Needing help with a small Ameritowne kitbash.

Three eights inch square lengths spanning the joints from one to the other should be more than adequate. If you are building these as "fronts" this would be a necessary step. Is this one rectangle three sections across and one section deep?

I built a large front of Ameritowne panels seven across and three high. The 3/8" lengths spanning the seams was more than adequate.

Thanks for the reply Mr. Doyle.

Yes, it will be the full rectangle building. Does the 3/8" bracing need to be solid, or is using the square tubing ok?

I would use solid wood. You can buy these in Home Depot for like $0.89 for a three foot length. That much PlastiStruct would cost considerably more.

For your base, I would also recommend 1/4" masonite - also available at Home Depot. Cut your piece to size and sand it a bit to get some roughness on the surface. Apply a coat of drywall compound (spackle) and let it dry. Sand it down smooth and paint it "Concrete." I use Floquill in a spray can and it gives you a nice firm base for your building that will look realistic.

Cut it to the exact outline of the building rather than allowing sidewalks around it. This will help you the future use of the structure as you won't be tied in to a particular sidewalk size. You can make a separate sidewalk when you place it on your layout.

If you intend to light your building, you can attach a terminal strip to the floor of your base and then have only two wires exiting. You can thread those wires into a drainpipe, or take them out the bottom and then carve a groove in the bottom of the masonite with a dremel tool. That will allow you to glue the wires to an exit point and still have the building sit flat.

At your seams from one front to the next, sand or file the walls at an angle so the point where they meet is skinnier than the thickness of the wall. This will enable you to get a nice tight fit and minimize the seam. You can run a drainpipe from the roof down the seam to cover it also. 

I would assemble your three across sections and paint everything at once to make it look more real.

I've joined them by making sure the contacting surfaces are flat (for 100% contact), then using 5-minute Epoxy.

Harry Doyle's and the one above about epoxy covers my method addressed on another post.  I needed a 6 story building, five stories Ameritowne with a wooden rooftop large structure and to make it different and a credible model of the protoype,, it was two kits in length, I moved various openings, door, windows, around.  I use

1/4" sq. wood strip from either Lowe's or Home Depot..here we have Menard's, too, but I don't think I've picked any up there.  This appears to be a harder wood than basswood, and cheaper, I use it in all my other models...tipple timbers, trestle

piles, etc.  They don't have any smaller size, though, such as 1/8", for model making.

After squaring the corners and checking for occasional warping, when I run about

3 horizontal strips down the full length of the wall, with epoxy, and set weights

on it to flatten the warp.  With no warp, I run verticals in the corners and horizonal

strips top and bottom.  I do use a lot of carpernter's glue on wood models, but the

set time isn't much of a problem as I may have several different things going on, such as painting separate trim, or even work on other models.