Anyone Make a Scale School House?

When I had an N gauge layout I made a scratch-built scale model of an elementary school I went to in the '50s.  I did research on three schools I went to as a kid and only one still existed.  This was 8-10 years ago - before google street view - but I found a satellite or aerial image or something on-line and got both the footprint and estimated dimensions from that, and details from memory and one old Kodak my Mom or someone had taken in front of the school. 

 

A scale, modern city or town elementary school, even a fairly "small" one by those standards, is a big building.  Not tall (elem are one, junior high two, high school three) but wide, and the playgrounds around it also large.  Even in N, with a compressed schoolyard, it took up a good five to six square feet of layout.  In O gauge, it would be way too big for me now.

Its funny thru the years that manufacturers have for the most bypassed hospitals,schools and libraries and most folks have to kit bash or scratch build the structure and yet they are a focal points in cities/towns, just not in the model rr world.

I too, think it's probably because of the space they take up.  We make room for large stuff that can be served by the railroad like factories, refineries, large stations, etc.  I would love to have the space for a nice school or hospital, but given a choice, I'll take a factory or freight station with a nice siding to shuffle some cars in and out of.

FWIW, I saw one from K-line about 5 years ago.

 

AF

 

Do you want it to be like the old fashioned school house type?  Or, more like a one-story "modern" elementary school?  I couldn't find any kits either.  However...being a fellow Marinite...I did find some great school house examples you could use for a kit-bash.  One is the school house in Marinwood.  The other is the school house in Nacasio.  Matt

I bet Alex Malliae can make you a nice school house.

BTS is in the process of developing such a kit - not available as yet.

 

I sent off an article to OST a few weeks ago on scratchbuilding one derived from the old HO Alexander kit.

Matt, that's what I'm looking for. I should have said that from the start. I was looking for a kit. It's going in the ghost town and will be falling apart. Thanks maybe I'll scotch one. Don

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Don

Decent,interesting church kits are also virtually non-existant.

 

That said, I just talked with Marilyn Krutt at Branchline (Laser-Art) and encouraged them to think about putting their HO schoolhouse kit on steroids and help us out.

 

In the short term, however, using the plans/views for an HO kit and scaling up the components for an O version is the way I'd go for now. 

 

Besides, with your talent, it's a no-brainer.

 

...oh, yes, and write it all down, take lots of pictures, send it to OGR for future publication!

 

KD

Don, Check out this site:

http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/..._School_House_Models

I recall the ConCor / Revelle modelin O scale had been listed on the bay for $100 early last winter.

Hope this helps you.

Thanks Kenn, I'll check it out. Don

I believe that those were HO models.  I do not recall either ConCor or Revell dabbling in O scale...much less a school house.

 

That's a great NEBW website per this thread.  Lots of HO 'patterns' to choose from.

 

BTW, this is the Laser-Art kit I referenced above...apparently released after the NEBW website was last updated:

 

 

FWIW.

 

KD 

Don, Hoping this might be helpful to you, I am showing you these photos of a DowntownDeco kit, intended and advertised for a different purpose, which I crafted as an old parochial school building. It is on the left of that church. However, I don't know if the kit is still available, but I figured these shots might tickle your imagination a little. It's actually much like a school I attended as a child (except for those gaudy signs.)

 

 

 

Here it is again, this time finished differently, though again as an old parochial school, for my own layout...

FrankM

I remember the building but not it's name. It's been out of production for years but I've seen it on E-bay a few time. What you did with it is fantastic. Thank you very much. I'll keep my eye out for it. Don

I'm very glad you like it, Don, and that you may find it helpful.

Frank

Frank.................buffet piglet?

I'm still laughing!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

You are a card.....You need to be dealt with. Don

 

Revelle did indeed make a one-time only VERY limited run in o scale for the schoolhouse I reference. That's why NIB it commands a premium price of $100 and above. Very rare indeed. Can't fathom why they never made it again except in HO.

Kenn

If you can't find a kit, check out Richard Kreig's work on Facebook at The Railroad Crossing.  He really does fabulous custom work and at very reasonable prices.  He's also great to deal with.   I met him this past April at York where he had a booth in the Orange Hall.  I had him build me a custom church from a photo.  He completed it and sent the church to me in May.  Fabulous!!!!!!!  I think you will like him and his work and his fees.  Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Good luck with finding your school house.

Cheers,

Patrick Whitehead

Mayor of Patsburg - Home of the Free State Junction Railway " Where the train always run on time" 

Both AMB and BTS offer a laser cut kit for a church. The last issue of OST had a review of the BTS church kit in it.

Martin...  You're right.  I forgot about the BTS church...it's nice.  The AMB is too....'ho-hum'...for my tastes.

 

Actually, when I made the comment, the subtle emphasis was on the adjectives, mostly "interesting".  This is what I would classify as an interesting church to model...

