05-04-2010, 11:13 AM
When scratchbuilding or kitbashing large structures, plain sheet styrene can be a useful material. I buy mine from a plastics supplier (check the Yellow Pages) in 4'x8' sheets, and find the .060" thickness to be the most useful. Not only is it thick enough to be mostly self-supporting for small and medium-size projects, but it's also useful as bracing for really large structures, and much cheaper than using strip styrene from the hobby shop. Simply cut it in strips of a suitable width and cement it, at right angles, to the interior or the walls or roof.
For cutting from the large sheet, I place it on the floor of the layout room, then use an 8' metal straightedge and a utility knife. The latter is easier to control than an X-Acto knife, and the blades are cheaper, too. I use lacquer thinner as a cement for all of my styrene projects, as it's cheap and readily available. Any good solvent-type cement will work, though, if you've got money to burn.
Here are a few examples, all from Dunnville on my layout. Most of you have seen these structures before, so these are a "peek behind the scenes".
The first is the P&M Languay Pump & Compressor factory, seen here in an older photo:
Kitbashed from a pair of Walthers Waterfront Warehouse kits, here it is removed from the layout - most of the modelled structure is at track level, but one visible end fronts onto a street, one storey below grade:
While it appears to be rectangular when in place on the layout, it's actually a trapezoid:
Here's the rear of the structure, which abuts the wall/backdrop:
Interior bracing is merely a series of partition walls, all made from .060" sheet styrene. I added a few extra pieces of sheet to prevent skewing of the walls during construction:
The roof has no internal bracing - the semi-scatchbuilt cupola-style skylight serves for that purpose.
The railroad's main station, combined with a Post Office wing on one end and an express building on the other, sits across the sidestreet from Languay's:
Mostly scratchbuilt from .060" sheet styrene, the windows are modified left-overs from the Languay building. Like Languay's, the structure is trapezoidal in shape, and has street-level ends (it occupies a city block) which can be seen here:
The part jutting up into the air is the underside of the platform, permanently attached to the structure. Here are a couple of interior views, showing both interior partitions and a gridwork of 1" wide strips of .060" strips - they not only support the roof, but also add rigidity to the entire structure:
Next along the tracks, and across Walnut Street, is National Grocers Warehouse. Built mostly from Design Preservation modular walls, it's meant to represent a structure that has grown over the years, with slightly different architectural styles. The odd shape was necessary to cram it into the oddly-shaped real estate which was available:
Here's the foreground section removed from the layout, showing the back wall, curved to match the elevated right-of-way which passes behind the building. The styrene blocks cemented to the upper area of the curved wall are locators for a pair of overhead walkways connecting this section to the newer annex across the tracks:
And a couple views of the interior. Again, the roof-supporting grid keeps the structure's walls aligned:
Here's a look at the newer annex with the older section out of the way, with the blocks for the overhead walkways also visible:
And a look at the interior. This one also has a street-level area, which faces the Express wing of the station, across the street:
Here's the building lot, minus the buildings. The wooden blocks sticking up above the layout framework are locators for the structures, ensuring that the proper distance from the tracks is maintained:
And finally, a quick glimpse of the overhead walkways. This one used a roof from the carshops in Lowbanks, with the visible wall constructed from some Evergreen board and batten siding:
The unseen rear is plain .060" styrene:
Here's the other walkway, made from plain .060" sheet, with a roof from the Kibri crane used at the Dunnville team track:
I hope that this little behind the scenes look has been informative.
Wayne
For cutting from the large sheet, I place it on the floor of the layout room, then use an 8' metal straightedge and a utility knife. The latter is easier to control than an X-Acto knife, and the blades are cheaper, too. I use lacquer thinner as a cement for all of my styrene projects, as it's cheap and readily available. Any good solvent-type cement will work, though, if you've got money to burn.
Here are a few examples, all from Dunnville on my layout. Most of you have seen these structures before, so these are a "peek behind the scenes".
The first is the P&M Languay Pump & Compressor factory, seen here in an older photo:
Kitbashed from a pair of Walthers Waterfront Warehouse kits, here it is removed from the layout - most of the modelled structure is at track level, but one visible end fronts onto a street, one storey below grade:
While it appears to be rectangular when in place on the layout, it's actually a trapezoid:
Here's the rear of the structure, which abuts the wall/backdrop:
Interior bracing is merely a series of partition walls, all made from .060" sheet styrene. I added a few extra pieces of sheet to prevent skewing of the walls during construction:
The roof has no internal bracing - the semi-scatchbuilt cupola-style skylight serves for that purpose.
The railroad's main station, combined with a Post Office wing on one end and an express building on the other, sits across the sidestreet from Languay's:
Mostly scratchbuilt from .060" sheet styrene, the windows are modified left-overs from the Languay building. Like Languay's, the structure is trapezoidal in shape, and has street-level ends (it occupies a city block) which can be seen here:
The part jutting up into the air is the underside of the platform, permanently attached to the structure. Here are a couple of interior views, showing both interior partitions and a gridwork of 1" wide strips of .060" strips - they not only support the roof, but also add rigidity to the entire structure:
Next along the tracks, and across Walnut Street, is National Grocers Warehouse. Built mostly from Design Preservation modular walls, it's meant to represent a structure that has grown over the years, with slightly different architectural styles. The odd shape was necessary to cram it into the oddly-shaped real estate which was available:
Here's the foreground section removed from the layout, showing the back wall, curved to match the elevated right-of-way which passes behind the building. The styrene blocks cemented to the upper area of the curved wall are locators for a pair of overhead walkways connecting this section to the newer annex across the tracks:
And a couple views of the interior. Again, the roof-supporting grid keeps the structure's walls aligned:
Here's a look at the newer annex with the older section out of the way, with the blocks for the overhead walkways also visible:
And a look at the interior. This one also has a street-level area, which faces the Express wing of the station, across the street:
Here's the building lot, minus the buildings. The wooden blocks sticking up above the layout framework are locators for the structures, ensuring that the proper distance from the tracks is maintained:
And finally, a quick glimpse of the overhead walkways. This one used a roof from the carshops in Lowbanks, with the visible wall constructed from some Evergreen board and batten siding:
The unseen rear is plain .060" styrene:
Here's the other walkway, made from plain .060" sheet, with a roof from the Kibri crane used at the Dunnville team track:
I hope that this little behind the scenes look has been informative.
Wayne
Gives me plenty of ideas 
