TT buildings

[My name is Bond]

For those opting for the download, self print on thin card and construct option, could buildings that house a TT loco be printed off at 70% say to make the openings less tight?

I would have thought this would not cause too much of an appearance issue scale wise.

[ateshci]

This is 10% oversize which will not make much of a difference if the original is not too big an affair. A multistall enginehouse would suffer whereas a 1-2 stall won't.

[Robc058]

Printing larger scale advised. Hence the point of the post. I suggest printing the sheet with the entrance set at 65%, 70% and 75%. Stick to card, cut out and test clearances for wagons and loco.

Smart Models OO at 63% is definitely too small. I widened the doors and I also need to increase the height. Too late sadly to restart from scratch!

Here is Metcalde N gauge (height increased and doors widened) on LHS and Smart Models OO at 63%. Spot the difference!

[Robc058]

Metcalte N gauge shed in situ. Station and platforms Peco TT120. Other buildings either N gauge or OO at 65% (Scalescenes). Tight fit!

[Robc058]

Smart Models OO shed at 63% in situ. Only modification so far is to widen the entrances. But the height needs to be increased as clearance is insufficient. I need to landscape a small cutting.

[My name is Bond]

Very useful building information and interesting to see the comparisons.

Are all the platforms and station buildings on top Peco plastic or is there some card incorporated?

Who makes the footbridge?

I thought the Scalescene downloads gave you a licence to print any number of the building purchased so could another engine shed be printed and built?

Agreed the 65% Scalescene reduction ratio from 00 is too small. And the Metcalfe N card buildings look about right.

What printer is being used as the Scalescene buildings look a bit toned down colour wise compared to the brighter coloured Metcalfe examples. How does the Scalescene colour when printed compare to the monitor colour when viewing the website, or the colours shown when viewing the downloaded PDF file?

Sorry to have lots of questions but I, and probably many others, have been looking around at building options and have very probably come up with the same sources as yourself.

[Robc058]

Hi MB

Yes you can print Scalescenes as often as you like which makes the purchase very economical. It also means if you make a mistake, or simply change your mind on a build option, you can reprint selected sheets only. I have printed the low relief shop and house fronts 3 times and made 2 (different part of layout). I also have another terrace house ready to go. You can also make unlimited copies of Smart Models, but the link they send by e-mail is time limited.

I have used both HP inkjet and HP laser jet. I think the Scalescenes terrace is laser. It is much darker stone (random ashlar) then the stone in the Metcalfe kits. The Smart Models shed was printed on inkjet, this too is a lighter colour than the Scalescenes terrace.

I need to varnish the kits - varnish a recent purchase. I hope this preserves the colour.

Station and platforms are Peco. Platform is plastic.

The theme in this part of the layout is typical Yorkshire where the limestone is quite dark (probably pollution stained in the industrial cities) - which goes with the LNER locos. The top part of the layout is in brick (not shown here). This has a station and shops in Metcalfe N gauge as well as terrace house/ shop fronts. The colour of both is close, so I don't think the printing per se is an issue.

If you look at my Great Longwood Railway post it has the Upper Longwood Station in brick. I have since completed the second platform and added other buildings, so I will update. The platforms are scratchbuilt using some wood offcuts and card. This has a footbridge from Scalescenes.

The footbridge you see here is from Hornby in their TT range.

If you are starting out in card building I think it would be sensible to buy a kit first. It has all the materials you need and the parts are pre-cut. I would say a typical build would be 3 to 4 hours. The issue with both Scalescenes, and particularly Smart Models is that the size of the pieces is scaled down. Both have a high level of detail especially in the interiors, which would not really be visible. Build time is probably cloer to 7 hours. My experience suggests that Metcalfe N is close enough to TT.

I have enjoyed the card modelling, not something I anticipated when I started. I am new to layout building too. This forum has been an inspiration and full of ideas. I hope you too enjoy your journey; it would be good if you could share your progress!

[Robc058]

Quick edit. Peco Station is in thin plywood. This has the advantage over card Models as their is some relief - eg in the stonework). This enables a variation in painting pointwork and stone in different colours.

Another post suggests take care with acrylics and mdf / ply, as water in the paint may cause the wood to swell. Some suggest a spray primer. But I dry brushed to allow the underlying contrast to show through.

[shaung75]

@david_watts1 - if you're still interested in the barges, I've just popped them onto my website.

Mod Edit: Selling is not permitted on this forum. Link to website removed from post. Please remove it from your signature panel below.

[Russell-357770]

Here are in the Greenwood TT and Metcalfe N

[GMD]

Am in the middle of 3d printing a small low relief terraced house. First ever print (bar the test print owl), so who knows how it’ll turn out!

[Robc058]

I am looking at another supplier, Modelux. Some TT buildings are already avaliable. I contacted them as I am interested in a coal mine pit head which I am told is being rescaled from OO and adapted for TT. The more manufacturers join the TT party the bigger the choice available. Note that John Wiffen from Scalescenes was featured in the recent Hornby TT magazine and he is keen to accept ideas. So in my case why not a Miner's Institute? I will suggest that.

[Ilmson]

On 20/04/2023 at 17:00, TTModeller said:

Have a look at Auhagen which is the largest and oldest producer of TT buildings... some of them can be found on ebay or elsewhere. All their buildings are plastic, good looking, easy to weather if needed

https://auhagen.de/produkte/modellbahnzubehoer-fuer-tt

Also, ModellBahn Union started to produce their own laser cut buildings since last year.

https://www.modellbahnunion.com/TT-gauge.htm?shop=modellbahn-union-en&a=catalog&p=99557&filter=k999999g3476p3718

Igra Models create laser cut models as well

https://www.igramodel.cz/kategorie/stavby

Faller also creates some of them in TT, but not many, although you might find some on ebay again as years ago they had a range of TT products but that already stopped with them.

