Does anyone know how to begin making a scratch landmark or regional building? What materials should I use? Would it be easier to modify a pre-existing kit?
I have plans to build some regional structures in the North Carolina area.
Thanks!
This is a great topic and I hope someone or many can respond. No pre-made building fits the need I have for a huge car museum I want on my layout and so I have to scratch build something but don’t know where to begin either. Please help us out.
ATJ
I’ve modeled a station I liked by using art foam core poster board braced with wood to build my shell. For my building exterior I used field stone “paper”, there are brick and others available. I scratch built the windows and doors. The roof is clay tiles which is available in styrene sheets.
I think the most important is to first draw your “blueprints”, remember 1/4 scale drawings are our actual size making life easier when constructing since you can use the plans as templates.
Experiment and have fun.
A picture is worth a thousand word, many pics are priceless. Use them for reference in your project. If you have the time and patience, constructing a building using conventional building tecniques that would be used in real construction can offer some incredible results. Craft stores that deal in doll house parts have many “scale” pieces to use in your buildings. Start with a small project and develop your skills. Look up Roadside America and read its history to get an idea of real life modeling. Most of the scenes are taken from actual settings and they have some hints of construction details in the writeup. Hope this helps-TM
I published an artical on kitbashing in O Gauge Rail-Roading run 193 April 2003. There are also many excelent books on the subject at your local hobby shop and library. I have built several models of local prototypes and generally follow the same steps: 1. Photograph the building. 2. Sketch the building’s 4 sides. 3. Measure and record on the sketches all important dimensions. 4. Draw (blueprints) the building correctly in the size you are going to build it. 5. Depending on your objectives, skills, tools, budget, and availability, select the materials you want to use to build it. 6. Build it. 7. Enjoy!
Have fun…Paul Goodness
Back in March, I scratchbuilt a General Store/Gas Station. I based it on three separate ideas. The first was a kitbashing article on buiding a rural gas station. This appeared in CTT a few years ago. The second was I remember a local gristmill ( Slaters ) that was converted to a general store. It had at least 3 fuel pumps at the time. The last was a photograph of the Hibernia General Store that was found in Iron Mine RR’s Of NJ. To make it a reality, I had a couple of walls from
an Atlas O signal tower kit. The walls and openings were traced onto cardboard, cut, and reinforced with balsawood strips. Siding was cut from cardbord 1/4" wide and the desired length. Roofing shingles were of the same width. But a brown paper shopping bag was used for them. All other pieces were from leftover parts. It took me about 5 months to make look convincing, but it was worth it.
Something you might try. Whenever you are photographing a prototype building, place an object of known length, like a yardstick, in the picture. That will help you to figure out the length of others things in the picture like windows, doors etc. Obviously, the yardstick will have to be the same distance away from the camera as the ojects you are trying to scale off.
overall
Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman have featured many articles on scratch building over the years. There are always folks selling back issues at train shows. Walthers Catalogs list nealy all of the manufacturers of building materials including Northeastern for wood products and Plastruct for plastic. You can build board by board or get scribed siding to do a whole wall at once.
Pete
Does anyone know how to begin making a scratch landmark or regional building? What materials should I use? Would it be easier to modify a pre-existing kit?
I have plans to build some regional structures in the North Carolina area.
Thanks!
This is a great topic and I hope someone or many can respond. No pre-made building fits the need I have for a huge car museum I want on my layout and so I have to scratch build something but don’t know where to begin either. Please help us out.
ATJ
I’ve modeled a station I liked by using art foam core poster board braced with wood to build my shell. For my building exterior I used field stone “paper”, there are brick and others available. I scratch built the windows and doors. The roof is clay tiles which is available in styrene sheets.
I think the most important is to first draw your “blueprints”, remember 1/4 scale drawings are our actual size making life easier when constructing since you can use the plans as templates.
Experiment and have fun.
A picture is worth a thousand word, many pics are priceless. Use them for reference in your project. If you have the time and patience, constructing a building using conventional building tecniques that would be used in real construction can offer some incredible results. Craft stores that deal in doll house parts have many “scale” pieces to use in your buildings. Start with a small project and develop your skills. Look up Roadside America and read its history to get an idea of real life modeling. Most of the scenes are taken from actual settings and they have some hints of construction details in the writeup. Hope this helps-TM
I published an artical on kitbashing in O Gauge Rail-Roading run 193 April 2003. There are also many excelent books on the subject at your local hobby shop and library. I have built several models of local prototypes and generally follow the same steps: 1. Photograph the building. 2. Sketch the building’s 4 sides. 3. Measure and record on the sketches all important dimensions. 4. Draw (blueprints) the building correctly in the size you are going to build it. 5. Depending on your objectives, skills, tools, budget, and availability, select the materials you want to use to build it. 6. Build it. 7. Enjoy!
Have fun…Paul Goodness
Back in March, I scratchbuilt a General Store/Gas Station. I based it on three separate ideas. The first was a kitbashing article on buiding a rural gas station. This appeared in CTT a few years ago. The second was I remember a local gristmill ( Slaters ) that was converted to a general store. It had at least 3 fuel pumps at the time. The last was a photograph of the Hibernia General Store that was found in Iron Mine RR’s Of NJ. To make it a reality, I had a couple of walls from
an Atlas O signal tower kit. The walls and openings were traced onto cardboard, cut, and reinforced with balsawood strips. Siding was cut from cardbord 1/4" wide and the desired length. Roofing shingles were of the same width. But a brown paper shopping bag was used for them. All other pieces were from leftover parts. It took me about 5 months to make look convincing, but it was worth it.
Something you might try. Whenever you are photographing a prototype building, place an object of known length, like a yardstick, in the picture. That will help you to figure out the length of others things in the picture like windows, doors etc. Obviously, the yardstick will have to be the same distance away from the camera as the ojects you are trying to scale off.
overall
Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman have featured many articles on scratch building over the years. There are always folks selling back issues at train shows. Walthers Catalogs list nealy all of the manufacturers of building materials including Northeastern for wood products and Plastruct for plastic. You can build board by board or get scribed siding to do a whole wall at once.
Pete