I need some thoughts on alternatives for mounting buildings to a “module”. I have a major downtown area that is being built on a 18x80in hollow core door (with dimension lumber to widen to 19.5in).
Givens:
all buildings save one are plastic;
all buildings have attached sidewalks; some buildings are attached to other buildings.
some buildings have LED interior lighting;
roadbed will be either painted on or be pasted street printouts;
buildings will be "permanently attached to the substrate.
Currently, I have the buildings resting on 3/16in foam board (substrate) on top of the door. I have 2x4ft sheets of 0.04in styrene at my disposal.
So…
Glue the foam board to the door then glue buildings to the foam board? or
glue the (possibly screw) the styrene to the door, then glue the buildings to the styrene?
I would probably glue the styrene to the door and then paint (assuming you could use the distance between buildings as streets and alleys. Then glue the buildings. The foam board would allow you to have some different elevation differences (like going up or down a hill) which I like. You may want to have “foundations” under your buildings. This allows for differences in topography and makes the buildings more realistic. They will not appear to be “floating” on top of the scenery. I am totally against flat layouts as the eye does not move up and down, thus creating an illusion of depth and large (than it really is) size. I use liquid nails for gluing foam sheets together and to plywood.
Hi Craig
Just to clarify, the foam board here is the stuff used for posters and science fair projects. Also, this is just an urban module, no track (the track is behind the module in the form of a raised station platform).
Thanks for the input though.
Alan
If your sidewalks are the proper “finished” height, I’d glue the styrene directly to the door, then cement the buildings in place.
Use contact cement to attach the styrene to the door. You may have to apply two coats to the door, depending on how porous it is. I like LePages Gelled Contact Cement, as it’s less stringy - apply it with a 2" brush. Before applying it to the styrene, use the brush to first “prep” the surface of the plastic with lacquer thinner - this seems to prevent it from drawing too much solvent out of the contact cement, thereby weakening the bond.
After the styrene is attached, you can also use the lacquer thinner to cement the buildings in place, either by coating both mating surfaces before assembly or by applying it to the joints with a suitably-sized brush, allowing capillary action to draw it into the joints.
The road/parking area shown below is .060" styrene attached to plywood in the manner described, still firmly in place after many years.
I used to cement my buildings in the manner you described, until I had to move a building. Now, I use a thin bead of acrylic latex caulk; the building comes up fairly easy (with the floor still attached) with a putty knife. By the way, your layout looks GREAT!
You’re correct about the styrene-to-styrene joint being rather permanent, and the caulking is probably a better idea, especially if there’s interior lighting. I don’t purposely cement my structures in place, although the white glue mixture used to affix nearby ground cover does hold them in place, yet still leaves them reasonably easy to remove. For most urban structures, I cement the roads and sidewalks in place, then set the buildings, with an attached “foundation” of a suitable depth to bring the doors above sidewalk level, in place. The sidewalks hold everything in position, with the structures easily removeable.
Wayne, I’ve seen that approach somewhere else, I’ll probably go that way on other smaller “modules”, in this case the sidewalks are already attached to the buildings at the correct height.
So far the consensus is to use the styrene rather than the foam board??
Looks very nice, Wayne. What would worry me is having the solvents being trapped between the layers and eventually warping the plastic. Maybe you haven’t had any problems due to using .060" sheet styrene, but I would be more concerned if it was thinner like the .040 that Alan has.
It seems like I’ve used contact cement in the past with styrene and didn’t have problems most of the time, but did in a few cases. That was enough to make me not want to take that risk again. I’ve switched to Tacky Glue for laminating sheet styrene with very good results since it doesn’t have any solvents and can be cleaned up with water before it dries.
Like others have said, I think I’d skip the foamboard.
Nothing against either, Alan, although I haven’t got around to utilising too many figures, yet. Most of the available ones that might be suitable for some scenes would require modification to fit them into my late '30s layout - not that that’s a problem, but I’m still working to finish the locomotive and rolling stock rosters. After that, more scenery and structures, then perhaps some work on the layout extension, and then some detailing, including figures.
I don’t like to affix most details in place, including the LPBs, although some stay in place too long, even when they’re moveable:
There is some livestock in various places around the layout:
Here’s one with a figure and animals, although the latter seem especially well-trained to just stand around when they’re not yet properly harnessed.[swg] (The horse in the foreground obviously moved his head just as the shutter was opened.)
This guy has been trying to get into his car for ages:
Vehicles that are on the street have drivers and sometimes passengers, too, all removeable so that the same vehicles can be used in scenes where a parked vehicle is more appropriate:
Sometimes, there are passengers waiting for their train, too:
You definitely don’t want to use foam core board as it’s nothing but compressed paper and unless you seal the ends if you use any wet water or water soluble glue it will make a mess of the stuff. Plus the stuff is kinda spongy when you push down on it. What you can use is Gatorboard also made by Alcan the same people who make foam core board. it’s as hard as nails ans will yield you much better result. Another alternative is to use 3/16 Masonite. I am currently using it in my town scene and I have seen a lot of modelers put large structures on Masonite and some even on 3/4" plywood. in your case you won’t need the stability of the plywood like I do when I put the “structure module” on risers. Like you if it’s a big structure or some sort of complex thats going to have a lot of details I will build it on the work bench to 99.9% completion and then just blend in the module scenery to the layout scenery when the time comes. I also will add roads and things like telephone poles etc. later on after it’s planted.
Swayin
I bought mine at a local Curbell Plastics; they are something of a national chain. Four 4x8 sheets came to $60 and they cut it up into 2x4 foot pieces as part of the price (and threw in two 2x4 1/8 masonite sheets when they packaged it up).
I’m not too thrilled with the foam board, to many voids inside when I cut it (plus the sealing issue as pointed out). So I will go the styrene and caulking route.
Thanks for the input.
Alan
PS I do a fair amount of detail work before the structures leave the workbench: figures, trees, grass, trash, fire hydrants etc.
