FREE HO Scale Shipping Containers

swampdaddy41

Active Member
One of the easiest of paper models to make are shipping containers. Dozens of sites have free ones, and dozens more sites paid ones. They are not very durable but are super cheap using your computer printer. I brace mine on the interior with basswood beams so I can handle them and move them around many times without damage.

Free ones here:
http://www.norbtach.nl/bouwplaat/index.html (really big site)
https://krafttrains.com/Paper_Struc...0ft_Containers/20ft_Containers-(HO_Scale).htm (big site)

simply google 'HO scale paper shipping containers" or other scale and hundreds of singles will appear. If you leave out the scale (or the word model) you will get billions of hits on all sorts of paper boxes, etc. You can find blank templates for making your own 'fantasy' containers.

have fun, Swamp Daddy
 

zathros

*****SENIOR ADMINISTRATOR*****
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To say there is a lot of stuff on that page would be the understatement of the year!! Great find!! ;)
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
Go here for a free 6 page pdf of 4-basic color generic containers:
http://www.combatstorm.com/downloads/containers-v2-001.pdf
these are considerably larger than HO so when you print them you will have to adjust the size to your own scale; also no bottoms included unlike most paper container images. However, these are generic colors with NO LOGOS so you can apply your own artwork to them in a photo program after first taking a screen capture of the color you want from the .pdf. I guess if you have a program to edit .pdf files you can co the artwork application in the original. though i always save the original to use later on for a different container, etc.

Have fun everyone, Swamp Daddy
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
Here are some more sci-fi containers at the Antenocitis Workshop, pdf files of the 10 "evil corporations", 28mm gammers and not dimension-ed like normal RR containers. Free to download at:

https://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/free-papercard-craft-containers/

Included are Skynet (Cyberdyne), Soylent Green, Umbrella Corporation, Coca-cola and other Sci-Fi games. Me thinks they left out OCP, US Robotics, the EPA, Microsoft, IBM and General Motors from their "evil" list. I may have to rework these into normal dimensions for use on my RR - :).

Have fun, Swamp Daddy
 
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swampdaddy41

Active Member
I spent a lot of time on making paper container images what I thought to be the correct size before printing. They came out slightly large compared to commercial plastic containers from Faller, Roco, Walthers, etc. I tried making them smaller and still all dimensions did not match commercial ones. Finally I wised up and used an HO scale ruler to measure everything. My paper containers came out slightly undersized in dimensions though still bigger than the plastic; however, upon measuring some of the commercial ones I found they were quite undersized (i.e.-a 20' container measuring only 18.5 feet, and height 6" off too. Each manufacturer had slightly different dimensions compared to the standard sizes of real containers. So, don't be too disappointed if your paper ones don't match your plastic ones in size. Just stack each type together and not too near each other.

Have fun modeling, Swamp Daddy
 

swampdaddy41

Active Member
Found another site aimed at war gamers and sci-fi gamers with lots of paper containers and other goodies. Unlike "Tommy Gun" where everything was on one gigantic page, this site is one item per page so you have to do quite a bit of page hopping to find what you might want to be used. Some containers are here at the Joe Dios site:
http://www.joedios.com/dioramas/showimage.php?i=1248&c=8
Be sure and search around for other items; many are usable for dioramas which aren't for gaming.

Have fun modeling, Swamp Daddy :)
 
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