Farm Buildings Pack Deal A
$14.95
COMPLETE PACK ONLYGrain elevator, barn silo, tractor shed, storage warehouse farm buildings. Fun to construct.
The pack on top of this page includes paper model downloads for a big red timber barn and a tall red grain elevator which can be assembled using discarded cardboard from the kitchen cupboard. The printable barn and grain elevator plans can be made from cardboard as ho scale farm buildings, or n scale farm buildings depending on the size of your model railroad.
The textures on these printable plans are wonderfully true-to-life giving the impression the timber farm buildings where constructed many years ago and have weathered wind, rain, extreme sunshine, and possibly even snow conditions. Indeed, they are very authentic looking HO scale and N scale farm buildings.
The grain elevator paper model is spectacular so we’ll talk a little about the history of grain elevators on farms in the US. A grain elevator is basically facility designed for the stockpile or storage of grain. A grain elevator is a tower with bucket elevator (or pneumatic conveyor) which scoops up the grain from the bottom level and delivers it in a giant silo or other such storage facility. Look closely at the scale model farm buildings here and you’ll see how big these structures can be. The pack deal on top includes a large red barn with silo and a very tall grain elevator half price.
How To Make HO and N Scale Farm Buildings With a Barn and Grain Elevator. 50% Off.
Typically, a grain elevator could also refer to the entire elevator complex which might include a receiving and testing office, even a weighbridge, and associated storage facilities.
Prior to the introduction of grain elevators, the grain was generally handled and moved in bags or sacks rather than in bulk comprising large amounts of loose grain. The Dart’s Elevator was an early innovation in Buffalo, New York around 1842 and 1843. The inventor was Joseph Dart, who was a merchant, and Robert Dunbar who was an engineer. These two gentlemen pioneered the marine leg, a device that scooped the loose grain from out of the hulls of vessels, before lifting it to the top level of a marine tower. Dunbar and Dart modeled their invention using the Oliver Evans steam-powered flour mills.
The earliest grain bins and elevators were constructed from cribbed or framed timber, so were vulnerable to fire. These days grain elevator bins, silos, and tanks are manufactured from steel or reinforced concrete. However the paper models on this page are designed using red timber textures to replicate the past.
As grain gets emptied from the tanks, silos, and bins, it is moved, often blended, and then weighted into railroad cars, trucks, or even loaded on to barges for shipping to grain exporters, wholesalers, and/or to local factories like breweries, flour mills. Download plans for these ho scale farm buildings and save half price.
The Basics of Model Railroad Mountain Building
Contributed By Dave Walker
For some railroad enthusiasts the thought of buying a pre-made mountain or mountain tunnel for their layout is anathema and they would never do it. What is important to these railroad lovers is both the authenticity of their railroad layout and the fact that they made most of it themselves from scratch.
So how does one go about the art of model railroad mountain building? It is not a terribly difficult process if you like to work with your hands and if determining the dimensions of your mountain through simple mathematics is within your capabilities. Will your mountain have a tunnel? That is the first thing to decide before you even consider purchasing the materials needed to build your mountain. Trains look spectacular weaving though tunnels and over bridges.
With our without the train tunnel, building your own mountain makes so much sense in several ways. First of all it will be considerably less expensive for you to build it than to buy it. Secondly if you build it, you can make it match your railroad exactly. If your railroad is a winter one, your mountain can be covered in snow. If your train layout is an autumn layout, your mountain can be covered in trees decked out in brilliant fall foliage. On the other hand if your layout is a summer one, those same trees on the side of your mountain can be brilliant shades of green.
Regardless of the scale of your railway, the basics of model railroad mountain building are pretty much the same. One of the most popular materials with which to construct your mountain is insulation foam board. This material and method of constructing a scale model railroad mountain has surpassed the more traditional wood ridged frame method, because it is typically cheaper and somewhat easier.
However, perhaps the cheapest way to make your mountain is with chicken wire and paper mache. For this reason, we will look at this way to construct a mountain.
Constructing a Mountain from Chicken Wire and Paper Mache
The first thing to do whether making a ridged mountain or one made with foam insulation board is plan and measure. Lay out where you want your mountain and then take the measurements for the size mountain you want. Now make the frame of your model train mountain by bending a molding the chicken wire. Make plaster slurry with flour and water or a watered down plaster mix. Tear one foot long, one inch wide pieces of newspaper and soak them in the plaster slurry. Piece by piece cover the chicken wire with the newspaper and glue it with plaster slurry.
Once you have completely covered the “mountain” and let it dry, now you need to cover the paper mache with a layer of modeling plaster, making sure your mountain is the shape you want it to be while it is still wet. Allow the molding plaster to dry before painting. Now the fun of model railroad mountain building shifts into high gear, as you can paint your mountain to match the season and décor of the rest of your train layout. You can also glue grass, groundcover, trees, stones, streams, anything else you want onto the face of your mountain. With the paper mache method of mountain making, the mountain will not usually be strong enough to support the weight of track and trains, so you will need to take this into account when considering design options.
On the other hand, if you make your mountain from either the insulation board or ridged wood structures, you will be able to lay and attach track to the mountain and run the trains without any issues at all. The paper mache model is purely for the decorative effect of your train layout. More details at NMRA divisions.
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