Using plastic "Brick sheets" in HO scale

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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I am planning on scratchbuilding a factory based on a prototype I like, and have a couple of questions. For context, the prototype was completely painted solid red with no mortar showing.

Also, I was going to build the structure with a frame/subframe out of 0.040" styrene and then cover that all with the brick sheets (because they are probably too thin).

I want to use plastic brick sheets but don’t know a good brand for HO scale. I don’t want paper, or laser-cut wood, or resin. I would like to use plastic. Perferably, the sheets will be at least 6" wide and as long as possible. Can anyone recommend a brand?

Also, does anyone know of a recent MR article that discussed this type of construction? I recall seeing recent articles on building kits made of brick-molded walls, and structures made from plaster walls that have brick detail, but none showing brick-over-styrene.

Finally, one side of the wall will have a prominent billboard type “painting.” Fortunately or unfortunately, the picture I am working from shows the brand new painting so I cannot weather it. I was going to use decals or have it printed on paper and sanded really thin, but I cannot hide any errors or sins with weathering. Any advice?

Thanks.

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JTT has a pretty good selection, I’ve used both of their brick and rock Styrene sheets with very nice results. Their HO scale sheets are 1:100 but I cant tell the difference in scale…

Mel

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I may be wrong, but I’m pretty sure the brick sold by JTT is the same as the ones sold by the N Scale Architect and Model Builders Supply. That gives you a few more options if you can’t find one.

Also, the May 2015 issue of MR has a nice article about using that exact brick sheet to build a small switch tower.

Jim

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The info on the two sites show different sheet sizes so it doesn’t appear to be from the same manufacturer, but I’m sure either will work fine. I missed the MR article, thanks. Very good article.

$$$ wise the JTT is a lot lower in price.

I was unaware of N Scale Architect, they have a lot of neat goodies on their site.

Mel

5

I use the Walthers brick sheets, 933-3523. They are 4 inches high by 9 3/4 inches wide. I buy them when they are on sale, which they happen to be right now. I don’t worry about the color because I paint them anyway. I have a variety of brick-colored rattle-can spray paints which I use, mostly primers.

To put a “painted” sign on a building, I use clear decal paper. But, to get the color balance right, I paint a rectangle the size of the decal on the building using white paint. Use a gloss spray paint for a like-new look, or a flat paint for a more weathered look. If you don’t want the bricks to show through, glue a piece of flat styrene sheet over them and apply the decal to that.

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I think I got it wrong. Sorry. The Model Builders Supply and Plastruct brick are similar. I think the JTT and N scale Architect are the same or very close.

Jim

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Keep in mind that JTT #97422 is marked as HO-scale (1:100), so it is what is, which is not bad. I’ve used a bunch of it. The bricks scale to 10" to 11" long, 3" tall in HO. A k=little odd in terms of size. But they look right, more or less, whatever scale they really are.

There’s another brand I ran across recently at the local art store. “Wee Scapes” by SCP (Simi Creative Products) has brick sheets #00385. These are marked as 1:48 scale. In O, they are 7" by 1.5" thick, also a bit strange. In HO, they are 12" by 3" and still look OK to me, although I haven’t built anything yet with it.

The packaging and plastic is very similar with JTT and WS/SCP. Both are made in Vietnam; I suspect the same factory.

JTT has some stone sheets (sorry, no part number handy) that worked well for me and I built a couple of stations and part of my brewery from it. It’s a thin, sharp edged stone.

Wee Scapes doesn’t have anything like that, but does have Random Coarse Stone #00386 that I also really like. Just finished this warehouse, office, and coal bin complex made with it.

The JTT was $6.99 for 2 sheets at Hobby Lobby. The Wee Scapes is $3.99 for 2 sheets at the art store, so a considerable savings. YMMV

Keeping in mind that we’re talking about bricks, here is a pic of my still uncompleted brewery. It uses a leftover wall from the Walthers generating station, so of the JTT bricks here and there and that sharp, thin JTT stone I mentioned earlier.

I haven’t built anything with the Wee Scapes/SCP brick yet. Pretty much the same stuff as the sheets from JTT, except for slightly different dimensions. The mortar join

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The Walthers brick sheets are just a little more than .040" thick, and won’t likely require much bracing unless the walls you need require splicing sheets together lengthwise. Each sheet has a stepped-back extension along one long edge, which allows you to stack sections for taller structures.
If you’re planning to add windows, be warned that this is fairly hard plastic, and not that easy to cut. I’d suggest drilling a fairly large hole for any needed opening, then using a utility knife to carve away the remainder to square-up the edges. Another option would be to drill suitably-sized holes in two diagonally-opposed corners of the planned opening, then using a hacksaw blade to complete the cuts.
If you use a thinner type of brick sheet, such as offered by Plastruct, then a plain styrene core is pretty-well necessary (although I don’t think that Plastruct’s brick sheets are styrene). However, I’d use .060" rather than .040": it requires less bracing, but its thickness also makes strips cut from it useful as bracing, and it’s a lot cheaper than buying Evergreen strip for bracing.

Here’s a Walthers kit modified with Walthers brick sheet. The gabled end of the add-on portion to the left is sheet material, as is the sidewall of the shed-style extension along the track.

For the kind of building you want to construct, it’s much cheaper to buy your .060" sheet material as 4’x8’ sheets.

The long brick structure in this photo is a couple of Walthers warehouse kits, built with all of the long walls facing the viewer:

The unseen back and end walls are .060" sheet…

[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.c

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[:)]Thank you to everyone who was kind enough to reply. I will take a look at the MR article suggested (I misplaced my just-received May issue and need to dig it out so that I can read it!) and also check out what the hobby stores have. Your hints, and many of the pictures, are extremely helpful and inspiring. Thank you!