For British style buildings, I'm afraid you will need to wait few more years until some range will be developed, so far what I've seen it's not many of them and if so - pretty poor quality 😞

I can also recommend MKB-Modelle: https://www.mkb-modelle.de/gebaudebausatze-h0-tt/bausatze-spur-tt

It is just a small three person company, but sells high quality lasercut kits made of precolored cardboard.

Not only small buildings are sold, but also arcades, bridges and a beautiful train station hall.

 

If you like Wilhelminian style houses, I can also recommend the city buildings. But be careful, these have realistically calculated dimensions.

If you compare them with those of other model building companies, they would look very large, as most manufacturers make the buildings a little smaller to save space and material.

Edited July 3 by Ilmson

[Irishmail]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but when printing the Scalescenes kits,  If you are using the 00 ones and printing at 63% on A4 paper set your printer settings to print in landscape mode.  When printed turn sheet round so it fits it printer from opposite end and then print next page.   This way you can get two pages on one sheet and saves paper too.  

Another option could be to use A5 sheets.

I have found that laminating two sheets of cereal packet card is just about the right thickness for the heavy card.

[Trevor-1284476]

I was thinking the other day about the TT:120 building kits and the currently limited range and it occurred to me that if Hornby wanted to 'keep it in house' they could look at having Airfix introduce a range of 'Railway Structure' kits like Airfix had made in the past. Station, platform and rollingstock kits could also be worthwhile and it would mean that Hornby would be directing new customers to one of their affiliate companies which would be good for the company's bottom line overall.

 

[moawkwrd]

6 minutes ago, Trevor-1284476 said:

I was thinking the other day about the TT:120 building kits and the currently limited range and it occurred to me that if Hornby wanted to 'keep it in house' they could look at having Airfix introduce a range of 'Railway Structure' kits like Airfix had made in the past. Station, platform and rollingstock kits could also be worthwhile and it would mean that Hornby would be directing new customers to one of their affiliate companies which would be good for the company's bottom line overall.

 

Yes this would be a good idea. I think the reason they never made OO kits was because all the old Airfix tooling for those things got sold to Dapol? 

[Trevor-1284476]

36 minutes ago, moawkwrd said:

Yes this would be a good idea. I think the reason they never made OO kits was because all the old Airfix tooling for those things got sold to Dapol? 

That is what I was thinking too but given that TT:120 is so new it would mean that Airfix/Hornby would be bringing in more customers. They could start small, with maybe a Goods Shed, Station building, Signal box, Platform canopy and some platform detail parts like seating etc. With the improvement in tooling etc that we have today I am sure that such kits would be popular because not everyone wants to be purchasing the cast resin offerings Hornby have out and the kits would offer a cheaper option IMHO.

Current prices i have seen here for the Hornby structures are kinda insane. For reference a standard DC A4 is about $300 AUD. The Hornby footbridge alone is selling at $86 AUD, a station building is about $90 AUD and the goods shed is around $70 AUD. Platforms are $27 for a pair and last price i saw on a signal box was about $60

[Rallymatt]

The idea of Airfix TT:120 supporting ranges has been discussed on forum before and it’s something that Hornby have briefly referred to in a Q&A but glossed over. 
A range of 1:120 kits of all kinds of things that could stand alone, aircraft, ships, buildings etc and compliment Hornby TT:120, might be something they are exploring and addition of railway specific kits. The 3D printing world does seem to be doing very well, shame if HH via Airfix missed out 

[Moccasin]

The recent annual report alludes to Airfix creating mini ranges away from their staple military subjects. Might be a hint of something coming:

”Our existing Airfix customers are huge fans of military subject matter and we have been serving their needs extremely well in recent years. Initial studies carried out by our Head of Insights, however, have highlighted the opportunities that exist in attracting new customers, pre-disposed to engaging in modelling, with alternative subject matter. We are at the early stages of this process but anticipate introducing new mini-ranges, of new subject matter, in the year ahead as part of our ongoing efforts to grow the brand and category.”

[John-L]

8 hours ago, Trevor-1284476 said:

it occurred to me that if Hornby wanted to 'keep it in house' they could look at having Airfix introduce a range of 'Railway Structure' kits like Airfix had made in the past. Station, platform and rollingstock kits

Now that is a great idea. Imagine some interesting buildings, old churches or country shops, thatched cottages. A reimagining of those old 1950’s style kits. Surely that would be a potential sales opportunity. Might also fit with the plans for Airfix to add ‘non traditional’ themes to their current range to attract new customers? There must be people out there who would be interested in building ‘olde English’ house kits who aren’t currently plastic kit or railway modellers.

[Trevor-1284476]

15 hours ago, Rallymatt said:

The idea of Airfix TT:120 supporting ranges has been discussed on forum before and it’s something that Hornby have briefly referred to in a Q&A but glossed over. 
A range of 1:120 kits of all kinds of things that could stand alone, aircraft, ships, buildings etc and compliment Hornby TT:120, might be something they are exploring and addition of railway specific kits. The 3D printing world does seem to be doing very well, shame if HH via Airfix missed out 

It would be a giant missed opportunity if they missed out, yeah.