I Love Old Craftsman Building Kits

I do, too, and l have built (kitbashed) that kit.  I, too, am always looking for unusual kits, especially with a western or mining flavor, but not restricted to that. The old magazines have had tiny ads of elusive kits. HO is a much more fertile field that gives up kits you can double in size in a scratch build.

Colorado, I am building three western type mines on my new layout. They are hard to find. Don

Okay so I've gone to the other end of the spectrum.

Go to CleverModels.com.  They produce a line of building kits that you print out on index card. Still not sure how that's going to work out.  Soon to find out.

Lou N

 What I know about scratchbuilding came from building Gloor Craft kits early on in the hobby. I was a complete novice to this. I would search them out at train shows. There was cutting, fitting, and bracing involved. They gave you everything to complete the kit with lengthy instructions. After a few of these. I found myself buying clapboard sheets and Grandt Line windows and plenty of strip wood for bracing and rolling a few of my own. I felt confident I could build specific structures for a given space.

I have built a few of these plus the coal tower. I have an ice platform on my layout. Suncoast can be a challenge but the end product is always beautiful.

These photos show the Gloor coal tower that I assembled for my 12-by-8 layout more than fifteen years ago. It was the first craftsman kit that I had ever built. I wish that I could find another one.

MELGAR

Totally agree.  I love building the older O scale Gloor Craft Craftsman kits.  Nothing else like it.  Very rewarding experiences.  Especially when you go beyond the kit and detail it with extras.