I would like to start creating some scratchbuilt structures for my HO layout. I was going to use the “Early Wood Frame and Masonry Structures” book as a guide. However, when I go to my LHS they stock plenty of styrene in HO scale dimensions, but not any wood in HO dimensions. I am sure I can get the wood from various suppliers on the internet, but it brings up the question "Can I build a “wood” structure out of styrene and have results that look realistic? So I would like to hear some opinions (of which I am sure there are plenty) on the advantages/disadvantages of using wood or styrene for building structures.
I have always recieved plenty of information when I post a question on this forum, so let 'em fly!!
I use both, depending on the use. For example, I’ve used styrene for brick and sheet metal, but wood, for, well, wood. In general however I really prefer working with wood. There’s just something about it as a material that I really like. I’ve kind of tailored my RR around the use of scratchbuilt wooden structures, though they are a long way from being done.
These are some shots of my E L Moore Lumber Yard underconstruction, based on his Cal’s Lumberyard article in MR.
My go-to material for buildings is styrene. I’m working on four now. One prototype is concrete block, one is shiplap siding, one is corrugated metal, and one is a mix of stucco and shiplap.
All will be styrene, at least mostly. I MIGHT use a metal overlay for the corrugated metal, or I might use Grandt Line plastic. Dunno.
I would consider using wood for rough timbering. A trestle might be the best example. Or maybe a wood coaling dock.
My gripe with wood is that it has grain that has to be minimized, except for rough timbering. Wood building siding would show no wood grain in HO. Even if it were a run down wreck in the desert, I don’t think the exposed grain would scale out to allow using wood. Well, wood without grain filler. And why bother?
Styrene also glues up quicker.
And wood interacts with humidity. Styrene doesn’t. You might be able to seal the wood up; but, again, you don’t have to bother with styrene.
I built my first plastic models about 1955. And so I’m very comfortable working with it.
Don’t get me wrong. I like wood. Just not for model building. I just came inside from using my table saw. And I’ve worked construction most of my life. I’d BETTER be comfortable with wood.
Of course, you should use the material that works best for you. Or that you enjoy most. Hey, there’s even a guy who used paper to build some pretty fantastic models back in the 60’s. Which IS sort of wood.
Like Jim, I like to use wood to represent wood. But I’ve done wood in plastic, too. The main issue there is whether you’re representing painted wood or something weathered. If painted, styrene works well. In HO, wood grain just isn’t really visible further than a few inches away, although the texture of wood, being coarse as it is in scale, still tricks the eye well enough to make it realistic. Once painted, either wood or plastic is believeable.
Bare or weathered wood can be tough to do on plastic without some practice of techniques that are somewhat different than just painting it. However, it can be done quite well.
Ultimately, it’s up to you.
Keep in mind that you can order inch scale stripwood, 2x4, 2x8, etc from several different vendors, so it’s easy to build with as inch scale styrene strips.
At the time of this writing, I’m building a wood (laser kit) station for the layout. I’ve worked extensively with both wood and plastic and find in general I prefer plastic. In some part, that is due to using ACC with it which gives an instant bond. With the wood structures, there is always a “wait til the glue dries” time between steps.
That said, I do like the overall look of wood structures, but if the structure represents metal or brick or rock surfaces, plastic is the way to go.
If’n ya want to figure out whether wood or styrene is better for a building, try building this one:
in both wood and plastic. It’s a teeny simple little building. And you can certainly use two of them on a layout, should both turn out adequately. You don’t really need plans. I can see it’s about 8’ by 12’, and you can get height from the door. Window(s) placement is optional.
Try it out, and let us know how the experiment worked out.
It takes more skill to make styrene look like wood, or wood to look like other items, can be done but the skill level is up there aways. I personaly tend to use wood for wood structures except for the roof which I like to use styrene as it take a sometimes delicate item and makes it much more durable.
I think it boils down to whatever material you are comfortable with but both are very useful.
Styrene can be distressed to suggest wood grain by scraping it sideways with a razor saw. Wood has the grain naturally, but most of the scale dimensional wood products are cut so cleanly that the grain hardly shows.
I have used both materials. I choose which material based on the final appearance. If the finished building will be painted, or if I want brick walls then I use styrene. If I want a rough, aged structure then I’ll use wood. Sometimes I use both in the same structure.
If you have access to wood working equipment you can make your own wood slabs for forming walls.
Balsa wood strips are good for forming retaining walls, coal cribs etc., and its cheap.
