Applying buildings

[AmtrakCr74108]

I am ready to start applying buildings to my HO layout for a city scene. I am wondering if it is better to set the buildings on some type of material to raise them up a little to make room for streets and sidewalks even if some of the buildings come with their own base. Thanks in advance.

 

[santafewillie]

Every layout and every structure is different, so there is no hard and fast rule to go by. Most all of the roads on my layout are blacktop roads, which I make by cutting appropriate width strips from roofing felt, otherwise known as "tarpaper", which isn't very thick. Many of my structures are DPM or Smalltown USA structures which do not have sidewalks included; I add them and make them from Evergreen Styrene sidewalk sheets. If I butt the sidewalks up to the front of the structure, I do not raise the structure, If I tuck them under the front of the building, I use .040" x .060" strips of styrene around the perimeter of the building. The sidewalk sheets are .040" thick, some kit sidewalks (bases) are thicker. I do rest the front edge on top of the road to give the illusion of a raised sidewalk in most cases.
A lot is also based on personal preference. Again, this is what I do, there are many other factors to be considered.

Willie

 

[goscrewyourselves]

95% of my structures are DPM and 100% of my City Buildings are DPM. As Willie said, they do not come with side walks or anything attached, only the building.

The first thing I build (once establishing where everything will go) are the roads and the sidewalks. I make sure the sidewalk area is wide enough for not only the sidewalk but also for a building to sit on. In other words, if my sidewalk needs to be 1" wide and I need 4" depth for the buildings, I'll make my sidewalk 5" wide. Essentially I put in the "lowest portion" of the area first and build up from there.

For structures that sit on sloping ground, I'll build a raised foundation for it so it sits flat.

 

[jdetray]

On my N-scale layout, the buildings along "Main Street" are Walthers Cornerstone kits. I discarded the supplied foundations and sidewalks and made my own out of styrene.

Here's the foundation for "Lynda's Quilt Shoppe." The styrene simulates a poured concrete slab. I first glued down the slab, then built up the terrain around it. This makes the slab appear embedded in the ground rather than resting on top of it. The object in the middle of the slab is a LED for interior lighting.

When mounted on its foundation, the Shoppe looks like this.

And here's the whole street.

The sidewalk is 5 scale inches above the street, and I hand painted the yellow curbing. The road striping is white and yellow chart tape.


- Jeff

 

[jdetray]

I'm also experimenting with stone foundations found on so many older structures in New Hampshire, where my layout is located.

I'm using Doctor Ben’s Scale Consortium Baby Building Blocs.

Here's what they look like under a structure, but before building up the terrain around the foundation.

The blocks are easy to shape and easily cut to size. So far I like the look!

- Jeff

 

[montanan]

I have very few structures that are permanently mounted on the layout. Most can be moved so cleaning or other work if necessary can be done without taking the chance of doing any damage to them.