List of N Plastic Building Kit Manufacturers... Which Ones Are Missing?

[Kisatchie]

I'm amazed by all the replies, and I'm also surprised that there are copper molds being used by Woodland Scenics/Design Preservation.

If I had known better when I first posted, I would have specified plastic like Walthers Cornerstone kits use. I'm leery of resin kits, because I heard they can warp. Just my personal preference.


Hmm... Kiz is just so
ignorant...

[randgust]

Hmmmm.....

These are a couple of the borderline ones.

NuComp - remember the line of mobile homes, modulars,  trailers, trailer park?   I got a couple of them and was very impressed, definite US prototype.   While resin they were very easy to assemble, certainly no harder than injection molded.   Walthers doesn't carry them, they seem to have gone.....somewhere.... N scale supply says they closed up in 2011.  Sigh.  You'll see a collection of these west of Flagstaff on my layout, up on the hillside above the track.

Showcase Miniatures:   They've had a couple small building kits in resin - again, same rules, a base, 4 walls and two roof parts - that are just stellar in detail and are the equal of any injection molded kit I've seen.   I wouldn't eliminate them strictly due to material used.

Edit:  Oh, and for Dee.... the NuComp ones have been stable, the Showcase ones (which were a different resin, very thin, pungent, and brittle) did warp and had to be reinforced.   For such small buildings it wasn't much of a problem, on a bigger one it would have been.   

[Denver Road Doug]

Unless NuComp has multiple lines, the stuff I got from them was not resin. (or maybe I'm confused like the others)

EDIT: Yes I was confused...I was thinking NuLine I guess. (the big warehouse)

Funny, because NuComp was one of the resin kits I was thinking of that was indeed pretty thin walls and good quality.  I just couldn't remember their name...I have a couple of the trailers.

[randgust]

And it's early in the game, but when you're looking for stuff, you don't want to completely eliminate Shapeways.

Small structures and scenery details, based upon the amount of material used, are practical.   The bigger the building and material amount, the price starts to go up geometrically.   I've done ATSF phone booths as a test, some others have done other small standard railroad structures, and some are multiple parts in design so its 'sort of' a kit.      I was extremely pleased with how the phone booths turned out, I'd put them up against any injection-molded or craftsman-style assembly.

For structures, particularly for masonry/wood materials, the whole banding issue on FUD is a lot less painful than trying to do a locomotive shell.

[Big4Man]

If your going FUD, don't forget about that one hit wonder from Mr Bussey! 

Still listed on his website...


http://www.esmc.com/9150/Item9150.html

Dan

[CoalPorter]

I bought my first 3D printed model house from some place on eBay. I wouldn't
really call it plastic. The material is about solid like a baseball and you cant really
do much to it like drill, cut or glue other things onto it.

[peteski]

You keep saying "implying injection-molded polystyrene" but I'm curious why is that implied? (serious question)   I do understand the differences between resin and polystyrene, but when *I* read the subject line, my thought was "not laser-cut wood" And my second thought would exclude cardboard/paper and plaster, but I wouldn't have excluded resin unless it was explicitly stated/clarified in the original post.

IMHO, resin might be subcategorized differently under the larger category plastic, but certainly not a tangent, and certainly not a tangent worth stopping down the thread for.

And, as we are seeing, some folks don't even realize what manufacturers use what materials.   Not all resin kits have Alamo walls.

Where do I begin?  By now Kiz has confirmed that what I was implying was correct: he was looking for injection-molder polystyrene kits.  Also, like Nick and I stated, modelers use the word plastic specifically for polystyrene and then comes everything else: resin, laser-cut, etc.

Generally (as Kiz eluded to) polystyrene kits usually have better fit much and are easier to assemble than resin kits.  That is why I can clearly see them being in a different category than the other "plastic": polystyrene kits.

EDIT: I revisited the initial post and Kiz capitalized the word PLASTIC while also providing a list of companies which make injection-molded polystyrene kits (not resin).  That is why I knew what Kiz was looking for.

[Denver Road Doug]

Where do I begin?  By now Kiz has confirmed that what I was implying was correct: he was looking for injection-molder polystyrene kits.  Also, like Nick and I stated, modelers use the word plastic specifically for polystyrene and then comes everything else: resin, laser-cut, etc.

Generally (as Kiz eluded to) polystyrene kits usually have better fit much and are easier to assemble than resin kits.  That is why I can clearly see them being in a different category than the other "plastic": polystyrene kits.

EDIT: I revisited the initial post and Kiz capitalized the word PLASTIC while also providing a list of companies which make injection-molded polystyrene kits (not resin).  That is why I knew what Kiz was looking for.

Ha, so because he clarified it three pages later that makes your implication legit...GOTCHA.     YOU were so sure of it that you even had to come out and ask the question, after your SECOND attempt at calling out folks for not following your rules about plastic.

His initial list may have been injection molded, yet he was also asking WHAT IS MISSING.    I hardly think...even if you were to infer what you did...that is worth calling everyone out for suggesting other options that are technically correct.   Some of the best stuff on this forum (and others) comes out of spinoffs of a topic....I think the NuComp stuff, for example, clearly meets the spirit if not the letter of the original post.   Again I say....no need to chastise the collective for answering the question outside of YOUR criteria.   

[peteski]

Well Doug, I didn't want to reveal this, but since I was called out - I can read minds and I read Kiz's mind. 
Gimme a break here: I was right all along.   

[Kisatchie]

...but since I was called out - I can read minds and I read Kiz's mind. 

Hmm... wasn't the static
overwhelming...?

[peteski]

Hmm... wasn't the static
overwhelming...?

Yeah, it was quite pronounced. But even with all that noise his desire for a list of plastic kit manufacturers of injection-molded polystyrene kits still came through. 

[Denver Road Doug]

I want it narrowed down to kits that were announced on Tuesdays though.   

[nkalanaga]

Tuesday in your time zone, or Tuesday at the company's headquarters?

[strummer]

Dunno what they are made out of....Depots By Dan?

Mark in Oregon