Building Flats

You are in luck! There is a ton of product out there.....Korber, Buildings Unlimited and TW TrainWorx to name a few.....Plasticville buildings, painted and placed where there smller size isn't noted are also fine.

These are pictures from something I built 25 years ago.....this layout came down in 2003-04.....

The buildings you see behind the Big L Diner are are DPM and Buildings Unlimited flats.....

Flats plus some buildings that stick out a little.....see all the Plastiville structure pieces.....that's a Lionel airplane hanger cut in half. A Buildings Unlimited flat and some scraps from a factory kit. The off-white building flat behind the control tower is made from Plasticville school house pieces (an idea from the old Greenburg Show traveling layout of the 80s, 90s).

Note....the sign on the diner was my reaction to Lionel's announcement of moving production to China......

You can see the "end on" view of the DPM flat. I used a attched to the bracing to hold it up.....

Lots of ways to attch them....directly to the wall, braced with wood, stabilized by surrounding scenery, etc.

What is different, 25 years later?

Well, nowadays, the selection is unbelievably vast.....look at the Korber, Buildings Unlimited and TW TrainWorx websites....all OGR Forum sponsors.....

Hope this helps.....

Peter

Thank you Peter and John for your insights. I like what you did Peter because it nicely enhanced the depth. I had never considered using Plasticville as such; ingenious idea.

John, I will be in touch, thank you.

Jay

Hi: Jay - Here are two videos from my YouTube Channel about flat structures,

Painting Flat Structures https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5llwGqLjJs

Field Trip & Finishing the Flat Structures.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KgSGYFqE2Q

Hopefully you find this helpful: Gary 🚂

Thank you Gary that was helpful and the video is very well done.

I liked using the DPM modular wall sections for flats. The modular sections give you great variety and the building can be any shape you want to make.

Thank you Al , I value your opinion.

Jay

I tend towards OGR walls since they can be easily separated and rearranged into any configuration one wants.

Excellent point Joe, thank you

Jay

In my previous layout I used a lot of building flats and very flattened buildings where I could still detail some of the interiors.   I wasn't satisfied with my first attempt since it was, flat.  So I redesigned those areas using angled streets and for several I added a side wall section to the flats giving it a triangle shape which helped with more interesting scenes.  For further back on those angled side streets some of my flats were, printed photos of my other buildings. 

Thanks for the tips Mike. I hasn’t considered it but there are some areas where I could try angling the building. Thank you.

Jay

I'm stingy, so I cheat. I use photos I've taken and create my own:

Andre

@laming posted:

I'm stingy, so I cheat. I use photos I've taken and create my own:

That is an amazing background! Often times the photo backgrounds don’t look quite right. But you did a great job, it looks spot on.

That sure looks real Andre, very impressive.

I just received some shadow box ( 1” deep) style building fronts from Todd Architectural Design. They come with LED lighting and are really nice. You can view their products on their website.

Dont forget Menards has some prebuilt industrial type flats too!

Items: O scale Warehouse background building sku#2795370

And Patriot Lighting background building sku#2795925

And O guage Rays Wreckers Sku#2798129

I built a front of a building but had no wall behind to mount it to. I wanted to mount it securely and still have the option to be able to remove it easily if necessary. Decided to mount it on steel tubing which worked out well, just had to 3D print brackets for it to slide through. I can unplug the main wiring and slide it off if need be.

Ray, Beautiful structure. Love the fact it’s not totally flat with the bump outs and fire escape. Adds depth to the building without taking up a lot of real estate.

Thanks Dave

Always wanted to have them on a building and came across this actual hotel.  This was also my first fire escape attempt.

Next layout will be lauan boxes brad nailed and covered with paper printouts.  This is the only way to model REAL. If you know how to obtain items of interest and manipulate them on the PC using M.S. Excel, it’s very rewarding. Customize the building, flat with signs you want to model in a just few hours.

Going with the wallpaper method can’t be beat to model realism, plus it doesn’t cost hardly anything.

SIRT

That is truly very realistic and the time savings is huge

Keith and Tranquil Hollow:

Thanks for the kind words.

Those are the wrong sizing for HO (they're a hold over from when I was exploring S scale)... but they're there and thus I used them. Also, they were simple, quick versions to explore my PhotoFlat concept. (This was well over a decade ago!)

When I do this HO L-shelf urban switching layout here in my computer room, I'm considering upping the ante with cut out windows w/reflective material/etc. I'm also wondering how to light some of the windows. I would sure like night time effects. However, seeing as I make them removable, I may get a backdrop up in a hurry, then over time, upgrade them with cutouts, details, and (if possible) some illuminated windows.

However, that all remains to be seen. Got a lot on my plate right now.

Andre

@sidehack posted:

SIRT

That is truly very realistic, and the time savings is huge

I like your modeling sidehack.

Here are some other samples I have in my files... There are no safety, security gates or garage doors in O.

You'll have to size and print them out.

Future switching layout

                                                                                   Make your own custom signs, sand to weather.

                                                                    PC EXCEL

                                    Paper Garage doors inserted between sticks - frames

                                                                                             I SAY, GO WITH PAPER!

Steve, I've followed your footsteps using the paper printout method for a variety of things, loads, doors, windows, even my ice cream stand.  Sometimes I get frustrated because I can't find what I want, people taking artistic photos using the rule of thirds or at an angle make it hard to find a straight on photo of the item I'm looking for.  Any hints as to where you find what you use?

I like your modeling coach. I generally could never find period era items in O. H.O. has so much more.

The largest generation in 3R O are the folks from the 50, 60 & 70's, yet there is a Hugh void in supporting items for that time period. We have one extreme of old timey wooden structures or plastic looking modern day items. I was lucky to get many of the DSL shops FLATS from Chicago when building the layout. Cant find them anymore.

At least Woodland Scenics pre built brick buildings are being offered. I wish Athearn would do more Ford C 70's type trucks again in 1:50.

Thanks for the compliment Steve.  HO has so much more than O.  Those Athern Fords were so good.  Tractors, box trucks, stake trucks, fire trucks, both pump and snorkel style in lots of different decoration.  I started with a few, then Trainland was selling them pretty cheaply so I picked up a bunch.  Ford produced that same cab style for so long that those Atherns would work on layouts from the late 50's through the 90s.  The company my dad worked for bought one mid 80s, when I saw it I was amazed that it was a new truck.  I remember seeing them growing up in the 60s.

@coach joe posted:

Thanks for the compliment Steve.  HO has so much more than O.  Those Athern Fords were so good.  Tractors, box trucks, stake trucks, fire trucks, both pump and snorkel style in lots of different decoration.  I started with a few, then Trainland was selling them pretty cheaply so I picked up a bunch.  Ford produced that same cab style for so long that those Atherns would work on layouts from the late 50's through the 90s.  The company my dad worked for bought one mid 80s, when I saw it I was amazed that it was a new truck.  I remember seeing them growing up in the 60s.

I bought everything TK Hobby, Ohio had as a close out. They were the only store in the country that still had them at that time.