Well for one of my design classes (I’m an architecture student) we had to re-develop the former AC Spark Plug Site in Flint, Mi. Theres a thread on here about that. Anyway for my project I did a transportation center for light rail, bus, commuter and Amtrak ( There is rail already at the site). Any I was going to start building an HO scale model of the building, which is huge, 265,000 sq ft.
Heres a rendering of the building-
Anyway looking for advice on the best way to construction the building, right now I’m using tri-ply cardboard for the exterior walls, and was going to use clear lexan for the curtain walls then use balsa wood for the mullions, they will be constructed seperate then mounted to the lexan
Would like to hear your opinions and any assistance is greatly appreciated!
Well, if you’re going to use other material glued to the plastic etc., wood has different expansion, contraction properties and there might be some issues. Also, wood might not look right if you have to paint it and you can’t use a solvent glue.
Consider styrene sheets and shapes. If you do use wood, I agree that basswood is better than balsa. Finally, considering the small size of the model, differential movement between materials is not a factor.
Hmm, never thought of using Styrene. But the reason I chose the tri-ply is that I can get it for free. And actually the model is not going to be small as you might think, as the building footprint is 967’ x 767’ which when divided by 87.1 for HO is equal to about 11’ 6" x 9’
Btw what’s the cost difference between the balsa wood and bass wood?
I’m also trying to avoid using foam core, since I’ve used it before and was not very pleased with how hard it was to work with.
Finally, what would be the best material to use for the metal roofing? The prototype is actually Peterson Aluminum Pac-Clad system.
Any particular reason why you want to build it in HO scale? It would seem to me to be excessively large for an architectural model, especially for what is essentially a school project, and not an actual development. I’d guess that an HO scale model would also need to be made at the school, as it would be difficult to transport.
Why not chose a more appropriate scale? You could then use styrene for the entire project: it’s easy to work with, relatively cheap, and suitable to simulate most types of construction materials. It would also eliminate the problems inherent when using dissimilar materials.
You should be able to buy a 4’x8’ sheet of .040" or .060" white styrene for under $30.00 (check “Plastic Suppliers” in the Yellow Pages), A package or two of clear styrene from Evergreen should take care of the windows, and, if bracing is required (this will depend on the scale which you choose), simply cut strips from the large sheet (use a utility knife, not an X-Acto, and change the blades frequently). Glue the bracing, at right-angles, to the interior of the walls using lacquer thinner, applied with a suitably-sized brush. The same solvent is suitable for all assembly work, including the windows.
Simulate the various materials using paint - the 3’ rule (or its architectural equivalent) should apply, and, if the scale is small enough, will translate to several hundred (if not thousands) of feet.
Here are a couple of fairly large HO scale structures built from styrene, either kits or scratchbuilt, and braced with strips cut from sheets.
Well the reason I chose HO, is that I model HO, and I was thinking about about building in a modular style, so that it can be easily disassembled. The reason I’m doing this is just because I wanted to, not for a school project. I was hopping to eventually enter it one of the contest that the NMRA or MR do, if I do a good enough job on it.
Styrene does it seem to expensive, but it is when compared to free [:D]
I see, also I did find some of the styrene ceiling panels that are used for drop ceilings they’re 24"x48" and .080" thick and come in packs of 5 for about 29 bucks at the Home Depot. Here’s the link-
Why not N scale? It could still be used for a NMRA contest, you can get scale vehicles, cars, track, but it would be a smaller footprint that could fit in the back of a van in one piece.
I would print out the walls on quality paper, then glue them to sheet styrene or foamcore cores.
