How to add finishing details to O scale buildings
Article by trains O scale! Trains O Scale - buildings - finishing the outside. In this section I am going to go through adding a surface to your model train buildings so that they don't just look like a box with some windows, sitting on your trains o scale set.Walls
With the walls there are three main ways to detail them - Brick, Pebble Dash and Wood. So firstly lets start with brick.
Bricks:
This is probably the most simple thing to go with because the only way to do this is cover your building with paper that has bricks printed onto it. You can't exactly get a load of miniature bricks and stick them to the outside of your model train buildings. So you need brick paper, the first point of call is your hobby shop, you should be able to buy many types of brick finishes in the diorama section of the store. Once you have bought this it is simply a case of cutting it out to the right dimensions and gluing it on.Another cheap way of doing this is printing out your own paper and sticking that on. Here are some images that I have edited for you to print off, I have cropped them so that the courses will fit together perfectly.
When printing them off put your printer on the lowest quality setting, firstly it won't waste a load of ink and secondly it will look better and give you more of a mat rather than a gloss finish.
Right click and select save image as.....
You can print a few squares like this and then cut them to the desired dimensions.
Pebble Dash:
This is quite a messy way of detailing your buildings but does give a great finish.
You can find the grit to use in a number of places -
Aquarium Gravel
Model Railroad Ballast
Budgie or Parakeet Grit
All of these will be fine to mix with glue and stick to the walls of your building. I suggest just doing one side at a time. Mix your grit of choice with plenty of glue until you get to a good consistency. You can tell when you have a good consistency by dipping a spoon into your mix -if the mixture pours off then it is too wet, if it falls off without sticking at all its probably too dry but if it stays "clogged" to the spoon for a few seconds then it should be fine. As long as there is enough glue to keep it to your walls and make it spreadable you will be fine.
Lie your model train building on newspaper and simply apply the mixture, wait for it to dry and repeat on the other sides.
Wood:
This is probably my favorite finish because I think wooden buildings look great on any model train set and with trains o scale it isnt too fiddly.
Get some thick paper or card and paint it in the desired colour for your wood, you will need to use more than one colour to get the right finish. So mix up a brown and give it a sketchy coat - not necessary to cover all the paper, once it is relatively dry change the brown to a different shade and give it another few strokes. Do this with about four colours from your original pot.
Now the paper should look a little bit like it has been camouflaged but don't worry since you now cut the paper up into lengths and mix them up so that you aren't putting them on your wall in the same order they were painted in.
Get a strip and glue the top half of it then apply it to the BOTTOM of your wall, wait for it to stick nicely (doesn't have to dry) and then apply glue to the next one and stick it so that it overlaps your first piece. Do this until you get to the top of your wall where you may have to cut the final piece so that it fits in perfectly. And thats it- you are done and you now have your log finish.
Roof:
There are a few ways to finish your roof but the best way by far is to shingle it. The beauty of this is that you can make it look however you like by adding a different colour. It can look like tiles, slate, or whatever you like.
Get some thick paper or thin card, you don't really want to use anything too thick for this because it just isnt necessary. Paint it in the colour you like, as with the wood use a few different shades to get the right effect. Personally I airbrush everything as its cheap, easy and very versatile. Now you need to cut the paper into strips but not perfectly, you want to leave a curvy uneven edge. Now cut into the strip at random intervals but don't cut all the way through the paper, this way you are left with strips but it will look like a lot of individual tiles.
Glue about a third of the strip and apply it to the BOTTOM of the roof, continue up to the top but you dont need to go right up to the top of the roof. Once you have done both sides you will be left with an unfinished strip at the top. Get the card/paper you have been using and cut one long strip with straight edges, use this to cover the gap at the top. For added detail you can put an old wire along the top of the roof before you put your finishing strip on to make it look like a proper pitched tile.
Your model railroad building will now be looking something like ready. There are many other touches you will want to add to things like your windows, doors, and the floor surrounding your model. I will be going into these things eventually but they are beyond the scope of this current structures course.
I hope you now have a building that you are proud of putting into your trains o scale set, and are confident to start adding more. And of course I hope it cost you AT LEAST a third of what it would have to buy a kit or get everything from a hobby shop.
