Constructing Splendidly Detailed Scale Model Buildings

Supplied by David Walker

The hobby of making your very own scale model buildings at home can keep you happily engaged for hours on end. If you like, you can make everything from scratch right at home. Of course, you would have to get a train set and all its assorted tracks, but you can make the scenery easily and at your own pace at home. Paper printable plans for HO scale industrial buildings can be downloaded.

So how far have you come in your scenery construction? Did you decide which era you want to depict in your model railroad scenery? Are you clear about how you plan to continue with your model railroad layout? Have you developed the basic layout and backdrops? Are you natural settings in place?

Once you have laid out the basic scenery, you would need to get into the detailed specifics. After all, your model railroad cannot simply comprise of natural scenery. It would also need to have various man-made things like poles, signboards, shops, houses, a railway station and many other scale model buildings. So how can you go about making HO scale industrial buildings and other background structures? Here are some suggestions to help you get started:

Should A Beginner Buy Scale Model Buildings In Plastic?

If you are new to building railroad structures, you can always buy yourself some starting kits. These plastic kits (although relatively expensive) will allow you to make your own scale model buildings with the given guidance instructions and provided materials. This process is not only easy, but is also fun and gives amazing results, although sometimes structures like this look plasticy and need a great deal of weathering to make them look more real. There are a variety of plastic models available in the market. You can buy downloadable scale model buildings (relative inexpensive) or plastic model kits, whichever suits your needs and budget.

Of course if you are among those who love to make everything on their own from scratch, then you can make the scale model buildings yourself too. Following are some ways to make scale railroad buildings at home:

Using Plastic Models

There are many plastic buildings available that you can buy and turn into a part of your railroad set. To make them look more lifelike instead of their typical shiny plastic self, you can paint it a rust color or some dark brown or gray color. One easy way to make the rooftops look rusted is to wrap the rooftop in a tin foil, soak it in bleach and then sprinkle some paprika on top of it. This will make it look like the roof has rusted. Spray some Dullcote to retain the color.

For Wooden Buildings

You can simply cut pieces of wood, or balsa wood in the shape of a house and insert them in your model. Paint windows, doors and other features to make it look more realistic. There are many times when you want to show a crowded background where there are lots of wooden model buildings. The easiest was to do this is by cutting out blocks of wood and putting them in place. You can even make the wood look old by using a pencil and lightly dragging it over the wood.

Building Models With Ice Cream Sticks

This may sound like something that a kid would do, but ice cream sticks make the best and strongest buildings. Not only are they cheap, they can also be painted any color and made to look from any time period. Collect a number of sticks and construct any building of any size as you need.

Cardboard Scale Model Buildings Made From Download Plans

This is an inexpensive and easy method of construction. You download the plans (the buildings are pre-weathered for you). You can use cardboard (cereal packs), cor flute, or foam core for construction. The completed scale model railroad building will look extremely realistic when finished. HO scale industrial buildings are perfect as 3D or background structures on model railroads.

Enjoy your railroading – operating trains is a wonderful hobby.