The scratch build kit silly sale

A big thanks to everyone who has supported the site and grabbed the lastest ‘print out’ building kit in the silly sale.

Not long to go now before it ends, so please don’t hang about if you fancy it.

It’s just $9 and you get all this with it.

I’m excited about some of the mails I have received, one of you is building a police station with it, and someone is putting together a fire station.

I can’t wait to see them – I shall keep you posted.

The buildings are like most things with this hobby: smart small!

Here’s a great example of what I mean.

Houses are pretty simple to build – have a look at Robert’s.

But you can still start smaller:

“Hi Al.

Just wanted to share a little project that I scratch built today.

This is a 1/4 inch scale (O scale kingpost bridge).

I made this little bridge today 100% from card that I salvaged from soda can boxes.

The card was glued together with Elmers Glue All (a brand of PVA glue).

All the card was stained with Minwax stains to make it look like wood.

There are some small details left to work on.

Here is the thing — I could never have built this little bridge without the skills that I learned while building and kitbashing your wonderful Print-Out kits.

Your Print Out buildings and the videos you sometimes share taught me first about how to make card models look realistic. Then they helped me build skills so that I can build “beyond the box”.

Thank you for your wonderful site AND thank you especially for teaching me about modeling with paper beginning with your amazing Print Out buildings.

Sincerely,

John
Chatsworth CA, USA”

John’s always sending me stuff of his builds – he’s using the print out scenery exactly what it’s best at: scratch building.

Here’s another of his projects:

“Hi Al…

This is a little O scale building that I constructed over the past two or three days.

The inspiration was a challenge by a Facebook friend to build something that would fit on a business card. I love it when I am challenged to build something —

I used my favorite soda can boxes for most of this…They farm the base for the buildings, the base for the walls, and much of the “stripwood” that I also used fr many of the details.

The “glass” in the window came from a food tray — Takeout container.

The clapboard siding was cut from yellow printing card –

To make the siding, 1/8 inch wide strips were cut and shingled to give the appearance of 3 inch clapboards.

The “wood” was stained with felt tip pens that I had lying around.

The roofing came from one of your kits — The blue office building if I remember.

A standard business card is roughly two inches by three and one half inches.

That determined the size of the roof “dripline”.

My shed is roughly 1.5 inches wide (6 scale feet), and three inches long (12 scale feet)

These photos capture the first part of the build.

The fun that I am having now began about five or six years ago with the first “Print Out kit” that I purchased on this site. That was an enginehouse… And since then I just keep working to make every model better than the one before.

Even if you believe that you do not have room for a layout, I would suggest having a go at a few of Alastair’s kits… They are fun to build, you develop your modeling skills, and sooner or later you will build a diorama or a layout to put them on! It is a START!

Sincerely,

John

California USA”

A huge thanks to John (he’s a different John – not the one in the video below).

Of course, he’s right, the big thing in this hobby is to make a start – even if it’s making a model building to get your feet wet.

Over the years, you lot have sent in some fantastic model built from the print out scenery:

Scratch built freight shed

More scratch builds

Even more of your scratch builds

Things you’ve made with the silly sale

More scratch builds

John’s shelf layout

Perhaps the most popular model is the barn – lots of you have enjoyed making it:

The barn is bundled free at the moment with the Beginner’s Guide and the scratch build kits.

In fact, all of the below are bundled free – but this deal ends soon. So please don’t miss it.

The roundhouse
The red barn bundle (I call these the 4th July buildings)
The wooden barn
3 hours of ‘how to’ video
Engine sheds
Shipping containers
signal boxes

And then of course, there are the latest scratch kits:



It’s unoriginally called ‘Scratch build kit 2’, but look what you can build with it:

warehouse back drop

Here’s an example of the backdrops you can build.

And have a look at the town houses:

town house HO scale

And there’s different brickwork prints too:

HO scale town house

Side view:

HO scale town house

But perhaps the best thing about Scratch build kit 2, is that Scratch build kit 1 comes completely free with it.

So you can use the brick prints from that and make lots more:

Best of all, I thought it was about time a did another silly sale to help keep the site going.

So the new Scratch build kit 2 is just $9.

And don’t forget, you get Scratch build kit 1 completely free too.

The good new doesn’t stop there though.

I thought the best way for people to start tinkering with trains and layouts is to bundle the Scratch build kits with the Beginner’s Guide.

So this means you get Scratch build kits 1 & 2, the Beginner’s Guide and all the free bonuses that come with the Beginner’s Guide – all for just $9.

Of course I’m biased but it really is a proper silly sale. Ridiculous value.

