is right. I can barely make out what they are let alone fit them so I don't bother. Whilst I appreciate that they can improve a model looking at it close up, I don't notice them whizzing past, in fact even the trains are a bit blurry!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

...The fiddly bits on the Tomix HOKI800 are the worst: some of the holes were too small and had to be drilled out!

 

 

 

That's going to be interesting, I've got 10 of the blighters... There are a ot of bits, so I'll have to collect all my sanity before embarking on fitting them.

 

I also need to have more discipline with adding bit to all my other stock, especially my locomotives - none of which have had their numbers etc fitted (well the Kato and Tomix examples at least). I now have about 15 of these to sort out!

[Bernard]

Interesting topic....what would be great is for the members who do add more details to their trains show photos of the "before and after" results (You should know by now I'm always asking for photos)

[disturbman]

I do add the parts and some of the transfers (car numbers...) but I don't add destination signs since I can't read and understand them. I don't want to got mixed up.

 

Some parts really are tricky to get right. My EF63 was a nightmare and I need to glue things down once in a while. The handrails don't want to fit at all in their holes. They prefer to stick to my finger or the bow instead. The horn too was hard to sttle in his own space, I didn't have the right tool. Anyway, I find the trains better after adding the parts but I would prefer if the really tiny bits were allready put by skillfull fingers other than mine.

[CaptOblivious]

...The fiddly bits on the Tomix HOKI800 are the worst: some of the holes were too small and had to be drilled out!

 

 

 

That's going to be interesting, I've got 10 of the blighters... There are a ot of bits, so I'll have to collect all my sanity before embarking on fitting them.

 

I also need to have more discipline with adding bit to all my other stock, especially my locomotives - none of which have had their numbers etc fitted (well the Kato and Tomix examples at least). I now have about 15 of these to sort out!

 

Some white glue (PVA glue), a couple of toothpicks, and a pin vise with an assortment of tiny drills will help. The number boards go on easy, as do the little cylinder thingies. Put those cylinders on first, BTW, with a little white glue. It's the handbrake levers that need some help from the drill. Don't put them in backwards! But do put them on last. Use the drill to make the holes a tiny smidgeon bigger, and the toothpicks to press them in. Dab a little white glue on the nubs first.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

...The fiddly bits on the Tomix HOKI800 are the worst: some of the holes were too small and had to be drilled out!

 

 

 

That's going to be interesting, I've got 10 of the blighters... There are a lot of bits, so I'll have to collect all my sanity before embarking on fitting them.

 

I also need to have more discipline with adding bit to all my other stock, especially my locomotives - none of which have had their numbers etc fitted (well the Kato and Tomix examples at least). I now have about 15 of these to sort out!

 

Some white glue (PVA glue), a couple of toothpicks, and a pin vise with an assortment of tiny drills will help. The number boards go on easy, as do the little cylinder thingies. Put those cylinders on first, BTW, with a little white glue. It's the handbrake levers that need some help from the drill. Don't put them in backwards! But do put them on last. Use the drill to make the holes a tiny smidgeon bigger, and the toothpicks to press them in. Dab a little white glue on the nubs first.

 

Thanks, I'll bear this in mind when I embark sorting mine out...

[David]

I get around to it eventually, but I usually get too much glue on at least one of those fiddly little bits, resulting in a shiny smudge on the model near the joint.

[CaptOblivious]

I get around to it eventually, but I usually get too much glue on at least one of those fiddly little bits, resulting in a shiny smudge on the model near the joint.

 

Another reason to use white glue: You can just rub off any excess (with a toothpick) without leaving a mark or smudge.