I've just decided to have a go at modelling again for the first time since I was a kid in 1995... looked for a few simple kits to get me going, and the Kestrel range is literally identical to when I last looked at it in a paper catalogue 25 years ago!!! Like... how long has it been the same for?  I feel like I've walked into a timewarp and am about to pick up a newspaper and read about John Major's thoughts on something, or Blur vs. Oasis.    I can't work out whether this is kind of cool or a bit of a shame - the world has changed a lot in a quarter of a century, as has my life between the ages of 10 and 35... and those little plastic houses are exactly the same.  I've got to know... were they the same for 25 years before that too?

I've noticed one thing that has changed - price of Graham Farish anything!  Pretty sure that's outstripped inflation!  Might have to see what my massive stacks of wagons are worth on eBay, and have a clearout to fund the first layout since channel 5 was launched...

G'day from Australia, Ginger, and welcome to the NGF!

What a cool first post!

Yep, Kestrel kits are exactly as they were then! But the price is right and they can be kitbashed into all sorts of stuff.

Let's know of your plans. 

Yep, cheap and cheerful, like old Airfix models. The more work you put in, the more fun and satisfaction you get out. As you've spotted, you could buy a ready made/painted/detailed equivalent these days, but you'll need deeper pockets!

Mike

Metcalfe card buildings are the "new kids on the block". They have a large range, are easy to put together and are largely ok but you have to colour in the corners and weather them a bit to make them look right. I used a combination of Metcalfe, Kestrel, Farish ready made and scratchbuilt all on the same small layout. Some folk will not mix card buildings with plastic on the same layout but I think they look ok together.

I find Kestrel kits provide useful bits for my scratchbuilds.

Dunno how long Kestrel have been going, but someone mentioned, a few days ago, a manufacturer that I was using some 40-45 years ago when I was uninitiated to N-gauge and was working in Orribly Overscale - Superquick.
I googled them to find that they not only are still going but that their range seems to be much as I recalled - at least, they still do the same buildings that I made as a kid. Can't remember what I was paying for them but the prices don't seem too bad even now.

Hello and welcome to the Forum.

Kestrel kits might have been going for a good while (not a bad thing in my view) but they are cheap and can be made up into nice little models.  The range is probably a bit bigger than 25 years ago.  And there is still a paper catalogue - well a leaflet showing the range of kits.

Here's 'The Crown', built from a Kestrel kit:





I fully accept that the Brian Cooke-inspired colour scheme might not be to everyone's taste.  Incidentally, Kestrel thinks that this kit is for a farmhouse!

With best wishes.

John

Hi Ginger and welcome to the forum. I agree with what Chris says about 'Metcalfe' kits. Plenty to choose from, relatively easy to put together and they can be 'bashed' to make something a bit different. These two pictures show the 'Manor House Farm' kit where I joined the two dwellings together and added a bit of printed card to extend the size a bit.

Many thanks everyone... have posted my intended layout plan here:

https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=48352.0

hope the link works...

Have you visited the Kingsway Models website? They produce a number of building kits in card and I have used them to imitate some 'Regency' style buildings on my layout (work in progress).