Ameritowne fronts

They are in fact very typical for a building "flat".  Approximately a quarter inch thick. 

Alan

The fronts are at most 1/4" thick  I purchased side piece, cut in 1/2, and did this detail.  Sidewalk and window detail are additional pieces.





A couple of fronts just sitting against the wall.

I always buy the entire kits even when I just want the front.  I cut window and door holes and fit window and door kits into a side or the back second to get two more "fronts" and use 1/2 to 1 inch sections of the final side (usually a blank brick wall) as short sides to give the three "front"s some depth. 

years ago I bought the entire collection of buildings for an extended scene. I cut 1" strips of pretty thick styrere and made walls and roof's. This also gave us the ability to add lighting.  I can't photo them today as it is part of the TMB train club and at the moment all packed away for storage as we ready our new location.

Steve

Mike....very nice job on those fronts.....

Alan

I applied my Ameritown building fronts, plus some other kit bashed parts, on 1"thick foam to give some depth. I then added some differential depth, removing the foam in some places, or using a different thickness. The end result in the pictures below use different scales O, HO and N to force your perspective. The entire wall of fronts is a max 1-1/2" thick, min 1/4" thick along the wall.

Very cool, but why are fronts so expensive.....double the price of the buildings.

Berg,

I think you might have looked at something in error, website says fronts are $12.95 each, same 3 story complete building will be some where in the $35 range. I agree with others, buy the entire building, that'll give you pieces and parts to work with.

here is a you tube link to some nicely done OGR fronts.

http://youtu.be/gaVjCzVxPJ0

I missed this thread previously, and now that OGR is running their $5 shipping special I'd like to pick up some Ameritowne fronts, side and/or full kits to construct a setup similar to either what Joe K or Mike CT displayed in this thread.

I was wondering, when Mike CT mentions the "window treatments" are extra parts, are those what OGR calls the "window graphics"?

Are the arched and pronounced lintels and ledges on the fronts molded in, or are they separate pieces?

If purchasing just the fronts do they come with the cornices as pictured on OGR? 

Lastly, are the wall seams or corners fitted or interlocking or do they just butt together?

Thanks in advance for any info y'all can offer!

Robert

You can do a lot with Ameritowne fronts. Window treatments such as shades, drapes, etc can be added yourself, or you can paste the OGR supplied graphics in the window openings. 

The window ledges are molded in, the cornices are add on pieces.

The walls butt together.

These are leftover pieces used to simulate a building behind a warehouse:

You can cut them apart and move stuff around to make them more interesting:

You can customize the industrial buildings with better loading docks than the supplied plastic ones and enhance them as much as you like:

You can also cut the sections to make structures to create a unique space. The background building in this scene uses Amritowne parts to a create a backdrop for the irregularly shaped and varied depth buildings in the foreground:

You can also take a bunch of fronts and make something imposing:

Take your time, figure out what you can do and don't be apprehensive about experimenting. They take paint really well and are worth at least painting.

Try not to be tempted to just glue them together without at least painting, the results will be disappointing. The progress pictures above show how this factory might have looked just be gluing the pieces together and slapping it in place. Painting and however much detailing you can muster really makes a difference.

 

You do nice work, fella . . . 

Thanks Frank

Mike 

Thanks for the info guys, it's very helpful!  I'm placing an order with OGR.  Great work on y'alls buildings.  This thread has lots of good ideas for creating a suburban scene on the edge of my smaller 4x8 layout with the use of 1/2 buildings, fronts and 'bashing'.

That huge Lionel Factory is impressive Frank...the shape reminds me a bit of the Fort Worth T&P Terminal...

What I particularly like about Ameritown is that the fronts (and sides, and backs) are tick and heavy enough to provide support and, if you miter them straight, to glue and hold to make corner angles well.  Most of what I own have been bashed like this, my favorite recent building. It has nothing internal for structure - depending on the building fronts, sides, etc., for all its strength.  Just a scratch evergreen plastic roof façade and them foamboard roof painted tarpaper like and plastic windows and details added, with the interior, etc.  worked out great.

Someday when I have time on my hands I want to do The Warehouse @ Camden Yards as a building front.  I'll have the perfect spot for it.

Well, that is an ambitious project, that's for sure.  It would take up a log of room, too, although the building, as a backdrop alone, would be fantastically imposing.  Awesome!

Lee I have some good pics of the warehouse that I took and plan to have them stitched together to make a 36" x 18" backdrop.  Also I'm planning to make these Baltimore brownstones into fronts.

Those are beautiful.  If you make them, please post pictures; I would love to pick up some pointers on how to make buildings like that. All three are just fantastic.  

Thanks.  I copied and am saving the picture in my good ideas file, BTW.

Lee, that vet/taxidermy office is great. I'm still laughing.

Lee,

how did you fabricate the turret and diagonal corner entry?  It looks as if the adjacent walls are full building wall sections,  the turret and diagonal entry would alter the 6x6 Ameritowne footprint so how did you complete the opposite corner?

Joe

Lee the turret and diagonal corner is absolutely fantastic.  We have many of those in Baltimore and they add a great deal of charm and character to the buildings and our city (CHARM CITY).  Most were built in late 1800's to the early 1900's and were the original townhomes for the rich.

When I start construction on the Brownstones I'll post my progress.

I hope this is clear:  as I recall, I . . .

• First, planned the building to have 1.5 inches of diagonal width where the doors are (below the turret). A little geometry calculates that means each of the two short sides of the triangle formed by the portion of the building footprint that is not there is about 1 inch.   Before assembly, I cut each of the two pieces that would have met at that corner had I not cut them, marking each that roughly 1 inch short of the corner, then cutting them.  
• I next made the one story high section with the doors.
• I made a plastic base or floor section, out of 1/16 inch styrene sheet (thin but thick enough to do the job, that was the shape of the footprint the building would have, and glued the building panels together and to this bottom piece, along with the door section in its place, creating the five-sided building without the turret or roof. 
• I added a couple of crossbraces behind and across between the two sections at the cut out corner to position them vertically and true, etc. I now had a five sided building on the first floor with a slot at a cut out corner.
• The turret is a 1.5 in diameter or so (can't remember exactly) piece of PV pipe.  It is actually the second attempt - I bought about 3 feet and experimented cutting and trimming the window holes before making the second, which is on the building.  It is still a fully-walled pipe round pipe with only the spaces for the windows cut out, and this pipe fits into the cut-out section of the corner above the doors, and is glued in place (epoxy).  
• The curved windows are created by rolling up a five inch or so wide length of clear plastic, shoving it into the PV pipe, and letting it unroll to press itself flush against the walls.    
• I then made an insert with round floors that fits into the turret from above with the furniture and people you can see through the windows.
• the roof is a small funnel I bought at a kitchen supply store, with the end cut off.

Thank you Lee.  Your description is very clear.  I couldn't tell from the picture that the walls adjacent to the diagonal door had been shortened.  I like the funnel for a roof.  I probably would have tried rolling a cone out of card stock or some very thin styrene sheet without success and wound up very frustrated.

Joe

With a couple backdrops and the fronts I tried to creat some depth in a shallow corner.