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Structures Articles

A Building for a Century

An unusual article about how to move a building through 100 years of use and disuse, and how to model that.

A Northeastern Corner

The structure of a street corner shop came from three kits. The article includes diagrams of the major parts donors, and the dimensions of the final structure.

A Tar Paper Shack For Your Layout

A simple scratchbuilding project for beginners. Scale diagrams and final photos of the project are included.

A Trio of Structure Details

Vacant building that has "for rent" soaped into the windows. Clothes hanging on a line. Exterior hanging plants.

Add Variety with Stucco

The author shares his technique for simulating a stucco wall texture, with some brick showing through.

Atlas O Scale Control/Signal Tower Conversion to S Scale

Despite the kit definitely being intended for O-scale, the author still managed to make it into a reasonable model for S.

Background Buildings, Flats and Philosophy

The author presents many ideas about how to make thin background buildings look more three-dimensional. He also discusses forced perspective.

Basic Techniques for Painting and Finishing Structures

Styrene surface preparation and priming, finishing white styrene to look like wood, base-coating plastic structures, staining wood, finishing wood structures, painting metal, finishing metal structures, painting and detailing structure exteriors, handles and hinges, base basics, detailing bases, scenery and junk-filled bases, and figures.

Basics of Kitbashing Plastic Structures

Step-by-step instructions on kitbashing a structures. Subtopics are: Surveying the site, cleaning and cutting walls, assembling walls, roof and painting, roof details, and final details.

Bike Shop - Post Office

Using a Banta Modelworks kit that is no longer available, the author shows how he builds hydrocal structures. The article covers walls, brick, concrete, stonework, decals, windows, and doors.

Bricks and Masonry

Practical modeling ideas for brick buildings.

Broadway Posters for Your Layout

This page contains sample posters used on passenger station platforms advertising the latest Broadway show.

Build Great-looking Structures

The author shows his construction techniques as he builds a track-side warehouse.

Building Paper and Cardstock Models

This article covers the gamut of topics related to creating paper-based models.

Building S Layout

Mistakes made in lighting the interior of buildings. Installing signs on the layout. The state of the 1:64 vehicles. Preparing figures before placing them on the layout.

Building the Ellisville Elevator

In this installment the author actually builds the model. Construction photos accompany the article. There are also scale drawings included, as well as a sidebar on the inner workings of a grain elevator.

Canadian Pacific Railway Number 1 Oil House

N-scale drawings of an oil house.

Cardstock and Strathmore

Making buildings out of these two materials.

Coloring Brickwork

The author provides his step-by-step guide on how he paints brick walls for his structures.

Conquering Insulbrick

Modeling the pre-WWII asphalt sheets of faux-brick siding that was used on frame houses in the Northeast and Midwest. The article includes prototype and modeling photos.

Delaware, New Jersey

The text covers the history of this town and is accompanied by many old photos of the station, overhead view, and a scale drawing of the station and the trackplan of the area. Also includes photos of DL&W and PRR trains in the area.

Detailing Rooftops

Many photos of ideas for rooftop accessories to structures.

Details, Details, Details

Ideas for giving the impression that a building's interior is detailed.

Doors, Windows, and Details

Scratchbuilding supplies for scale doors and windows. Includes several nice finished models.

Double Hung Windows

How to construct double-hung windows for wood-framed buildings. Includes drawings, with a sidebar on how to cut cardstock.

Double Hung Windows

How to construct double-hung windows for masonry buildings. Includes drawings.

Drop-in Street Scenes

Creating small street scenes on a piece of styrofoam insulation so that it can be easily dropped into a layout.

Elevate for Visual Variety

By simply placing a structure on a piece of plywood and filling the surrounding area with scenery we can avoid the flat ping-pong table look on our layouts.

Five Businesses for Strong

The author describes five businesses for his On30 South China & Sheepscot layout. They include a general store, a gas station, a garage, a fast-food place, and a post office. Prototype and model photos are included.

Forced Perspective

Forced perspective can be created by building smaller-than-scale structures and trees.

Foundations and Bases

Making foundations and bases for structures, such as gluing structures to a mini base, which is later integrated into the layout, or leaving the bottom open for speakers, interior lighting. The author describes several methods he has used for building foundations.

From The Beginning

The article covers the author's opinion of why we should consider scratchbuilding.

Front of the Layout Vignettes No.22

This installment covers the second part of ice and the railroads, specifically artificial ice.

