Buildings for a layout.

I have some Lemax but I favor MTH and Scenic Express. They are pricey though....

You can see some of the Lemax just to the left of the school bus.

I also like the MTH buildings but there are other good ones out there.

 

The other option is to build your own from kits or even cardstock.

 

Take a look at the photo album forum and see if anything jumps out at you. You can then ask the poster about the building.

 

Dave

I'd never call Lemax and Dept 56 buildings 'more realistic'......To me they are more toy train like. I have seen cool layouts done with only the ceramic buildings....but with 99% of them having snow on them....it's a very holiday look.

 

For realistic....good MTH and Lionel pre-built structures. Many plastic kits out there that are easy to build.

 

Figure out the look you want....then start buying.

There are so many choices.  MTH, walthers, Ameritown just to name a few.  Buildings have suddenly become much more detailed and affordable.  Dept 56 is something different from plasticville but the newer stuff is just great.

We used several Ameritowne buildings on the Children's Museum layout and they look really good.

 

Al

I was taken aback when you described Lemax and Dept.56 buildings as "more realistic". Plasticville, with the right paint job, would fit that description. Think twice about getting something just because you got a bargain,

I had a bunch of D56 buildings that I have incorporated into the layout.

Here is my three cent nickel.    I dont have any woodland scenics built ups.   I have seen them so my comments are limited.  I do own Lionelville and MTH Structures.  I have built DPM, Cornerstone and City Classics in HO.  I will be getting some Ameritowne in the future and have a DPM factory in the mail. I have built a fair amount of Card Stock.  I made a chart to outline my opinion , Not sure if everyone agrees, but this is my experience for the ready to go out of the box stuff.

 

Check out the buildings offered by Menards (Woodland Scenics).  The look great at a reasonable cost.  www.menards.com   search for collectibles.  They have a good bit of train stuff and will ship to your home.  -Ken

wow! Thanks for all the replies and I will surely look at all the options!

Yes, the MTH buildings are realistic, and so true to scale but way out of my price range. I am building the layout on what is often referred to as a "shoestring budget" so flea market buildings will be the mainstay of my source. I have 2 boxes of old Plasticville buildings that I will use by kitbashing and some scratch building to augment them. plus a lot of detailing using the material i have used in the past.

 

Don't pass by Dave's suggestion. On a tight budget, printable/cardstock is very affordable. For kits, I'd start right here with the Ameri-Towne buildings.

 

Here are a couple of options....

 

http://www.scalescenes.com/

 

or

 

http://www.bigindoortrains.com..._building_fronts.htm

 

Gilly

Card Stock is the way to go.  I just laminate my card stock to Foam Core, add LED lights and they fit in well.  Perfect for the Shoe String Budget.  This link below is a bunch of photos of things I made.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/t...s/72157637791065893/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the original kit for that I altered to make the Big tall City Wide Storage Building so I got a Twofer out of this kit.

 

 

 

 

 

Hmmmm....Wonder if this blogs monitors read that name of that bait shop shown

above?

nice! great idea!

I'm slowly but surely adding more of the Woodland Scenics buildings to my layout (just picked up the door factory this past Saturday).  I have neither the time nor talent to do a whole lot of kit bashing and scratch building, and really am attracted to the realism and detailing of the WS structures.  Yes, they are costly, but you get what you pay for.

 

I will run out of space before I can acquire a complete assortment of the ever-expanding line of WS buildings, but they sure do make a nice addition to the layout.  Over time, I hope to be able to "customize" each of them a bit.

There is an actual bait shop in New Hampshire with that name.
Right on the way to Wolfboro.

I'm not the OP but this thread has me thinking. I started with Plasticville 30 years ago. I got back into the hobby 3 years ago. My evolution of buildings has been:

 

Plasticville

Lionel

MTH

Scenic Express

Korber self build kits

 

I have repainted many and added mortar and details, especially LED lighting. Kit bashing has been my last step.