Here are a couple of scratch built examples:
This was made from 1/8" pine slabs cut on my radial arm saw. The blade marks actually add to the aged effect, or at least I think they do. Seams are done with a black ball point pen. The compressor house on the roof is styrene:
This rural engine house was also made from pine slabs but the details like the doors are styrene:
This signal tower was made from styrene. I copied a design I found in the Walthers catalogue:
This boiler house uses styrene for the main building and 1/4" balsa strips for the coal crib:
Many people will comment that the grain in the balsa and the pine slabs is way too coarse to be realistic in HO scale. Personally I like the exagerated grain because
I like wood for building furniture. I like styrene for building models.
As has already been stated, styrene glues together easier than wood and can be distressed to look like wood. Oddly enough, I find that distressing styrene using finer grit sand papers results in more realistic looking “wood” than I get using coarser grit sand papers and/or razor saws.
Styrene is more forgiving to work with than wood as scale size wood is rather fragile and can break at just the wrong moment. Styrene is easy to cut using the score and snap method and it is easy to shape using sand paper and files. A poorly executed styrene joint can usually be pried apart, cleaned up and redone. Glue joints in wood are usually stronger than the wood, making it very difficult to salvage the wood pieces connected in a bad joint.
I’ve also thought that many wood models seem to take on a caricature-like look, especially when they are overly distressed with nail holes and other building texture characteristics that would be difficult to see when scaled down from the prototype. I guess if you want a backwoods kind of look on your layout, such structure caricatures might be appropriate. However, I prefer the cleaner, well maintained look I get building styrene models for my suburban layout setting.
However, the biggest benefit to styrene is it is cheap compared to wood products. I can buy a 4’ x 8’ sheet of white styrene locally for about $23. You’d spend an awful lot more trying to buy enough “scale” lumber to add up to a 4’ x 8’ sheet of wood. Yes, you might find a 4’ x 8’ sheet of lauan plywood for around $23, but try cutting it into scale 4"x4"s.
For this partially-complete model, I used Evergreen styrene siding. The foundation is a Hydrocal casting and the roof is Campbell shingles. The corner trim is wood, as are the attic doors, and the windows are Tichy styrene.
Spoiler (after 3 days) - since I have that plastic building (part of the legendary Atlas Lumber Yard kit, with the kick-butt radial arm saw on the shed building), and eventually modified it into a gatehouse guard building, I can!
For HO and smaller scales, just a little bit of moderate sanding of the plastic (not to glass smooth) should readily match scale wood grain, especially if the building is representing one that’s been painted or sided. For a wood, I had to sand and scour with fine steel wool to remove the burrs enough to look in scale (I like to model structures in reasonable states of upkeep, not leftovers from a Mad Max apocalyptic dystopia). Think of the “fuzzies” of wood strips without fine sanding - they scale out to 2-3 inch splinters, which really only works for pallets being scraped or a wood fence after a truck hit it.
Also, painted styrene looks like painted wood - and can be readily made to look like metal as well (or…plastic, as in plastic fencing, for that matter); but it’s a huge PITA to make wood look like Metal IMO…
If you’re going for stacks of raw lumber, well, OK, real wood looks better (still have to give it a greenish wash for treated outdoor-grade lumber)
I was wondering if anyone would recognize the building. Actually, the building first appeared as a “trackside shanty”:
I bought it when it first came out 'cause I felt it had a nice generic railroad look. Some of the other early plastic structures looked unusual enough that it was instantly obvious that they were “store-bought”. In particular, the Revell water tower comes to mind. The later Atlas one was much more generic.
In my experience sheet materials (siding, scribed decking) looks better in plastic. Painted stuff looks better in plastic. Wood only looks better if its a fine grained wood, is individual pieces and stained/dyed. Wood ties look better than plastic ties. Plastic is much easier to work with. Wood sheet materials have the grain pattern crossing between adjacent boards which looks very funky when stained (or even when painted if not well sealed).
In our modern age people also tend to forget about cardstocks, such as Strathmore board. I have built several cars and buildings decades ago from Strathmore board.
What? The little yellow trackside shanty? Yes, it’s an plastic Atlas model, probably from the early 1960s, which I got leftover from the Atlas lumberyard kit, but which was also sold seperately: 7j43 posted the instruction sheet yesterday.
Now, to throw a loop in this thread, what about that Monster Model Works basswood concrete block sheet that Pelle used in his garage construction article in the Dec 2015 MR? Here’s their HO product line, which as far as I can tell is all basswood, even the tie-plates. The images of their products look good, although I’d really like to see the unpainted sheets in person.
