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Over the past couple of months I've largely taken a break from metalwork - making a speed controller for my shunter, but also getting back in to 00 gauge railways thanks to some nifty ebay work!

It occured to me that in this new age of colour printers there must be cardboard building designs on line you can print out - and I was right. many of the free ones are, frankly, disappointing but a couple of the sellers of top-class models have some free downloads. Scalescenics stuff is really good - this low-relief warehouse is one of their free samples:

Just print it out and use pritt or similar to put on suitable thicknesses of card, and assemble, same as the old ones, right down to a felt pen for white edges! But beacuse you get paper thin sheets as well as card, you get things like wraps for door edges and capping stones, gutters and assorted signs. The models come with options (the one above comes with four different door styles). I'm impressed enough to want to buty some of the big models, which are very competitively priced (note that unlike the old card kits, if you screw up, just print another sheet!)

I built another scalescenic freebie, but I was so inspired I designed and made up a few models of my own, the biggest is this one of our house as it may have been when built in 1937.

I can't see the point of designing engine sheds, stations etc from scratch with really beautiful designs available at good prices, but just seeing how they are made is likely to encourage you to model your own subjects too!

More pictures in my 00 gauge album.

Neil

Looks good. Was thinking today though, I've got too many hobbies as it is, I need another lifetime

edit: I don't know how anyone can watch the telly anymore

too much interesting stuff out there imo

Edited By Ady1 on 09/06/2012 23:31:47

Stub Mandrel Have a Google for Micromodels. I ues to buy these things for 1/3d (or less.) You can still get them ob C.Ds

Rdgs

Dick

Thanks Dick,

Quite an eye-opener!

Neil

Micromodels, yes I remember those from my childhood and the difficulties of making them using the glues available at the time.

Think that the finished articles could be rather good, I expect they would be much easier to make with modern adhesives.

Printing up the paper for buildings looks interesting thanks for sharing that.

Edited By V8Eng on 10/06/2012 18:55:21

Just don't make my mistake of printing teh bricks at 2/3rds full size To be honest, it really doesn't notice a couple of feet away -you are looking for textures rather than perfect detail.

But now I can't drive anywhere without l;ooking at buildings and thinking... I've also realised Google Maps streetview and aerial views could be a really useful source of ideas!

Neil

Stub Mandrel

Over here in Hungary ‘N’ gauge is very poplar so as a treat for a few quid I bought them a CD, ok U.K line side things, which like anything not Hungarian they discarded. This is normal anything not invented or known in Hungary does not exist. However one lad wanted to model a particular station. he spoke enough english so I suggested that he took his digital camera and with a bit of ‘tricky-dickey’ stuff he used it to get images onto his computer.

The ‘tricky-dickey’ stuff involves the use of the viewfinder to nearly fill it with the image you want, then you pace out the building (write this down) re-pace so that you are at about the middle of the building and take a ‘happy snap’. You do this on all 4 (or however many faces you need) . Now comes the work, first you scale the thing you want to the correct(ish) size adjusting the other view to fit. Sometimes it takes a bit of use of the old ‘grey cells’ especially with roofs etc and then you add the ‘key pieces’ and away you go. The lad successfully made a model of Albertirsa Station on the Budapest to Szeged line. Unfortunately it included a dog doing something on three legs at the booking office door. This was only spotted by a ‘nurk’ at the exhibition.

V8Eng I always used ‘Secotine’ it was all I could scrounge. I used modified wooden spring clothes pegs to hold bits together.

I used clothes pegs as well, can't remeber what the glue was called but remember the card and peg being well and truly bonded on several occasions.

Like most of these things I got better at it with practice until Meccano and Keil craft got my attention.

Happy days.

How about the equivalent of the old litho waggon sides? I think it takes certain artistic skill rather than just making a low resolution image to get the effect of light on the bolts to make them look 3D.

I bought my flypress off a railway modeller and it came with diestamps for embossing cardboard for waggon sides. I gave them to a friend but wonder how it would work now with thin pastic sheet for larger scales instead of vac forming,.

Perhaps the computer element involved in this model making is a way to get a new generation interested.

Bazyle Yes it could be. Perhaps someone who wants to could write a short series or a little booklet for sale by My Hobby Store or W.H.S.

With modern bubble jet inks you can print on plastic. I once did a little job for a bus company’ they were supposed to cut the letters out and use what was left as a stencil. They actually cut the letters out and stuck them on the bus.

In the matter of the dog and the person who was belly-aching I pointed out to the lad who made the model that if the complainant looked carefully he would see in Hungarian ‘Wet Paint’ so the dog was only obeying orders. (Actually in Hungarian ‘that cat would not have jumped’ as they write ‘ Vigyázat Mázalov’ which means ‘watch it’!)