Peter's Model Railroading | Articles | Structures | Background Building #2
Introduction

I had some thin background space to fill in one of my previous layouts, so I decided to build something from scratch. In among my collection of downloaded prototype photos, I found this one. It is a 2005 photo taken in Canonsburg at the modernday version of the Chartiers creek. The back of the white building looked interesting to build, so I decided to create one that was just about an inch or two deep. After I had completed this model, I learned that it is the back of the building that houses the Russian Brotherhood Organization (a national fraternal organization) in Canonsburg. This article shows that, with just a few pieces of material, you can build a small background building.

(external link: The P&OC in Canonsburg)

The first step was to take a sheet of 0.040" styrene and mark the dimensions of the back of the building and the two sides. It is a shallow-relief building, so only three of the four sides will be modeled. I am making it 30 scale feet tall, 40 feet wide, and 8 feet deep.

Using the score-and-snap technique, I created the three parts. The roof section in the photo was later on discarded.