Is there a source(s) for printable building interiors. There is a wealth of sources for signs for the exterior of buildings but I have tried to find something similar for interiors of buildings. Some recent kits have included 2D interior prints. Specifically I am am building a small town using lots of DPM and City Classics structures and would like to at least put printed interiors on the ground floor of these structures but I am having a hard time locating any. The alternative which I have already used is WS Light Difusing Film which darkens the windows so one cannot see inside.
I think both Woodland Scenics and City Classics offer interior kits for their buildings at reasonable costs. Another option you might try is just searching the web for images you like and then scale them down and print them out.
I don’t look for specific sites, but I do search for specific types of images. “Store shelves” give very good results for a supermarket, and “bicycle shop interior” or “carpet store interior” produced nice images for those stores.
I used to use a site called CG Textures but I think they renamed it. The name may still work.
Yes, Textures still works. It is one of my favorite go-tos for graphic elements.
IMG_4656_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
IMG_4638_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
It helps to have at least a rudimentary skill at a graphic design program (app, I guess they’re called today) I use Corel DRAW.
I print some roofing details using their Textures, too.
IMG_4630_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
PO_annex2 by Edmund, on Flickr
I seem to recall an outfit called Evan Designs had a model RR program for printing details. Never used it so can’t comment on helpfulness.
https://evandesigns.com/collections/modeling-software
Good Luck, Ed
You might check out “Roomettes.” They have a variety of different interiors for many different structures. They’re a combination of LEDs for lighting, some detail parts and printed walls. They can get pretty pricey for the bigger kits…
I also like to print out pictures from the internet and place then inside my structures. However, a ready-made alternative would be the City Classics Picture Window Photos. These are nice front-and-center photos of different business interiors printed on a translucent material that allows back lighting to be used.
Here is a link to the City Classics Picture Window interiors:
https://www.cityclassics.biz/picture_windows.html
I have found tons of suitable images by searching for reasonably specific items like ‘clothing store interior pictures’ or ‘hardware store interior pictures’.
The City Classics are a nice option but a bit pricy. Six or seven dollars per window adds about a third to the cost of a DPM structure. I have found a handful of usuable free images but it requires a lot of looking. The problem is most photos don’t have the correct perspective to make them suitable for representing the interior of a building. Also the era might not be correct. A modern day interior often won’t look right for the interior of my 1950s layout.
I will look at some of the other sites that have been suggested and thank all for their suggestions.
John
I agree that the most difficult part of finding appropriate interior views on the internet is finding views from the right height, angle and perspective. The best views are front and center at a height that simulates a standing viewer looking into the storefront window. Views from a corner of the business (most common) don’t work well at all.
I agree Corel Draw is one of the best graphics programs out there. I have three versions, all come with thousands of images.
My biggest challenge is finding a suitable bank interior because my bank is in a corner building with a large window on each side. No way a simple printed interior is going to work there. I’m going to have to piece together some 3-D features and then layer some 2-D images for the background. Teller windows and maybe a bank vault.
I have taken pictures inside buildings and scaled them for inside my buildings and was going to suggest that but I saw you were doing a bank - they may not like people going in and photographing details.
I’ve also gotten some good interiors from the web, especially from travel and history sites. I find that if I scale them up a little bigger than true HO scale they look better through the windows.
John
I’ve attached a few interior views showing 3D, 2D and mixed (2D + 3D) to give you some ideas.
The first photo shows a background building with 2D interiors. The furniture store interior (on the right) isn’t the best perspective but is acceptable in a background building. However, the odd perspective seems to suit the triangular structure. The diner interior is a pretty simple 2D image of a diner interior. I chose not to light the interiors to help hide the shortcomings of the printed interior images.
The next two photos show a 3D background (curved photo) with 3D figures in the windows to represent mannequins. Fairly dim interior lighting was used to help hide any shortcomings. The “sale” signs are attached to the inside of the window panes.
My music store uses “wallpaper” I found on the internet with very generic 3D shelving units with printed items on the shelves. Other 3D items include the scratch built drum set just inside the doors and a sales counter on the right (the register is just visible).
