I am starting (again) to set up an ngauge layout. I have purchased some prebuilt plastic houses, etc. However, I would like to make some from balsa wood or cardboad as well. I would appreciate it it anyone has a lead on my getting some plans/drawings which I could use. SemperFi
Wow, major flashback to old materials. Balsa and Cardboard were pretty much out of favor by the 60’s (major problems with warpage, among other things). Most people prefer basswood (a form of pine) or styrene. Many companies have these available milled to look like common types of sidings, making construction easier. Plus there’s a good assortment of door, window, and other details cast in plastic.
Plans and drawings have been published over the years in the model magazines. Go to the Index of Magazines (link at the top of this page) and look up they type of building you’d like to build. If you don’t have that issue, post it on here and ask if anyone can send or scan the plans for you.
First, you need to share some information with us.
What era are you modeling?
Are you modeling city, town, or country setting?
Are you modeling Western, Eastern,Southern, Northern , or central?
Give us as much information about your plans and there is a wealth of information here on the forum.
OH!!!and welcome to the forum. And don’t forget to tell us all about your self…
Neal
I suggest trying to accumulate old Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman magazines from the 1960s and 1970s and find the structure articles by E.L. Moore. He used materials that were cheap and outdated even in his time – balsa, cardstock, paper – and made wonderful HO structures. Although I know he dabbled in N/HOn30 I cannot recall an N scale structure article. But I suspect his methods could be used and his instructions were very clear. I think you’d enjoy reading his articles.
I have never had problems with balsa wood warping. The problem is that the grain is so obvious. Somehow EL Moore worked his way around the problems.
Dave Nelson
From experience:
A better material to use is Bass or White Pine scale wood. If you do go with Balsa, make sure to add plenty of bracing or it will warp when painted. Another reason i say to go with bass or pine is that the grain in balsa wood is difficult to hide when painted. However, no matter which you decide on, be sure to add 1/8 sq bracing (at minimum) to minimize the risk of warping.
Bob…
E. L. Moore built to HO scale, if memory serves, so his work could be used on an HOn30 layout without modification. For N scale, the plans would have to be reduced by 87/150, but the techniques would still be valid.
Alan Armitage was the first great advocate of styrene, in the late '50’s or early '60’s. Using styrene does have advantages.
No matter what material you use, the structure will have to be made light-tight if you intend to illuminate it. Even wood will pass light if it’s thin enough.
Chuck
You can also just google blueprints for houses. Using different words [under the images catagory as well] will give you tons of material.
As for using balsa I think the verdict is in. Except that I never had any problems with it myself. I liked it when I was using it for old and or unkept looking buildings and such. I also have a habit of using highly diluted white glue to seal my wood with as well. That probably helps me out a bit as well.
As for cardboard, personally I prefer bristol board, sometimes called strathmore board in some places as well.
I double it up and glue it and it is strong and stiff and stable, and much like thin wood.
Anyhow, I hope it helps.
Hi carcrazyusmc
You need a good quality card shelac and proper wood for your building frames.
Balsa is not the best for your structural re enforcements and framing
though it does have its uses.
You must have a very sharp blade all the time a blunt blade will[censored]
the whole project in the time it takes to make one cut.
You will need to find modeling publications from the 50’s and 60’s to get all the best tips for the project.
The secret to a lot of it is the number of layers used.
For example an old style UK passanger coach side requires six layers of card
which will give the full panneling detail and shirt box glassing drop lights the lot.
so be prepaired to take your time.
The shelac will give the card the rigidity and resiliance it needs.
Yes its cheap and an old techneque but once mastered a properly finished
project is just as good as one using any other method.
regards John
Thanks much to all of the great responses; it gives me a lot of good advice which I can follow up on. As far as my personal profile (other than being built like Charles Atlas - no not that one. The guy who used to live in my old neighborhood; 100 pounds overweight, etc.), I have taken quite a licking but keep on ticking with some major mishaps in the coronary department, etc. I hope to use the trains to keep me occupied instead of the brain numbing tv crapola, etc. I used to tinker with cars, but after finding that I could no longer put a wheel back on the car (too heavy), I decided to go into something much lighter - hence ngauge. I am even afraid of Ogauge for cripes sake. . .Again, thanks for all of the good advice. SemperFi