Hi,
First time poster. As I’m planning my layout I’ve noticed that HO (1:87) structures from various manufactures differ, sometimes significantly, in size, although each claim to be HO. Last night I compared and FHM kit with a cast metal Woodland Scenics small town building kit – and the latter looked almost N-scale by comparison.
How are you all handling this?
PX
Put the smaller buildings at a greater distance from the viewer.
There are differences in HO buildings. Some European models for example, are almost between HO and N in size. You just have to be aware of the sizing and not put large and small side by side. In fact, you probably won’t use some that you might like to use because of the way they look next to others.
I don’t have a really good answer other than this.
[#welcome] PX
It’s called select compression. The reason for that is, if a large structure was built to exactly 1/87th scale it would still be very large and would not be practical for your average layout. So the designer of the model "cheats’ some of the measurements such as length and depth. You will notice doors are correct scale size. A good example would be Walthers Steel Mill. If it were a full scale steel mill, it would fill your layout room, and maybe more.
Another type of model structure is called a flat, background building or fake front. It’s used for the background and gives the illusion of depth to the background when there is none.
woodland scenics buildings are small, but they’re great scene fillers, like in real life large and small fit together, Early plastic buildings(ahm, tyco, pola) had some buildings that had larger brick than ho(gruesome casket factory for one),and some of the doors were taller also, so you work around these things,DPM buildings are selectively compressed. Another thing you’ll notice is that a lot of two or three story buildings put too much space between floors making them to tall.so the illusion next to a correct buiding puts one to small, one to large. A good idea is to keep a scale ruler handy and get the right compromise between them.
Buildings come in different sizes in the real world, too–is that FHM kit a small house or an industrial warehouse? As mentioned above, Woodland Scenics metal kits tend to be tiny–they’re intended as charming little structures, and part of the reason for the small size is the expense of the metal castings. Keeping them small keeps them cheap.
Another reason to put small and large buildings together–if you have a building that you WANT to look big (a factory, grain elevator, etc.) putting a small building next to it will help force perspective and make the big building look bigger.
PX
[#welcome][#welcome][#welcome]
You find that posting a question here will result in bunches of answers from a great group of folks. What is really neat is when there are a couple (or several) different ways to solve a problem or model something. After doing the MRR for a couple of decades I can still learn something new each time I log on.
ENJOY!
Welcome. As you see you get a lots of answers here, some of which are useful. Good to have you aboard.
Welcome to the forums!
CAUTION!! Reading, posting and thread-starting is HIGHLY ADDICTIVE. There is no known cure.
Back to the subject. Also, back to the prototype (my favorite theme.) The age and architectural style of buildings has a lot to do with how they look as models. While tract houses have used 8 foot interior walls since the first Levittown in 1947, older houses frequently had 9 foot or taller rooms. For a time, around a century ago, the main door to a house or (especially) business establishment were much taller than today’s standard 80 inches. (Whether this was for ease of moving furniture or sheer ostentation, deponent sayeth not.) Window styles have come and gone, only to return again a few decades later. For a while, glass brick was popular for decoration and light admission. Brick was not always today’s standard size. Mid-19th century buildings frequently used fired-clay bricks of several different sizes.
Unlike cars (and Las Vegas casinos!) buildings frequently last for centuries. Somebody modeling a midwest town in 1906 might well have a brick and stone bank building on the most important street corner. Putting a McDonald’s next to it would instantly reposition the scene 60 or more years forward, but the bank would still be there and (if well maintained) not much different in appearance. If the bank was the only masonry structure on a block of wooden stores, that could be taken to mean that the mortar used to build it (in 1872 or so) was still hardening.
Your best bet is to find a photograph of the kind of place you’re trying to model from the approximate period you are trying to duplicate. The local historical society is a good source, and even small towns have them.
As for the comment about casinos? Seems that every couple of years Stacy Lavoizeaux and her CDI crew come to town and implode one. If you have a favorite casino/resort hotel on the Las Vegas strip, don’t be surprised if it suddenly disappears!
(
I first noticed this way back in 1969 when I had “Plasticville” next to AHM (minikits) buildings on a board. I found out that the cheaper brands were making buildings "half way between HO and S scale so they could sell the same one to both markets and the “new” slot car market. That is when I discovered scale rulers. I would measure the doors as a gauge to the ones that were correct.
Wow! Thanks for the variety of replies. I’m loving this forum and its broad expertise. In fact, I dry assembled a few building kits to get a feet for foundation footprint, overall size and dimensions, and their “feel.” You’re all right, the kits are all over the scale, so I’ll have to be picky on my use of selective compression. being new, I selected kits I liked. Downside is that I probably won’t be able to mix and match them easily. Good lesson learned – so I’ll find somewhere else on the layout where they work. And those charming Woodland Scenics buildings…perhaps I’ll use them off the mainline as a tiny logging town. Keep those ideas coming and thanks for the welcome!
PX
Wow! Thanks for the variety of replies. I’m loving this forum and its broad expertise. In fact, I dry assembled a few building kits to get a feet for foundation footprint, overall size and dimensions, and their “feel.” You’re all right, the kits are all over the scale, so I’ll have to be picky on my use of selective compression. being new, I selected kits I liked. Downside is that I probably won’t be able to mix and match them easily. Good lesson learned – so I’ll find somewhere else on the layout where they work. And those charming Woodland Scenics buildings…perhaps I’ll use them off the mainline as a tiny logging town. Keep those ideas coming and thanks for the welcome!
PX
Wow! Thanks for the variety of replies. I’m loving this forum and its broad expertise. In fact, I dry assembled a few building kits to get a feet for foundation footprint, overall size and dimensions, and their “feel.” You’re all right, the kits are all over the scale, so I’ll have to be picky on my use of selective compression. being new, I selected kits I liked. Downside is that I probably won’t be able to mix and match them easily. Good lesson learned – so I’ll find somewhere else on the layout where they work. And those charming Woodland Scenics buildings…perhaps I’ll use them off the mainline as a tiny logging town. Keep those ideas coming and thanks for the welcome!
PX
The way to check your buildings is to scale the details. Bricks are the commonest standard (but there’s a warning above), and doors should be similar unless there’s an explanation. Some models have bricks that are closer to concrete blocks in size; I wonder if German masons are all built like A. Schwarzenegger.
I agree with Roger, smaller buildings in the background make your layout seem bigger and more realistic. I’ve even used N scale buildings up on mountains to get the scene the way you really see it in the real world. An N scale fire tower on the mountain looked great. Jerry