Martin has been in touch with his HO engine house:
“Hi Al,
I like reading your many articles from people on your site.
I posted a ‘how to’ many years ago now about making a tunnel which you placed in your hall of fame!
Well following that I went onto making things & selling them on a scenics stall at model train exhibitions. It became quite popular I am proud to say.
So I have decided to create a small layout in my bedroom.
Early stages and I am not very hot at electrics or layout building but I’ll try. My plan is a simple two level with a terminus station & shed on the upper level. (eventually)…
But when time allows me to, I keep doing a bit & it has led me to scratch build a small HO engine house. Here are some pictures of work so far;
And my shed.
Martin”
There’s no way I could forget Martin’s tunnel ‘how to’. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s here. It’s an absolute cracker.
When it comes to making a HO engine house, I always think of mad John on the printable buildings page.
Here’s the Engine house / shed:
And there’s two others – you can find them all here.
Now on to Brian who has been busy scratch building.
“Hi Alastair,
A small finicky project that I am busy with but time consuming and very very small. (HO scale)
The coin is a South African one rand piece used as a comparison. It is 20mm in diameter.
The traps come on a flat photo etched sheet and have to be cut out, bent to shape and super glued together. Note the Lobsters on the left in the third photo.
The boat is unfinished but shows some of the lobster traps behind the guy hauling in the rope.
Brian – the HOn3 guy – Knysna RSA”
A big thanks to Brian and Martin – clever stuff as usual.
I thought I would share an update on my WW1 railway. If you recall it is set somewhere in the south of England in 1918.
A couple of things that I think worked well were adding balloons and elements of the grand fleet to the back scene. You can see this in the photos. I just downloaded some images and resized them to suit
I have also added an airfield with plane landing.
You will see I have installed the Oxford Rail railway gun in a siding which doubles as a small military camp. I have decided it is too much trouble to actually get the gun to run with the clearances it requires
The eagle eyed will see a loco running a signal. Working signalling is on the to do list
Best wishes
Phil”
A huge thanks to Phil for sharing his WW2 model trains. Oops! No that’s WW1 for this post.
As long time readers will know, I do love a theme behind a layout. For me, it brings it to life. There’s only one thing I enjoy more – an update! So today’s post ticks all the boxes for me.
Hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.
That’s all for today folks.
Please do keep ’em coming.
And don’t forget the Beginner’s Guide is here, if you want to get going on your very own layout.
Mostly people want to know if anyone can make them look as good as John.
The answer is yes!
So I thought I’d put together a gallery of some of your creations, so just you know I’m not full of hot air.
“Al, like you I have been retired for some time now.
I have gone back to my American Flyer, s Guage boyhood train.
I have had “n guage, HO, G scale”, and this American Flyer has been the most fun of all. I guess it takes me back to my parents basement where my 4 x 8 foot layout was back in the early 50’s.
I resized your wonderful old barn and had so much fun building it. Here are some pics. Hope everyone enjoys it as much as I have.
Jerry from Illinois, USA.”
“Al,
Great project and a lot of fun. The barn is on it’s way to the Railroad Club.
Charles”
“Al
I have enjoyed your site for a long time, since I have retired had to find something to fill the spare time, I purchased one of your (Big Bundle Deal) and printed out one of the Engine sheds among many others.
I have created my own version of the Engine shed as shown in the pictures.
With added and above doors are my creation of lamps, LED lights.
Scratch built table and chairs with tools.
Interior detail.
Side walls have ventilation fan vents.
I have dreamed to set up a model railroad layout for a long time and when I started to make it a reality one thing came up after another, like kids, education, weddings and now I have time and room to finish the dream, but not much of a budget.
Best to all talented people like Hall of Fame Dave, talented hobbyists and their many beautiful layouts.
Ryszard”
Now on to Hall of Fame Dave, who has also sent this vid in on the Model train printable buildings:
“Hi Al,
just uploaded video showing building that Railway cottage from your site, turned out not bad, and it was easier than what I thought, just a case of getting a decent piece of card to put the print on, then cutting to size.
Dave”
“Recently I decided to embark on a new project. The whole of the plan is a portable layout I can take to shows or other events.
Right now I am contemplating 6 small modules with each one potentially serving as a “micro layout” (Less than four square feet) or a diorama.
While waiting for some Setrack points, I used the time I had to build this little distribution shed.
The shed was primarily built form one of Al’s engine shed kits… But with parts from two of his other kits as well… The large doors “work” (the slide) BUT what I am really proud of is the windows.
I was trying a new technique… And it worked better than I had hoped…
Here is my new trick for adding new windows to Al’s Print Out kits.
The whole process begins with finding a window you like and cutting it out. Al’s kits are fabulous works of art and the artwork does not appear to be computer generated.
I cut one window from his engine shed kit and secured it to a cutting mat with blue painter’s tape.
After securing the window “pattern” to the mat, I used a piece of plastic packaging for my “stock”.
I cut this out with a single edge razor blade and trimmed it up to make it easier to work with, I then secured the workpiece on top of the “pattern”
Again I used blue painter’s tape to hold it in place.
Once I had the plastic from the packaging secured on top of the “pattern”, I used a metal straight edge and an awl from Harbor Freight
The awl was a small one… The back of an X-Acto knife works as well.
I followed the “mullions” (window lines) and scribed lines firmly into the clear plastic). I then covered the window in a thin layer of paint and I wiped off the paint immediately with a paper
towel… This left paint in the lines that I had scribed and yet the window panes were all left clear…
After cleaning the window I removed it from the pattern that I had used. I then trimmed it to size.
These photos should show the nice white “mullions” in my new windows… They are nice and thin. I used Canopy glue to secure the windows into their frames… Formula’s Canopy Glue from Pacer is a thick PVA type glue that dries clear.
Here are some photos of my oil shed as I was building it. You can see the windows that I made with the techniques shown in this tutorial…
These windows are just one more way to add even more realism to the great kits Al offers as Print-Out downloads.
John from Cali”
“Hi Alastair,
I am very impressed with the outcome of two that I have made so far. Very easy to put together. I will have to redo the grain elevator (my first one) as I made a mistake with it. I am picking the ones that will fit my American theme.
They will find a place on my layout in the near future.
All the best.
Brian”
“Al,
After watching John explain how to make these models more interesting, I made my own.
It is my very first attempt at creating a building from a printout, I used several different background materials and cutting techniques.
I think my next effort will be better, but I want to thank you for providing these files and let you know there are several others I will be needing soon. Thanks for hosting the website that speaks to our favorite hobby.
Herbert”
“Hi, here is my version, it turned out great with a few minor details added, including some weathering and roof metal fatigue.
Charles H”
A huge thank to you Charles, Brian, John, Ryszard, Jerry and Dave.
And let’s not forget the latest in the model train printable building scenery range – the roundhouse:
It’s up to you how many stalls your roundhouse has, 2, 4, 6, 8… just print out what you need. Below are two stuck together.
And here’s the infamous John showing us how it’s done:
As with all the printable buildings, it’s HO scale. If you want N scale, just reduce the print size by 54%.
That’s all for today folks. As always, please do keep ’em coming.
