Thanks for the link Joe!!
jwse30 Another source for low cost buildings and possibly automobiles would be Goodwill or the Salvation Army or any other thrift store. I've been able to find a lot of ceramic Christmas Village buildings for a buck or two each and they are close to the right size for Lionel or Flyer trains. The toy section of the same stores can sometimes yield a car or two. It's also the right time of year to hit the department stores and craft stores and see what ceramic village accessories are on clearance for a lot off. I'll second what Becky said about Plastcville. Most kits that are either glued or painted can be had for next to nothing, and ones that aren't but are missing a small part or two don't cost much more. If you haven't built your benchwork yet and there are houses being built nearby, ask if you can raid their scrap pile for some lumber. Shingles from that same pile can be used as roads or parking lots. While on the subject of benchwork, buying a mistinted gallon of paint at the hardware store can give you a good base to start your scenery on. Paper mache seems to have gone away from model railroads, but it is still a cheap and easy way to make mountains and tunnels. Going back to that scrap pile at your local home builder may also yield some extruded styrofoam (the pink or blue sheet insulation) that you can carve into mountains and tunnels as well. I once made a factory by gluing some brick paper to a shoe box. I painted the lid black, and the sides of the lid beige. Then I place the lid over the bottom of the box. I printed some windows and doors and glued them to the box, and placed a scrap of 1x2 in front of it for a loading dock. You could do something similar with the cannisters nuts come in and either download paper of wooden slats to make a wooden water tank or just paint one to make a steel tank. Make a tower out of those wooden sticks mentioned earlier or possibly drinking straws, and you have a place to quench your steam engine's thirst. Legos and Lincoln Logs can be used for all kinds of things on a train layout if any of those are laying around. That's all I can think of for now... J White
Another source for low cost buildings and possibly automobiles would be Goodwill or the Salvation Army or any other thrift store. I've been able to find a lot of ceramic Christmas Village buildings for a buck or two each and they are close to the right size for Lionel or Flyer trains. The toy section of the same stores can sometimes yield a car or two.
It's also the right time of year to hit the department stores and craft stores and see what ceramic village accessories are on clearance for a lot off.
I'll second what Becky said about Plastcville. Most kits that are either glued or painted can be had for next to nothing, and ones that aren't but are missing a small part or two don't cost much more.
If you haven't built your benchwork yet and there are houses being built nearby, ask if you can raid their scrap pile for some lumber. Shingles from that same pile can be used as roads or parking lots.
While on the subject of benchwork, buying a mistinted gallon of paint at the hardware store can give you a good base to start your scenery on.
Paper mache seems to have gone away from model railroads, but it is still a cheap and easy way to make mountains and tunnels. Going back to that scrap pile at your local home builder may also yield some extruded styrofoam (the pink or blue sheet insulation) that you can carve into mountains and tunnels as well.
I once made a factory by gluing some brick paper to a shoe box. I painted the lid black, and the sides of the lid beige. Then I place the lid over the bottom of the box. I printed some windows and doors and glued them to the box, and placed a scrap of 1x2 in front of it for a loading dock. You could do something similar with the cannisters nuts come in and either download paper of wooden slats to make a wooden water tank or just paint one to make a steel tank. Make a tower out of those wooden sticks mentioned earlier or possibly drinking straws, and you have a place to quench your steam engine's thirst.
Legos and Lincoln Logs can be used for all kinds of things on a train layout if any of those are laying around.
That's all I can think of for now...
J White
Go to CG textures l think its www.cgtexures.com. From there you can copy and paste all kinds of images.
Sign up for the free membership and then copy the images into a word document resize if needed then print unto cardstock.
They have roads roof singles even manhole covers.
Joe Staten Island West
Firelock76 For some examples of Becky's absolute mastery of card stock contruction check out the December 2013 issue of "Classic Toy Trains," it's still available. Click on "Shop" on the web page top header bar and follow the prompts. I've still got my copy, believe me, this one NEVER made it to the recycle bin or the magazine table at the gym, it's that good. What you'll see in there will amaze you. Or, you can back-track through the "Forum" pages until you find the topics started by "Penny Trains," her handiwork's on display there too.
