ok, i tried to replicate a modern logistics warehouse type of building. it is based on the countless buildings like it in the metro atlanta area. this particular bldg will be a farmers market when completed and will be on phase 3of my layout which is a small industrial park, serviced by rail of course.
aside from sanding down the roof any suggextions how to hide the seems where the walls join?
got a lil messy on that front window. itll be working on correcting that over the next few weekends.
this is obviously just preliminary. all the true detail and repair work is yet to come. among other things im going to add some skylights and an exhaust fan or two and an ac unit on the roof. my LHS has all these little nic nacs.
First, you've done a good job on your maiden voyage into scratchbuilding. Now, for seams, there is always the old standby, the drain pipe! Flat roof buildings need a lot of drain pipes to keep the roof from flooding. Cut a small notch in the roof at the seam and then run some Plastistruct half round rods down the side. They are usually painted black on modern structures so do that first. On a building that size, you need about four drains on the long walls and two drains on the shorter walls. This takes care of your seam problem and adds a neglected detail to your indistrial building.
Yep, you'll see a lot of black drain pipes on newer tilt-up structures like that because they are unpainted black plastic. You'll sometimes see them in white depending on what schedule PVC pipe they used. The classic aluminum or galvanized steel drain pipe is becoming a thing of the past.
Good job on your first scratch built. What thickness of sheet plastic are you using? For side walls, .040 thickness is sufficient and is easily cut using a metal straight edge and a yellow Stanley razor knife. Don't be afraid to strike through the plastic several times before you snap the plastic sheet. This way, you will get a straighter break when the plastic is snapped. Thin blade Exacto knives had a tendency to wander when you are cutting plastic sheet..
You can attempt to clean up the roof edge, but the better way to do this is to cap the cut edge with a "U" channel plastic strip that will hide the uneven edge altogether. The channel should bridge the low areas. The attached photo shows how I capped the roof on my warehouse.
Another way to clean up building corners is to use thin plastic strips running vertically, starting with each right angled corner and spacing them the length of the building. This is called a "external skeleton" framed building and is normally associated with cast concrete structures. I have included another photo from one of my scratch built building showing this external skeleton arrangement. I know you have seen this type of building before.
Thank you, yes it is a fueling area. Between the background warehousing and the fueling area presently lies a canal that was not in this photo. I am doing a take off on Lance Mindheims "Voodoo and Palmettos" Miami, Florida layout. I like this because there is a lot of art deco paintwork that finds itself on warehouse exteriors so any pastel color that you would like to use for accent really works well.
thanks for all the great feedback. Camaro- your structure is awesome. since i am building an industrial park i will be building 1 maybe 2 more similar structures. your structure there is quite an inspiration. I actually used cardboard for this one, but will use plastic moving forward. for some reason when i say styrene at hobby lobby and michaels they look at me funny. i know i can order it online but with this i wanted to see what i am getting. applying some of the advise here i want to finish this one first before i start on another one. that seems to be a problem of mine.
You're local hobby shop should have the sheet plastic you need. The two major brands are Evergreen (more expensive) and Plastruct (reasonably priced). I capped the edges of the blue trimmed warehouse with Plastruct 3/32 "U" channel, (part# 90532). I have enclosed another picture of a warehouse I am constructing for a special portion of my layout. Since my layout is a shelf layout (24" wide) suspended from the side walls, the majority of my scratch built structures are low reveal meaning that I don't need to model all four sides. Most set against the backwall and are only 3.5 to 5.0 inches deep. The structures in the foreground are modeled in their entirety.
my LHS does carry evergreen styrene sheets. they are kind of steep, but not outragous. What size (width) do you use/suggest? I got the U chanels and some angles for the corners. Im putting the "honey do" list on hold to until tomorrow so i can get some work in on my warehouse.
I am using Plastruct .040 thickness and the sheets are 12" x 7". These are easy to cut windows into. Slightly thicker sheets .060 are also usable but require a little more work for cutting window openings. The "L" shaped girders will also be handy for suspending the your flat plastic sheet roof sections. These can be used around the outside walls to support the flat plastic roof sections. I have also used plastic "I" beams to add support to the exterior side walls as shown in the above picture.
thanks Camaro- on a side note i have 2 friends, one with a 68 Camaro and one with a 68 Chevelle. Last time we were all together i was asked which one i liked better. Very difficult choice since american muscle cars are the best cars ever made....period, but i went with the Camaro...it has a little body damage but is still so sweet.
ill pick up the .040 sheets this weekend and with my 2 week vacation coming up ill get busy working on building#2. Hope you dont mind but im going to borrow some of your techniques
i added the front sidewalk and some of the roof ornaments. I wanted to add some dome skylights and an AC unit, but couldnt seem to find any. I may just try to scratchbuild the AC unit and skip the domes - even though i can add them later if i find some that I like.
getting the front window to join perfectly has proven to be out of the scope of my expertise. so to disguise this design flaw, im going to add a flag pole , and probably a few shrubs and such.
Walthers makes large roof A/C units like the ones that I have on the warehouse in the previous photos. I believe you get a total of ten A/C units of various sizes. BLMA also makes a brass etched window unit that is a new release. I believe the MSRP is 12.00 for twelve units, but actual cost would probably be less. My Walthers plastic roof units were under 10.00 dollers for ten various size A/C units. I can't find the part number for the Walthers units.
