General Discussion (Model Railroader)

I haven't dealt with their kits, but I have several of their material sheets (brick, stone, rusted corrugated metal) and they look very good.

Regards

Ed

I'm thinking of getting some of that Corrugated metal material sheets for my roundhouse removation as posted in this thread:

http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/1313451/ShowPost.aspx

Cheers,

Ryan

loathar wrote:

Is that $30/each just to download a building and print it out???

While I haven't checked out their website recently, the prices are for kits that you assemble.  I bought one a while ago just to see what they were like.  All shapes are pre-cut, such as windows, doors, etc.   Nice as they are I too questioned the prices.   They do make fine looking structures, I've seen some of their samples at shows.  You'd be hard pressed to tell they are flat paper until you were almost on top of them.  They come already weathered.

This company had a very good review in a recent issue of RMC:  http://clevermodels.com/

I have used their Corrigated roof material. They have two or three different degrees of weathering on them, you pick the one you like.

I used the medium weathering and it turned out great. I bought the cedar shake ones but have not used them. Note there is only one sheet per pack in the cedar and two sheets per pack in the corrigated. I have seen their buildings at convention shows and they look great.

Dave

I can't speak specifically to the Paper Creek models, but when you brace the corners and edges well, warping generally isn't a problem with paper models. I've seen plenty of paper models from the 1940s and 1950s that haven't warped, but they had lots of interior bracing.

You can brace the structure with basswood strips, and if you're really paranoid, artist's supply stores sell acid-free PVA glue (it looks like slightly thickened Elmer's). After assembly, you can spray the model with Krylon Fixatif, which makes the structure highly water resistant.

Size also matters. I've seen N scale layouts that were almost 100% paper models that had no problems. I experimented 2-3 years ago with paper models in O scale, and while small structures did fine, I had a real problem with larger structures (over 6 inches in length and width) warping. Had I braced them better, they might have worked out better for me.

I have used some of their pattern sheets, but purchased these at shows or from them directly receiving the printed paper. Quality is quite nice. For downloading, and more reasonable in terms of cost there is Scalescenes at http://www.scalescenes.com. They have lots of patterns all downloadable and you can print out as many as you need, whenever for that initial purchase. All it costs is toner and paper. File format is PDF and there are no editing options (unfortunate but understandable). In addition to patterns such as bricks, pavement, corrugated metal, clapboard, they also have some kits, including two free downloads. Note there materials are all scaled to 00, 1:76. Printing to H0, 1:87, is easy though. Select A4 for the paper and print at 87%. For more details see http://www.scalescenes.com/hoinfo/hoinfo.html. There is also a difference between UK N scale (1:148 I believe) and North American/Continental Europe at 1:160. The difference in scaling is still 87%...

In terms of working with card models, I have gathered a bunch of references to tutorials as well as having published one myself. Those can be found at http://www.philobiblon.com/eisenbahn/tutorial.shtml. I generally mount my paper on card of the appropriate weight which reduces potential for warpage. That said, I have had very few problems on my various project that can be linked to from my "Scratchbuilding" link.

Here are a few examples. The one at the bottom shows part of my n-scale module with a view of a retaining wall by Scalescenes (as well as corrugated fence and brickwork on the houses) and the germanicized Quonset Hut by Clever Brothers. The small industrial building was a kit that I expanded by kitbashing.

I love working with card. Very versatile. Doesn't have the (exaggerated) depth of patterned styrene, but with weathering and good technique can more than give it a run for its money. I especially like working with photographic images as in the case of the small grill.

Peter,

Thanks for the link to your site for scratchbuilding from card stock and the link to Scalescenes is an added bonus too.

Much appreciated!

Ryan