When it comes to detail parts, often we find ourselves sourcing the same buildings, fences, or houses. If you’re not confident in your model building skills developing a unique scene without premade structures can be a challenge. Recently, Mr. Muffin’s Trains (Atlanta, Ind.) has started selling Schomberg Scale Structure kits, formerly sold under the Schomberg Scale Models name. There are three available or for preorder, Locomotive Tender Tank ($30), Six Small Sheds Kit ($140), and Garden Hill Tank and Office ($75).
Mr. Muffin’s website says that this kit has been updated since its original release some 20 years ago. The stone piers have been replaced with weathered wood piles with rough cross members and supports. The spout is also a newer version.
I got my hands on the Locomotive Tender Tank kit and decided to try building it. I haven’t built the other kits, but my experience may be general enough to apply to those items, too. These kits are small and offer an introductory skill level skill. The parts are precast and require painting and weathering to your liking. Directions and reference pictures are included.
Materials needed to finish this kit include a hobby knife, hand drill and bits, 250-grit sandpaper, cyanoacrylate adhesive (CA), and paint.
Inside the box you’ll find the tender tank, log supports, two ladders, and a bag with the spout, spout support frame, a small chain, a thread, counterweights, and eye bolts. After you inspect the parts, you’ll need to cut away excess flashing from the molding process. I used a hobby knife to carefully cut this away and then used sandpaper to smooth the sides of the tank. Be careful not to damage the edge of the tank.
The log supports are already detailed and just need to be painted. I used a brown camouflage spray paint I had on hand. You could drybrush the supports to really make the details pop. I plan to use this tank on an upper level on a dead track, so guests won’t be within eight feet of it; I therefore opted to skip the drybrushing.
I sprayed the tender with an aluminum Testors spray paint and added layers of flat black, browns, and green to simulate age, oxidation, moss, and grime. I added rust in various spots with a sponge. Lastly, I painted the spout aluminum and the ladder and spout support black.
The structure assembly is done with CA. The most difficult part of the assembly is hand drilling the holes in the counterweights for the small eye bolts. Stringing the thread through the “pulleys” on the spout support is a bit tedious; however, I found that adding a bit of CA to the end of the thread and hitting it with some CA Zap helped provide some stiffness to maneuver the thread as needed.
With assembly complete, weathering can be done to finalize the look you’re looking for. This kit also comes with two unpainted oak barrels that can be placed alongside the tank on your layout (or used elsewhere). Adding some static grass around the structure will provide a nice overgrown looking scene.
I’d say this is a simple enough kit for beginners to try. Without considering the time it takes for paint to dry, this kit took me about 30-45 minutes to assemble. This unique kit offers a new way to tell the story of your railroad and at a $30 price tag, it’s a win in my book.
Schomberg Scale Structure Locomotive Tender Tank kit (SSS-LTT)
Features: Updated spout; resin castings; cable and chain supplied
Scale: O
Price: $30
Website: mrmuffinstrains.com
Get more O gauge action on the Chris’s Trains & Things channel on YouTube.
The Tender Locomotive tank looks wonderful, but please forgive me from being so naive. What scale is the kit, in your article? Please let me know. Thanks from Ray Smith
The label on the box says it’s O. And it’s shown assembled next to a 3 rail, O gauge track.
Raymond, I apologize for this error. I’ve added the scale at the end of the review. And thanks to Mr. Saunders for responding first!