For some examples of Becky's absolute mastery of card stock contruction check out the December 2013 issue of "Classic Toy Trains," it's still available. Click on "Shop" on the web page top header bar and follow the prompts. I've still got my copy, believe me, this one NEVER made it to the recycle bin or the magazine table at the gym, it's that good. What you'll see in there will amaze you.
Or, you can back-track through the "Forum" pages until you find the topics started by "Penny Trains," her handiwork's on display there too.
Those are good tips too, Jim. Thanks!!
Thats a nice layout KRM! The scenes look good! Thanks for the tips too, I will use them!
KRM-I like the hanging deer!
Go out into the yard and look at the end of bushes for pieces that look tree like, take moss and add for foliage, and sculpty clay formed to look like the tree base. Some weed tips look a lot like small scale foliage, look around and keep an open mind. Cardboard structures are fun to build, look neat and are pretty cheap. Keep an eye on ebay for plasticville people, especially the ones that were poorly painted. You can get them really cheap and repaint them. Castrol super clean will usually remove the old paint. If you go to lowes or most paint stores they have paint that is good but the wrong color for the customer but could be just right for a layout and can be bought cheap. Go to where house or business construction is going on. Ask for permission to dumpster dive for building materials. Leave the dumpster cleaner than you found it and the contractors don't mind you salvaging materials, but ask first. You would be surprised at what gets thrown away.
Most of all be patient. Being in a rush is expensive.
Good times!
Jim
Lots of good ideas,I have had good luck with items from craft shops that would be used to make table flower type settings as material to build trees and other forms of ground cover. All of the materials around this pond are from craft material. That is John Deere green paint for the tree.
Here is some more trees.
Round sticks and hot glue work fine.
Sticks from the yard. Bake them to kill any bugs.
All of this stuff is cheap and you just got to look at stuff and think about if it will work.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
WOW Thanks Becky!! I will definitly look into the cardstock buildings!
One way to save money is to use cardstock kits. Even if you don't keep them on the layout permanently, you can do a lot with the free download and print kits that abound on the net. There's a list of free paper model sites at ss42.com that will point you in several excellent directions. Two of the best for "traditional" American downtown architecture are Build Your Own Mainstreet at http://www.illinois.gov/ihpa/Pages/default.aspx and the Easy Street Scene at http://www.bigindoortrains.com/. And you don't have to just use the kits as-is, you can use the doors, windows and architectural details on a model of your own design. A step up from here are sites that sell pm kits for download like http://clevermodels.squarespace.com/models-gallery/ and http://scalescenes.com/. No matter where they come from, these kits are almost infinitely modifiable. And very low cost, just ink, cardstock, glue, maybe a bit of corrugated cardboard or foamcore board as backing material and your imagination.
Another low cost method is to seek out not quite perfect plasticville kits at train shows or on Ebay. I built up a layout full with many costing 5 bucks or less. See the Cristmas Layout thread with pics of my bedroom layout featuring them. And while you're at it take a closer look at my Disneyland layout. It's 90% cardstock kits. Main street beyond the station was built from kits from the 2 free sites I mentioned above.
Some hobby shops are selling off their Model Power inventories at fantastic prices. Try looking around the net and see if anyone has the MP houses in stock. You might get lucky!
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Thanks Firelock!! I will give it a try!
For buildings try any of the close-out places like Best Buy, especially this time of year. With a bit of searching you may find layout sized items dirt cheap. Most will probably be Christmas themed but with a bit of modificationyou can make them do, for example covering the snow patches on the roofs with "grass" to make it look like moss. A lot of folks like to cruise the discount places for close to scale toy cars and such. Check the dollar stores too, you never know.
PS: Don't sweat scale unless you really want to. This is YOUR layout, do what makes you happy.
Hello, I am starting to build a layout but I am tight on funds for it, Does anybody have any tips or tricks for homemade scenery? Thanks!!
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