My latest project

jesso

Member
I think I'll try the HO version first. The N scale one looks really small for a first try. Thanks for the info!
 

Gary S.

Senior Member
Dude! I just went to the scalescenes site and the printout for the large warehouse is only 6 bucks! Can't beat that!
 

Gary S.

Senior Member
Of course, there is the cost of the color ink cartridges and card stock and all the stuff you use to build the structure.
 

Nomad

Active Member
Madhatter, thanks !
I built mine in ho so I can't say how hard n scale would be.
Gary, you don't need to buy cardstock. I used cereal boxes and laminated them. My wife found some good cardstock at work, actually the backing from notebooks, even the real heavy stuff from the back of a picture frame. A little bit of scrounging and the cardstock cost 0 dollars. The only thing I bought besides the download, was white glue, ink catrdridges and knife blades. I didn't need anything else to build it.
P.S. for the knife I used one of those locking utility knifes you see in the hardware store. 100 blades cost less than $10.
I would say this building cost me less than $30.

Loren
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
You might be able to save a part of your home printing costs by getting them printed directly on heavier stock at Business Depot/Staples or whatever big box office supply store is near you.

Andrew
 

Nomad

Active Member
Andrew, good idea. But, most of the printing is done on 20# paper which is then glued to the cardstock. I checked all the stores in my area when I started and the heviest cardstock they handle is 110#.

Loren
 

bigsteel

Call me Mr.Tinkertrain
for all te lef over 24" by 36" drawing pad backing i could make 4 of those buildings,all together with a price of like 15 bucks! i will definatley use scalescenes for my layout.--josh
 

Nomad

Active Member
Josh, some of the cardstock needs to be 1mm to 2mm thick. The pad backing you have is perfect. Good luck !

Loren
 

Canopus

Member
Looks pretty good, grewsome.
Cereal boxes are indeed perfect for model railroad structures, I gotta say it's a brilliant "free" material, and I use it for a lot of my structures, especially "crooked" and "abandoned" buildings.
One thing it's fantastic for is slate roofs. Not that you guys have a lot of those over in the states, but you do have shingles, and the effect is the same.
I'll have to post some pictures of my own buildings!
 

Nomad

Active Member
Canopus, Looking forward to those pictures. Your right, there are a lot of modeling uses for cereal boxes.
Mountain Man, as I built it, It is 3" wide,27" long and 11" high at the sky lights. But you can make it about a 1/4" wide if needed or as wide and long or short as you want. It's a modular design so you can build it to fit your layout. Ther are also options to change the windows or doors, so you can change the basic look too.

Loren
 

Art Decko

Member
Nomad, thanks for posting the photo! That's your first card model? Congratulations, great job!

I have wondered what a ScaleScenes modular structure looks like if you really extend it - now I know! :)

But I'm surprised by the footprint- it's only 3" wide? Is it a low relief model? Does the modular approach allow you to go wider if desired?
 

Art Decko

Member
Of course, there is the cost of the color ink cartridges and card stock and all the stuff you use to build the structure.

Good point, you can't go by purchase price alone.

For downloadable card models you have to consider the costs of printing (lots of variables, maybe something like $0.50 to $1 per page) ... but then the rest of the tools and supplies are cheap (common white glue, straight edges, etc).

On the other hand, to get a plastic model looking as good as a quality cardstock model, you would need an airbrush, paints, solvents, chalks, sealants ...

If you take into account the total cost of construction, I think the cost per model is significantly less for card than plastic.
 

Nomad

Active Member
Art Decko, thank you for the compliment.
Yes, the building is designed for modular construction. You can make it a building flat against a wall, or as big as you have room for.
And, I agree with you on the cost, and actual construction. I now have a nice looking building for my layout, with pre-weathered and stained brick walls, all from my printer.

Loren
 
Great work, Loren! And thanks to scottcn for the mention of the thread I started oh so long ago.

So how long would you say this took you? Also, I'd love to see some closer shots of the windows and skylight detail.

I really enjoyed the project and have contemplated getting another from them...besides the free download. But another point you forgot to mention is that once you download it, it's yours to print and reprint (for your own personal use, of course) as many times as you like. So a George Sellios or Rod Stewart sized skyscraper wouldn't be out of the question, really.
 

tetters

Rail Spiking Fool!
That is flippin outstanding work man! Looks great, heck, it'd look even better on my layout.

You didn't really want to keep that did you Loren? :twisted:

Thanks for the link too. I loved Ocali's build as well. Very nice work indeed.
 

Nomad

Active Member
Galen, thanks for the kind words.
All together I would say it took about a month working off and on. Maybe a week working full bore. I will be glad to post those pictures for you. Hopefully tomorrow.
And your right about making as many as you want. Right now I am building another one. This one will be a 2 story manufacturing plant. I hope. I am trying to modify it somewhat to make it fit the area.wall1
Tetters, thank you, but she's a keeper.

Loren
 

Nomad

Active Member
Galen, this is the best I could do with our cheesie wally world camera:eek:ops:

Loren
 

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