Ice Cream: A Can, a Bottle, and a Bucket

How to model structures from the 1930s and 1940s whose shape matched the kinds of items they sold, such as an ice cream stand that looked like a milk can. Several prototype photos are included.

Innovative Diorama

Shows the incredible detail of a rear-building loading dock, with a single LED lighting the entire area. The author has a company called Ngineering.

Insurance Mills

Prototype and model photos. Using a Walthers Front St. Warehouse as a starting point. Slow burning or mill construction drawings ca. 1908.

It's a Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

The author cut City Classics three-pack house kits in half to create 6 homes. He added different touches to each house, including a complete backyard for each.

Jeff's Junction

The author is making a case for manufacturers to start producing S-scale plastic structure kits.

Jeff's Junction

Considering adding animation, such as movement, lights, and sounds to your structures.

Kitbashing a Mill Owner's Mansion

The author disassembled an N-scale model of the White House and converted into a HO-scale mansion.

Kitbashing Four O Scale City Buildings

Taking four identical kits and transforming them into unique buildings.

L-aborating On The Farmhouse

Adding lots of details to the classic AHM/Revell farmhouse. Two kits are required to create the model build by the author.

Large Projects

Dealing with building those very large structures on your railroad, such as roundhouses, large passenger stations, or long trestle bridges.

Large Projects Part II

This installment covers how the authored dealt with building a large 32" by 48" stamp mill complex for his layout.

Letterbashing

Using computer graphics software, the author created letters for his structure that needed their own custom spacing and had to fit within the structure's design elements. Also covers small shop signs, factory signs, and dealing with specific letters.

Lighting and Interiors

Building interior details of structures or cabooses is a waste of time if the viewer can't see them, or if it requires you removing the roof so that the viewer can admire the details. He describes his viewpoint of either building contest models (where roofs can be removed) or building model for the layout, where interior details only matter if they can be seen (e.g. via interior lighting).

Lighting for Realism

Al Kubicka's HO-scale layout was designed to allow for both day-time and night-time operation. The article describes how he prepared the layout room, and how he does the street and structure lights. Includes lots of tips and tricks for bringing realism into the layout with lighting.

Lintels and Sills

How to scratchbuild window lintels and sills. Lots of drawings of all different types.

Make Your Own Shingles

Create diamond pattern shingles gummed paper.

Making Brickpaper with Colored Pencils

Quickly create brick paper by placing a sheet of paper on a piece of plastic brick and rubbing a colored pencil over it to leave an impression of the brick.

Making Joints

This column is a follow-up to the June 2005 column about how to make successful joints in structures, in which the author describes additional thoughts about how to construct walls, trestle bents, and some of the tools he uses.

Measuring Structures

The author, an architect, describes various methods for how to measure prototype buildings.

Mocking up a Scene

Using cardboard to build the rough shapes of structures to see if they will fit on the layout. It is easier and cheaper to modify them before spending time building the final building.

Modeling a Water Crane

A simple project of a watering crane used on the two-foot gauge Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes in Kingsfield, Maine. Period prototype photos are included, as well as scale drawings, and completed model photos.

Modeling Board-and-Batten Structures

Creating homes and a church using either basswood or styrene. Detailed instructions, many photos, and a scale diagram for the church.

Modeling Ridge Shingles

The author shows and describes how to use automotive putty to model ridge shingles on the roof line.

Modeling Stone Walls

Creating and casting a stone wall for houses or retaining walls. Explains how to do curved walls.

Modeling Tar Paper Roofs

How to make convincing tar-paper roofs.

Modifying Doors and Windows

The author describes various means for modifying commercially-available door and window parts.

Multi-Purpose Shed

Instructions, photo, and drawings of a generic shed building.

Oiler's Ready-Mix & Building Supply

The article describes not so much how to build the buildings, but how to make space for them in already established scenery. Includes many photos.

OS from S Tower

Although a number of craftsman-style kits are available in S, the author proposes that cheaper plastic kits, similar to Walther's HO-scale Cornerstone ones, are needed in S-scale.

Painted On Signs - Revisited

Using onionskin (a very thin paper) to make signs for buildings.

Painting Signs on Buildings

Painting a drop shadow on stenciled signs to give buildings a vintage look.

Plans from Pictures

Geometry is explained to build scale drawings from photographs knowing the heights/widths of some of the items in the photograph.

Plastic Kit Basics

The basics of how to build a plastic kit

Plasticville, USA: Symbol of Postwar Bliss and Contentment

This article covers the history of the Bachmann company started in 1833 in Philadelphia, PA, and how they eventually started producing the Plasticville, U.S.A. product line. Includes many photos of the models.

