Where is the best place to buy all your scenery needs, buildings, foam shaping tools, etc.
Hi Iceman,
I’m not going to give you a single source for this as I think you can shop around and get good deals from different places.
Buildings:
I use the Walthers book to help me hone in on structures that look like they will meet my needs. I think it is a good idea to have a plan for what types of buildings and industries as it is easy to get stuff that wont fit the layout. My recent preference has been towards more challenging wood kits from makers like www.JLinnovative.com and www.laserkit.com Once I know what I want and what the retail price is, I will watch e-bay for bargains, look at trains shows and the local hobby shop. It is even worth doing a web search for the specific part. I can tell you that most of the best deals have come from e-bay by being patient and waiting for the right kit to show up. The Walthers catalog is a good reference to see what is available, so I would start here.
Other Scenic Materials:
I really like the Supertrees from Scenic Express and also the other products in their line. www.scenicexpress.com also the products of www.woodlandscenics.com are very good. I tend to get these from my local hobby shop, because I like to see the colors in person.
Foam:
Most of my Blue foam board was free. A local siding conractor was more than happy to let me have off cuts from the job site. I got more than I needed for most of my scenery needs. I did need a complete 4x8 sheet from Home Depot.
I hope this helps
If you have a decent size hobby shop near your home, it will carry all of the itmes you need. If you do not have a hobby store nearby, or it does not carry items like Woodland Scenics, then you can order directly from them via catalog, or online.
woodland scenics is good stuff but if you order directly from them, the price is higher than just purchasing it from a LHS (don’t ask me why it just is)…I belive Hobby Lobby carries a lot of woodland scenic stuff and that is where i get it from…buildings? I get from the walthers catalog…try to get on their mailing list and they will send you a flyer in the mail about every other month that usually has these kind of things on sale which you can mail order…i also get stuff from www.internettrains.com and www.discounttrains.com…if you get MRR magazine, a company called “Trainworld” which advertises in MRR has good prices also…Chuck
Standard Hobby Supply , com You find them in model railroader
You can down load their cat on the net.
MIke
thanks all for your time and info