I know many of you have the Beginner’s Gude and you are only buying it for the prints – and that’s absolutely fine.

So, for a few days only, you get Scratch build kits 1 & 2, the Beginner’s Guide and all the free bonuses that come with the Beginner’s Guide – all for just $9.

Here’s what you can build with scratch build kit 1 (which comes free with Scratch build kit 2 – and all for just $9)

You can see all the buildings here.

The whole lot is just $9.

And as I say, I know some of you have the Beginner’s Guide already are only buying it for the prints – that’s absolutely fine.

Hopefully you’ll agree it’s a smashing deal – and if it gets a few more of you into making models and laying track it’s all been worth out.

Please don’t hang about though – it’s only for a few days then it’s all back to normal.

You can buy the Beginner’s Guide and both the scratch build kits right now for just $9. But not for long!

Here’s John with another video on how to make these buildings:



All the prints are HO scale. For N scale reduce the print size to 54%. For O scale increase by 143%.

The entire package – everything I’ve listed – is just $9.

In a nutshell you are getting $135 worth, for just $9.

I do get a real kick whem somebody tells me they’ve started their layout because of the blog or the Beginner’s Guide. It’s just as satisfying when somebody sends pics of the print out buildings too.

And when I get both – some of my print out buildings on a new layout – well, that just makes me smile from ear to ear.

So I thought this package really should give a gentle nudge to all those who have often thought about making that start, or just want to make some buildings.

It’s $135 worth for just $9. If that doesn’t get you started, I don’t know what will.

With so much to gain and nothing to lose, I’m really hoping you’ll take the plunge, whether it’s for the Beginner’s Guide, the new building prints, or all the other freebies.

And you really have nothing to lose – it’s a one time $9 payment that also comes with a 60 day, no quibble, money back guarantee.

So here are the new prints (I hope you like them).

Here’s John holding the prints and a building he’s made from them:

And here’s some more buildings John has made from the prints – have a look at the video below to see how he did it.

All these buildings are free with the Beginner’s Guide this weekend – and it’s just $9 too.

All of these buildings, and lots of others too, with the Beginner’s Guide for just $9.



Here’s a pic what you get in the new print collection:

As you’ve probably worked out, you’re only restricted by your imagination, you could make as many buildings as you like, to whatever design you like.

It’s a crazy deal and I hope you like it.

I know some of you who aleady have the Beginner’s Guide will buy it again just for the prints – and that’s absolutely fine.

But remember – today is the last day – then everything goes back to how it was.

So if you’d like to grab $135 worth of Guide and prints for just $9, grab it here, right now.

Best

Al



Print out buildings silly sale

Just a quick heads up this time – the silly sale ends tomorrow!

Thanks to each and everyon of you that has supported the site and grabbed it.

Here’s what you get if you’re still mulling it over. Scroll down to the bottom to see every building:



It’s unoriginally called ‘Scratch build kit 2’, but look what you can build with it:

warehouse back drop

Here’s an example of the backdrops you can build.

And have a look at the town houses:

town house HO scale

And there’s different brickwork prints too:

HO scale town house

Side view:

HO scale town house

But perhaps the best thing about Scratch build kit 2, is that Scratch build kit 1 comes completely free with it.

So you can use the brick prints from that and make lots more:

So you get all this for just $9.

And don’t forget, you get Scratch build kit 1 completely free too, and a whole load of other printable buildings too – 33 in fact!

The good new doesn’t stop there though.

I thought the best way for people to start tinkering with trains and layouts is to bundle the Scratch build kits with the Beginner’s Guide.

So this means you get Scratch build kits 1 & 2, the Beginner’s Guide and all the free bonuses that come with the Beginner’s Guide – all for just $9.

Of course I’m biased but it really is a proper silly sale. Ridiculous value.

I know many of you have the Beginner’s Gude and you are only buying it for the prints – and that’s absolutely fine.

So, for a few days only, you get Scratch build kits 1 & 2, the Beginner’s Guide and all the free bonuses that come with the Beginner’s Guide – all for just $9.

Here’s what you can build with scratch build kit 1 (which comes free with Scratch build kit 2 – and all for just $9)

You can see all the buildings here.

The whole lot is just $9.

And as I say, I know some of you have the Beginner’s Guide already are only buying it for the prints – that’s absolutely fine.

Hopefully you’ll agree it’s a smashing deal – and if it gets a few more of you into making models and laying track it’s all been worth out.

Please don’t hang about though – it’s only for a few days then it’s all back to normal.

