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
What is “Eco-Pack?”
This is for international customers who want to buy more than one of the same kit but save on shipping. How?
We pack up to TWO OF THE SAME KIT into ONE BOX, sharing ONE SET of instructions (templates excluded).
By choosing the “Eco-Pack” option you need to add at least 2 of the same kit to your cart in order to checkout.
Eco-Pack also works in multiples of 2 — want 4 of the same kit? No problem, we pack them in two boxes and you only pay for shipping 2 kits!
We ship all over the world! If, when checking out, you get an “Unavailable” error for shipping, just email us above. We’ll get you sorted out.
We’ve done our absolute best (and continue to) to secure the best possible prices to ship our kits around the world. As it stands, our larger kits cost $26.00 from us to Mainland USA.
For our smaller Keep It Simple kits, here is a table of costs to the Mainland USA:
| Amount of kits | Shipping cost |
| 1 | $17.50 |
| 2 | $25.50 |
| 3 | $30.00 |
| 4 | $33.00 |
| 5 | $35.50 |
| 6 | $36.50 |
For more than 6 kits per order, please contact us via the email above.
Two important notes:
1. Certain countries levy import duties. Buyer are responsible for these charges, as with any purchase from any international retailer. This is out of our control and we are not liable for these incurred costs. Please check with your local delivery office for more information.
2. We ship once a week. Every Friday, to be exact. This is because we use a specialist courier and rely on pickups. This is a byproduct of securing the best possible shipping prices.
TAX
Quite simply, there is none! We are currently not required to be VAT registered here in the UK, so we do not charge tax on our kits.
FAQ
“Are all your kits limited?”
They were! But not anymore. For us, we want to produce the best — and producing the best means a lot of time and effort. We don’t want to wave goodbye to all that after just a few sales!
“Do you sell your 3D printed parts separately?
Unfortunately, right now, no we don’t. There’s a few reasons for this, but mainly it’s because this is a very time-consuming business in itself and we want to be producing kits at the end of the day. That said, never say never, so be sure and subscribe below because if we 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! We want your kit and build to be just as rewarding as the finished piece. If you are having any difficulties, just email us. Anytime. Same goes if you have a piece missing in the kit (although very rare).
“Do you take commissions?”
Yes. That said we have to be responsible with our time, and in line with everything stated above, we only take one or, at most, two commissions in a year.
Our commissions work like this: first we discuss any ideas (and kits). Then you purchase said kit and ship it to us. We then charge an hourly rate to bring it all to life (an estimated build time is always given up front). An hourly rate covers everything (including materials) but not the final 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!”
