Brooklin Models as scenery

Welcome to the Forum, and thank you for the information! It will be good to have another source of "street scenery", and if it is done as well as the vehicles, it should be a hit. There are a number of Brooklin enthusiasts on the Forum.

Welcome to the forum and thank you for the info.

That is very interesting information, thanks for sharing it with us.  Welcome to the forum.

 

Art

I am a huge Brooklin Model Fan. Speaking of 50's Buicks, here is mine. I agree, they make wonderful model railroad scenes.

 

 

Very pleased to know my post was of interest. Anyone wishing to see examples of the new street furniture can find it by going to Brooklin Models website and clicking on the diary which is updated every week.

Best to all, John

Thank you for the information BRK, and a warm welcome to the forum!  Stick around for the laughs and info.

Good information that's much appreciated. Thanks much.

 

Jim McC

Thank you for the information.  I will look forward to the street furniture - much needed.

 

The quality of Brooklin cars has varied over the many years with some of the early ones (all?) being rather poorly detailed and not to prototypical.  I got rid of a '49 Buick because it annoyed me so much.  

 

Recent ones are quite good, however.  Even these, though, benefit from slight work to improve the details.  For example my favorite right now is the Pontiac station wagon in the top photo below.  It came with a garish orange-red interior casting.  I took the model apart and painted the interior to match photos of the car I found on the internet, in colors and patterns I thought this station wagon would have had.  It is a wonderful model.  You can see the '54 Buick in the background.  The Plymouth having its tire changed is a really good model whose simplicity (little chrome painted, etc.) matches well the base-model businessman's coupe I wanted there, so it works well.  The Desoto I converted to 'Streets.  It's very heavy so its runs very smoothly.

 

And the final car? Well, where else but Brooklin would you find a Stout Scarab?   I have five Brooklin models now as shown above, six if you could on taken apart of a project (that may be stillborn).  I will be getting some more, I think.  Neice models.  

 

Greetings Lee,
Very nice pictures and valued thoughts. I act as Research Consultant for Brooklin and have been involved on a voluntary basis with BRK for many years. I was interested to see your DeSoto and you mentions converted to streets - does this mean you've motorised it to run as a slot car? Very clever...I never thought of that!
As I mentioned in my posting the profit margin on Brooklins is tiny. White metal costs tripled last year alone and it's getting very difficult to keep the costs down whilst at the same time upping the level of detail. The Chinese-made models have cheaper materials and labour. I'm sure you find this with the railroad side of things too.
Best regards
John Roberts

I have 8 Brooklins, but most of them have been detailed with window and other trim. I especially like my 4 station wagons ('54 Chevy and Plymouth, '55 Chrysler, and '48 Buick). I paid a $80. premium to get a '53 Kaiser that had been repainted and detailed, including a "padded" roof.

 

First, how did you do the window and trim detailing.  I have used two methods.  

1) I use a find blade (X-acto #11 tip) and scrape the paint off the chrome trim, exposing shiny metal underneath.  I did this on the '49 Buick I ultimately three out because it was so non-prototypically shaped.  It worked well but its tedious and of course if you make one mistake . . . plus over time the shiny metal dulls although it stilll looks okay

2) Paint - the Desoto I posted has been painted.

 

Also, note that some of the tires deflate over time.  Not the '54 Buick I posted earlier, rear tire is flat.

A "pro" who does this for some Brooklins sold by Dominion Models, did mine. I think his name is John White, but I'm not sure. It appears he uses the scraping method. He also re-paints some of them.

The tires get flat spots, especially on "hand-builts", because they are so heavy. Many collectors display them resting on something, like a domino, to avoid this. A big selling point for "hand-builts" is that the weigh a lot more than diecast. To me, it's a negative.

Brooklin models aren't that special to me.  I like the Brooklin concept, but not at the price you have to pya except in extraordinary circumstances,  and not if I can get a "better" (more realistic looking) model in resin or diecast.  Heavy isn't that special to me.  To me, the only reason to pay Brooklin prices, over say American Excellence, etc., is if you really want that model (e.g., a Stout Scarab or a '36 Pontiac).  

I have several Brooklins that have special meaning to me. I bought them while living in Germany at a store that sells nothing but model cars near Covent Gardens in London. Every time we found ourselves back in London we headed over there and I bought another car. I also have one car made by Conquest. Very expensive, very detailed and very delicate. I'm looking for a model of a 1959 Oldsmobile 98 convertible (my first car bought when I was at Michigan State for $850.00). About 6 years ago one was available from American Models, but I didn't spring for it and the opportunity was lost. Of all my train stuff, my wife likes the little cars the best... go figure.

I can appreciate the cost element and also the fact that this is primarily a railroad format rather than a model car one. As for being heavy, Brooklins are because of the material - it's not deliberate! Most model cars are made in China as we are all aware - American Excellence, NEO, Minichamps, etc, etc. There are only a handful of artisan makers here in Britain, namely Brooklin, Minimarque, Kenna and Crossway. All use white metal in their construction and none are inexpensive due to the cost of materials and the specialist labour although nobody is getting rich in the model car business. I guess this is true of any model making concern, road, track, sea or air. Unfortunately it seems that model transport of all kinds is increasingly the preserve of the older generation. Swapmeets over here are full of old grey haired men...like me!

John