 

Based on some comments here and past posts from Lee Willis, and others, I am going to try the cardboard building route. Not for the up close and personal buildings but for the ones in the back. It is so easily customizable and inexpensive I think it is well worth a shot. 

 

Ameritown and Korber kits really come out awesome if you take the time to add flooring and walls and people and whatever. 

 

To me by far the easiest way to have a quick awesome little town instantly is MTH buildings. You have an instant town and then you can go back as time permits and customize each individual building if you desire. 

All kinds, all prices.
An MWB kit, carpenter's/supply shack.  Walthers(now Atlas) lumber yard. and a Korber switch tower.

An Ertl Farm set and a K-line chicken coup. (This was a gift, my least expensive buildings)

A Lionel Grain elevator, Walthers Sur-Sweet Feed Store, MTH Water tower, and BTS Orbisonia Station.
Korber 304 Engine house,

Golden Gate Depot Coaling tower.



Ameri-Town buildings.

Walther's (Now Atlas) kits or built-ups.
Krazy Kens Car Town.

Dave's Super Service.

BTS Cabin Creek Coal Tipple, Elliott and Sons Supply, Korber Quincy Mine and Machine.

Real brick buildings have an overlapping integrating pattern at their edges (e.g., top brick faces front wall - so short side of brick is on side wall; next brick down faces side wall - so short side of brick is on front wall, etc.).   I will need a bunch of city-like brick buildings but have hesitated on buying any Ameri-Towne buildings.  The photos I've seen make them look like the front brick walls don't realistically connect to the side walls (as I've described above).  Can anyone confirm either way?  Thanks.

 

i use lemax and D56 on my layout. i like them both and i like my layout to be more child like.  i use matchbox cars also.  it is up to you what you use and what you like.  just my 2 cents.  

Great work Bruce, might pass on eating from this trailer...

TWIN WHISTLE SIGN CO. O Scale Diner Kit

AMCdave said it:  It depends on the image you are looking for (and how much you want to spend...an often limiting factor)..some above are shooting for the re-creation of their childhood layout (as I do for under the tree)...others prefer scale models and have shown BTS above)...As was discussed in a phone call with a hobby supplier last night, he mentioned how many unique and personal ways people approach the entire model train hobby.  You certainly see many of them on this site.

These are pretty neat and something different.  They are not all in seasonal décor and those that are can easily be modified.  The drawback is they are porcelain, but cheap.  The one pictured is $35, but I picked up a nice service station a couple of years ago for two bucks, and got a nice doughnut shop after Christmas last year for $8.  Size is compatible with O scale.  This one is 9.8w x 6.57d x 10.28h.  They fit in well with MTH, and Walthers.

The important thing is to not mix styles.  

T. Mack: Who are the vendors for the Cardstock products.

 

Thanks.

Tony

Very nice card stock work T. Mack.

 

Due to health issues I no longer can do buildings. My last two efforts were a remodeling of the MTH Car Shed by raising the roof and installing a clerestory effect to resemble and Enginehouse. And secondly, I built a Lumber Shed for my Sawmill area.

 

Like others I admire the Woodland buildings.

 

 

Clever Models http://clevermodels.squarespace.com.

I embedded a video below on how I make these models.  The O Scale Chimney is a Freebie and I think if you can through the older article on their blog you can find a few more freebies.  I am probably going to buy a DVD at some point so I can kit bash what I want.  I bought several different buildings from them, the all range between $8 and $12 each.  I print on the heaviest card stock my inkjet will allow then laminate to Foam Core.  I am right now freehanding a Grain elevator out of shipping tubes and Foam Core and I am going to make an industrial flat out of foam core as well.

I just bought an Ameritowne Factory and it is nice, but costs more and is much more work on the detailing.  I figure I can fill in Card Stock Structures and as the budget allows later replace them with some of the offerings form Ameritowne and Korber.

 

Dewey,

 

Thanks for the compliment.

 

-Ted

 

Here is a Video I shot that explains the method to my madness.  Enjoy.