You can buy the Beginner’s Guide and both the scratch build kits right now for just $9. But not for long!

Here’s John with another video on how to make these buildings:



All the prints are HO scale. For N scale reduce the print size to 54%. For O scale increase by 143%.

The entire package – everything I’ve listed – is just $9.

In a nutshell you are getting $135 worth, for just $9.

I do get a real kick whem somebody tells me they’ve started their layout because of the blog or the Beginner’s Guide. It’s just as satisfying when somebody sends pics of the print out buildings too.

And when I get both – some of my print out buildings on a new layout – well, that just makes me smile from ear to ear.

So I thought this package really should give a gentle nudge to all those who have often thought about making that start, or just want to make some buildings.

It’s over $300 worth for just $9. If that doesn’t get you started, I don’t know what will.

With so much to gain and nothing to lose, I’m really hoping you’ll take the plunge, whether it’s for the Beginner’s Guide, the new building prints, or all the other freebies.

And you really have nothing to lose – it’s a one time $9 payment that also comes with a 60 day, no quibble, money back guarantee.

So here are the new prints (I hope you like them).

Here’s John holding the prints and a building he’s made from them:

And here’s some more buildings John has made from the prints – have a look at the video below to see how he did it.

All these buildings are free with the Beginner’s Guide this weekend – and it’s just $9 too.

All of these buildings, and lots of others too, with the Beginner’s Guide for just $9.



Here’s a pic what you get in the new print collection:

As you’ve probably worked out, you’re only restricted by your imagination, you could make as many buildings as you like, to whatever design you like.

It’s a crazy deal and I hope you like it.

I know some of you who aleady have the Beginner’s Guide will buy it again just for the prints – and that’s absolutely fine.

But remember – today is the last day – then everything goes back to how it was.

So if you’d like to grab over £300 worth of Guide and prints for just $9, grab it here, right now.

Best

Al

HO scale turnout: Wayne hits a problem

Wayne’s run in to a problem with his HO scale turnouts – can anyone help?

“I wont say i came across my first mistake, but I think I hit the mistake week.

I came across two missed tortoise not drilled turnouts. One I chocked up as lost and forgotten forever. This turnout was to go to the coal mine.

I went a little farther down the line and put another turnout in coming from the other direction. This means I get to layout a whole new coal mine.

The old spur will be a place to put a maint. car for my two guys with their beer.

The other was under the hill that I first put in. This turnout is one that I could not bypass nor change its location.

I don’t know if what I did was the easiest or the best. This is how I am going to fix it.

Digging into the archives of the old dusty brain. I used some of my job experience from years gone by. I did some measurements from out side, from the inside. Then laid it out on top of my mountain.

I used a small x-long drill bit, and drilled down through the mountain. I ended up about 1/16 inch off.

Being that close, I went ahead and drilled through the slide bar, cork road base, and the 3/4 inch plywood. This way I would know where to drill up from underneath so I could enlarge the hole for the tortoise swing bar.

I took a small cutoff disk and separated the track back several inch’s from the turnout on all 3 legs. This way I used it as a template to make up a new replacement.

I made the track runs a little longer due to the loss from the grinding wheel.

The second photo is where I moved the turnout.

The third one is the other turnout. The locating hole is under the power pole.

Maybe some of the Royal guard can let me know what they would have done, or even the yanks across the pond in my neck of the woods.

Wayne”

HO scale layout with turnouts

HO scale turnout

HO scale turnout

Please leave a comment below if you can help Wayne with his HO scale turnout problem.

Wayne’s post reminded me of this one: Adding a turnout to an existing layout.

If you want to get up to speed, Wayne’s last post is here.

Now on to Martin, who has sent in few more pics of his O scale – and a vid:

Mohawk Valley Railway GP38-2

Mohawk Valley Railway GP38-2 moves some covered hoppers around at Lake Shore Harbor

Heritage ALCO C424 #452 diesel in Delaware and Hudson livery waits to pull out with a heritage passenger train.



O scale

The bit that’s not normally seen…hidden sidings at the back of the Fanny Frobisher Finest Flour plant.

O scale shelf layout

Busy day at Lake Shore

O scale engine

Ex PRR ALCO RS1 #8858 switching covered hoppers at the grain discharger.

UP locomotives at work

Two ex UP locomotives at work on the layout. SW9 # 1872 is hauling some tank cars while GP 38-2 #2289 waits patiently to do some switching once the tanker train has passed.



You can see Martin’s last post here.

A big thanks to Martin and Wayne.

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you stop dreaming and start doing, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

PPS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.