Building ideas

[bbdave]

I am looking to put some small business on my layout but apart from the Ratio coal merchants kit can't seem to find anything else I could attempt scratch building but can't seem to find any pictures of suitable small merchant type buildings like timber merchants black smiths etc. any help appreciated with pictures or ideas.

Dave

[Dorsetmike]

Timber or builder merchants should be easy enough and office plus showroom building a warehouse or storage shed - depending on the size of the business, some outside storage, timber yard will need some roofing o keep wood dry but not necessarily completely closed, you could probably use a carriage shed.

A scrapyard is another easy one getsome cheap chinese Ebay plastic cars and  hack them about to look like wrecks and rusted hulks, again an office and storage shed; Used car lot  would use similar items to the scrap yard just don't wreck them.

It will also depend on the period you are modelling, you wouldn't find a double glazing company on a 1930s layout if a country area then a riding stables, a cattle market, a dairy depot where milk is collected and loaded into tankers which then trundle off to London or other large city, or in the city a bottling plant for the milk.

[Bealman]

All good ideas. To me a timberyard is a must on any layout and easy to scratch build.

[Bealman]

[smg id=7848 type=preview align=center width=400]
You can just glimpse mine in the background. Office is bits from a Pola kit, building an old Hornby-Minitrix engine shed cut in half, timber sheds scratchbuilt from card, extractor tank from a Heljan kit.

[cycletrak9]

Here's a shot of my [almost finished] sawmill-1950's era.

It is intended to be a lineside feature so they is no rail link to it but a private siding would be easy to incorporate.  

[Caz]

That's a cracking saw mill yard you've got there, be interested what you use to make it look so effective.

[Bealman]

That's a corker cracker, mate! As you say, easy to put a siding into. Well done! What have you used for the timber? 

[Jerry Howlett]

Totally agree more pictures of the sawmill required and details of how you made those timber stacks.
Jerry

[cycletrak9]

Thanks for the comments. I've just got a bit of detailing to finish and then I'll post some proper photos of the completed model and the prototype.

The model is based on the sawmill in an adjoining village to ours - the set up hasn't changed substantially since the 1950's. Apart from some modified Ratio fencing the whole thing is scratch built. I've made it on a separate base, the idea being that it will slot into the layout in due course. I intend to do this with most of the buildings that I've got planned.

Here is a picture of the original together with a couple more of the model

The piles of unsawn tree trunks are cuttings from a dogwood [Cornus] which I was pruning and thought that they looked about right. Two hours in the simmer oven of the AGA dried them out and I then cut them to length and glued with PVA to make stacks.

The stacks of sawn timber are wooden coffee stirrers cut into 20mm lengths and glued together with spacers cut from thickish writing paper. Once dry they are coloured with woodstain [what else?] and then weathered in varying degrees to represent timber in different stages of seasoning. If anyone is interested I'll post a tutorial on their making but be warned in advance that a stack of planks 13 layers high has 38 separate parts. The finished yard has nearly 70 individual stacks!

[rhysapthomas]

Very impressive piece of work I for one would be interested in how you made the stacks

[Dorsetmike]

Cheap source of "timber"

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/321089885944?lpid=83&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=83&ff19=0

Drying shed? (Ratio carriage shed) pic is ofthe 00 version, they do one in N

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=0Aq9LiF3qkfnFM&tbnid=zd5zSDxf_5x8VM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kato-unitrack.co.uk%2Fratio-527-carriage-shed-18580-0.html&ei=4uONUtWyE-3L0AWrjoCIDQ&bvm=bv.56988011,d.ZGU&psig=AFQjCNG9gdqo4kQTUoZO6VTSP6TexcWjvA&ust=1385116994786550

Dockside timber yard

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=5u9dMBGbSnDhNM&tbnid=50roAHElT_kwlM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.francisfrith.com%2Fpoole%2Cdorset%2Fphotos%2Fsydenhams-timber-yard-2004_p72718k%2F&ei=ruSNUt6YEsz40gXSmYGwDQ&bvm=bv.56988011,d.ZGU&psig=AFQjCNHdqmVjlcHkyOr6KdC_JrryonRY9g&ust=1385117154713126

[Jerry Howlett]

I am looking to put some small business on my layout but apart from the Ratio coal merchants kit can't seem to find anything else I could attempt scratch building but can't seem to find any pictures of suitable small merchant type buildings like timber merchants black smiths etc. any help appreciated with pictures or ideas.

Dave

Picture attached of some cheap downloadable card kits.
Depending on your era the half relief back left is the scalescenes freebie, to the right is actually a first world war hanger that I am going to use as a timber merchant it was another freebie. I think i searched free card kits for that one.
The one at the far back and the 2 at the front are cut down / modified kits from modelrailwayscenery.com they are easy to build and relatively cheap.



There are of course the good old Bilt-eezi kits see the seperate post on this forum for those.
Good luck and show us / share your results.
Jerry

[bbdave]

Cracking response thanks I guess I have to try to use my imagination to convert existing kits or design my own to scratch build.


Dave

[silly moo]

Another idea for a line side building would be a garden centre or nursery.

[petercharlesfagg]

Having been working with timber for the past 20 or so years and seeing your timber yard is extremely impressive, I am overwhelmed by the detail!

I have often toyed with the idea of replicating such a yard and to that end purchased 2 Cornerstones timber storage buildings.  It has never materialised and I shall be selling them but nevertheless I shall keep your fantastic efforts in mind!

I am constantly amazed by the ingenuity of my fellows and you should receive honours for this or at the very least the opportunity to show it at some prestigious model railway exhibition!

Regards, Peter.