HO Scale brick yard office - progress and how-to guide.

[danielb]

As part of the extension to my HO scale switching layout, I needed a yard office building to go along with a heavy metals unloading spur. I've always liked the Walthers yard office, but I'm not paying £25+ for a tiny kit like that.

So I figured I'd make my own, and thought why not make a build thread/tutorial on how I did it. So, here we go!

Materials list:

5mm Black Foamcore board - A3
Cereal Box card
Basswood strips (just in case)
Clevermodels.net Union Hotel Brick
Clevermodels.net Painted Brick
Clevermodels.net Doors and Windows
Clevermodels.net Standing Seam
Clevermodels.net Distressed Cinderblocks


Stage 1 - the core

To make the core of the structure, I cut four squares of the black foamcore board - two 5cm x 7cm, one 6cm x 10cm, and one 5cm x 10cm.

These were glued together to form the walls using extra strength white glue. The taller wall forming the front of the building.




The core was then flipped over, and a roof cut from cereal box card by placing the core flat on the card and simply cutting around it. You could be much neater by using a ruler, but for the core of the structure it's not really needed. I then used an offcut of foam to form a brace stuck to the inside of front wall to stop the roof from sagging.

The roof was then glued in place.





Next, I use cereal box card to form the inner layer of the structure which is glued to the outside of the core to form relief - into this I cut window and door openings - this will become clearer from the photographs.

To ensure that the windows and doors all line up correctly, I lightly score a straight line along the top of where I want the windows/doors to be.

From here I use the cut out texture paper windows and doors as a template to score around, simply held in place with a finger. I then remove the texture papers and cut out the window/door holes using the scored lines as a guide.




After this, I cut out and stick on the texture paper I want for the walls - in this case Clevermodels Painted Brick. Don't worry about covering up the window and door holes, as this is addressed next.



Now flip over the wall and cut lines diagonally from corner to corner of each window/door hole...



...fold the newly created tabs inwards and wrap them around the back of the wall layer, like this:



Glue all these tabs down - trimming off any bits that might overlap with other tabs (eg when two windows are side by side). You don't want any of the tabs to be visible when looking at the structure from the front.

Glue the completed outer wall layer to the foam core.



Place the completed wall face down on your desk and Weight it down with something suitably heavy - like a soda can (other brands of soda are available! )

Repeat this process for all four walls. The completed walls will be shown in the second part of this thread.

I hope the first part of this has proven useful for new modellers, or even modellers new to cardstock structures.

[teejay]

What glue is best for this ....I have a number of Clevermodel printouts that I haven't got to yet .

T

[danielb]

I use extra strength white glue for bonding the foam core and the card, and I use a regular "Pritt-stick" style glue stick to attach the texture papers to the card.

[teejay]

Thanks , can I assume that these glue sticks are pretty much the same ? I have a different brand ( Elmers ) and , being retired on pension , I don't buy anything unless absolutely necessary .

T

[danielb]

Teejay, absolutely - this is the style I use, though not Elmers branded. I picked them up in a pack of 6 from our equivalent of a dollar store.

[danielb]

Continuing from the previous post, the roof has simply been covered in a metal roofing texture, and the rear of the front wall has had a strip of card and painted brick texture applied.



For the next part of the guide, I'll touch upon the similiar - though different - method used on large doors, in this instance a roller shutter.

For this, cut diagonally down from each of the two top corners, but only go 1cm or so. from here, cut vertically down from the ends of each cut, then horizontally linking the two together - this will remove excess texture paper from the centre of the newly created tabs...



...fold and glue them back just like you would with the windows.


The next stage is to apply the roller shutter door, front doorway, and a small open window.



Apply the door and the roller shutter exactly how the windows were done earlier.

For the open window, take two identical small window textures, and simply glue them back to back, creating a double sided texture paper. Apply a bead of white glue along the top edge of the window and press it into place at an angle, protruding out from the window frame.






Moving onto the front of the roof, card and texture paper needs to be added to the sides, as well as the top to form capping stones.

For the sides, card was glued in place, over which small rectangles of Union Hotel Brick texture paper was added - the white edges of this paper was coloured with a dark brown Sharpie, to stop the white edges ruining the illusion of the texture papers.




The capping stones were made by printing out a sheet of N scale Sidewalks with Square Corners texture paper, and trimming it down like this:



The paper was then folded twice lengthways down the lines formed by the joints in the paving slabs on the texture paper, and a strip of card was then glued to the inside of the paper...



...the flaps were then folded flat and glued to the card, forming a strip of capping stones, which were then applied to the roof of the structure.





Finally, some strips of wooden planking texture paper - two planks wide - were cut to the high of each corner joint on the structure - six in total.



These were then folded lengthways down the centre line, and glued in place as corner bracing on the back wall, and the front and back of the front wall of the structure.



You may need to refer to the finished photos for the exact locations, but it is relatively straightforward.


All that is left to do on the office building is to add cinderblock steps to both doorways, and the project will be complete. This will have to come tomorrow, however, as I have run out of time for today!

Finished photos (minus cinderblock steps):

[teejay]

Looking good !

Daniel , where did you buy the 5 mm foamboard ? I have a piece that is about twice as thick as that so , not suitable for smaller HO structures .

Thanks , T

[danielb]

eBay.

I just searched for 5mm black foam board.

Cost about $1 per A3 sheet.

[teejay]

OK , I'm not an ebayer so I'll search and see if any retail stores carry it ....Michaels , etc .

T

[Tyson Rayles]

Nice building!

[Tyson Rayles]

T I've found the foam board at Fred's, Walmart, Walgreens, Target, etc. Look in the school supply or craft sections.

[teejay]

What I'm seeing at a couple of stores today is foamboard which is different from foam core board . I'll probably have to order some online because I don't feel like going across to Detroit where I'm sure it's available .

T

[danielb]

This is the same stuff I use:

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Any good art supply store should stock it.

White foam core board works fine too, but I prefer black as you don't get glaring white bits if you have a gap in your texture papers.

[teejay]

This stuff isn't flexible , right Daniel ? That's what I need .

T

[danielb]

No, not unless you give it a good smack!

It's as light and rigid as balsa wood.

I've made benchwork from it before.