In searching the Model Railroader site, we found very little references to HO Plasticville and we were wondering if there was a sort-of unwritten 'stigma' about the line.
Granted, they are not scale and they do look toy-like. And, they may not be considered as "models".
Where, then, is their niche? As always, many thanks.
I don't know for sure, but I would assume their primary appeal would be to beginners or a younger audience. I would expect that a cheaper, more toy-like model would be ideal for use in a layout by children. Then again, I also think there's probably a market of modellers who buy the kits cheaply and then have kitbashing or detailing fodder.
Plasticville structures have their place on a non-beginner layout. A Bachmann N copy of a Plasticville store was just right to fill a niche in a small-town scene, where it shows from the back. It could easily be the back of a 1950s era convenience store. I should have toned down the roof.
As with most model railroad stuff, it is a matter of not being limited by using it "out of the box" and "as intended."
I have the roof of a Plasticville O-tinplate size "Frosty Bar" that Santa Claus brought my little brother about 1954 that I expect to use someday as the roof of an N scale warehouse.
True Plasticville began in the 1950's to compliment both Lionel and American Flyer train sets. The structures were built to a compromise scale somewhere between 1:48 and 1:64, so that they could be placed on a layout with either manufacturer's trains. That's most likely how the brand got its association with "toy trains".
I am not sure how faithful the HO offerings are to scale. As Leighant said, there is no rule that they have to be used just as they come from the box. An obvious starting point would be to upgrade the windows and doors. In the end a wall is a wall and a roof is a roof. It's all about how you accessorize it.
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
I have what is left of my Dad's set that I used with his O Scale and later my O Scale. It's more HO Scale in size but it gave me something to use with the train-set while running on the floor. It has it's place in the hobby for all ages based on what that modeler is looking for...
Darren (BLHS & CRRM Lifetime Member)
Delaware and Hudson Virtual Museum (DHVM), Railroad Adventures (RRAdventures)
My Blog
The HO Plasticville buildings I have seen are too small. A Plasticville Post Office, for example, was shorter in height than an HO scale U.S. Postal Service truck -- not realistic at all.
I have the church that is in the photo and it does not look too bad when mixed in with other buildings
Some ofthe Plasticville structures are reasonably to scale and well proportioned, some are not.
Those that are, the split level house, the house under constructiion, as two examples, can be nicely detailed and painted a fit into even the most "advanced" scene if they are the structure you need.
Many of them are way too small and were based on their "high rail" couinterparts with a similar reduction in proportion. A scale ruler and a basic understanding of architecture and real world demensions should be all that is needed to seperate the winners from the loosers.
Like so many other things in this hobby, it is not really fair to judge the whole Plasticville line based on those pieces that are way under sized.
Sheldon
I bought a couple Plasticville ranch houses when KB Toys were clearing them out for a buck. I am still not finished with them but here is how they look now.
I still need to add a mailbox, tv antenna, for sale sign and a window unit ac. A little more dulcote on the blue doors i think would be good too.
RMax
Plasticville structures, like all plastic structures need to be painted, especially those red roofs. One must look outside the box on these kits. Removing the ubiquitous "plasticville" and associated raised lettering is a must. Given the fifties look of some of those smaller stores, painting them to simulate painted porcelain and stainless steel helps. Changing doors, filing down window mullions help also. The barn and farmyard set is not bad, same with the gas station, but the back wall of the gas station has to be replaced or hidden, it's way out of scale. One of those small single story stores when placed between two or three story DPM stores don't look all that bad. Adding details will enhance them. There essentially what you want to make them. They are decent background type structures. mh
RMax has the right idea. Like many models, they are a simple, inexpensive form on which to develop a more advanced model. The paving, lawn, porch and awning above all make that simple ranch house into "someone's home" on his layout.
For me, part of the appeal of model railroading is the link back to my childhood, including some of the rolling stock and buildings I had on my layout a half-century ago. Three of those old Plasticville structures now form a string of shops at the back of my layout, integrated into a larger scene. They are small, true, but it works in a forced-perspective way, blending in rather than dominating. The aforementioned Post Office fits perfectly in this space. It's even got the original cardboard "interior" cutouts that fit into tabs behind the windows.
I already have the City Classics market just up the street, so I took the Plasticville market and turned it into a ski shop, complete with an interior. Inobtrusive by day, the illuminated store windows and low Cornerstone street lamps turn this small shop into a focal point at night.
These are no longer commonly available kits, and that's one reason that MR isn't going to have articles featuring them. But, I always look at these when I see them at train shows, hoping to find a few in HO scale that will fit some small corner and give me an hour or two of modeling pleasure.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I was going to ask a similar question about Model Power kits. It seems that there are kits available in a wide range of detail and pricing, from craftsman kits to Plasticville. As a kid, I purchased many Tyco plastic HO structure kits and back then they seemed pretty nice. But would they pass muster of my standards today?
I'm working on an HO scale layout based on the Baltimore waterfront of the 1940's. As I progress past track work, I find myself looking closely at not only who makes kits that will fit the Baltimore look and feel, but also the level of detail being offered at a reasonable price.
As a 3 rail O gauge modeler, I see more and more people moving away from Plasticville in favor of more detailed structures and layouts. But I find it ironic that HO modelers, UK subjects in particular, are starting to embrace a more toy-like look and feel. Nothing wrong with that at all. If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right.
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
Thanks to all for your posts.
Side Note: All the structures in my photo are dated.
The gas station sign says 27.9 Regular 32.9 Premium
I believe Plasticvilles were really meant for the younger set, and to go with trainsets, and even to accent the under-the-tree set. Back when green grass mats were the thing to put down on a layout table.