My most involved interior from this scene is in my liquor store. The photos show how easy it is to see all the way through this building to the street beyond making an interior absolutely necessary. The floor is a tile pattern printed on glossy paper. Several product posters were added to the painted interior walls. 3D shelving units are “stocked” with a combination of 3D and printed 2D items (mostly 2D). A simple sales counter and a few figures round out the interior scene. This structu
I would point you to two resources that I have found very useful:
Scalescenes has a couple of sheets of interior details here: https://scalescenes.com/product/interior-detail/
3dk also has some interior detail sheets: https://www.3dk.ca/product-page/is001-interior-wall-sheets
They are in OO scale, but easily scaled to HO. I used items from both, and the versatility is great. I use them in combination with interior details that I am downloading from shapeways tom make shadow boxes. Each of those sheets costs only a couple of GB pounds each to download, so for about $5, you will get a huge amount of textures and interior details. I took a look at the Roomettes too, but I wish they would sell just the interiors as printable sheets, without the overpriced LED lighting.
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John
I’ve attached a few interior views showing 3D, 2D and mixed (2D + 3D) to give you some ideas.
The first photo shows a background building with 2D interiors. The furniture store interior (on the right) isn’t the best perspective but is acceptable in a background building. However, the odd perspective seems to suit the triangular structure. The diner interior is a pretty simple 2D image of a diner interior. I chose not to light the interiors to help hide the shortcomings of the printed interior images.
The next two photos show a 3D background (curved photo) with 3D figures in the windows to represent mannequins. Fairly dim interior lighting was used to help hide any shortcomings. The “sale” signs are attached to the inside of the window panes.
My music store uses “wallpaper” I found on the internet with very generic 3D shelving units with printed items on the shelves. Other 3D items include the scratch built drum set just inside the doors and a sales counter on the right (the register is just visible).
My most involved interior from this scene is in my liquor store. The photos show how easy it
All of my foreground structures with interiors are lit using diffused LED’s I removed from strings of Christmas lights so I don’t know whether adding distance between the background and windows would eliminate the shadows. On the other hand, I used the printed interiors that came with the Walthers Merchant’s Row kits I’ve built and placed those directly against the windows. While these do look better than empty or blacked out windows, I think the interiors look better when set back from the windows. As far as the shadows, I’d be willing to bet that layout visitors will never notice them, even though they tend to slap YOU in the face (we are always our own worst critic).
I have come to realize that for my situation, it is best to put the printed interiors directly against the front glass. The reason is that these structures are on a peninsula and the normal viewing angle will be looking down the street rather than across the street as would be more likely if the structures were on a shelf. If I set them back, they would hardly be visible at all. While I will be looking at these structures from a bit of an angle, I think it will be more effective if the interiors are flush against the glass. I’ve looked at several of the structures from various angles and this seems to be the best solution. Certainly better than blacked out interiors.
It has taken a while but I have finally located enough useful interior images for all 14 structures in this area I am developing. At some point I might go back and retro fit existing structures with interiors as well and many of those are on a shelf where the viewing angle will be head on. I’ll make the decision then whether to set back the printed interiors or created 3-D interiors. That will be sometime off in the future. Right now I have other priorities.
For those of you who are printing your own scenes and putting them up against the windows, are you backlighting them? If so, what are you printing the images on? Does the light shine through regular printing paper?
This sounds like it would be a good solution for me to try if I can find out how, without buying expensive images.
I don’t backlight mine and it’s not necessary since right now I am not doing night scenes. Sometime in the future I hope to add night lighting and I will backlight those business that would likely still be open after dark during the summer months. Most of the businesses I am working on now would not.
Edit: The upper floors of these storefront structures could be either office space or apartments. If they are apartments, it would be logical for some lights to be on after dark but probably not offices although that would not be unheard of.
For those who print building interiors, do you need any special type of printer? I have a CANON injet at home, and wasn’t sure if that would work without consuming too much color ink. If I need something more robust, would a Kinkos or similar work?