I have two questions on fitting buildings to go along backdrops.
I have a fairly large structure (“Bonana Brewing”, I think it’s a Walthers structure) that I picked up at a train show; it is already built. The question is, is there a way I can alter this structure (cutting and undoing the glued joints) without trashing the thing? I basically want to cut the main part of the structure in half as so that it will go along my backdrop. I thought about doing the cutting with my Dremel tool, but that could get hairy. What about getting the glued joints apart? Any suggestions will be helpful.
I see in pictures of layouts, these tall background structures along backdrops. Anything I’ve seen commercially doesn’t seem to be more than about 40 scale feet (that’s about 51/2 inches in HO). I need taller background buildings than that; up to 100 scale feet, maybe more. I am open to scratchbuilding and kitbashing as well on this.
Cutting the structure will not be all that easy. If I were to attempt it, I would probably try to use a hobby razor saw. The cut edges may not be very pretty, but they could be hidden by modelled vines growing up the side of the building or downspouts.
As for tall buildings, there are a couple of modular systems that you can use to create your own design. DPM has a system as well as Walthers. Here are some flats that I made from the DPM system.
You could try de-welding the joints by applying a liquid plastic cement to the joints and pulling them apart when they get soft. Another option would be to try a razor saw, or if you have access to one, a power band saw.
I used DPM moduals to make the large building along the wall here:
Tom - There are several options when it comes to disecting already built structures. But first of all, strongly reinforce ALL the joints of the section(s) you intend to use as is. This reduces the possibility of the building coming appart during cutting. If you can disengage the roof, it is for the best. If not, reinforce its attachment to the walls. The cleanest approach I’ve found to sharply slicing large wall segments is to slide one side wall of the model over a strongly anchored and cantilevered 2x4 and, using a metal rule or guide, carefully cut the wall with a hobby saw. Another approach is, again using a steel guide plus a sharp utility knife and using multiple strokes, cut cleanly completely through the wall. However, this tends to take longer than doing the job with a new hobby saw. In my experience, Dremels, used free-hand, often tend to do a rather poor, somewhat irregular, job of such work.
As to tall buildings, these are most often created by modelers through the “stacking” of kit walls. DPM’s hotel is a fine first attempt example as it is fairly wide to begin with and each story is about the same as the next. Cutting off the ground floor of one kit, the roof cornice of another, then stacking the two large wall sections, produces an instant 7-story building. The walls from most any large industrial stucture kit will work the same way. There are also the large “City Scene” urban structures that were once offered by Bachmann and which turn up from time to time on eBay.
As a typical example, look at the image below of part an unfinished urban scene on my layout. Each building in the scene is the result of wall-stacking various commonly available kits.