But that is not to say that experienced modelers won't find a need for them on their layout either.
They are cheap in price and so not as impressive on details, and size may be a little off to get those less than quality details to show.
By the way, it depends on what era you are modeling...your gas prices MIGHT be in perfect tune to THAT era! I dug out some old O scale stuff for myfather when he began to play withe old O scale layout my brother and I had as a kid. It said $399 on the sign. I thought ,oh wow right in tune with today's prices...THEN I realized it was $0.39 and 9/10ths!!!!
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
I think a problem with lower-priced buildings like Plasticville, Model Power, and even older Atlas, is that most of the time you see them wearing the colors they came in (like in the picture in the original post). If you take the time to paint them in more realistic, muted colors, and do a little weathering and detail work on them, you can often get a good building out of them in my experience.
I have had many plasticville buildings over the, well, decades and they were good enough. There's a site which pretty much describes all the O-scale Plasticville (it's a bit awkward to navigate), and many of those were scaled down for the HO kits it seems (including ones I had - Cape Cod House (I think the first one Bachmann produced), Ranch House, Factory, the Red School House, Split Level (this was actually pretty good kitbash material), the Gas Station (the rear of the Gas Station which someone complained about above was used by many other Plasticville kits, like the Hardware/Drugstore) I actually was able to make the New Car dealership look good in a new life as a Carpet store (I broke this decadese ago, oops, and couldn't find a replacement - the showroom part is available as a Hamburger stand, but I couldn't find the service section - oh well, don't need it nowadays). However, it was somewhat depressing last year when I saw "PRE-BUILT" Plasticville on sale. PRE-BUILT? How many parts does the Suburban station have? (I think 10). Oy!
JumijoBut I find it ironic that HO modelers, UK subjects in particular, are starting to embrace a more toy-like look and feel.
Here is the stock ranch house photo off the Bachmann site.
Here is mine on my 2x4 module
All I did was take a black marksalot to the blue roof and color it. I then gave it a thin coat of gunmetal paint and sprayed with dulcoat. I haven't even glued it together yet. The plasticville building is still stock. The illusion comes from the scenery around it. My mother was by and I told her I wanted her to look at a house and showed her the picture. She thought it was a real house that I was going to buy. I then told her the house was behind her and it's less than 2 inches tall. She sat and just stared at it. lol When that happens mission accomplished!
BTW It's only 11 inches to the back drop from the back of the building.
There's evolution at work here. I had a couple of those ranch houses in O-scale as a boy. I thought you'd added on the porch and awning, because mine never had those, and neither did the smaller one I got when I went to HO. I guess Bachmann did a bit of home improvement on this kit.
This P'Ville tower was a some trash that was given to me. One side was broken in two, and I glued it togethr. I replaced the stairs, and painted it. Then I added a few details. (You can see why I stopped using the flash on the camera if you look at the shadow of the roof on the background building.)
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Mister Beasley,
I think the kit came with a couple of lounge chairs and a small round table also. They were the same green as the awning.
While the detail of Plasticville kits can't really compare to today's structure kits, the more I look at them, the more impressed I am. Whoever designed them really had a good feel for architecture of that period. I've heard it referred to as streamlined, moderne or art deco, yet whatever you call, it the designer in many ways captured the look of buildings from the 1940s and 50s. They may not always be to scale and some parts were used on multiple kits, but someone was clearly looking at the world around them and made a good effort to duplicate it in miniature. So I now have an appreciation for them that I didn't have 40 years ago when I thought of them as toylike.
Jim
Ive been looking for a few of the Siesta Motel kits for a planned route 66 like roadside motel I want to build. The motel kit with the kidney shaped swimming pool. They do have potential if you paint them or use in kitbashing.
Here's the link I mentioned before - seems to list all the classic (O-gauge) Plasticville kits; the navigation thru the site is a bit quirky, but you can easilly get the hang of it. Since I had a number of HO Plasticville Kits over the years (Cape Cod, Ranch House - did come w/ Patio, table, & 2 lounge chairs (furniture was white, awning was green), Gas Station, New Car Showroom, Suburban Station, Split Level, Signal Bridge, Factory, and the rather silly two room red Schoolhouse), I will vouch that the O-Gauge stuff on the link does match the HO stuff, except for (obviously) size, sometimes colors, and occasionally the small detail parts (e.g. the Classic Factory has a clear double door entry, my HO kit had a opaque grey double door)..The guy (company? Tandam Associates) running the site buys and sells classic Plasticville kits, but I think only the O-gauge ones - he also sell some reproduction parts, usually common ones that get broken or lost from kits thru-out the years. The site is kind of fun once you get the hang of it, and neat if you like Plasticville... (and, really, who doesn't?)
My son has a couple of Plasticville models on his layout. As others have said, detailed, painted, and weathered, they don't look too bad.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
With a little work, HO scale Plasticville can look good:
I've always thought O scale Plasticville looked nice too (more so with the vintage kits):
Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, COClick Here for my model train photo website
I saw a layout made almost entirely of Plasticville models, the owner took great pains to repaint and remodel the kits, they were every bit as good a kits costing 45 times as much, He got a wad of them at a toy store closing years back for $20.00.
Chuck
Grand River & Monongah Railroad and subsidiary Monongah Railway
I have a simple, two word definition for Plasticville products:
Kitbash fodder.
But, then, I consider ALL kits and ready-to run (or plop) models to be kitbash fodder. There isn't much that can be put directly into my prototype-specific scenes.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I recently bought an N scale plasticville house, they have certainly improved in quality, with a bit of painting and weathering it will look good amongst my town.
James, Brisbane Australia
Modelling AT&SF in the 90s