Started a new structure today

[Gary S.]

I've been putting off building structures for awhile. Funny how things go. Sometimes all I want to do is weather some rolling stock, other times all I feel like doing is laying track, other times I just want to run trains, sometimes I only feel like thinking or reading about model trains.

I finally started on what is supposed to be my potato packing house to semi-mimick the Mountain Home Potato factory down here near where I work (photos in the Trackside Industries forum). However, I may just make this a warehouse and not put in all the equipment on the outside. I'll decide later.

Anway, I like to build my structures on the robust side, so I can move them and not worry about them falling apart. Here are some photos of the internal structure made from wood and plexiglass. I'm kitbashiing a structure from Nu-Line Structures, the Rear Background Warehouse kit.

 

[Gary S.]

Oh, and isn't it great to have The Gauge so we can show off our work and our extreme skills to satisfy the ego, no matter how bad or good the work may actually be?

 

[Ralph]

Yes it is Gary and you're looking good!
Ralph

 

[bigsteel]

i bet you that building would survive a bomb!lookin cool gary--josh

 

[jbaakko]

And I thought my buildings were "robust", that just outdoes it! I usually stick to 3/32" thick Balsa!

 

[Gary S.]

Here's a couple more pics of the progress. It is all nailed, glued, and screwed together. Now just needs doors and detail parts and lots of paint. One reason I like them to be rugged is I will be taking my time getting them all painted and detailed and weathered, but I still want to use them on the layout now... so they will be getting handled quite a bit.

 

[Nomad]

Good looking building Gary. Are the other buildings built the same way?

Loren

 

[Gary S.]

Well. so far that building is just a generic industry... it needs some details and a really nice paint job.

As for the rest of the structures, I have used different techniques and materials. Most of them have bases made of some left-over materials from when we put the flooring in our house. It is that fake wood floor stuff that interlocks together. It is an engineered wood product, very hard and resilient, and I am certain that it will resist warping very well. It is almost like "plastic wood" or something.

The Walthers Red Wing Milling structure was kitbashed to make it over twice as long since it is a building flat. Both the roof and the base are made out of the left-over flooring. To raise the floor level up to the bottom of the doors (so I could have some of the doors open) I used some of that Elmer's foam core poster board stuff. It was the perfect thickness to build the base up to the door level. On the roof, I covered it with masking tape and painted it black.

For the silo platform, I cut up some 1x6 and screwed it together, then covered it with sheet styrene. For the legs, I used square tube styrene and attached them with long sheetrock screws into the wood.

The silos were bashed from 4 into 8 by not completing the back and adding some I had in the scrap pile. The inside was reinforced with plastic sprues.

For the grain elevator, I bashed a walthers kit and a LifeLike "supply house" kit. For the base, I again used the floor board for the base with foam poster board to raise the inside level.

Since my buildings back up against the backdrop wall, I don't bother using the backs of the buildings.... I simply use some of the foam poster board as the back, glued with Aleen's Tacky Glue (I love that stuff). I save the backs to either extend the front length, or put them in the scrap box for future projects.

Here are some pics.

 

[Gary S.]

Some more:

 

[Gary S.]

I generally feel more comfortable with skil saws and sheetrock screws, a drill, and a hammer. I guess that is why I build stuff like this. Now, I just hope I can manage the teeny detail stuff and make it look good. That part is still down the road. I intend to get all the basic structures built before I go back and start detailing and painting everything up all purty.

Oh, one more, the building I started today was just a tad warped, so I had to straighten it with a rod and a nut.

 

[Gary S.]

And as I mentioned previously, I enjoy having the Gauge to share these things, whether good or bad, and whether y'all are bored to tears or not!

 

[Nomad]

Amazing what you can do with left overs from a scrap box. Some great ideas there. Thanks for the pictures.

Loren

 

[Gary S.]

Loren, did you get anything done this weekend?

 

[Glen Haasdyk]

Thanks for the pictures. The stuctures are very impressive and you seem to build quickly. I've been on the same sawmill for 3 months!

 

[cnw1961]

And as I mentioned previously, I enjoy having the Gauge to share these things, whether good or bad, and whether y'all are bored to tears or not

Gary, that’s not boring at all. The backsides of your structures are as interesting as the fronts and reveal some good ideas. Thanks for sharing.

 

[doctorwayne]

Some good ideas here for making larger structures that won't fall apart when you move them, :thumb: :thumb: and also some useful ways to get extra mileage out of the boxes of parts that some manufacturers market as kits.

Wayne

 

[TruckLover]

WOW someone has been busy!!! sign1

Nice stuff you got there. That kitbashed Nu-line Structures building looks good!! Never will know that the internal structure is wood and plexiglass lol :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Let's see some more

 

[Gary S.]

Thanks for the comments! Last night I was busy shuffling parts around for another kitbash. Darn, I can't even remember the name of the kits now, they come in little flat boxes as "2-bay warehouse module" and "showroom module" and such. Actually some pretty neat stuff when you take into account the LHS had them on sale for 1/2 price.