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Post by neverland on Aug 9, 2018 17:43:22 GMT -5
From having read multiple posts on the subject of Z structures, a common thread is the frustration many of us feel when we can't find a particular structure needed for our layouts. I for one have searched in vain for a US country church.
Texrail has done some brilliant kitbashing & Rory is going to try & transform N scale structures to Z. I've.been contemplating transforming a Z scale Kibri 36770 3-story Factory into a 50s era high school. My only reluctance is that I will need to eliminate several of the exterior fixtures & wonder how to go about disguising the slots & holes left behind.
I'd love to hear from y'all about any kitbashing you may have done, lessons learned, ideas, etc.
Deb
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Post by markm on Aug 9, 2018 19:23:54 GMT -5
Deb,
A note for you any everyone here: closets are being cleaned out at Stonebridge Models and starting to put last-one kits and parts up on ebay. There might be an appropriate rural church or school kit that might work. I might also suggest the December 1993 issue of Model Railroader which had an article on kit bashing an HO church to N scale. It might give you some inspiration.
As far as the process of kit bashing, whenever possible I like to cut pieces oversized and use fine (400+ grit) sandpaper to work down to the final dimension. I've been using Testor's plastic model filler for holes and slots in plastic materials and Wood Dough for wooden kits.
Mark
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Post by Commodore on Aug 9, 2018 20:15:17 GMT -5
Thanks Mark.
Everyone should just step back from the orthodoxy ...and take a fresh look.
Just because it says "Zscale" or "N scale" on the box doesn't mean compromises weren't made.
Many N scale kits are undersized ,,,to fit into more places. So ...Just by Reducing the door height, you can make these way more appropriate for Z than they were for N. This is because depth and width had already been foreshortened to fit more layout sizes. (And to sell better).
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2018 0:32:33 GMT -5
Deb. I will build the same Kibri factory ... as a factory. Don't be afraid by the "white" decos under the windows, they can be fixed separately. Revell putty ( "Plasto" ) is fine too (Tamiya putty is no more available in the EU). And then, when the walls are assembled, before glueing the windows, one or two layers of Tamiya spray. For my station I used TS90. |
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Post by Curn on Aug 10, 2018 11:16:59 GMT -5
As far as a country church goes, the MTL military chapel, and Luetke Modellbahn mountain chapel are still available. Gray Brothers has a country church. All of Gray Brothers structures are scratch built from strip wood, paper, and clapboard sheets, so check them out for inspiration.
If I were going to scratch build a church, I would probably just buy laser engraved wall clapboard siding, windows, and doors from RSLaser. Micron art also sells doors and windows. Micromark sells square corner punches for making window and door cutouts from the walls. I think several people sell shingles, or you can print a roof patteren on card stock. Most hobby shops sell strip wood or evergreen polystyrene strips for siding. Should be everything you need to build a small building.
Matt
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Post by Curn on Aug 10, 2018 13:17:06 GMT -5
Also, how to design plans: Don’t bother. The US Gov. has those. During the Great Depression the WPA paid architects and engineers to photograph and catalog a great deal of historic building and sites around the country. Now it’s part of the Library of Congress. It’s called the Historic American Building Survey. It’s online and searchable. Here is a link to the database. Not all buildings sites have drawings. It helps to add “drawings” to filter results. LOC HABSHere is a small church from Bodie CA with complete drawings. I found it by searching “church drawings CA”. Bodie ChurchMatt |
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Post by neverland on Aug 10, 2018 14:59:13 GMT -5
Also, how to design plans: Don’t bother. The US Gov. has those. During the Great Depression the WPA paid architects and engineers to photograph and catalog a great deal of historic building and sites around the country. Now it’s part of the Library of Congress. It’s called the Historic American Building Survey. It’s online and searchable. Here is a link to the database. Not all buildings sites have drawings. It helps to add “drawings” to filter results. LOC HABSHere is a small church from Bodie CA with complete drawings. I found it by searching “church drawings CA”. Bodie ChurchMatt Hey thanks, Matt. I appreciate the info. Deb |
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Post by texrail on Aug 13, 2018 12:03:31 GMT -5
Thanks, Matt,
that´s a wonderfull source of inspiration!
Best, Ingo
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Post by neverland on Aug 15, 2018 15:29:53 GMT -5
Picked up some partially built Stonebridge models that had a few missing parts. Thank goodness I keep a spare parts box because I had everything I needed to finish one structure & kitbash another.
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Post by Commodore on Aug 15, 2018 20:57:33 GMT -5
Hey Deb, Check it out...
Scrap's the big fish o'scratch;
Ya betta have tha stash to do da trash.
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Post by emaley on Aug 16, 2018 7:37:21 GMT -5
I say "jump in". Get some old kits or cheap ones and have a crack at it. I was terrified of bashing at first and I took the plunge with some warehouse loading docks fore an nscale switching puzzle. I even raised the coal bunker on a steam tender to fit a decoder. Putty and styrene scraps are your friend. For me, doing it gave me more ideas and solutions.
Good luck
Trey
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Post by Commodore on Aug 17, 2018 7:52:42 GMT -5
Also, how to design plans: Don’t bother. The US Gov. has those. During the Great Depression the WPA paid architects and engineers to photograph and catalog a great deal of historic building and sites around the country. Now it’s part of the Library of Congress. It’s called the Historic American Building Survey. It’s online and searchable. Here is a link to the database. Not all buildings sites have drawings. It helps to add “drawings” to filter results. LOC HABSHere is a small church from Bodie CA with complete drawings. I found it by searching “church drawings CA”. Bodie ChurchMatt Using Matt's link I found dozens of cool gas stations. Billy Carter's station in Plains GA, Humble, Pure Oil, Mobile, tall pumps, they're all in there ...with pics and plans. |
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Post by santafesuperchief on Aug 18, 2018 14:29:07 GMT -5
Does anyone have the Miller Structures Gulf Station lighting instructions they could share? I found the station kit in Z but could not locate a light kit so I bought the N scale version and was hoping with the Z scale instructions I kit bash some of the lighting!!
Thanks!!
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Post by Commodore on Aug 18, 2018 17:31:04 GMT -5
Does anyone have the Miller Structures Gulf Station lighting instructions they could share? I found the station kit in Z but could not locate a light kit so I bought the N scale version and was hoping with the Z scale instructions I kit bash some of the lighting!! Thanks!! I'm interested too. So it was you that bought the last z-scale kit? |
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Post by santafesuperchief on Aug 18, 2018 17:55:01 GMT -5
Probably! A women once told me if you see it and want it, better get it before they are all gone!!
Would be great if someone has the instructions/templates for the Z scale lighting kit to what we can do with the N scale version!!
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