Product Review Double Feature

Gerry reviews the NASG Brick Building and the Smoky Mountain Model Works GE 77-tonner engine. Both are new kits.

Published Photo To Model

The author shows how he built a model of the general store at Nella, North Carolina.

Really Obvious Tips

Printing a scale drawing to make sure the structure fits.

Rear Walls

Showing the rear wall of structures presents a different opportunity for modeling.

Rooftops - The Wasted Space

Adding details to the roofs of buildings.

S Tracks

The author shares his opinion about building kits by various manufacturers.

S Tracks

The author describes 6 details that will make a difference in a structure model.

Sagging Roofs the Easy Way

In this article the author describes how he models a sagging roof, how to show protruding rafters, how to do tar paper roofing, and how to model metal walls for a lean-to.

Scale Scene

The author advices about the pros and cons of 1/64"-thick plywood that is commonly used for laser-cut structure kits. He then reviews four of the kits made available GCLaser.

Scale Scene

The author discusses S-scale windmill kits.

Scene Around The Layout

The author uses HO-scale structures that he feels are large enough to be of use with his small S-scale layout.

Scratchbuilding in Another Scale

The author discusses occasionally building something in another scale to not only keep your interests high in the hobby, but also to gain a different perspective and learn some new techniques.

Signs

The author discusses various ways we can make signs for our structures, including using a digital camera.

Simple Kitbashing

The article covers a couple of simple techniques to apply to commercial kits to make structures look different, such as painting, leaving off certain parts, renaming, or adding parts from other kits.

Simplifying Hip Roofs

The author describes how he makes hip roofs.

Sixty Years Building with Wood

The author describes how his preferred model-building material has always remained basswood, and he's built a hundred models using that. The accompanying photos show his first and latest model built.

So Here's What I Do

The author shares how he creates signs and shows examples of them on his layout.

So Here's What I Do

The author shares how he does structure window and other signs.

Some Structures for the Gold Hill Central Part 2

This installment describes the various structures built for the 5' by 8' layout. Most were kitbashed and so the article includes diagrams of how various parts were combined to create the unique structures shown in the photos.

Some Tips for Detailing Structures

Not really a separate article as such, but it deserves attention. This article gives lots of tips and techniques about detailing, painting, and weathering DMP structures.

Structures as Background Scenery

Using N-scale structures in the background of an HO-scale layout creates a forced perspective.

Structures on the D&S

Several structures on the author's layout are featured because of how he modified kits to make them unique.

Styrene as Weathered Wood

This article describes in detail how the author makes white styrene look like aged wood. The finished product looks amazingly real.

Styrene Tips

Tips and tools needed for styrene construction.

The "Blue Plate Special"

Independent roadside eateries.

The Back Side of Buildings

Photos of the back side of buildings that reveal severe weathering and older industrial structures.

The Cheltenham Granary

The author describes how he modeled a granary that used stone walls for the lower half and exposed cribbed wood walls for the upper half. Includes a sidebar on crib joints are made. Includes many construction photos.

The Eastwyck & Fensterstock Construction Co.

The author describes how he built a structure and diorama because of his interest in construction equipment.

The Houses of El Dorado

Simple, inexpensive, yet elegant homes of railroad employees and their families on sloped terrain.

The N Scale Burlington Northern Part 5

Description of the structures used on this layout, with emphasis paid on a feed mill, modern plant, an Inn, a bar, and a 3M plant.

The Recycled Theater

Modeling a contemporary CVS Pharmacy store in a building that used to be a movie theater. The articles includes N-scale drawings of the building which was completely scratchbuilt from styrene.

The Straight & Narrow

Tips and tricks for building structure kits.

The Tank at Pepito Tey

A water tank in Cuba. The article contains model photos and a detailed drawing of the parts.

Thinking Outside the Blocks

The author describes how he uses Lego® building blocks to construct inner foundations for structures, as temporary stand-ins for to-be-built structures, and for building interior details.

Thoughts on Scratch Building Structures

This article shares how Larry Blank goes about designing and building a scratchbuilt structure for his layout, of which he has many. Includes quite a few progress photos.

Tips By George

Tips for how to make city structures look old. Includes two photos of George's layout.

Tissue Paper Signs

The author describes how to make computer-printed signs out of tissue paper.

Unique Structures

The author covers a number of unique structures he has built for his layout.

Using Styrene

This is an introductory article about why and how to use styrene. It discusses the benefits of styrene versus some of the other building materials. There is also a short discussion on which glues to use with styrene.