To model, or to collect?

[HantuBlauLOL]

Modeller: A person who makes model trains looks like its real life counterpart, usually he also build a realistic diorama/layout.

 

Collector: A person who collect model trains. Usually he treats his models like a baby, and keeping its always clean and shiny like new.

 

Which category you belongs to?

 

I'm a modeller, just because i love running realistic trains more than keeping trains inside a glass wardrobe.

Edited April 24, 2015 by HantuBlauLOL

[katoftw]

Aren't all modelers also collectors?  But collectors aren't necessarily modelers.

[linkey]

I am a majority a modeller than a collector, even though I do have a lot of rollingstock, but need to have that rollingstock to create the diorama display/layout right.

[ToniBabelony]

Both. I collect and model. I also model to collect. XD

[NuclearErick]

right now i'm a collector but i keep in the original boxes

[mrp]

Ha ha.  I planned to be a modeller, but only seem to have time to be a collector.  It’s so much easier to just hit the “Add to Cart” button that to actually build anything.  Must resist…

 

[JGSDF]

Time out for my little layout, now i am a collector,

JGSDF ( Meickel )

[HantuBlauLOL]

A modeller sure can be a collector too. but what I asked is his tendency whether towards modelling or collecting.

Edited April 24, 2015 by HantuBlauLOL

[JR 500系]

Is this a trick question?  :icon_scratch:

 

I strive to be a modeller, but ended up as a collector.

 

Then from a collector I start to model to become a modeller...

 

It's kinda hard to decide which is which. But I think I tend to be a collector more, since I suck at modelling.... I just cant get the details correct, and I love to see the trains run in my liking, like running an E5 next to the 500 series ~  :)

[railsquid]

I love to see the trains run in my liking, like running an E5 next to the 500 series ~  :)

 

And what, pray, is wrong with doing that? Last time I checked, there is no Model Railway Police who will batter down your door to check you are only running stock which is/was realistic. (If there were such an agency, I'd probably be looking at multiple life sentences in solitary...)

 

For the record, any model trains I have are intended to run on my layout, which still isn't very much but I sure as hell am not buying the things to sit in a display case or in their boxes. Though the more expensive/delicate stock I have no intention of modifying other than maybe attaching the supplied parts.

 

I do have a slight "faible" for collecting older N gauge models, as long as they're cheap. I don't expect them to look realistic, just intrigued by evolution of standards over the years.

[katoftw]

And what, pray, is wrong with doing that? Last time I checked, there is no Model Railway Police who will batter down your door to check you are only running stock which is/was realistic. (If there were such an agency, I'd probably be looking at multiple life sentences in solitary...)

They are watching you.

[enodenlover]

My modeling is limited to temporary kitchen table layouts but I still consider myself more of a modeler than a collector.

[kvp]

For most people there is no border between the two. A strict collector is someone who never runs the trains, while a strict modeller is someone who never buys an off the shelf train. I think most people are between these two extremes and can be considered both.

[serotta1972]

I bought a fancy self healing cutting mat and then the other night I added the detail parts on a couple of my locomotives and I was feeling like a modeler or at least a Level 1 modeler.  I admit I only added the snap or press fit detail parts and have not added on the parts that may require glue.  I will tackle applying transfers next and this should get me to Level 2.  This aspect of the hobby is so much more gratifying but clicking that add button is so much easier and it's instant gratification.  

[HantuBlauLOL]

They are watching you.

Rivet counters lol. I don't really care about running a wrong train on a wrong time and place.

 

 

 

This is a hobby anyway, don't get it too serious or you'll get bored very soon.

[railsquid]

I think the rivet counters are secretly afraid other people are enjoying themselves more than they are ;)

[cteno4]

The one who has counted the most rivets when they dies wins...

[brill27mcb]

The one who has counted the most rivets when they dies wins...

 

I thought it was he with the most toys wins...

... hmmm, to model, or to collect?

 

Rich K.

[cteno4]

It is, my best friend in grad school got me the most toys tee shirt in grad school (does she know me or what!) and it must be right, she won a Nobel prize.

 

Jeff

Edited April 30, 2015 by cteno4

[spacecadet]

Think I'm more of a collector to be honest, though I like to think of myself as a modeler. I run my trains sometimes but I get bored watching them running around and around. Ashamed to admit that more often I just look at them in their cases, take them out and hold them, turn them around and look at them some more. It's dumb, because I didn't make these models, they were stamped out of a mold. There's no real craftsmanship to appreciate.

 

But I always appreciate miniaturization - it's amazing how much detail they can manage on tiny trains these days - and I also appreciate the original trains the models are modeled on, which they remind me of whenever I look at them. I don't think I'd be into this hobby if I hadn't ridden most of the trains I own; it's that personal connection and the feeling I get remembering riding these trains that draws me to the hobby in the first place.

 

I don't know what that makes me, really.

[velotrain]

_{Need you ask ?}

 

 

[marknewton]

I don't know what that makes me, really.

I think it makes you someone who enjoys his trains and the hobby without worrying too much about what others may think. That's a good way to be, I reckon. :)

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

I think the rivet counters are secretly afraid other people are enjoying themselves more than they are ;)

Couldn't agree more!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

I'm a bit of both. I like to build kits, or kitbash, even scratch build if needs be. But I'm more than happy to buy ready-to-run models and run them. The one thing I don't do is keep the boxes or packaging for the R-T-R models. I haven't got the room to store them or the inclination.

 

In my younger days I was a bit of a rivet counter, but I'm over that now! :)

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[kvp]

 

The one thing I don't do is keep the boxes or packaging for the R-T-R models. I haven't got the room to store them or the inclination.

Unless you repackage them in better boxes, then it's a great way to instantly lower their value and loose any guides and spare parts not installed. If they are not kept in a dust free closed shelf or other display case, then they will get dusty too. It's also pretty hard to move them around to shows and meetings unpackaged without getting them crushed during transport. Trying to identify a piece of dinged old boxless rolling stock by looking for info on the internet is a good pasttime too.