Look on eBay for old structures.
Kibri made a lot that can be painted and made to look good. I've found most of my layout that way. The rest come from craftsman kits. Muir makes some good ones as does Campbell. Again, eBay is the place to look.
What I did for weeks is look in model trains/HO/Building and Structures
It takes persistence.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
If you have any scratch-building experience or are willing to try your hand at it, there is a book called "HO Scale Wild West Structures You Can Build", containing materials lists and plans for 20 structures.
Contact Mark J. Bigelow, DBA James Publications, 1006 Landings Boulevard, West Palm Beach, Florida 33413. jamespub@aol.com 561-434-2944 Fax 561-434-1253
I don't remember what I paid for a copy, but it wasn't that expensive.
I'm in the process of constructing the buildings that are in this book, and the only problem I have encounted is finding a source of the materials because there are no hobby shops anywhere in Arizona that carry scratch-building supplies. The book lists the stock numbers and manufacturers of all the required parts, so I have at least been able to resort to mail order sources.
I don't know if this is the site you already found, or not. http://www.wildweststructures.com/ has a book of patterns for many old west structures, banks, hotels, marshall's office, livery, mercantile, etc. It is available in either HO or N. The pictures look like they are pretty decent. You would learn a lot about scratchbuilding, I guess. I have been sort of interested in something like that, too, but this is about as close as I could find to an old-west type of building.
Sorry I can't be more help.
FT
BTW, to the forums.
Ray Breyer
Modeling the NKP's Peoria Division, circa 1943
Just took a look at the info available on Virginia City, Nevada - a "Wild West" town still thriving on the tourist trade of the 21st Century.
The original construction was wood. However, the town burned while the mines were still profitable, so most of the reconstruction was done in brick and stone - a prototype for those masonry buildings sold for wild west consumption.
Looking at a couple of towns where there was no local source of wood indicates that a lot of the original construction was brick, and some was adobe. The adobe buildings have suffered over the years (it does rain in Nevada!) but a lot of the brick buildings appear to be structurally sound even after decades of neglect.
In California's gold rush country, where many of the mining towns were located in thickly forested terrain, masonry was less common - but hardly unknown.
The only place where the buildings seem to be primarily wood frame construction with tall false fronts is Old Tucson, just outside the modern city of the same name in Arizona. It was built as, and is still occasionally used as, a movie set - not the best recommendation for authenticity.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in Southern Nevada at present)
Wild West Scale Model Builders makes some very nice, old west style, laser cut, wood kits.
http://www.wildwestmodels.com/
cacole wrote: If you have any scratch-building experience or are willing to try your hand at it, there is a book called "HO Scale Wild West Structures You Can Build", containing materials lists and plans for 20 structures.Contact Mark J. Bigelow, DBA James Publications, 1006 Landings Boulevard, West Palm Beach, Florida 33413. jamespub@aol.com 561-434-2944 Fax 561-434-1253I don't remember what I paid for a copy, but it wasn't that expensive.I'm in the process of constructing the buildings that are in this book, and the only problem I have encounted is finding a source of the materials because there are no hobby shops anywhere in Arizona that carry scratch-building supplies. The book lists the stock numbers and manufacturers of all the required parts, so I have at least been able to resort to mail order sources.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
Woodland Scenics makes - or used to - a line of small metal buildings that are all "old west" called scenic details. I scanned the Guts & Glory labels & can't seem to get photobucket to take the upload - maybe tomorrow.
http://www.woodlandscenics.com/index.htm this will get you there! Scenic details are what they are called.
TwinZephyr wrote: Wild West Scale Model Builders makes some very nice, old west style, laser cut, wood kits.http://www.wildwestmodels.com/
I think Twin gets the gold star. Everyone should check out these buildings. They are exactly what I have been looking for. Some really nice stuff. Thanks
americandingo7 wrote: TwinZephyr wrote: Wild West Scale Model Builders makes some very nice, old west style, laser cut, wood kits.http://www.wildwestmodels.com/I think Twin gets the gold star. Everyone should check out these buildings. They are exactly what I have been looking for. Some really nice stuff. Thanks
They are nice, but if you have even a modest town, there are not enough. What about saloons, liveries, banks, mines, etc. You can't do it online, but check out the Campbell models. Same level of quality, with detail parts. The Muir models have more railroad related industries, like lumber and mining--don't forget engine service facilities. Their buildings are replicas of actual building. The same can be said for Durango models. There's a lot out there. Don't stop looking when you find a partial solution.
Finally got them to photobucker - these are the plaster models from G,G,&G