Hi, I have been building some kits for my HO layout but I would like to start doing some scratch building. I was going to start with something simple like a handcar shed or a tool shed. I would like to get some advice, opinions, tips, etc on the advantages/disadvantages of using either styrene or wood (strips or sheets) for scratch building. Since I have no one locally to share my hobby with, I relay heavily on this forum for guidance. And you all have always come thru for me. Thanks.
wdcrvr
You didn’t mention what type of kits you have built. If you have built wood structures, you should try scratch building with wood. If your experience has been styrene kits, I would go that route. Use materials you are familiar with. I have scratch built with both wood and styrene. I prefer wood for my buildings that are wooden prototypes. Styrene can be distressed to look like wood.
My past scratch-building projects have been in wood - I find it an easy material to work with. I’m just not that comfortable with styrene and the ACC adhesives that one should use. That being said, however, I do lots of major kit-bashing of plastic kits using other cements…
I also prefer wood. I went over 40 years without attempting to scratch build thinking I couldn’t do it. Then one day after assembling a laser cut house kit I decided “I can do that”.
I’m pretty good using a CAD program so I found a floor plan on the Internet, scaled it to HO, made a full size printout and it went very nice.
You will get better with every project, refining your techniques. I had built several Campbell Craftsman kits and liked their construction and duplicated their corner posts. I still use the Campbell 800 shingles for my buildings.
I made a post on my blog of my first scratch built home.
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-first-scratch-built-building.html!
This post includes making corner post for building wood structures. To me that was the key for easy assembly of the walls. Precut corner posts are available from North
Quality advice above on using that with which you are familiar. I like wood kits and scratchbuilding with wood, which I find easy to work with. If building a structure that was wood, why go through the steps of trying to make plastic look like wood? If the structure was something like a concrete silo, then clearly styrene would be fine.
My tip would be to look carefully and selectively at the scribed wood sheets that you use for siding or similar surfaces. Sometimes there is a sizeable line across those sheets from the grain of the actual wood. Usually, that grain line is not parallel to the edges of the scribed siding, and it usually appears as a lighter-colored line. That line will not take stain or paint the same as the rest of the wood as it is usually denser. Most of the time, I can avoid using that section of siding where it will be highly visible - I can often take the piece that I need from above or below where that grain line is strongest. Another option is to be sure to use a good sealer on sections that have such woodgrain lines, and that works fine for a painted surface.
Scratchbuilding allows us to make the kind of building that we need for a specific area. I wanted an eastern-style coal mine with two loading tracks to allow for a “loads out, empties in” operation, and I wanted the clearance of those loading tracks to also allow for a locomotive to pass under if needed. I found no suitable kits, so I made one:
Bill
wdcrvr:
Congratulations on taking the plunge. I find scratchbuilding to be one of the most rewarding aspects of the hobby.
I have scratchbuilt with both materials and I would say that styrene is easier to work with. Also, I think there is a much wider assortment of patterns available.
I like wood for a distressed wooden building where the grain adds some depth to the model, although in reality you wouldn’t be able to see HO scale wood grain. Styrene can be distressed very effectively too. I also like wood because I can cut my own slabs so it is almost free. There are a couple of excellent suppliers of modelling wood. I just got some strips from Mt. Albert Scale Lumber and they are very nicely done. There is also something about individual planks that I think just looks better for earlier era buildings, decks and loading docks etc.
For brick structures using styrene is kind of a no-brainer, although be aware that some brick sheets are much better defined than others. Walthers brick sheets are quite nicely done although they are a bit thick. Plastruct brick is vacuum molded so the detail is not as crisp but it is much easier to cut and it still looks decent. Plastruct brick is best used as a veneer because it is so thin, and you have to go easy on the solvent cement.
Speaking of cutting, styrene sheets are easier and quicker and require almost no finishing. Things like window and door openings are also a breeze in styrene if you get a pair of nibbler shears. I have a trick for getting consistently parallel cuts in styrene sheet. I buy V-groove sheets and simply follow the lines with my x-acto knife to get parallel cuts. I usually have several different sheets on hand with varying groove spacing. That allows me to get pretty close to the width I need. If I don’t want the grooves to show I just install the styrene smooth side out.
Styrene is quicker to assemble in that you don’t have to wait quite as long for the glue to dry before adding the next p
My problems with wood is that it can be dimensionally unstable due to humidity changes and aging; and that the grain is inappropriate for most model building surfaces.
Also, the bonding of pieces is “right now” for plastic when you use something like MEK. And you don’t have to worry about the glue seeping from a joint and causing painting problems, later.
I work with wood frequently in the real world. And I love it. And I am familiar with its, uh, abilities to have opinions. Plastic has no opinion. Except that you better not get solvent under your fingers while aligning parts. THEN it has a big one.
If you want to work in plastic, I suggest getting this strikingly inexpensive “book”:
https://www.walthers.com/book-styrene-fabrication?ref=1
It was written by an expert in the field. I believe it was written before Evergreen came along, so it’s likely REALLY about scratchbuilding.
Ed
Dave
Where do I get “nibbler shears”?
wdcrvr
You might find nibbler shears at your local hardware store or automotive supply store, or you can order them from MicroMark or other on-line suppliers.
http://www.micromark.com/nibbling-cutter,7761.html
They only take out a bit at a time but they actually work pretty fast. One suggestion I would make is to nibble the opening slightly smaller than the window or door moulding and then use a file a bit at a time until you have an exact fit.
