Reusable, modular layout base in N-gauge

[joshv8]

A 3 dimensional backscene, very clever. I find myself more and more amazed every chance I get to check in on this thread!

[alan_r]

Following from the previous two buildings, I made a larger office block with a full cereal box cut to the height of my window print and turned inside out again. I also wanted to hide the end of the old scenic background board, so thought of using two toothpaste boxes, one either side of the board to fit over the end and form the 'transition'

Box scaling

The 'first draft' of the big office block with the window paper stuck on

Big office block - first draft!

This close-up view shows the curse of the PVA glue and paper/cardboard combination! I really must find an alternative glue as PVA is too wet and swells the cardboard, warping it. The grid pattern of the windows just exaggerates the waviness Since this building has such long unsupported walls, it offers little resistance to buckling in this initial unmodified form

first draft wobbly sides

[alan_r]

Rather than turn the toothpaste boxes inside out, I kept them whole for strength and simply wrapped them with a cardboard skin to hold them together and to support the print paper. Because the building will be higher than the backscene, the roof straddles the board and holds the top in shape. It also hints at a deeper building than the boxes used to make it

Skin around toothpaste boxes

Placed over the scenic board end and it works ok

Scenic board end cover building

A view from the rear shows it covering the end of the backscene

Wrapped around the board end

I fixed the warping of the big office walls by sticking a block of expanded polystyrene inside the box and weighing down a flat board on top overnight while it dried. It has certainly flattened the wall and holds its shape well. Unfortunately the paper wrinkled in the [top right] corner

Stiffened building, wrinkled paper

The wrinkle was fixed by sticking a patch over the corner

Patched wrinkle

Nicely recovered if I do say so myself!

[alan_r]

Sticking another window printed paper wrap around the end building finishes it off. This too bowed a little, but I can live with it as the walls are shorter and the distortion is less noticable. The building is floating in mid air a bit for now, but this will be covered by a wider low-rise building at the bottom, perhaps linking to the station?

Completed office buildings1

Completed office buildings2

Overall though I am pleased with my 3D office building 'backscene' and it creates a more interesting way to fill the gap between my old layout backscene and the new wider extension.
The cardboard was all rubbish that would have gone into the recycling bin, the paper window prints were printed on the work laser printer and the only cost [to me at least!] was a few squirts of PVA glue. It has proved a virtually zero-cost addition. The big investment was my time. This could be reduced with a better choice of glue as I spent more time on remedial work correcting warping and distortion than on the main construction. I'll have to see what alternative glues I can find and test.

[alan_r]

I made some more buildings for the edge background, this time of a simpler construction. Two consist simply of flat card with building prints stuck on, and the middle building is a flat expanded polystyrene tile covered in cardboard and another building print stuck to it. A larger polystyrene block forms a wider foot to the screen to stop it toppling over. The individual building pieces are stuck onto a backing card with double-sided tape to avoid the warping and distortion that always seemed to result from wet PVA glue. They certainly stick well and don't distort, but you only get one chance to position them with no adjustment afterwards, so accuracy and precision is key! The backing card (in white) can be seen protruding at the bottom - this is to catch the rear edge of the base to align it.

2½D building facades stuck to card background

The 2½-D screen takes away any flatness that a standard scenic backscene would have, yet it obscures the back and is in-keeping with the model when focusing on the trains and track.

Building background located onto the layout corner

Viewing the whole scene and it is looking much better. The gap between the two lines of buildings where the road passes between though is quite prominent, so I'll have to think of a way to close this off. Probably another narrow building and a sky print, maybe with a foot bridge to mask the road hitting a flat wall!

The office buildings corner

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Strange how we get used to small cottages and farms, on a model railway, office blocks and blocks of flats are a rarity.

manna

[joshv8]

This is very, very clever. Well done mate

[glencairn]

Another layout with an individual style. Love it.

Glencairn

[footplate1947]

Post deleted as posted in wrong place

[Lee]

Well done with the buildings they look very effective

[alan_r]

I've managed to get some more train time and decided to tackle the gap in the town centre backscene where the road meets the layout edge.
The gap could be reduced in width with another 2D building, so I got some thick card and stuck another building print over the top.

2D building

This then went alongside the run of other buildings to reduce the gap width to that of the road.

Extra 2D building to close gap

Next, to hide the road from the viewing point, I set about making a new tower block for the space in front of the road. This is made from a tissue box, again turned inside-out. This time it has a slot to clip onto the concrete retaining wall to keep it in position. By straddling the wall and having some of the building on the higher level it gives a theoretical access to the lower level (through the building) without needing to make stairs

Central building - wall slot

Here you can see the box clipped over the wall

Central building - wall slot fitted

[alan_r]

Viewing the building from the main 'viewing point' and its position is indeed in front of where the road meets the gap in the backscene, so it hides the road meeting a flat wall!

Tissue box building location

By adding a second tier to the building it should help to hide this point when viewed from a higher point of view (me standing instead of sitting)

Second tier

The building is finished with a skin of building windows stuck on. Learning from before, this is stuck on with double-sided tape to prevent warping of the carboard box due to wet PVA

Picture skin applied

Viewing the corner from a very low level and the gap is completely obscured.

Low level view

It certainly looks nice and urban - I just need to finish the space in the centre of the layout between the road and the station now - fingers crossed for some time in the future

[PinkNosedPenguin]

I really like the tall modern buildings, and your new method looks to work very well indeed . I don't often see such an urban scene, so this is a refreshing change - and it would take up too much space in a larger scale . . . !

I also like the clever way you have hidden where the road meets the backscene - in my little narrow gauge layout set in the Welsh hills, I have the same issue, but can't really use the same technique

[End2end]

Great to see some monoliths of buildings on a layout for a change.
Just thinking on your waprng problem, would spray adhesive / fixative be any better than pva?
Thanks
End2end

[alan_r]

Thanks for the compliments everyone
Endtoend: yes I did think perhaps a spray adhesive could be the solution if it produced a fine enough mist - any suggestions of a brand and where to source something?
Many thanks, Alan