Has anyone assembled a “paper” structure from Clever Models. If so, do you have any tricks to share?
I haven’t built any Clever Models paper models but I have done a lot from other sources. Google up paper models FAQ and you’ll find a ton of stuff.
Clever,or one of their dealers, was at the National O-Scale convention in Indianapolis this year. They had an O-scale 2-rail switching layout with a number of Clever buildings on it and they were pretty cool. Certainly not the same level of detail as a traditional building kit but they were pretty good. I purchased one of their kits but haven’t had time to assemble it yet.
The December issue of RMC has an article about assembling, and adding additional detail to these kits.
Nick
I have never built a Clever Models kit, however I do own one of the Milwaukee Road gate tower kits. It was thrown in the “probably will never be built” box when Walthers announced it in HO.
The Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association makes two kits that are like this. One is of the West Virginia Pulp and Paper’s “Cass Shop”, which stood in Cass, WV until 1972. The model is nearly 1’ x 3’, and is a very nice kit. I built mine, but I only use it as a display model.
They also make a kit of a Cass Company House for $7; a bit less expensive than the $35 for the shops.
You can see pictures of them on their website at www.msrlha.org.
Phil
A company I run across at northeastern train shows is Westport Model Works www.westportmodelworks.com . They call their paper buildings “Modular Building Drawings” and are design to make 3-d background buildings. They are available in G, O, H0 and some N. They also have an assortment of building detail castings (resin), many of which were designed to be added to the buildings to give them a more 3-D look. I have bought and assembled a couple of factories and from 3 ft away they fool just about everybody.
I purchased the materials to build an HO model of the New Haven Union Station from Westport. One can either buy all four sides or just the front and part of the ends, or whatever.
They are an absolute work of art. The very complicated brickwork on the prototype has been replicated brick for brick. He works from photos and measurements that he personally has taken, and the result is a very prototypically accurate model.