As we are located in the UK and most of our customers are based overseas, we do not provide a telephone number. However, if you’d like to speak via phone, please send us a message via the email below. Include your phone number, location and message and we’ll call you!
Contact Craig here: rr@keepitrusty.com
Ordering
To order a kit from us, simply navigate to the “HO Scale Kits” button in the menu above. From there you will find a growing list of kits either currently in production or sold out. Clicking each kit photo will take you to its page and if it’s still available you will find a buy now button.
We accept all major credit and debit cards and also PayPal. If you have any difficulties whatsoever, please email me via the address above and I can call you so we can take the payment over the phone. Easy peasy!
Shipping
Most importantly, we ship all over the world!
For the UK, we charge a flat £8.00 fee for next day shipping with DPD.
For the USA, we charge a flat $25.00 fee and you will incur ZERO fees for customs, taxes and duties. The same goes for Australia, but shipping charges will vary. Shipping time to the USA is, on average, one week.
For the EU (and Worldwide), customs fees and duties are liable, but not always charged. It’s quite simply a roll of the dice whether or not you get charged. Please understand this is out of my control.
FAQ
“Are all your kits limited?”
For now, yes they are. The reason for that is producing kits isn’t my day job. As a result, my time is limited and, in order to actually produce kits at all, I have to make them limited runs.
“Do you sell your 3D printed parts separately?
Unfortunately I don’t. That’s entirely for the same reason as stated above. That said, I never say never so be sure and subscribe below because I ever do, you’ll be the first to know about it!
“If I have a question or issue about a kit, can I get help?”
Absolutely! I want your kit and build to be just as rewarding as the finished piece. If you are having any difficulties, just email me. Anytime. Same goes if you have a piece missing in the kit (although very rare).
“Do you take commissions?”
Yes, I do. That said I have to be responsible with my time, and in line with everything stated above, I only take one or, at most, two commissions in a year.
My commissions work like this: first we discuss any ideas (and kits). Then you purchase said kit and ship it to me. I then charge an hourly rate to bring it all to life (an estimate build time is always given up front). My hourly rate covers everything (including materials) but never shipping costs.
Who or what is “Keep It Rusty“?
My name is Craig. That’s the who part Okay, maybe a little more than that…
For many years I just painted miniatures. It was the only part of the hobby I was interested in. To this day I still paint miniatures (it exercises a different part of my hobby brain), but now I enjoy making railroad dioramas that little bit more. Who doesn’t love telling a good story? And that’s what a good diorama does!
I started out just like almost everyone else; making scale models in the basement. I concentrated my efforts on wargaming models or 1:35 scale models — the detail at this scale was where I wanted to be. This scale offered a lot of kit-bashing and scratch-building opportunities, and that’s what I love most. Pure creativity. However, everything changed during a trip to my local hobby store. In the hunt for more detail parts for kit-bashing, I decided to wonder down the model railroading aisles and it’s here I discovered the world of craftsman kits.
The boxes promised so much and I stuffed a small one into my basket — a Bar Mills kit (Sweaty Betty’s Diner). I went home and immediately constructed it. A kit from wood and cardstock was unlike anything I had made before, but I loved the realistic finish. After that, I went a deep dive and quickly discovered my good friends Jason Jensen and Doug Foscale and, of course, the legend George Sellios. And it was his Fine Scale Miniatures line that really got me hooked.
Only trouble is, this was all in 2018 and he retired from kit production in 2016 — just my luck I arrive too late for the Sellios’ train! Nevertheless, I spent two years collecting his entire back catalog of kits, along with many other brands, too. I had been bitten by the “kit bug” and wanted to make more and more railroading dioramas as a result. I made enough to attract the attention of a Taiwanese startup who offered to trade one of my dioramas for one of their laser cutters — providing I made it using the laser, of course. I jumped at the opportunity. And once I had that tool, I then got a 3D printer. And once I had that tool… I decided to get into making my own kits.
The realisation of two important points made it a viable opportunity:
1) I could combine my love for detail found in 1/35 with a scale as small as HO – and not compromise. Meaning I could now produce larger scenes, like an entire mill — rather than just a street.
2) The technology allows us to produce highly detailed parts at small scales, inexpensively and at home.
Under the Keep It Rusty name, I am committed to bringing the same level of quality to the kits you can buy here, as I bring to my own dioramas. That means I may be slower to produce kits, but I promise it’ll always be worth the wait.
My kits will always feature the highest quality components, exhaustive (but not exhausting) instruction manuals and new techniques that will all result in a diorama you’ll be very proud of.
The brand is all about the mantra, “keep it quality, keep it fun and keep it rusty!”
