Model railroad buildings

Model Railroad Buildings

This article will briefly talk about producing realistic model train builds. Buildings are a great way to add some authenticity to almost any model train build because you can weather and season buildings for almost any purpose. For instance, when is the last time you have seen an unspoiled house in an industrial area? With a steady hand you can produce many effects that will enhance the overall look and "feel" of your scene.

There are two ways that you are going to have buildings on your model train scene. You will either buy them or build them yourself. The former is easier, the later provides more room for customization (eg, lighting). I prefer to build my buildings from scratch and that's what I will cover here. If you are interested in buying prebuilt buildings yourself, a simple engine search will help you!

To build a building, it helps to have some idea of what you want the building to look like. I scavenge the internet looking for housing plans I like then I scale them down.

Generally, when building these you should make them 2.5 to three times bigger than the train scale itself, since trains are about the size of a double-wide trailer, that should serve as a good measuring metric. When building my buildings, you may need to wire in some low-power LEDS.

This produces a very homey feel and the looks of a town that is actually alive, instead of a haunted town. If you want to get really creative with scenery building and lighting, you can put a photoelectric sensor between your town lights and your power source so they turn on automatically when the lighting level reaches a certain level (same thing as a night light).

Regardless of what buildings you use, lighting and fire will help make a homey, authentic town and great scenery landscaping!

Resources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKUhHcnBkYY http://ezinearticles.com/?Model-Railroad-Buildings&id=4427983

Thank you!