some custom buildings for my future 1/32 layout

[manitouguy]

hi all, was going to post a couple of pics in trygmaya's recent post on buildings in 1/32 and 1/29 post but rather than hi-jack that one i will start another

 

i am an architect by trade and to relieve the boredom of the 'real world' projects, i like to work in scale on my future garden diorama 'plans'

 

i dabbled a bit in toy design assisting a chap with a 1/32 slot car venture (electric road racing) and had a wonderful 10 year collection of 1/32 slot cars from the '60s (i have since sold off 90% of it ... to buy more vintage pinball machines, but that is another story )

 

at any rate the diorama i have worked on and off planning for many years will hopefully someday be realized so some grand kids can enjoy it with me

 

it is a bit off of the beaten path ... i grew up in Manitoba on the North Dakota border, and loved the 'exchange district' in Winnipeg (often called the Chicago of the North) ... also have a love for boats, planes and trains and decided to challenge myself to do a 'mid 60s' small city core with outlying elements - of course peppered with plenty of 'tongue and cheek' and scaled down 'toyish' distillation too

 

it is meant not only to be a world for my trains to run through but as a backdrop (or series of backdrop models) for displaying my remaining collection of vintage slot cars, trains, boats, people etc that i have collected over the years, all near 1/32

 

at any rate - here are some photos of the buildings i have been working on

 

a 'four view' of the city core

 

 

 

the train station (with hotel rooms on top ... i know not typical ... but hey 'Smallville' is my world to build as i please LOL)

 

 

this is the earlier 'tower' - across from the station - the railroad tycoon's offices

 

 

this is a bit over at the 'industrial area' - the vw factory was an idea for a toy display for the slot car company i was assisting ... as was the street car, which i have already built one of in 1/32

 

 

 

this is 'Smallville' airport (did i say i loved planes..!) - i actually have a 1/32 727 from the '60s, its huge but i LOve it and it needed a place to live and be displayed too

 

 

oh .. and i love rockets and early space race stuff too .. so out at the airport will be a 1/32 launchpad to displace some vintage space toys (i have a mercury capsule and the vostok / osoyuz .. but need to build their rockets .. oh boy!)

 

at any rate - some of you may find this entertaining or give you ideas to build more of your own buildings etc etc

 

cheers, Ron

[Mike1083]

Man that is some serious work you are going to be undertaking. Looks fantastic and definitely has a very interesting feel to it. So i am kind of curious. What process do you use to get from computer to 1/32 models? Do you use a 3d printer? Is there some sort of technique? Definitely would love to see the progress being made on this through time.

 

Mike

[manitouguy]

hi Mike, most of the ideas start as messy hand sketches (i have a very over active imagination sometimes!) and then get worked and re-worked or 'distilled' month after month ... these ideas have been worked on over many years (i work slow!)

 

i then do up a model of an idea in google sketchup - simple and fast to use but helps me visualize the 'building' of the 'toy' or in this case building (all these buildings have planned interiors - quite simple but believable like the outsides ... the magic for me of toys is taking the actual toy just far enough to let the imagination or a child's wonder do the rest ... marx and others were excellent at this back in the day ... you can tell i am no 'rivet counter' in need of full scale realism by any means .. )

 

once i have the model worked out in google sketchup i can then set up a sheet of pieces in 2d and have sent off to have laster cut outs so i can put all together and start detailing etc ( my 1/32 street car worked out well that way - maybe i  will do another post on that one later)

 

sometimes i also just then use a scale ruler (architect scales have on them as one of the typ scales, 3/8"=1'-0" so it is easy to measure the parts on the screen and mark them up on cardboard to cut out by hand .... experimenting with some card board right now - might try coating with plastic spray primer and then i can finish then up however i want with various paints etc .. this may be cheaper than bass wood!

 

this is a pretty grand and LONG term project which will span a couple more decades yet if all goes well as hoped - so as a grandpa i can share it whith some grand kids

 

i'll dig up some photos of some of the vintage toys and entourage i have amassed over the last two decades, as well as a few more sketchup renders that better explain how the downtown core was designed as a series of stand alone display models that plug together to become the 'city' too

 

cheers, Ron

[markoles]

Ron,

 

DId I spy a compressed "Hell Gate Bridge" in there? 

 

Looks like a lot of fun!  You should make that launch pad a working pad and fire off some estes or even stomp rockets!

[manitouguy]

yes that is my version of the hell gate bridge i always liked it as done by Lionel in tin plate ... i have a few tricks planned for mine

 

estes rockets ... i launched one a bit overzealously with my son in a 'too small' school yard a few years back ... it landed nearby 'hot' on a nearby house - we ran and didn't look back ... so i think we will stick to non operating rockets for now!!

[Chuck]

Nice concepts! That'll keep you busy making those structures