placeing buildings question........

[geepers]

hello everyone, it is come time to start placeing industries and buildings on my layout. im useing the 12" wide cork sheets to set the buildings on. is this the best way? i dont want them to look toyish, so i figured i would elevate them. will this method be sufficient to give the buildings a good look? also, after i get ready to add ground cover, do i add the cover, then add the buildings on top, or do you add cover around the building to get the best affect? any ideas and information are appreciated. thanks![:D]

[Javern]

I like to build foundations for my buildings out of strene and maybe sheets of faux stone or brick. I glue the foundation in place with little locator pieces of strene sticking a up then i can slip the buildings on/off with ease, add scenery around the foundation.
Having the buildings up on foundations make them look realistic, make it easy to take off to change a light bulb or add interior designs,

[orsonroy]

I prefer to make my building foundations out of 1/4"x1/4" (or 3/8x3/8) basswood or balsa strips. I place the finished building where I want it, draw it's outline onto the layout in pencil, and then glue down the basswood where I need it. I also add vertical lengths of wood at the corners to act as retainers for the building. Once the glue is dry, I slap on "foundation color", let the paint dry and add ground cover. Once everything's in place, I end up with a decent foundation and removeable buildings.

[Anonymous]

The main thing you want is to make the building look like it's planted into the ground and not floating on top. Be sure you bring the landscaping or sidewalks just above the bottom of the structure.

[cwclark]

I use styrene sheets for building foundations but you could glue it on the cork sheet...try to give it "forced Perspective"..on the wall, glue a paper building backdrop in place..then put flat building fronts or "flats" against the backdrop..then but in half buildings about 1/2" in front of the flats and finally full size buildings..try to run your streets off at angles so that they are longer than straight streets and streets angled behind buildings helps make the street disappear behind the building making another good "forced perspective" technique...chuck

[Anonymous]

There are lots of techniques for making foundations but I've not heard or read about using cork. I've used the thin styrene foan boards that you can get at Michaels or Hobby Lobby but the edges need to be hidden because they don't really look like a foundation wall. The basswood/balsa wood strips look good and you can use the eraser end of a wood pencil minus the eraser to make the wood look like stone for an older foundation.

[Jetrock]

I use the foamcore boards mentioned above as bases for my buildings. It works well, is easy to cut and is inexpensive. It can be stuck to the layout surface with Aleene's Tacky Glue or other white-glue/PVA type adhesive. Cork sheeting seems like an expensive way to provide a base for buildings.

One thing to think about is what sort of access/work area surrounds your building. Most buildings are not completely surrounded by grass--homes typically have a path and/or a driveway leading to them, businesses are often right up against the sidewalk, and industries can be surrounded by concrete, asphalt, gravel roads, or dirt paths (depending on industry, era and location) around them, rather than grass.

I typically map out roads early in the design stage--industries tend to be placed near roads, for car/truck access, so they're important to consider. For homes, I like to use Sculptamold to create a gentle slope from the sidewalk to the foundation of the house. Once it is dried, I paint it an appropriate dirty color (this depends on terrain--what color is your dirt? It isn't always brown!) and then add real dirt, dried and sifted, and glue it into place with scenic cement. This is followed by a coat of ground foam to represent the lawn, masking off areas that don't need grass (sidewalks, foundations) with painter's blue tape.

One note about the elevation of industries: If your building has a loading dock or freight doors, check to see if they are about the same height as the floor of your boxcars! This provides an excellent check of whether your building is at the right level. If it's too high, drop it! If it's too low, put another piece of foamcore under it!