Printing Buildings

[JohnnyB]

Greetings fellow railroaders. I have entered a new post on my blog called Printing Buildings. Please take a look and let me know your thoughts, good or bad.

https://jmrailroad.wordpress.com

[railandsail]

I made a subject thread about this subject as well, …over here

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/31962

I’ve am not quite there in my modeling (still working on a layout plan), but about a week ago I discovered a sign shop that was throwing out a lot of ‘gator board’ type material. I gather up quite a supply for future use.

One of the first structures I want to test out with this ‘method’ is this Santa Fe station,…(but I’m not so sure I know how to utilize the computer to get the design done)

[JohnnyB]

Finished the mockup. It’ll stand in place for now.

https://jmrailroad.wordpress.com

[JohnnyB]

Not sure if I would tackle a structure that large and complex, Brian. But that’s a worthy challenge.

[xdford]

HI there John,

Liked the feel you gave with the loco depot but without trying to nitpick, aren’t your clearances a bit tight? I’ve worked in two loco depots and visited many others and there would be enough clearance for a man to stand alongside a loco entering the shed, even if only for safety reasons.

The first depot was here

While Brian has chosen a big building, the basic structure would be a series of boxes and tubes in the gator board ( is that what we call core flute here?) but the interesting part would be the roofing and even that can be overcome. The body of that building should be fairly straight forward and the hardest part would be getting the arches to look even.

I have also done a few of these which I uploaded to my website but it seems my website is doing a “photobucket” act so we shall see. I am quite happy to share them should you like them and they are available again!

Cheers from Australia

Trevor

[railandsail]

While Brian has chosen a big building, the basic structure would be a series of boxes and tubes in the gator board ( is that what we call core flute here?) but the interesting part would be the roofing and even that can be overcome. The body of that building should be fairly straight forward and the hardest part would be getting the arches to look even.

Trevor

These are 2 different materials to my knowledge. The Gator board is a ‘soild foam’ sandwich, while the fluted core you mention has a ‘serpentine-folded/flute’ sort of plasic core. The fluted type board does NOT have smooth outer surfaces.

i got samples of both types from that sign shop, and much prefer the ‘gator board’ type.

[xdford]

Thanks for that - we call that material foamcore board here and I get what I want as a freebie from the local picture framers! I had just never heard of gator board in that context!

Cheers from Australia

Trevor

[DigitalGriffin]

I remember that station. It was in LA if I remember correctly. Walthers tried to sell a model of it made of architectual grade cardboard.

And here I’m reminded if you don’t have anything nice to say.

[JohnnyB]

Hello Trevor. How are things in Oz? I have several friends in Australia and one in New Zealand.

You are not nitpicky at all. I appreciate the insight. Once I doi the real building I will make sure to leave enough room for a railroad worker.

[railandsail]

I remember that station. It was in LA if I remember correctly. Walthers tried to sell a model of it made of architectual grade cardboard.

I think you got that correct,…
http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/31423

Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1980, and a Los Angeles Historical-Cultural Monument, the station underwent a major renovation in the 1990s, which restored much of its former glory.

Today, as the Los Angeles Union Station, the facility serves as the major downtown hub for commuter rail operations on Metrolink and Metro Rail. Long-distance Amtrak trains still call, and the station is slated to play a vital role in California High-Speed Rail service in the near future.

Combining the precision of laser-cut architectural-grade board with stucco texture for ease of construction and durability plus superbly detailed injection-molded roof panels and other components, this kit builds into an eye-catching focal point for a collection or layout

That station (or a portion of it) surrounded by a variety of SantaFe diesel and a few passenger cars should say 'southern Calif, the west coast end of my ‘continential RR’ that will reach east to Balt MD . Balt needs to be a series of overlapping flats of a city scene likely constructed of of slivers of plastic buildings and other foamcore representatives.

[xdford]

Hello Trevor. How are things in Oz? I have several friends in Australia and one in New Zealand.

You are not nitpicky at all. I appreciate the insight. Once I doi the real building I will make sure to leave enough room for a railroad worker.

Thanks for that… and you are quite welcome to add me to the list of acquaintances and friends if you care to send a PM.

My website for the buildings is

http://xdford.freeasphost.net/stag21.html which has just been corrected by the host server as of Feb 13!

and follow the links to the bottom of the page to the next ones! I used a few of Tomkats fascias to make 3D buildings and did a few for an On30 layout as well.

I need to repair a couple of the web pages but they are there in essence and you are welcome to browse

Regards from Oz

Trevor

[railandsail]

from another forum…

Here are links to several videos on building structures using foam core and core flute. Such structures can be used:

As the starting point for permanent structures with paper, plastic or wood outer shells

As stand-ins for eventual permanent structures so your layout looks a bit more “finished”

To test fit the footprint, elevations and overall visual impact of planned permanent structures

I’d like to hear from anyone who has experience and tips to offer on this subject.

Bob Chaparro

Moderator

Model Railroads of Southern California