building custom structures

[Anonymous]

I'd like to have some advice on how to build custom structures. Is there anywhere I can find some plans in the internet? I have some from MR magazine, but I want some more. Also, I do not have access to styrene for model railroads. I only have access to some regular plastics, wood, and materials in hardware and office/school/art supply stores. Can I manage to mimick brick walls with just printing them on paper and somehow applying them? Do you have suggestions? BTW, getting an ALPS printer and making decals is also not an option. Also, are there other techniques to mimick those styrenes?

[Anonymous]

People have done a great job building structures from wood, cardboard, etc. available from artsy-craftsy shops or just from around the home. I've seen some pretty neat structures made using cereal boxes as the main material! Go to the "N/Z Scale MOdel Trains" section of www.the-gauge.com and look for pictures posted by Matthyro for some good examples.

[Anonymous]

It's great to hear that there are people who have great success in doing structures from simple materials. :) I think it can be economical (and even more fun) to scratchbuild these structures. Probably I'll start looking for nice, hard, flat surfaces first for the basic structure. What material would you recommend? I'm thinking of some available plastic board or some thin wood(I don't know if we have balsa here in the Philippines).

[Anonymous]

Balsa might be too soft - I'd try to find something like bass wood, also available at the artsy-craftsy places sometimes. Depending on what kind of structure you're building, you might try cutting the basic shape out of a piece of foam and then just covering the foam surfaces with thin wood or cardboard. (Obviously if you're going to model the interior this won't work!)

[Sperandeo]

I suggest that you get the book, "HO Trackside Structures You Can Build" from Kalmbach Books. Even if you work in another scale or don't want to build any of the specific buildings it shows, you'll find that it shows a variety of construction techniques and materials that you can apply to your own projects. If your local hobby store doesn't have it you can order the book on the Train Shops section of this site.

Good luck,

Andy sperandeo
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine

[Anonymous]

If any of the stores near you sell the plastic For Sale or For Rent signs, these are a cheep sourse of styrene plastic............Jamie

[Anonymous]

I second that motion on the "HO Trackside Structures You Can Build" book. I have built an inexpensive turntable and a couple of other buildings because of this book! I love it!

MR and Kalmbach saved me some buku bucks against buying Walthers $50 turntable.

-Wolv33

[Anonymous]

check out this website http://www.horailroad.com/b_online_clinics.shtml
It has a article on using foamcore as a building material Mike Dickinson