City Industry Build ideas

I built a lot of buildings in HO when I was in that scale. I am now working on some in O but not ready to show them yet. I too want some large buildings much like the photo you show.  To make things easy I'd build a core from foamcore board or thick matt  board. Both a easy to cut with a sharp knife and/or x-acto. I'd then add the pillars from wood or plastic strips, same for columns. This would all get a good coat of a gray primer like Dupli-color. If you want more texture you can paint on matt medium with a sponge. This can be tinted with any water color paint. Not all buildings were gray.....some were painted.

Windows could be laser cut if you have access.....but few do. So a good look can still be done with printed windows. Use your computer or even a ruler, pen and paper, to draw the window mullions   to the size needed......fill the whole sheet if you can. Then have copies of your 'windows' printed on clear overhead stock. This stuff is getting harder to find today but big office supply print places still have it. Just cut and glue the windows in from the rear. Detail the roof, add signs etc.....take it as far as you want.

Checkout this topic in the Two Rail Forum.  Airslides for Hostess Cupcakes  There are some great pictures on how that structure was put together. 

Depending on the amount of realism, you will need to buy window frames form Tichy or Grandt.  If the structure is in the back of the layout far enough away then Cardstock on Foam Core with layering works really well.

-Ted

Ted,

Thanks for that link......some great stuff there. I tend to miss a lot posted on the 2R section.....I want the scale look that most 2R guys have....but will stick with my 3R trains.

I have bags of the Tichy and Grandt windows....and for a foreground structure I'll use them. But for flats and anything more than 4 feet from the viewing area the printed windows do work well....and talk about cheap!!! I can't image buying enough Tichy for some of those buildings!!!

THX

I have a laser but I still use these guys a lot!    Russ

http://www.rustystumps.com/products.asp?id=4

Titchy train group has those windows in plastic. you can even make some swing open too!

http://www.tichytraingroup.com...ctions/O-Catalog.pdf

Years ago a designer from MA. came out with a modular O scale wall system. I believe his name was Russ Briggs and the line was purchased by Pecos River Brass based in Texas. They are out of business but I believe the owner was still selling off his stock. There were a few configurations available as far as a concrete or brick structure. But they all featured large industrial windows. A little searching may yield one.

 Korber when Justrains was handling them had a modular building as well with large windows. I'd contact Korber as I believed the new owner expressed interests in bringing these back into production.

 While not styrene. You may want to check out Westport Modelworks. They have many drawings of these types of buildings that can be made into structures using foam core or Masonite for support.

 Another alternative is building in HO as a background structure as a flat or even 2 sided. Placed off in the back of O Scale structures they can look convincing. Many Walthers Cornerstone structures can be used like this as most are some sort of industrial structure.

It’s a shame O scale is really void of these fine and historic structures.

My Sunshine Biscuits Bldg. windows were from Tichy Train Group. Adjacent building was the other Walther’s beverage front.

Macy’s windows are from Rusty Stumps

The Bay St. warehouse was made using the Walther’s litho front.

Brett built the first industrial structures. Don and I built ours shortly after that.

My shells are made out of MDF.

I have a couple of shoe boxes containing industrial windows I will be using some day.

Well over $200.00 worth of windows.

Someday I will add others to the three building already made.

I was blown away by some structures covered with PAPER PRINTOUTS.

I may take that route as well.

Links here - https://steves3roscale.shutterfly.com/pictures/5808

Click on ALL to see all photos in each album.

https://steves3roscale.shutterfly.com/pictures/5094

https://steves3roscale.shutterfly.com/pictures/3133

Good luck

S.

what Steve said is correct about the lack of large O scale factorty structures.  This may be because there is not enough of a market for buildings that take such a large space.

But it is not that difficult to either:

Scratch build your own--this one is from Strathmore, plastic brick sheet, and Peco River Brass plastic windows that have had a row and a column removed:

Or kitbash.  This one is made from five Ameritown Homestead Furniture factories:

This one is from two Korber American Flag Company buildings:

Search the forum, and you will find other excellent examples from Nick Biondi, Frank53, and Dennis Brennan, among others.

Outstanding photos John, thanks for sharing.

Steve,  All those exterior detail pieces you make really makes those structures standout.

Ted

Outstanding answers, this is exactly what I was lookng for, thank you all!  I had admired Brett's factory models in the past, and see some of the best O scale models shown here.  I appreciate the insight from the expert modelers here and have a path forward for some of my industrial buildings.

I understand much better how to build these large industrial buildings from scratch.  As a start, I found a supplier of sheet styrene sized 12" x 24".  It looks like most of my investment will be in windows...

Thanks again.

As a followup, Pecos River Brass seems to have a good modular system for this type of factory as shown in their website.  I intend to try my hand at scratchbuilding following the ideas posted above, but this is a good site for kit builders.

http://www.pecosriverbrass.com/prices/MRS.htm

Empire Builder. I believe I can offer you a solution. A number of years ago I created a model of the Norwalk Tire  Company Norwalk CT.  The building has since been completely renovated into offices. The good news is that I created a number of modular building drawings that you can use to create a building with a similar architecture.  Check my web site www.westportmodelworks.com under building drawings. it is Building #18

Notice I was able to detail some areas of the building and open the tilt windows.

Les Lewis

John and Steve,

Those are fantastic!  I love the industrial look.  I've been wanting to create some structures like those and others similar to Norm Charbonneau's stuff.  I just received some of the Rusty Stump windows and can't wait to start on some new ideas.

Thanks for posting.

Dave

If the building is far in the background, Plasticville parts, painted and kit-bashed can be used.......as well as corrugated cardboard for roofing/siding.......Look at the background buildings way in the distance.

BTW, this picture is at least 13-14 years old.

Peter

Thanks for the hat-tip John Sethian!  I hope you are well.  I can only echo what everyone else has said.   The Pecos River Brass kits are very easy to modify and look great, with a little work you can make the windows open too:

If you can find them, for my money, nothing beats Chooch Ultra Scale flats:

Also Downtown Deco is easily modified to create great industrial buildings:

It's also hard to go wrong modifying Korber stuff.  A little elbow grease and a razor saw, and you can do a lot.

If you can find it, I would also suggest Pine Canyon models  S scale buildings.  They make for great background scenery with forced perspective:

I would also suggest taking a look at Dennis Brennan's website, he modified a few k-line airport kits into a really cool looking industrial building.  I still have about 6 of those k-line airports stashed away for the day I make my own.

Good luck with it!

nick