Cardboard and paper Buildings

[usher42]

My local hobby shop has a n scale layout display and has cardboard builings. Can i make buildings out  of cereal boxes.

[Paul M.]

I suppose you could... but it would take a lot of time and effort.

Better yet, there's a company that sells paper building kits. They'll let you download an outhouse for free.

They're called Paper Creek.

[r.cprmier]

Railroad Graphics" (not to be confused with "Rail Graphics" has CD ROms available with building siding, windows, window dressing, etc.  Try them if you are looking to cardboard buildings.

Also, a little history is needed here:  Way way back-just after man's discovery of fire and the wheel, A company named "Strombecker" and "Megow" had cardstock-sided boxcars.  This kit was assembled by gluing the cardboard sides to a wood frame.  Worse than primitive by todays cerebral standards, they certainly had their place, and I had done my share of them-it only whetted my appetite for those Varney and Mantua kits that were only a paper route away...

Also, a lot of fine kits; the old Campbell, Timberline, Suydam, etc, were made up of Strathmore, Bristol, (cardboard) sides, roofs, etc., so really, there is nothing new here.  A word of advise though:  Cereal boxes are not the same composition as say Strathmore-Strathmore is laminated into plies.  Ust that instead.  You can find big sheets at AC Moore, Michaels, and any good art supply house.

Also; you can certainly find a copier and copy kit directions, and if you are computer handy-which I ain't-you can doctor those up to your heart's delight.

Rich

Marie's oldest kid

[Summertrainz]

I allways try to use things like that but they always...
FAIL!
maybe i suck at things like that
but they never come out good
better to buy a kit
or just get a 5-20$ building
try to get ready made
those build your self ones always come out...
lop sided 
i may be dumb
but you know be creative

[RAM]

Rich!  I guess we are in the same boat.  We are old.  "Strombecker" kits were not made to operate.  They had wooden wheels.  However there was a company that came out with a power unit and trucks for the R.I. Rocket.   "Megow"had some nice kits.  There must have been ten companies that made cardboard side kits.  Red ball had some kits that were not cardboard. Walthers had wood kits. 

[r.cprmier]

Ram;

Yeah...I can remember selling "Grit" it was a newspaper and I can'tfor the life of me, remember who published it!   I also sold Christmas cards to get money for trains.  I hawked the Boston Record in traffic on Hancock BVd in North Quincy too...

I always wondered if anyone actually went forward to get those "fine scale" wheels to operate.  The RI rocket and the City of San Francisco were about the same.  Do you know they also had a Mikado in wood?   It is laughable now.

Those kits were assembled by the radio as shows like Autolite theatre, The Green lantern, Amos n' Andy, etc played through the most modern appliance we had:  the radio!    Rule was:  As long as the homework was done, the kits came out...

Rich

[GN.2-6-8-0]

Boy oh'Boy wish my memory hadn't gone south on me.
Not long ago (within the last year)Icame across a artical by a fellow who used cereal box's to build structures the one shown was no less a coaling station I believe and it was just plane freaking fantastic.
Incredible workmanship....Ahh' now where'd i set my coffee down

[Jim Banner]

Cardboard and paper are time honoured materials.  The results are more a measure of the skill of the builder than the nature of the material.  They can even be used for boilers and cabs on steam locomotives.  Shellac can be used to make paper and cardboard harder/stiffer if needed. 

[Terry Toenges]

Usher - I don't see why you couldn't use cereal boxes. The others have good ideas, too.
When I was a kid, I use to use cereal boxes and any other boxes I could find to make castles and forts.
Scissors, Elmer's glue, markers, old magazines (to cut out pictures of things like trees, people, etc.), and construction paper were all that was needed.

[pdlethbridge]

I think that if you can see it, or if its close, it should be well detailed. Background buildings and backs or sides of buildings that can not be seen could be any material. Using what you have, a cereal box, could be enhanced by good painting and small details that pull the viewers eyes away from the cardboard.

[r.cprmier]

Terry;
Yeah...but when you were a kid, you didn't have the unerring eye for detail you have now; and you probably wouldn't have cared anyway, as long as it ran, and/or served the purpose. 

Seriously, cereal boxes, shirt boxes, etc are a poor choice for any quality level work because the material is too flimsy; and it is made that way, because it is unneccessary to use quality cardstock for that application.

Now, Bristol board, Chip board, and-especially-Strathmore, are all good candidates.  In the case of Strathmore for example, this material has ply composition-much like plywood, which adds to the stability of it.  it also has a finish to at least one side, and it comes in a big sheet with no "Wheaties" logo, etc on it (remember when OJ was on the box? ha ha).  Besides, anything that comes from Wornoco, Mass, has got to be good-it's just naturally Yankee...

Happy Fourth

Rich

[GlennW]

Yes, you can make buildings out of cereal boxes!

It's one way of planning to to Kit building or Scratch Building! Get the model to fit the space you have before cutting any styrene!

It's mostly a temporary material till you can get the styrene/wood parts you deed to make an actual building. You may want to turn the box inside out so you can't see any printing!

[fieromike]

If you want to try your hand at paper modeling, these people have a small freight house available for FREE download.
http://www.scalescenes.com/

Mike

[r.cprmier]

Usher;
An idea I forgot about that could be a help to you is to find building instructions that are printed in scale, photocopy them, and paste them onto the cardstock of your choice.

RIch

[r.cprmier]

Another really neat thing to do is to take the actual parts that comprise walls, roof, etc, and photocopy them.  THis works especially well with DPM modular parts.  I believe the late Art Curren did indeed mention that proceedure in one of his books.

Rich