 

 

 

This 1938 project has intrigued me.  It's on my list of to-do's...since nothing as interesting has come along in the subsequent 75 years! 

 

I mean, after all how long should one wait for something of this sort to come out from the commercial world?  (I think it would be a 'trip' just to see a laser burner's X-Y table burning the stonework on a structure like this!!  You know, throw in the DVD of the kit's burn process just to entertain the relatives and get them off topic!)

 

 

Need a second cup of joe.

 

 KD

Yes, the AMB kit is underwhelming,

 

I think that the kit makers strive far to much to serve up unique and "interesting" and as such manage to avoid the reality that somewhat more common structures are what really occupies reality.  When you can look at layouts and identify the kits, that tends to indicate limited choices but also the penchant to sell us those unique structures; think of the Branchline Tower House kit, Saba Supply, Wicked Wanda's, etc. 

 

That is an interesting church - too big for my uses, but I'd do it in resin instead of laser cutting it.

 

I've bought some of the Pegasus Gothic Cathedral building sets - made for wargaming, etc., I get them at a local game/plastic model shop - for a bashed/scratch church project I am planning to start in a few weeks.  These are 1:64 scale but cathedrals are big, so they do very  nicely for making a 1:48 scale big churches. Pegasus make a variety of panels including arched church front doors, towers, etc., to put together whatever you want.   There are a few too many gargoyles, etc., cast into the panels but they are easy to remove and with less darkened paint, etc., I think my church will turn out nicely.

 

Lee....is the picture above your church you are working on....?

 

Alan

Good to see someone else using the Pegasus modular kits for O scale buildings.  I really like the kits and wish the concept would spread to other style kits. I know of DPM but not the same easy to use system the Pegasus kits are. Mine...I gotta finish!!!

No, I pulled that picture off the internet.  But it is a photo of the basic kit I bought put together by someone.   I have not opened my kit yet. I bought some extra panels to lengthened the church one or two bays longer.  

 

One note Lee....there are gargoyles in the kit but none are molded into the panels. All details, lamps etc are to be attached by the builder. Truly modular kits.  No window 'glass' is included but I am working on that.

I may put a few on - they're fun, but not too many.

 

Window glass is pretty easy to do - I still have a box of about 100 sheets of transparency plastic from way, way back before projectors for our computers - does great - at least with Ameritown and other "panel' kits.

Well, the artwork on the cover is...as usual...somewhat misleading, out of perspective, etc.,etc., blah, blah. 

 

The structure plan is for a building roughly 10"X18".  The bell tower is 4X4 and 18"tall.  That's really not that big for what, typically, would be a centerpiece in many urban areas.  Nonetheless, not all layouts could accommodate it, I know.  Even if the structure were cut diagonally, keeping the bell tower, to be placed against a back wall as a prominent background structure, it would be impressive, methinks.  Yes?  No?

 

The article is based on walls of Masonite that interlock and provide for the buttresses at the corners.  It's rather a nifty approach...easy to do.  However, whereas they advocate painting the stones onto the Masonite, complete with highlights of white on the top edges, highlights of black (shadow) on the bottom edges of each stone (I know Frank Ellison was patient and famous for this!!), my plan is to create thin resin stone 'chips' which can be pre-painted, weathered, highlighted en mass, and then glued to the mortar-colored Masonite surface, much as a stone mason would build it up.  Hey, not that much different than doing some jigsaw puzzles!!  I think I can roll out a layer of clay, lightly imprint a variety of stone impressions into the clay, pour a plaster master, then make a rubber mold from that from which I could then make a bunch of resin castings, keeping a thin 'flashing' connecting the stones.  These can be airbrushed, drybrushed, here-brushed, there-brushed to a variety of colors, broken apart, and then...with soothing classical music in the background and a glass of merlot close at hand...glue the stones randomly-yet-fitted onto each wall panel.  When done, it's done! 

 

The other thing I want to try is, starting with a rolled clay slab try lightly, evenly impressing a close-packed single layer of pea rock/stones of a reasonably small, 'scale-ish' size.  Make a master, mold, and resin castings with thin flash interconnecting.  It might make an easier laminate to the Masonite subwalls.  The disadvantage here, though, is that if you're seeking a variation in color stone-to-stone, the earlier technique might be easier than brush painting/highlighting each connected stone differently in a contiguous panel...which is what you're faced with using commercially available texture sheets such as Plastruct, et al, provides.  (The surface texture is often too shallow and bland for my tastes, though....but that's just me.)

 

Now I'm getting fired up, again, for this project!  Got to get it started.....soon!

So much to do....so little time.  (sigh)

KD

I own a 1 to 1 scale school house circa 1908. I wish someone would model it. Originally the roof was flat and had 3 chimneys coming out of it. Dimensions are roughly 75X78 2 stories. It has 56 windows,most windows are 51X86. Been working on this about 12 years now.