Dave
Just happened to see this episode of Cody’s Office, which has a bit on nibblers. [dinner] [swg]
CG
I used to scratchbuild using wood, but since I discovered styrene, I won’t be using wood again. As mention, it’s a great material for many full-size items, but I’ll not use it again for modelling.
Styrene allows faster and stronger construction, with plenty of choices with regards to sheet material - various thicknesses and sheet sizes, and it comes in at least white and black. Strip material is available in various dimensions, expressed in thousandths of an inch, millimetres, or as dimensional lumber sizes, and also as structural steel shapes (angles, I-bar, H-columns, etc.) and as tubing and in architectural shapes, such as half- and quarter-round.
Properly finished, it can take on the appearance of pretty-well any material you wish it to represent, and it can definitely be made to look more like wood than real wood.
Wayne
Most prototype wooden structures and railroad cars were pretty well maintained, and did not show grain until maintenance was compromised. As Ed and Wayne have suggested, styrene can be made to look like wood, and real wood often has a grain that is way out of scale. You can distress plastic to look like weathered wood, and you can seal wood to look prototypically smooth. If the wood is properly sealed, it usually won’t suffer from shrinkage. I’ve worked successfully with both, and like them both.
A scratchbuilt project is really just a kit that you design yourself, make up your own instructions, and make all the parts yourself. Once you realize that, it becomes just another kit building project with a lot more steps and more opportunities for creativity.
Tom
Actually, to get the “prototypically smooth” surface, you’ve also got to do sanding (I know 'cause I’ve done it in the real world). And you frequently have to do seal/sand more than once. Do you recommend doing this operation before assembly? If so, it would seem one couldn’t use wood glues, as there would be no penetration. Would one use epoxy or ACC? Also, how does one do the sanding on surfaces like clapboard and board-and-bat? Or, in fact, any “irregular” surface? Even shiplap could be a problem, because of the bits down in the grooves.
Sealing and sanding, to me, just ain’t that much fun and is to be avoided.
In my much younger days, I built some wood car kits. For example, an Ambroid GN caboose (with a painted and lit interior). And a LaBelle combine. I was unaware of the fine points of wood finishing, like sealing and sanding. And the two cars consequently are not exactly show-stoppers, visually.
I fairly quickly got into styrene construction. I “built” an Ambroid TTX bulkhead flat by using styrene as a piece by piece wood replacement. And boxed the kit back up for potential resale. I then did another Ambroid, a CB&Q insulated box. That one had some metal castings that I needed, so it’s really a hybrid. I also adapted an Athearn roof, rather than use a built-up one. But no wood.
Oops! One correction. I DID use wood on the flat. For the deck. Individual planks. Wood DOES do well for very rough woods. Like flat car decks, ties, and timber framing. However. I’ve seen a number of flat car decks made with pla
I scratch and agment kits all the time. I find that some time a certain material works better for a part of the project or another. Roof for an example, if they have lots of rafter tails or I wich to remove it later, I prefer styrene as the small peices hold better. Very complex things I prefer styrene as it will be more durable. Also sometimes the look will dictate the material and I will use styrene for say the foundation and wood for the walls, I always use styrene window when I can whether a wood building or styrene.
i opt for stryeen because of our extream summer temps cause wood buildings to pop apart at the seams (cant afford the ac bill) in train building the amount of shapes and the other point speed being the top one.
Another great feature about styrene is that if you use solvent weld cement, a little touch up with 500-grit sandpaper can make the joints/seams completely invisible.
I wouldn’t say that one material is necessarily preferable to the other. I use both, but tend to prefer styrene for most projects. I mostly use wood for things like trestles, retaining walls, and other models that represent unpainted wood.
Assembly and finishing techniques differ greatly between materials, so I’d suggest trying both to develop a wider range of skills.
These structures are wood, a combination of scratch and kits. I spray painted the depot, applying weathering later, while the others got stained first so weathered wood could show through the paint. The roof on the structure at left is styrene “metal” roofing from Evergreen.
This barn is styrene, a modified Walthers kit with a scratchbuilt addition. It was also spray painted, with dry brush and wash weathering. Visitors sometimes mistake it for wood.
Styrene lends itself to modeling metal, like the majority of the model above, or concrete. Even if you want to use wood for the bulk of a structure, knowing how to use styrene can help with parts of it where wood doesn’t work as well.
Read up on, and practice, using both materials so you can utilize whichever one suits the project at hand.
I prefer using wood for things that are supposed to look like wood. But sometimes you don’t have a choice, such as the deck of a flatcar which should be wood, but is actually plastic. Do a Google search on How to make styrene look like wood and you’ll get a lot of tutorials.
I did the flatcar below following one of those tutorials. I first painted the deck with white craft paint. Then I streaked on some brown oil paint, and finally gave it a wash of India ink and alcohol. It looks better in person than in the photo.
Steve S
Steve:
It must look really good in person because I think it looks pretty good in the photo!
Dave
Thanks. The photo has a bit of a shine to it caused by the flash, but the finish looks better in normal light.
Steve S